worth the wing of a fly, and curse the gifts of Chitann (Satan)." Sidi-Mohamed was a man of God celebrated in pious legends, such as he himself was in the habit of relating. Here is one of them which the traveller is sure to recollect, when, for the first time, he makes halt at the venerated marabout, the last resting place of the holy man.

"One day Sidna Aissa (our Lord Jesus Christ) met Chitann, when he was driving before him four asses heavily laden, and said to him:

"Chitann, you have become then a merchant? "Yes, Lord, and I sell so much that I am hardly equal to the work.'

"What is your trade?'

"Lord an excellent one-see.'

"Of these four asses, the strongest in all Syria, one is laden with acts of injustice. Who will buy them? the Sultans.

"The other with envies! Who will buy them? the Learned.

"The third with robberies! Who will buy them? Traders.

"The fourth carries at the same time, perfidies, stratagems, and an assortment of seductions identified with all the vices! Who will buy them? Women.'

"Wicked one, thou art cursed of God,' replied Sidna Aissa.

"What matters if I am the winner,' retorted Chitann.

"The next day Sidna Aissa, praying at the same place, was disturbed in his devotions by the oaths of an ass-driver, whose four asses, sinking under their loads, refused to go on. He at once recognised Chitann.

""Thank God, you have sold nothing,' said he "Lord, an hour after I left you, all my baskets were empty; but, as usual, there was much

difficulty about payment.

"The Sultan had me paid by his khalifat, who wished to cheat me.

"The learned told me they were too poor to

pay.

"The traders and I bandied compliments, and called each other robbers.

"The women alone paid me well and without haggling.'

"Nevertheless, I see your paniers are full again,' resumed Sidna Aissa.

666

They are full of money, which I am taking to the Cadi,' replied Satan, pressing on his

asses.

"Oh! my, brother," added Mohamed-ou-Allal, "the free man, if covetous, is a slave; and the slave is free if he can live upon little.

"For your abodes choose tents, and for your last resting-places cemeteries; feed yourselves with the fruits of the earth, and quench your thirst in the running stream, and you will quit the world in peace."

After a progression of three days more, the caravan arrived at Timi-Moun, where it halted at another marabout-that of Sidi-Mohamed-Moulel-Gandouz-where, according to custom, the travellers deposited their offerings. Here the hungry find food; but no one eats more than is sufficient to appease his appetite, or drinks more than enough to quench his thirst; for if he did, he would perish on the road. There are no keepers to take charge of the provisions; yet there is not a single example of the hospitality of God having been abused. "And this is in the middle of the Sahara, far from the eyes of men,

but God is everywhere."

At Timi-Moun, Cheggueun conducted the travellers to Sid-el-Adj-Mohamed-el-Mahadi, to whom, according to custom, they gave presents, and then waited, following his advice, to be joined

VOL II.

G

by the caravan of Tidi-Keult, before they proceeded to Insalah. The country of Touat, which the caravan coming from the north-east had now reached, is bounded on the west by Maroc, and extends southward as far as the great desert, whilst on the east the winding waters of the Djebel-Batten run its whole length. The Touat is a vast succession of oasis, intersected by plains of sand. It contains, say the Arabs, as many villages as there are days in the year. inhabited by two distinct races.

It is

The Touat

people, properly so called, of Barbary origin, and who have intimate connections and alliances with the negroes, inhabit nearly all the cities and bourgs, whilst the Arabs encamp in tribes under tents. Timi-Moun is the capital of one of five circumscriptions; it is fortified and divided into nine quarters; it has seven great squares, and every street is devoted to some particular species of commerce. Exchange transactions are there carried on to a considerable extent.

After eleven days, the caravan of Tidi-Kault arrived. The two Khrebirs then assembled their passengers, when, opening the book of Si-AbdAllah, and raising it to the height of their heads, "Swear by this sacred book," said they, "that

each of us is brother to all; that altogether we make but one and the same fusil; and that if we are killed, we shall be killed all by the same sabre;" and the oath was taken heartily by all.

The departure was fixed for the next day. On the road, a traveller, named Mohamed, who had drunk water from the goat skin, without exposing it for a moment to the air, in a cup, was seized with a violent fever and diarrhoea. Cheggueun was consulted. He gave the sick man a decoction of henna, which brought him almost immediate relief, saying, whilst he was administering the medicine, "You must know how to endure thirst, when on a voyage. Drinkers do not go far. They are like frogs; they are not long out of water before they die. They should not come into a caravan, for they are but food for jackals, and birds of prey."

In the neighbourhood of Insalah the caravan of Tidi-Keult was in its own country, and the merchants belonging to it treated the travellers from Metelli as their guests. Insalah is a town of about five or six hundred houses, with a ditch, but without a wall. There is a fountain in the centre, called the Fountain of the Son of Jacob. On the south are orchards, and date groves, but on all