950 . FRAGMENTS skVe, was very powerful. He sent to the khalif Alkader, requesting a title suited to his exalted dignity. The latter hesitated ; but fearing the power of the sultan, sent him at the expiration of a year the ambiguous title, Uli/y i. e. a prince, a friend, a slave. Mahmoud penetrated the khalif's meaning, and sent him immediately 1 00,000 pieces of gold, with a wish to know whether a letter had not been omitted* Alkader received the treasure, and took the hint, instantly dispatching letters patent in full form, creating him Udli/f which signifies, without equivocation, a sovereign independent prince.

Arabian Modes of Writing.

The Arabs have various modes of writing, the principal of which is that used by the Koreish, the most learned of all the Western tribes, and is denominated the Niskhi, or upright character : if this is understood, the others may be easily comprehended This is the character in which the Koran was originally written. In the seventh century, the Arabs adopted the invention of Moramer ben Morra, a native of Babylonian Irak, which was afterwards improved by the Kufik. The Kufik and the Niskhi are synonymous. Richardson, in his Arabic Grammar, p. 4. &ays, " The Mauritannick character, which is used by the Moors of Marocco and Barbary, descendants of the Arabianfj, difierS