e soon filled it
with a prosperous and numerous population. The augmentation of his army
was his next great object; and so well did he succeed in it that on his
departure, in a hostile expedition against Fez, he found his troops
exceeded one hundred thousand. With so formidable a force, he had little
difficulty in rapidly extending his conquests.

Yussef had just completed the subjugation of Fez when Abu-Bekr returned
from the desert and encamped in the vicinity of Agmat. He was soon made
acquainted--probably common report had acquainted him long before--with
the usurpation of his kinsman. With a force so far inferior to his
rival's, and still more with the conviction that the hearts of the
people were weaned from him, he might well hesitate as to the course he
should adopt. His greatest mortification was to hear his own horsemen,
whom curiosity drew into Morocco, loud in the praises of Yussef, whose
liberality to the army was the theme of universal admiration, and whose
service for that reason many avowed their intention of embracing. He now
feared that his power was at an end, yet he resolved to have an
interview with his cousin.

The two chiefs met about half-way between Morocco and Agmat,[31] and
after a formal salutation took their seats on the same carpet. The
appearance of Yussef's formidable guard, the alacrity with which he was
obeyed, and the grandeur which surrounded him convinced Abu-Bekr that
the throne of the usurper was too firmly established to be shaken. The
poor emir, so far from demanding the restitution of his rights, durst
not even utter one word of complaint; on the contrary, he pretended that
he had long renounced empire, and that his only wish was to pass the
remainder of his days in the retirement of the desert. With equal
hypocrisy Yussef humbly thanked him for his abdication; the sheiks and
walis were summoned to witness the renewed declaration of the emir,
after which the two princes separated. The following day, however,
Abu-Bekr received a magnificent present from Yussef,[32] who, indeed,
continued to send him one every year to the period of his death.

[Footnote 31: The distance is about ten or twelve leagues.]

[Footnote 32: This present is made to consist of twenty-five thousand
crowns of gold, seventy horses of the best breed, all splendidly
accoutred, one hundred and fifty mules, one hundred magnificent turbans
with as many costly habits, four hundred common turbans, two hundred
wh