A good deal of the delay that took place at Tripoli arose from causes
over which it was impossible to exert any control, and principally from
the bad weather, which cut off all communication with Malta. We used to
go about relating the anecdote of Charles V. illustrative of the
inhospitable seasons of this coast. "Which are the best ports of
Barbary?" inquired the Emperor of the famous Admiral Dorea. "The months
of June, July, and August," was the reply.

Whilst waiting for the winds to waft us so many desirable things, we
actively engaged in hiring camels, procuring servants, and otherwise
making ready for a start. The details of all these preparations, which
cost me prodigious anxiety, as I was obliged to study at the same time
efficiency and economy, are described in a voluminous mass of
correspondence; but I should not think of presenting them to the general
public, which will be satisfied probably to know that at length
everything was found to be in due order, and our long-expected departure
was fixed for the 30th of March.

I had taken care, immediately on my arrival at Tripoli, to write to Mr.
Gagliuffi, the British Consul at Mourzuk, announcing my approach and
enclosing a despatch from the Foreign Office. Moreover I had requested
this gentleman at once to send to Ghât for an escort of Tuaricks, so
that we might not be unnecessarily detained in Fezzan; and to suggest
that the Sheikhs should be assembled by the time we arrived, that the
treaty I had to propose to them might be discussed. My former visit to
this place will in some respects pave the way. Throughout the Turkish
provinces of Tripoli and Fezzan a circular letter given to us by Izhet
Pasha, and the letters of the Bey of Tunis in other quarters, will no
doubt prove of some assistance, although such documents must lose much
of their influence in the very secluded districts through which we shall