The laziness of the Moors-The camel in Morocco-Romantic scenery-The women come out to curse us-Khamis Ait Bubka-The vagaries of a saint-A wrestle and its good results-Beyerle falls ill-Giluli's kind message-An imaginative correspondent-I meditate on Kaids in generalArrival of a courier-The Kaid's plans upset-Al-al has a fit -Concerning kìf-The lullaby of the ocean.

THE Moors may be a lazy people, and doubtless in the main they are. They have a precept which, as far as my observation in the country went, finds a very wide circle of admirers, who practise it most religiously:

Never run if you can walk;

Never walk if you can stand;
Never stand if you can sit down;

And never sit if you can lie down and go to sleep.

Late rising, however, is not their particular form of sloth. Sunrise generally saw the camp astir, and the morning after our long-remembered 'washing-day' the place was early alive with the bustle of preparation for departure. The gathering-in of the untethered camels began with the first gray streaks of dawn, but nothing

seemed to be accomplished without a lot of shouting, screaming, and general vituperation. As a rule, at least an hour elapsed between the time we were roused up and the time we started on the march; and altogether there was a lack of that order and discipline which characterizes the armies of civilization. The selection of the riders for the various camels always gave rise to much heated discussion, the owners of the beasts invariably protesting that their loads were heavy enough without the addition of a 'cursed infidel'; but the wrangle generally ended up with two of us being perched up on the back of the alreadyloaded animal instead of one. The carrying capacity of the camel, however, is considerable, for a well-fed animal can easily carry a load of 600 or 700 pounds for days together on marches from sunrise to sunset. maintains a steady pace of about three miles an hour, and threats and abuse, coaxing, and persuasion, alike fail to induce the brute to quicken his ungainly 'galumphing' gait. As a courier, he is far outstripped by his biped owner, and as a 'mount' he is a painful ordeal. The rough, mountainous districts of Morocco scarcely suit his tender feet, but he is indispensable. He is the transport service from Tangier to Timbuctoo, from Saffi to Sudan, and without him Morocco would be ruined, bankrupt, starving, in a week.

He

For the first few hours our route lay through the passes in the mountains, and the scenery was of the most beautiful and romantic character. Lofty crag and verdant valley, gurgling streams and wooded slopes, and over all 'that tent of blue which prisoners call the sky,' unflecked by clouds, and in the midst of which there blazed, in all his undimmed glory, the burnished African sun. Once or twice the path was

so precipitous that we had to dismount from our camels and walk-an interlude we all appreciated. Passing a mountain stream in one of the glens, we halted to cool our hands and faces, and drink while we had the chance. The order of procession was at this point Indian file, and Kaid Giluli was out of sight in the rear. The Moors looked on as if they would like to do the same; but it was Ramadan, and they forbore, or contented themselves with drawing in a mouthful of water and spitting it out again.

As we got farther north the country began to show more signs of regular cultivation, the ground being tilled wherever the opportunity offered. During the afternoon we passed near a village, the houses of which seemed to be better built than those in Sbooya and Imsti, and made a little more pretence to architectural design. As we neared the houses our escort called a halt. The prisoners that were on the chains afoot had, with the greater portion of the army, taken a slightly divergent route from that which we were following; but Muley Abdallah and El F'kir Embarak were with our party. Presently some women were heard lu-lu-ing at the top of their voices-the peculiar sound the Arab women all over Northern Africa make when urging on their menkind to battle, or welcoming them home from the fight, or other circumstances of an exciting nature. As they approached the soldiers urged them on to curse El F'kir Embarak, as an enemy to his country, and they responded with vigour and apparent earnestness. They would probably have lu-lu-ed with more sincerity had they witnessed the Susi driving the defeated invaders back across the Atlas, but the Arab woman has always a strong leaning towards the winning side. Their anathemas, how

ever, were not confined to the Sbooya chief, who looked as if he didn't hear, but were also directed towards us Christians. Not understanding what they said, we could easily appear indifferent, but Sabbah was unable to control himself. He happened to be on foot, and, stooping down, picked up a stone to fling at the women; but one of the horsemen, realizing his intention, quickly rode up, and persuaded him to desist by presenting a loaded rifle at his head, and, urging our animals forward, the women were soon left behind.

It was nearly four o'clock when we arrived at our next camping-ground, a place called Khamis Ait Bubka, where barracks had been built by the late Sultan Muley Hassan for his soldiers on their raiding excursions southward. We were not put in there, however, but occupied our tent as usual; while the Moslem prisoners had a native tent, which was practically a large camel-hair rug, propped up here and there with short supports just high enough to enable the occupants to crawl under. I was so dog-tired when we arrived, being with difficulty prevented from falling asleep on the camel's back, that before our tent was pitched I had thrown myself down on the ground and gone fast asleep. While thus unconscious, I had rather a narrow escape from an unpleasant accident. A buhali,* seeing us, began to amuse himself by throwing large stones at us, one of which dropped just past my head. The crowd were hugely entertained, and of course didn't dream of interfering with a 'saint,' who was gesticulating wildly and screaming curses; but Kaid Jaah, with more sense, informed Giluli of what was going on, and the lunatic was persuaded to desist. A number of people came to curse and stare * Fool, and therefore saint.

at us when we were installed in our tent, but we were becoming more assertive as we drew nearer to civilization, and ordered or drove these unwelcome visitors away as occasion demanded.

Looking through the holes in our tent to watch the sun set, I observed a man with a stick walk up to the Kaid's tent. He had every appearance of a rakas (courier), as besides his long staff he carried a wallet on his back, the usual outward and visible signs of a courier in Morocco, and had a travel-stained look about him. Not much importance was attached to the incident, though, as we calculated that there had not yet been time for a message to have come from the Sultan about us, and letters were constantly coming and going, in and out of the camp.

If

That evening was the first time we had a meal of meat, Kaid Jaah, who had lately altered his whole demeanour towards us, sending us in a bowl of stewed mutton, which he said was from his own supper. that were so, then his leavings were almost enough to give four hungry Christians and a Jew a sufficing meal; but in any case we were extremely grateful to him. Before we were chained up at sunset he had invited me to wrestle with him, and I had succeeded in throwing him; and I believe this was his way of showing his appreciation.

When night fell, poor Beyerle, who had for some days suffered considerably from rheumatism, began to show symptoms of fever. His lungs were in a bad state, the night dews and exposure having brought on a severe cold, which I feared was going to turn to congestion. In this extremity Al-al was despatched to the Kaid to ask for a rug to cover, if not all, at least one of us who was sick. This interesting savage,