got three mahboubs a month. However, when matters were arranged,
the pair became rather more loving. These settlements are always hard
matters to manage, all the world over, and it is pleasant to get rid of
them. By the way, a son of the worthy Moknee, by a white woman now
dead--a lad of about twelve years of age--accompanies us, at least as
far as Mourzuk.

The most remarkable persons, however, whom I found at the encampment
were a couple of insane fellows, determined to follow us--perhaps to
show "by one satiric touch" what kind of madcap enterprise was ours. The
first was a Neapolitan, who had dogged me all the while I was at
Tripoli, pestering me to make a contract with him as servant. To humour
his madness, I never said I would not; and the poor fellow, taking my
silence for consent, had come out asking for his master. They tried to
send him away, but he would take orders from none but me. I gave him two
loaves of bread and a Tunisian piastre, and also made him a profound
bow, politely requesting him to go about his business. He did so in a
very dejected manner. During the time he was with the caravan he worked
as hard as any one else in his tattered clothes, and, perhaps, he would
have been of more use than many a sane person.

The other was a madman indeed, a Muslim, with an unpleasant habit of
threatening to cut everybody's throat. Hearing that we were going to
Soudan, he followed us, bringing with him a quantity of old metal,
principally copper, with which he proposed to trade. He gave himself out
as a shereef, or descendant of the Prophet. No sooner had he arrived
than he begun to quarrel on all sides, and, of course, talked very
freely of cutting throats, stabbing, shooting, and other humorous
things. Every one was afraid of him. He fawned, however, on us
Europeans, whilst he had a large knife concealed under his clothes ready
to strike. They were obliged at length to disarm him, and send him back
under a guard to Tripoli. We here took leave of Mr. Reade, who gave me
some last explanations about letters to the interior. It rained
furiously in the afternoon.

We were kept idle a whole day by the rain; but starting on the second,
turned off sharp in the afternoon towards the mountains, and encamped at
length in a pretty place fronting the great ascent of Gharian. The
appearance of the chain here differs in no important particular from
that of any other part of the Tripoline Atlas. The formation is
calcareous