THE EGYPTIAN SUDAN

appointed the superior of the Franciscans to be his legate to the

king of Abyssinia, and provided him with gifts for the king and

his nobles. Verseau, instead of going to Cairo, went to Syria,

vid Constantinople, where he remained and fulfilled the duties of

head of a monastery of his own order. Thus it fell out that the

Ethiopian mission at Cairo remained in charge of one Paschal,

an Italian Franciscan friar, and of a French Jesuit whose name

was Brevedent.

At this time there was in Cairo an envoy of the king of

Abyssinia called Haggi All, who, having known this Paschal and

obtained medicines from him, now applied to him and begged him to return to Abyssinia and cure the king and his son, both of whom were of a scorbutic habit. Paschal agreed to do this on

the understanding that he might take with him a friar of his own

order called Anthony, and to this Haggi All made no objection,

being rather glad than otherwise to take back two physicians

instead of one.

As soon as the French Consul heard of the arrangement made

by Paschal with Haggi Ali, he sent for the latter, and having told him that neither Paschal nor the friar Anthony was a physician,

soon persuaded him to cancel his agreement with them, and take

in their stead Charles Poncet, whom he lauded as a great chemist and apothecary, and one who was a supreme expert in the know-

ledge of the art of medicine. The French Consul also arranged

that M. Brevedent, a Jesuit, should attend the physician as a

servant. M. Poncet having been furnished with a medicine-chest

at the expense of the " factory," set out forthwith, accompanied

by Brevedent, who took the name of Joseph, and Haggi Ali and

they arrived at Sennaar in due course, as we have seen. There is

no need to discuss here the difficulties and inaccuracies which Bruce alleges to have discovered in Poncet's narrative of his

travels, for all that concerns us is the undoubted fact that Poncet

did travel to Sennaar, and he certainly cured the king of his

ailments, and thus performed the work which Haggi Ali had

intended him to do. The part of the Mission which the French

Consul, M. de Maillet, wished him to carrj' out remained unper-

formed, and no wonder ; for to believe that it was possible for a

private person like Poncet, without a knowledge of the language,

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