Tangriberdy availed himself of the opportunity afforded by his duties,
to relate to the ambassador the story of his life and his forcible
conversion, declaring that, in his heart, he clung to the Christian
faith and longed to return to his native Spain. Whether his sentiments
were sincere or feigned, his presence in an influential capacity
at the Sultan's court was a fortuitous circumstance of which the
ambassador gladly took advantage. The audience was fixed for the
following morning at daybreak, and that night Tangriberdy lodged the
embassy in his own palace.

[Note 4: Cairo was thus called in the Middle Ages, the name
belonging especially to one of the city's suburbs. See _Quatremère
Mémoires geographiques te historiques sur l'Egypt_. Paris, 1811.]

Traversing the streets of Cairo, thronged with a hostile crowd curious
to view the _giaour_, Peter Martyr, accompanied by the Grand Dragoman
and his Mameluke escort, mounted to the citadel, where stood the
stately palace built by Salah-Eddin. After crossing two courts he
found himself in a third, where sat the Sultan upon a marble dais
richly draped and cushioned. The prostrations exacted by Eastern
etiquette were dispensed with, the envoy being even invited to sit in
the august presence. Thrice the Sultan assured him of his friendly
disposition; no business was transacted, and after these formalities
the ambassador withdrew as he had come, a second audience being fixed
for the following Sunday.

Meanwhile, the envoys from the Barbary States, who were present for
the purpose of defeating the negotiations, excited the populace by
appeals to their fanaticism, reminding them of the cruelties endured
by their brethern of the true faith at the hands of Spaniards. They