58 THE STORY OF THE KHEDIVATE.

Within a few weeks of Ismail's accession, the Sultan Abdul Aziz paid a visit to Egypt, the first visit that any reigning Sultan had ever paid to the Nile Valley land since Selim I. had conquered the country. The records of the private relations between the Suzerain and the vassal State are not accessible to research. I should doubt greatly whether any such records are in existence. The transactions which passed between the occupants of the Imperial and the Vice-regal thrones, from the days of Mahomet Ali down to those of the British occupation, if not till a considerably later period, were not of a kind to give either party to the bargain any interest in preserving written records. Money passed hands, and as soon as the consideration for its transfer was forthcoming, the less said, and still less written, the better for both seller and buyer. It seems, however, f probable, to say the least, that the concessions Ismail / was anxious to obtain, and the price he was prepared I to pay, were discussed between the Viceroy and the \ Sultan. Fuad Pasha, who as Grand Vizier had I accompanied the Sultan, was offered and accepted J without demur a present of ;6o,ooo from Ismail, \ for the services he had, or was supposed to have, / rendered in establishing friendly relations between the V Sultan and the Viceroy.

y' After the visit of the Commander of the Faithful, \ secret negotiations were opened at Constantinople in <L order to procure a modification in the title borne by { the Viceroys in virtue of the treaty of 1841. As