were not fired till the following morning, and even then many of the more devout followers of the Prophet would not touch food until they had made sure that the moon had really been seen. The sound of those guns must bring relief, not only to the Mohammedans themselves, but also to those Europeans who have Moorish servants; for the poorer Moors, at any rate, become not only ill-tempered, but positively stupid, towards the end of the fast in consequence of their long days of abstinence.

The day after the fast was one of positive gorging at the kasbah. From sunrise to sunset dishes of food followed one another at intervals of only a couple of hours or so. About seven o'clock in the morning great bowls of thin porridge-that we irreverently called 'skilly-emerged from the kitchen; then came dishes of bread and oil, and cakes like Berlin pancakes with honey; kuss-kuss, chicken, goat, mutton, stewed in water and stewed in oil, succeeded one another in a scarcely interrupted procession all day long. There was no stint, even for the Christian; while the Moors simply stuffed themselves with food till one marvelled how they could possibly stow it away. And so the 'holidays' came and went, and still we stayed. Had we only been waiting for presentable clothes, as we had at first imagined, we could have started when Consul Johnston's consignment arrived, for now we were arrayed in all the glory of white cotton trousers and clean shirts. But the excuse now was that we were waiting for a letter from Tisnit, and gradually the whole story came out that was contained in the letters received by the Khalifa when we were stopped on the march; and we knew that the Sultan did not intend to give us up until he was compelled. Indeed,

as we afterwards learned, Ba-Hamed, the Sultan's Grand Vizier, counselled by intriguers against Great Britain at the Moorish Court, of whom Dr. Linares, the French political agent, was foremost-meant to keep us as hostages, to use us, as the Kölnische Zeitung expressed it, 'as a means of putting pressure upon England when occasion should offer.' He also had the effrontery, when the Government's first application for our extradition was made, to demand an indemnity from Great Britain, to compensate for the expenses to which the Moorish Government had been put in connection with Giluli's expedition. Considering that this raid into Sus was determined upon before the Tourmaline was ever heard of in connection with Morocco, and was for the express purpose of punishing the Sbooya tribe for past sins, it is not surprising that Ba-Hamed's request was not complied with. over, it would be interesting to know what expenses the Moorish Government had incurred in connection therewith, seeing that the necessary provisions for both men and animals were stolen from the tribes through whose lands they passed, and that the 'soldiers' were provided by Kaid Giluli, and not by the Government, their pay being the plunder they could lay their hands upon; and that Giluli recouped himself for any disbursements that he may have found necessary to make by exacting a monetary indemnity from all those tribes that he considered 'refractory,' and that he was able to subdue.

More

But of these negotiations we knew nothing at the time, and were simply encouraged and buoyed up by that blind, implicit faith in the protecting ægis of the Government, which most Britons cherish who have not been unfortunate enough to have to put it to the

test. And so the days passed into weeks, and weeks into months. It would be tedious if I were to recount in detail all the incidents of our weary confinement in that country Moorish kasbah, but some idea of the place and the life that is led there with such appalling sameness and monotony week in, week out, the year through, may not be without interest.

The kasbah itself was a huge, rambling building, or conglomeration of buildings, erected on the slope of a hill in the form of a rough square. It comprised the residential quarters of the Kaid himself, though he was seldom there, and the Khalifa; a harem, stable-yard, storehouse, a prison, and any number of rooms for the accommodation of the household officials, slaves, and retinue generally. The material used was, of course, tabbia, but the walls were of imposing thickness. The approach was through a large gateway-closed and guarded at night-time-through which three mounted men could easily pass abreast. This led into a courtyard, surrounded on all sides by small buildings, except in one corner where there was a well. The Kaid's quarters and the harem were beyond this, so that altogether it was a place easily defensible in case of a siege -unless, of course, artillery were employed. It was in the room next to the well that we were installed, and the room contiguous with ours was the lodging of the taleb, or scribe, who filled up his spare time by tailoring, a small hand sewing-machine, made in Germany, being one of his most treasured possessions. These two rooms were approached through a miniature courtyard of their own, in which there was perhaps just sufficient room to swing a cat; and to this room and yard we were confined all the time, except during half an hour in the morning and afternoon, when we were escorted