chance to approach the Khaleefa, and again they suggested that I was "fooling."
Awwad was sent for, and in reply to the Khaleefa, said that he believed I was doing my best, and would certainly succeed; that had he not believed in me himself, he would never have recommended him to employ me on such important works. Yacoub again took my part, and said that whoever did not assist me, or whoever hindered me, would be considered an enemy of Mahdieh. Although, as he admitted, he did not understand the machines, yet in his opinion "there must be something in the head of the man who invented them, and he was better employed in the arsenal than idling his time in the Saier." Awwad also said that if Osta Abdallah and Hassanein had not and could not find the materials for the construction of the machines, he believed that I could make another one with such materials as they had. This decided the matter — both machines were to be proceeded with; but the Khaleefa agreed to my being put into chains to prevent my escaping, and on the thirteenth day of my freedom the chains were replaced. Being unable to move from my house, the joiners, with a lathe, their tools and material, were sent to me, as the Khaleefa wished the machine to be completed as rapidly as possible. Abdallah Sulieman, the chief of the cartridge-factory, was then employing upwards of fifteen hundred men, and the Khaleefa wished to release them for fighting purposes.
My efforts to obtain either the original models or photographs of them not having so far been successful,
