To James Madison from Soliman Melimeni, 17 September 1806 (Abstract)
From Soliman Melimeni, 17 September 1806 (Abstract)
§ From Soliman Melimeni. 17 September 1806, Boston. Alerts JM that he went on board to inspect the arrangements JM had ordered Mr. Cathcart to make at Boston for Melimeni and his suite’s crossing. Cathcart gave Melimeni an expense account for $583.11,1 but Melimeni, the ship’s captain, and the doctor sailing with them checked the provisions and concluded that these should not have cost more than $200. Cathcart also charged a commission on all the presents he bought for the Dey of Tunis, profiting by a large discount from the various merchants, as well as by charging the captain $500 for the preparation of the ship. Mr. Lear should inform JM separately. Cathcart moreover had the audacity to be disrespectful to Melimeni, who had he believed Cathcart capable of such, would not have allowed him to accompany Melimeni on his tour. Cathcart is so vulgar and indelicate that the deys of Algiers and Tunis do not want to receive him as consul. He is the cause of the differences between the Dey of Tripoli and the government of the United States.
RC and enclosure (DNA: RG 59, CD, Tunis, vol. 3). RC 2 pp.; in French; addressed to “Monsieur Mildesin Secretaire des Etats unis à Wagingthon”; in a clerk’s hand, signed by Melimeni in Arabic. Undated; conjectural date assigned here based on Wagner’s docket on the enclosure: “Recd. in Mellimelli’s 17 Sptr. 1806.” For enclosure, see n. 1.
1. Melimeni enclosed a copy of the account totaling $583.11 (2 pp.) detailing the provisions and livestock supplied, as well as expenses for keeping and transporting the animals: 8 sheep, “1 Milch Goat & 2 Kids,” 60 ducks, 135 chickens, 12 turkeys, and 12 geese. The document bears James Leander Cathcart’s undated declaration that the items had been provided by naval agent Samuel Brown at Cathcart’s request; and Nathaniel Ruggles’s 10 Sept. 1806 receipt for the above amount, paid him by Brown.