pointed out that the fact of our being there and pitching our camp amongst them was the best guarantee they could have that we meant to carry out our promises. They were very much like children to whom a new toy had been promised, crying because they couldn't have it at once; but we succeeded ultimately in appeasing them.

Shortly afterwards I made the discovery that a shirt of mine had been stolen from the tent during the night, as also a tin of milk and a teapot. It was then our turn to become indignant, and, as the most terrible threat I could think of at the time, I vowed I would give no more medicines until the articles were returned. Some said that they had seen a boy with the shirt, and undertook to get it restored to me. An examination of the tent showed that there was a small gap in the canvas on one side through imperfect pitching, and we therefore set to work to rig it up properly, and make ourselves secure from similar depredations in future.

The chiefs then complained that a great number of people in the camp had come from a great distance, and were starving for want of food. We told them that that was no fault of ours we had no food for them, and they had better return to their own homes; they hadn't come to do any trade, and we didn't want them to remain at Arksis. The 'Forty' grasped this simple fact after some argument, and told the people to go back home. On this, most of them went away when it got towards sunset, many of them coming again in the morning, but the 'Forty' themselves remained in the camp. They appointed a slave to wait upon us, fetch water from the well, etc.; but as they subsequently entertained doubts as to his honesty,

he was replaced by one of their own tribesmen, Ibrahim Jinan, the fisherman.

Mr. Garden,' as his surname implied, and as we soon learned to call him, was a character. With his little, round, close-fitting woollen fishing-cap, he looked as if he had just stepped out of 'The Arabian Nights,' especially when, his work being finished for the time. being, he was taking his ease squatting on the top of a provision-box, and smiling like a Japanese idol. He was the happy possessor of a proper fishing-rod and reel, and still had some fish-hooks which had been given to him by Curti'; but he begged of us to bring him some more when next we came to Arksis, which we promised to do. He would catch us fish, and bring us fowls and honey from his own house, and was faithful to the last. His reward was a piece of cloth and my revolver.

In the afternoon of that day, all expectations of a boat coming ashore being given up, Beyerle proposed to me that we should go for a walk, and explore the neighbourhood. We were curious to see what was on the other side of that wall of hills that bounded the plateau. We set out, but were promptly stopped, and it was more or less delicately conveyed to us that we were virtually prisoners. When the tribe had all had their rifles-their rifles, mark you—then we could do as we liked, and they would show us where the gold was to be found in the ground. Where the copper was to be found did not need much looking for, as not 100 yards from our tent both Beyerle and I picked up a pocketful of specimens of the metal which would have shown, I am sure, a very satisfactory assay.

I have met several people who are convinced that, in addition to its extreme fertility, Morocco possesses

a boundless wealth in gold, copper, zinc, lead, antimony, etc. But the Moors, with that ridiculous fanaticism which characterizes them, are strongly opposed to any mining operations, on the ground that what God has concealed let no man reveal, and so far no one has succeeded, or is likely to succeed, in obtaining from the Sultan a concession to 'work' any portion of his territory for mineral wealth.

The Berbers, however, are not so fanatical in their religious ideas as the Sultan-ridden Moors, although they acknowledge the Sultan as head of their faith, and it will probably one day be proved that there is in Sus a rich, undeveloped field nearer than the Transvaal or Klondike, and set, not amid the Arctic snows, but in a veritable earthly paradise.

This restriction on our movements was decidedly annoying, but there was nothing for it but to acquiesce with what grace we could. But it was extremely irritating, whenever we took a stroll down to the beach or the head of the cliff, to find two or three fellows close upon our heels, with their watchful eyes ever keenly fixed upon us. Beyond this, however, they showed no signs of hostility. On the contrary, with some of them we were on very good terms.

Indeed, that very afternoon, while we were having our green tea, we invited Sidi Hashem, and Sid el Embarak o-Jama-one of the 'Forty-to have a glass with us. Under the genial influence of the beverage they became very amiable, and told us that they were our friends, and, as they had broken bread with us, they would at all times protect us. Sidi Hashem swore solemn fealty to Beyerle, and Embarak o-Jama took me under his protecting ægis. It was the custom of their country, they said. In token of this

understanding, Embarak made me a present of his flintlock gun, and said he would also give me two daggers.

He had a hankering after a metal travelling-knife, a sort of all-in-all' fitted with corkscrew, tin-opener, horseshoe-picker, etc.; but as this was also my dinner knife, cutlery having been overlooked when we came ashore, I promised to give it him when we could go back to the yacht.

When night came on, in consideration of favours received, and in anticipation of benefits to come in their capacity as mediators and pacificators, we allowed them to share the shelter of our tent, with our faithful servant, Mr. Garden,' at the door. They asked for a candle, as they would keep awake all night on watch, and in return for this obliging offer the least we could do was to provide them with a light. But we had hardly got comfortably settled in our canvas cots when a sudden gale sprang up, which continued all night, the rain pouring down in torrents, some of it even finding its way inside the tent. The tent swayed ominously at times as though it would collapse altogether, and that very likely would have been the case had not the duteous Mr. Garden' gone out and made fast the pegs which the tent-ropes were tearing out of the ground under the strain of the wind.

We rose the next morning about 7.30, to find that the storm had abated somewhat; the rain had ceased, but the sea was still rough. There was the same nonsense about the rifles as the previous morning, and, to appease the natives, we went to the head of the cliff and waved a white flag-a handkerchief tied to the end of a flint-lock gun-and fired three shots, which was the pre-arranged signal in case of danger. We felt sure, however, that it was only waste of energy

and powder, as the surf was far too high to allow any boat to land. What was far more to my liking, I went and had a dip in the cove, which Sabbah told the people was a signal to the yacht to come, and the idiots believed it, although the beach was invisible from the sea. About ten o'clock, however, steam was observed coming from the escape-pipe, and our first thought was that the Tourmaline was going to move in from the anchorage she had taken up during the night; but we were doomed to disappointment. The waves from our post of observation on the heights seemed bad enough, but to those on the deck of the yacht they would appear much more formidable.

In the course of the morning, with an air of great secrecy and mystery, some of the 'Forty' came to our tent, and told us they had received important news. They were accordingly invited inside. Shuffling off their slippers-for the Moslem never treads on a mat or a carpet except in his bare feet, but leaves his slippers at the entrance-they squatted down, and produced two letters, which they stated had just come in from other tribes. Sabbah put on his spectacles, and slowly translated them. They set forth the desire of the tribe to trade with the Christian, but, in addition to the customary form of greeting and valediction, the two effusions struck me as being remarkably similar in expression. I put the letters in my pocket, thanked the chiefs, and invited them to shurub atay.*

The drinking of tea in Morocco is a solemn function, and every pretext is seized upon by the Moors for indulging in their favourite beverage. The charcoalstove and kettle are the indispensable, and frequently among the poorer classes, with the exception of a

* Drink tea.