[p.4] in Cairo, to Araby Djeylany, the richest merchant of Djidda; but
this I knew could be of no use, as it was not a letter of credit; and I
did not present it. [I afterwards became acquainted with Djeylany, at
Mekka; and what I saw of him, convinced me that I was not mistaken in
the estimation I had formed of his readiness to assist a stranger.] I
determined therefore, at last, to address the Pasha, Mohammed Aly, in
person. He had arrived in the Hedjaz at the close of the spring of 1813,
and was now resident at Tayf, where he had established the head-quarters
of the army, with which he intended to attack the strongholds of the
Wahabis. I had seen the Pasha several times at Cairo, before my
departure for Upper Egypt; and had informed him in general terms of my
travelling madness (as he afterwards jocularly termed it himself at
Tayf). I should here observe that, as the merchants of Upper Egypt are
in general poor, and none of them strictly honour a bill or obligation
by immediate payment, I had found it necessary, during my stay there, in
order to obtain a supply of money, to request my correspondent at Cairo
to pay the sum which I wanted into the Pashas treasury, and to take an
order from him upon his son, Ibrahim Pasha, then governor of Upper
Egypt, to repay me the amount. Having therefore already had some money
dealings with the Pasha, I thought that, without being guilty of too
much effrontery, I might now endeavour to renew them in the Hedjaz, and
the more so, as I knew that he had formerly expressed rather a
favourable opinion of my person and pursuits. As soon, therefore, as the
violence of my fever had subsided, I wrote to his physician, an Armenian
of the name of Bosari, whom I had also known at Cairo, where I had heard
much in his favour, and who was then with his master at Tayf. I begged
him to represent my unfortunate situation to the Pasha, to inform him
that my letter of credit upon Djidda had not been honoured, and to ask
him whether he would accept a bill upon