Balsamo assumed her family name, added a title of nobility, and was known henceforward as the Count Alessandro Cagliostro.
In Messina he met a mysterious person whom he calls Altotas, and from whom, he says in his Memoir, he learnt much.

The following account of the meeting of Balsamo and the stranger is taken from Waite's book: "As he was promenading one day near the jetty at the extremity of the port he encountered an individual singularly habited and possessed of a most remarkable countenance.

This person, aged apparently about fifty years, seemed to be an Armenian, though, according to other accounts, he was a Spaniard or Greek.

He wore a species of caftan, a silk bonnet, and the extremities of his breeches were concealed in a pair of wide boots.

In his left hand he held a parasol, and in his right the end of a cord, to which was attached a graceful Albanian greyhound....