It is easy to understand that the Zaouias authorities, combining the characters of judges and of men of God, and having under them numerous subalterns ready to execute their orders, must be a very dangerous body. Whenever circumstances favoured an insurrection they were sure to be seen in the markets, animating the lukewarm and maddening fanatics. One of these orders, however that most in honour in the mountains of Beni-Ouragh and throughout the whole province of Oran, the order of Mouley Taieb,-preserving very cordially its hatred to Christians, was very busy at the same time in undermining the power

holy war. Thus among Musselmen, images of war are to be found everywhere; there is no fête among them without powder, for their paradise is under the shade of swords. The work of Sidi Boukari known under the name of Words of our Lord Mohamed, contains the sayings and proverbs of the prophet. Every good believer holds all these for true, and when Sidi Boukari is cited, it is just the same as if the prophet himself had spoken. Sidi Krelil is a commentator. He may be called a father of the Church. He explains the obscure passages, both of the Koran and of Sidi Boukari. His authority is considered conclusive in all religious questions. Thus a Zaouia man has always a citation of Sidi Krelil, of Sidi Boukari, or of the Koran in his mouth, and as this book contains, according to Musselman creed, all human law, the religious doctor, and the lawyer, and the judge, are all united in the same person.

of the Emir. Si-el-Aribi, of the royal race of Morocco, was its chief. The founder, one of his ancestors, had left this prediction, which had been transmitted to all his disciples, behind him: "You shall one day have dominion over all the country of the East; the whole kingdom of Algiers shall belong to you; but before this comes to pass the country must have been possessed by the Beni-elCefeur-the yellow children. (It is thus that Musselmen call the French.) If you seize on it at present they will wrench your conquest from you, but if they take it first, the hour will come when you will break their yoke from off your neck." This prediction explains well the confidence of the Marocains at the time of the battle of Isly, and also the opposition of the Mouley Taieb order, under the influence of the reigning family of Morocco, to Hadj Abd-el-Kader. It was to this belief that Ben Marabet, their venerated chief, owed the repose we left him in his retreat, which he never quitted, at four leagues distance from our post; and by it may be explained the fact that Mohamed Bel-Hadj, who did not deign to disturb himself, when the Zaza broke out among the thousands of Kabyles who covered the market place, thought himself obliged to pay his respects to this holy man by a personal visit.

Zaza signifies, in Arabic, a tumult raised by robbers when they would make a good hit and pillage a Jew, for the Jew is generally the one to be shorn on these occasions. To carry out a zaza the robbers pretend to have a quarrel among themselves; some take part with one, some with the other; a crowd having gathered together, one tent is first upset, then another. The Kabyles protect their fowls and sheep as best they can, by standing before them; whilst the Jew, beaten, kicked, and roaring, sees the plunder of all his goods, and roars the louder; the troop of the caid of the market, having good reasons for their delay, arriving always too late, and then increasing only the confusion by distributing blows to the right and left, without the slightest discrimination. When thoroughly fatigued by this agreeable exercise, it is the wont of these functionaries to resume their place by the side of the caid, who has remained all the time quite an indifferent spectator of the But these Marghzen police are a singular militia. They strongly resemble sheep-dogs; but dogs who bite, mind you, and carry off good bits of flesh in their mouths: for they live fatly. As to Bel-Hadj, if the noise of one of these tumults, in which men are often killed, should reach his ears when seated in his little house, about eight

scene.

hundred paces from the market, and holding there a full court, he would turn perhaps towards one of his chaous, and ask negligently, "Ouachta hada?" ("What is that?") to which the chaous would reply, after having looked out at the door: "Atta hadja, loud i zegou." ("Nothing at all-only the screams of a Jew!") What was it to Bel-Hadj whether there was a life more or less? The long train of those who attended on him would not be less numerous, however many might be killed in a zaza. Though his political authority was exercised under our superintendence, all decisions with reference to questions between the Kabyles and the government came ostensibly from him. Thus though the hall where he gave audience had but small resemblance to the cabinet of a minister of state, as many intrigues took place in it as were ever hatched in former times at Cardinal Mazarin's with this difference, that the cardinal bought consciences, whilst Bel-Hadj sold his.

One market-day I went with Moore to Mohamed's. It was somewhat late. The old man had passed the whole day seated at the bottom of the room he was in, his legs crossed under him on a mat, his back against the wall, mechanically counting his string of beads, whilst gravely listening to words whispered in his ear by people

stooping and crouching about him. When we entered, there were but few groups left, and the valley had resumed its usual silence. As soon as Bel-Hadj saw us he dismissed his attendants, and calling for coffee, made us take a place on his mat.

"Who is this trooper?" said I, pointing to the man who had handed me coffee, a tall bony fellow, who had lost three fingers from his left hand "Was he not wounded two years ago, when the Algiers column came first into your country?"

"Yes," he replied; "on the day of the encounter with the Marshal a ball smashed his hand. The chaous of my son Ahmet was killed the next day."

After remaining silent for a moment, Mohamed resumed: "Youth is still yours, and happiness is your shadow. Recollect the words of an old man; drive away all chagrin; it consumes more than a fever!"

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Fly it!" added the Khodja (secretary), who was seated beside him, "as the bite of a serpent, and carry a talisman in your bosom always against it."

Seeing a smile upon our lips, the Khodja replied, fixing his glance upon us:

"You, ye sons of Error, you know nothing but doubt, and that because our Lord Mahomed has