48 
a number of officers belonging to the court were as- 
sembled, and entered into a small mosque close by, 
where we performed our afternoon prayers, at which the 
sultan also assisted. 
After prayer we left the mosque, at the door of which 
a mule was waiting ready for the sultan; it was sur- 
rounded with a great number of servants and officers of 
high rank belonging to the court. Two men in advance 
were armed with pikes or lances about fourteen feet long, 
which they held in a perpendicular direction. The re- 
tinue was followed by about seven hundred black sol- 
diers, armed with muskets; they were closely grouped, 
but without regard to order or rank, and were surround- 
ed by a great throng. 
The kaid and myself placed ourselves in the middle 
of the passage, close to the two lancers. At our sides 
were the presents, carried on the shoulders of my ser- 
vants and of the men who had been sent to me. 
The sultan came out soon after and mounted his mule; 
when he came to the centre of the circle, the kaid and 
myself advanced a few steps; the sultan stopped his 
mule. The kaid presented me; I made an inclination 
with my head towards him, putting my hand on my 
breast. The sultan answered by a similar inclination, 
and said, " You are welcome;" then turning his head 
towards the crowd, he invited them to salute me; " Tell 
him," said he, " that he is welcome;" and instantly all 
the crowd exclaimed " welcome." The sultan spurred 
his mule, and rode to a battery which was about two 
hundred yards distant. 
I followed the kaid thither, and waited near the gate; 
the kaid, alone, advanced with the presents. From the 
moment that we entered the battery there was a profound 
silence. The whole assembly consisted of about twenty 
persons, most of them the high officers. 
