Traversing the streets of Cairo, thronged with a hostile crowd curious to view the giaour, Peter Martyr, accompanied by the Grand Dragoman and his Mameluke escort, mounted to the citadel, where stood the stately palace built by Salah-Eddin.  After crossing two courts he found himself in a third, where sat the Sultan upon a marble dais richly draped and cushioned.  The prostrations exacted by Eastern etiquette were dispensed with, the envoy being even invited to sit in the august presence.  Thrice the Sultan assured him of his friendly disposition; no business was transacted, and after these formalities the ambassador withdrew as he had come, a second audience being fixed for the following Sunday.

Meanwhile, the envoys from the Barbary States, who were present for the purpose of defeating the negotiations, excited the populace by appeals to their fanaticism, reminding them of the cruelties endured by their brethern of the true faith at the hands of Spaniards.  They even declared that if Cansu Alguri consented to treat with the infidels, he was no true son of Islam.  A council of military chiefs was summoned which quickly decided to demand the immediate dismissal of the Christian ambassador.  Tangriberdy, who sought to alter this determination, was even threatened with death if he persisted in his opposition.  Remembering that he owed his throne to the Mamelukes, who had exalted and destroyed no less than four Sultans within as many years, Cansu Alguri quailed before the outburst of popular fury.  He ordered Tangriberdy to conduct the obnoxious visitor from the capital without further delay.  Peter Martyr, however, received this intimation with unruffled calm and, to the stupefaction of Tangriberdy, refused to leave until he had accomplished his mission.  Such audacity in a mild-mannered ecclesiastic was as impressive as it was unexpected.  The Grand Dragoman had no choice but to report the refusal to the Sultan.  By what arguments he prevailed upon Cansu Alguri to rescind his command, we know not, but a secret audience was arranged in which Martyr describes himself as speaking with daring and persuasive frankness to the Sultan.  He availed himself in the most ample manner of diplomatic license in dealing with facts, and succeeded in convincing his listener that no Moors had been forced to change their religion, that the conquest of Granada was but the re-establishment of Spanish sovereignty over what had been taken by conquest, and finally that nobody had been expelled from the country, save lawless marauders, who refused to abide by the terms of the fair treaty of peace concluded between Boabdil and the Catholic sovereigns.  He closed his plea by adroitly introducing a scapegoat in the person of the universally execrated Jew, against whom it was the easiest part of his mission to awaken the dormant hatred and contempt of the Sultan.  Into willing Mussulman ears he poured a tirade of abuse, typical of the epoch and the nation he represented: