thirteen years' service in some condemned corps. He was not in any way guarded, as he had no money, and, if he escaped, the Arabs would hunt him down in a couple of days for the sake of the regular reward offered. We found in the morning that our companions had sustained the character of their corps, for brushes, towel, and fork had mysteriously disappeared through the night.

Our next day's ride was by the base of a continuous chain of steep ridges, again with an even water-line very near the crest, and presenting a singularly serrated appearance (the Djebel Lazareg). I counted no less than 127 little peaks rising above this straight horizontal line, almost all of them of equal height, like the crests of a long sea-reef; and lower down the sides were many tidal strings, if I may so term them.

Turning round to our left and crossing the dry channel of an evaporated and aged "Wed," we had some low headlands close behind us-Ras Ainyah of the Arabs, "Prise d'eau" of the French-the scene of a bloody combat under General Yusuf. Through an opening between the mountains we debouched on a wide plain, and suddenly before us stood an isolated ridge of rock. Two cliffs facing each other bore each a bastioned tower, and in a depression between these lay a town. In front a dense dark forest of 20,000 graceful palm-trees embosomed the Arab city. Could this be El Aghouat? At last we are at the furthest outpost of civilization. We ride through a muddy swamp with a scanty shallow stream flowing northwards, and soon see mud walls peering through a forest of date-palms, whose fruit just now (1st November) is ripening. Outside the forest is a deep sandy soil under barley, but all the trees are enclosed by high walls of mud or rather of

sun-dried bricks (mottes), composed of blackish clay and cemented with mud.

We had to make a long détour to find the narrow opening between these walls which leads to the gate of the city. This is new, of French construction, and through a neat arcaded street we rode directly into the "Place," a pretty square with various tall palms growing irregularly in its enceinte, and formed of well-constructed public buildings. The house of the commandant, the Bureau Arabe, the "Cercle" or military club, and the engineer quarters occupied two sides, with a row of French shops at one end, and the Beni M'zab bazaar at the other. With the exception of two or three half-finished French streets, the rest of the town was mud built and composed of squalid Arab hovels, with no windows, and low doorways several steps below the level of the street, thus effectually concealing all domestic arrangements from the stranger's eye. We found that Commandant Marguerite had kindly sent on an express, and that preparations had been made for us by the officers of engineers, who hospitably received us and had a late déjeûner awaiting our arrival. Here we were to rest for ten days, examine the country, and prepare for yet further wanderings.

CHAPTER VI.

Laghouat-The view from its citadel - Carpeted roofs - Turkish bath Storming of Laghouat-Native heroine - Manufacture of morocco leather-Value of pomegranate rind-Teeth to letGardens-Cultivation of the date-palm-Date-wine A female saint's reward-Geological features - Primitive plough - Barley cultivation - Birds - Dayats -A wounded gazelle- An equine practical joke - Squadron of donkeys-A sportsman's dinner party Kouskousou Boat-launch at Laghouat- Daring exploit of the Commandant - Omar's rebellion- A new Dragoman - The Kadi of Berryan - Scarcity of water-skins- Farewell party.

A FORTNIGHT's repose at Laghouat enabled us to take a leisurely survey of the oasis, for such it literally is, and of the surrounding district. Dull and monotonous as must be these quarters to the troops stationed here, there are abundant objects of interest to the passing stranger. The buildings, the plants, the people, all were new. Following the excellent traveller's maxim of climbing at once to the highest point and thence taking a survey of the place or country if you would comprehend its topography, we mounted to the top of one of the twin peaks between which lies El Aghouat (or Laghouat as the French have abridged it), and surveyed the prospect. To the north and east the view is bounded by the rocky ranges we had lately passed; but to the south and west stretches the boundless desert, without a visible trace of life, animal or vegetable, and the horizon melts in the distance unbroken by a single elevation. We see at last the real desert. We can distinguish no more Hauts Plateaux following each other, and concealing a patch of verdure behind each

succeeding range. To the north and south of the isolated oblong ridge on the summit of which we stand are the two palm-groves, or rather forests, of Laghouat, divided indeed into minute portions by high mud walls, but which are not detected until in the midst of them.

In these palms the city is literally embosomed, and we were charmed with the prospect, so thoroughly Oriental, so unlike anything we had yet seen in Algeria. At our feet were spread the flat roofs of the town. No streets could be seen, but an occasional palm struggled through the brown mass. It should scarcely be called a brown mass, for the roofs were of every colour, carpeted with pumpkins, melons, capsicums, pomegranates, and dates, spread out to dry or to ripen. The rich contrasts of the red, yellow, and green gave the effect of the confused but brilliant patterns of the Turkey carpet, in which the crimson capsicum or pimento predominated.

On the housetops were many brown Arab women, in garments as discoloured as their skins, sitting with their legs bare, busily employed in spinning after the simple Eastern fashion. The whole race seemed to have taken the vow of the Spanish heroine, and not to have washed since the arrival of the French. It is to be hoped that they may now use the Moorish baths, which have been built by the rich and public-spirited sheik of the Beni Aghouat, and which had been opened the week of our arrival by the strange and most unmoslem-like ceremony of sacrificing a goat on the slab.

At the foot of the rock is the simple square tomb of General Bouscaren, who died of his wounds at the storming of the place; and we were shown the spot where an Arab heroine who still lives in Laghouat repeatedly rallied the men and led them to repulse the French columns. General Yusuf and Marshal

Pélissier headed the two divisions at the siege, on 4th December, 1852, and the Arabs had planted on these heights three cannon, obtained by land carriage through Morocco, and which had been cast in England. It was almost the sole occasion during the African war in which they made use of artillery, but here, shielded by the walls of an old plastered marabout, they worked their guns with effect and did fatal execution, two superior officers falling in the assaults. On one slope is the Mussulman cemetery, on the other the Christian, both unenclosed and open to the feet of numberless dogs and camels.]

The French have erected Laghouat into the centre of a military circle conterminous with that of Boghar on the north, and with the nominally dependent confederacy of the Beni M'zab on the south. Though the Arab population of the city is only 2700, yet that of the nomads who depend upon it is 32,000, divided into five aghaliks. Small as the place is, it is divided into two quarters, which in the olden time of independence were frequently engaged in internecine warfare, as the inhabitants were of different tribes. There are but 850 camels, 5600 sheep, and 1800 goats belonging to the inhabitants, but they derive some wealth from the custody of the corn grown in the district or imported from the Tell, most of which is here deposited by the wandering tribes when they move to the south for pasturage.

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The women carry on an active manufacture in

djellali," or horse-housings, which have a great repute; in dyed "djerbi," or blankets; in haïks; and especially in "filali," or morocco leather. The filali, which is always red, is considered equal to that of Morocco. The secret of its preparation con