ndent of the harbour came unto me, saying, "Tarry thou here
until to-morrow morning, according to the orders of the governor." And I
said unto him, "Art not thou thyself he who hath passed his days in
coming to me daily and saying, 'Get thee gone out of my harbour?' Dost
thou not say, 'Tarry here,' so that I may let the ship which I have
found [bound for Egypt] depart, when thou wilt again come and say,
'Haste thee to be gone'?"

[Footnote 1: _i.e._ the figure of Amen-ta-mat.]

And the superintendent of the harbour turned away and departed, and told
the governor what I had said. And the governor sent a message to the
captain of the ship bound for Egypt, saying, "Tarry till the morning;
these are the orders of the governor." And when the morning had come,
the governor sent a messenger, who took me to the place where offerings
were being made to the god in the fortress wherein the governor lived on
the sea coast. And I found him seated in his upper chamber, and he was
reclining with his back towards an opening in the wall, and the waves of
the great Syrian sea were rolling in from seawards and breaking on the
shore behind him. And I said unto him, "The grace of Amen [be with
thee]!" And he said unto me, "Including this day, how long is it since
thou camest from the place where Amen is?" And I said unto him, "Five
months and one day, including to-day." And he said unto me, "Verily if
that which thou sayest is true, where are the letters of Amen which
ought to be in thy hand? Where are the letters of the high priest of
Amen which ought to be in thy hand?"

And I said unto him, "I gave them to Nessubanebtet and Thent-Amen." Then
was he very angry indeed, and he said unto me, "Verily, there are
neither letters nor writings in thy hands for us! Where is the ship made
of acacia wood which Nessubanebtet gave unto thee? Where are his Syrian
sailors? Did he not hand thee over to the captain of the ship so that
after thou hadst started on thy journey they might kill thee and cast
thee into the sea? Whose permission did they seek to attack the god? And
indeed whose permission were they seeking before they attacked thee?"
This is what he said unto me.

And I said unto him, "The ship [wherein I sailed] was in very truth an
Egyptian ship, and it had a crew of Egyptian sailors who sailed it on
behalf of Nessubanebtet. There were no Syrian sailors placed on board of
it by him." He said unto me, "I swear that there are twenty ships lyi