was a real Moslim, the pure Islám, the true worship of the one God, dating from the time of Adam, and not from the time of Mohammed; and that thus, while adhering to the principle of the unity and the most spiritual and sublime nature of the Divine Being, I was a Moslim, professing the real Islám, although not adopting the worldly statutes of Mohammed, who, in every thing that contained a general truth, only followed the principles established long before his time. I likewise added, that even they themselves regarded Plato and Aristotle as Moslemín, and that thus I myself was to be regarded as a Moslim, in a much stricter sense than these two pagan philosophers. I concluded by stating that the greater part of those who called themselves Moslemín did not deserve that name at all, but ought rather to be called Mohammedán, such as we named them, because they had raised their prophet above the Deity itself.

Being rather irritated and exasperated by the frequent attacks of Sídi Mohammed and A'lawáte, I delivered my speech with great fervor and animation; and when I had concluded, Sídi Mohammed, who could not deny that the Kurán itself states that Islám dates from the creation of mankind, was not able to say a word in his defense. As for El Bakáy, he was greatly delighted at this clear exposition of my religious principles, but his younger brother, who certainly possessed a considerable degree of knowl edge in religious matters, stated, in opposition to my argument, that the Caliphs El Harún and M'amún, who had the books of Plato and Aristotle translated into Arabic, were Met'azíla, that is to say, heretics, and not true Moslemín; but this assertion of course I did not admit, although much might be said in favor of my opponent. At all events, I had obtained some respite from the attacks of my friends; and having thus the support of them all, in the afternoon of the following day, the 10th of March, we went quietly to the tents in order to celebrate the "Sebúwa" (corresponding to the baptism of the Christians) of the new-born child. On this occasion I noticed that the water in the outlying creeks which we passed had only fallen about three feet since the 17th of February, which is less than two inches per day; but it is probable that the water of the principal branch decreases more rapidly than that of these winding backwaters.

The camp was full of animation, the Gwanín el Kohol, a section of the Bérabísh, having taken refuge in the encampment of the sheikh from fear of the Kél-hekíkan, with whom they were

on hostile terms. It was highly interesting for me to be thus brought into close contact with these people, who owe allegiance to the chief that had murdered Major Laing; and, well aware that I could not fail to entertain a strong prejudice against them, they all thronged round me on my arrival, and hastened to assure me of their friendly disposition. They were armed with doublebarreled guns, a weapon which, owing to the trade with the French, is now common through the whole of this part of the desert, the long single-barreled gun, the only favorite weapon with the Arabs to the north, being here regarded with contempt as befitting only the slave. In general, the people were of middle stature, although some of them were fine tall men and of a warlike and energetic appearance, having their shirts, mostly of a light blue color, tied up over their shoulder and girt round the waist with a belt, the powder-horn hanging over the shoulder, quite in the same style as is the custom of their brethren nearer the shores of the Atlantic. Their head was uncovered, with the exception of their own rich black hair, or guffa, which, I am sorry to add, was full of vermin.

The same evening, although it was late, my host, who was certainly not wanting in hospitality, slaughtered five oxen, and in consequence we partook of supper about an hour after midnight. But that was not at all unusual here; and nothing during my stay in Timbúktu was more annoying to me, and more injurious to my health than this unnatural mode of living, which surpasses in absurdity the late hours of London and Paris.

Early the next morning two more head of cattle were slaughtered, and enormous quantities of rice and meat were cooked for the great numbers of guests, who had flocked here together from the town and from all parts of the neighboring district. Amid such feasting the name of Mohammed was given to the new-born infant. The way in which the guests dealt with the enormous dishes, some of which were from four to five feet in diameter, and could only be carried by six persons, bore testimony to the vorac ity of their appetites; one of these immense dishes was upset, and the whole of the contents spilt in the sand.

But the people were not long left to enjoy their festivity, for just while they were glutting themselves a troop of Kél-hekíkan, the tribe who waged the bloody feud with the Gwanín, passed by, throwing the whole encampment into the utmost confusion. When at length it had again settled down, the festivities proceeded, and VOL. III.-В B

Mohammed el 'Aísh, with some of his countrymen from Tawát, roae a race up the slope of the downs toward the tents, firing their guns at the same time; but altogether the exhibition was rather shabby, and some of the men were very poor riders, having probably never been on horseback before, as they were natives of the desert where the camel prevails. The inhabitants of Timbúktu, who possess horses, are continually pestered with the request to lend them to strangers; and, with regard to these animals, a sort of communism prevails in the town; but they are of a very poor description, only the sheikh himself possessing some good horses, brought from the Gibleh, or western quarter of the desert.

The Kél-hekíkan formed also a subject of anxiety to us in the evening, and, after a long and tedious consultation, it was decided to send some people to watch the movements of those freebooters. Having been met with, they declared they should feel satisfied if the sheikh would consent to deliver up to them the person who had first slain one of their companions, for this had been the beginning of the feud with the Gwanín, although the murderer belonged to the Túrmus, and not to that other tribe which had taken up the quarrel. In consequence of these feudal relations I had an interesting conversation with the sheikh, and Fandaghúmme, one of the chiefs of the Tademékket who had likewise come to join this festival, about the "fed'a," or the price of blood, many of the Tawárek tribes refusing to accept any fed'a, but peremptorily requiring bloodshed. I have already mentioned these freebooters, the Kél-hekíkan, on a former occasion; and it is remarkable that this very tribe, which at present is most distinguished by its lawless and sanguinary habits, and which, in consequence of the almost uninterrupted state of warfare in which they are engaged, was at the time reduced to about forty full-grown men, exhibits the finest specimens of manly vigor and stately appearance which are to be found in this whole region.

Notwithstanding the importance which the day possessed for my protector, the stay in the camp, deprived as I was of books or any other source of amusement, and of even the smallest European comfort, became more and more tedious to me. My material privations also were not few, especially as I had not even taken coffee with me this time, so that I had nothing to refresh myself with in the early part of the morning. However, I tried to pass my time as cheerfully as possible, and took some interest in the appearance of a man who had likewise come out to enjoy the

hospitality of the sheikh. This was the Sherif Múláy Isay, who, on account of his white skin, was almost suspected by the natives to be of European origin. In the course of the day the sheikh showed me some rich gold trinkets belonging to his wife, manufactured in Waláta; and this was almost the only time that I had an opportunity of inspecting these gold ornaments. They formed a sort of diadem: and I understood my host to say that he wanted to have a similar one made for Queen Victoria, which, however poor in itself, I assured him would be valued by the English as a specimen of their native industry.

The stay in this place became the more disagreeable, as a high wind raised thick clouds of dust, and the leathern tent, in which Fandaghúmme was staying, was blown down, and I was therefore rather glad when, in the evening of the 13th, we returned into the town. Here, again, the news of the arrival of the "tábu" was a second time reported, and every body again thrown into a state of excitement; the Ergágeda, a tribe of Arabs or Moors, moving to and fro, while all the poor degraded tribes in the neighborhood, together with their herds of cattle and their flocks of sheep, fled again for refuge to the encampment of the sheikh, such as the Kél e' Shería, the Kél-antsár, the I'denán, and the Kél-úlli. My protector himself was again to return to the tents on the morning of the 15th, when a serious business arose, the Fullán insisting with great pertinacity that I should leave the town this day, or else they would certainly kill me; for they would rather, they said, that the "tábu" should annihilate them all, than that I should remain a day longer in the town.

Next morning the Fullán and the merchants from the north assembled in the house of Mohammed el Férreji, and discussed with great energy what means they should adopt to drive me out, binding themselves by an oath that I should not see the sun set over the town. The officer Hámedu, the son of Mohammed Lebbo, even went so far as to rise in the assembly and swear that he himself would certainly slay me if I should stay any longer. The alarm which this affair caused in the town was very great, although matters of this kind in Negroland are never so serious as in Europe. A'lawáte, therefore, being informed of what was going on, entered the assembly and made a formal protest that I should see both sunset and sunrise in the town, but he pledged his word that I should leave it before the sun reached that height called dáhhar (about nine o'clock in the morning) by the Arabs,

and if I remained after that time they might do what they pleased with me.

March 17th. I had lain down rather late, and was still asleep, when Sídi Mohammed, before sunrise, sent word to me to mount in order to follow him out of the town; and he behaved very unpolitely when objections were raised to the effect that it would be better to wait for El Bakáy. Soon after he came up himself on horseback before my door, sending one of his brother's principal and confidential pupils, whom I could scarcely expect to do any thing contrary to the wishes of his master, to bid me mount without farther delay, and to follow him to the "ródha," or the sepulchre of Sídi Mukhtár, where El Bakáy would join us. Seeing that I had nothing to say, while as a stranger I could neither expect nor desire these people to fight on my account, I mounted, fully armed, and with two servants on horseback followed Sídi Mohammed on his white mare.

All the people in the streets through which we passed cautiously opened their doors to have a peep at me. The ruling tribe also were not inactive: and they had mounted several horsemen, who followed close upon our heels, and would probably have made a demonstration if we had halted at the "ródha." But my conductor, instead of staying there, as I had been made to believe, led on straight to the tents. Numbers of Tawárek families, carrying their little property on half-starved asses, met us on the road, flying westward, and confirming the fact that the approach of the tábu was not merely an idle rumor. The encampment also, which had been chosen at another spot, presented a very animated scene, a large hamlet, consisting of matting dwellings, or seníha, inhabited by the Kél-úlli and the I'gelád, protégés of the sheikh, being closely attached to it. The consequence was, that although the whole locality, formed by a sandy ridge with a slight depression full of trees, presented a more cheerful aspect than the former encampment, by degrees it became rather narrow and confined. Having received the compliments of my new friends, I endeavored to make myself as comfortable as possible; but not much repose was granted me, for, about three o'clock in the afternoon, Mohammed ben Khottár, the sheikh's nephew, arrived with a verbal and peremptory message from the former to his elder brother, Sídi Mohammed, to the effect that the Fullán were about to storm my house in the town, in order to seize my luggage which I had left there; and desiring him instantly, and without the slightest