ir,
appointed by the Sultan of Morocco. These Saharan villages are eternally
in strife with one another, and sometimes take up arms. On this account,
they are surrounded by crenated walls, defended by towers solidly built.
The immediate cause of discord here is water, that precious element of
all life in the desert. But the imaginations of the people are not
satisfied with this simple reason, and they are right, for the cause
lies deeply in the human heart. They say, however, their ancestors were
cursed by a Marabout, to punish them for their laxity in religion, and
this was his anathema, "God make you, until the day of judgment, like
wool-comber's cards, the one gnawing the other!"

Their wars, in fact, are most cruel, for they destroy the noble and
fruitful palms, which, by a tacit convention, are spared in other parts
of the Sahara when these quarrels proceed to bloodshed. They have,
besides, great tact in mining, and their reputation as miners has been a
long time established. But, happily, they are addicted to commerce and
various branches of industry, as well as war, having commercial
relations with Fez, Tafilett and Touat, and the people are, therefore,
generally prosperous.

CHAPTER VII.

London Jew-boys.--Excursion to the Emperor's garden, and the Argan
Forests.--Another interview with the Governor of Mogador on the
Anti-Slavery Address.--Opinion of the Moors on the Abolition of Slavery.

We have at times imported into Mogador a stray London Jew or so, of the
lower lemon-selling sort. These lads from the Minories, are highly
exasperated against the Moors for treating them with so much contempt.
Indeed, a high-spirited London Jew-boy will not stop at Mogador, though
the adult merchant will, to get money, for mankind often learn baseness
with age, and pass to it through a golden door. One of these Jew-boys,
being cursed by a man, naturally cursed him again, "an eye for an eye, a
tooth for a tooth." Mr. Willshire did not think so; and, on the
complaint of the Moor, the British Consul threw the British Jew-boy into
a Moorish prison, where he remained for some days. This is one more
instance of the disadvantage of having commercial consuls, where
everything is sacrificed to keep on good terms with government
authorities.

A fire happened the other night, breaking out in the house of one of the
rich Jewish merchants; but it was soon extinguished, the houses being
built chiefly of mortar and stone, with