affection on the part of the populace. He was hailed everywhere as the savior of his people, as the national hero and the symbol of Moslem ascendency over the Frank. But he was still unconvinced of the wisdom of the peace. Even when he was about to sign the pact he said to the Cadi: " The enemy will increase their forces, and then they will come out of the lands we are leaving in their possession, and recapture those we have taken from them. You will see that each one of them will make a fortress on some hill top. I cannot draw back, but the Moslems will be destroyed by this agreement." Nevertheless, he went even beyond his word in observing all its terms. Richard had been annoyed at the number of pilgrims and had asked the Sultan to put hindrances in the way of their visiting Jerusalem, but the latter leaned the other way. Not only were the gates of the Holy City opened to them but he provided guards to ensure their safety on the way. He gave "honorable entertainment to such as he chose. He received them at table, and entered into familiar conversation with them." To Richard he wrote: "There are men here who have come from afar to visit the holy places and our law forbids us to hinder them." There was a family gathering for a time in Damascus, the city Saladin had come to prefer above all others. El-Afdal and ez-Zaher, who appears to have been his father's favorite, he who was the babe the Sultan had carried through part of the war, came there first