t on the head,
arm, etc., according to the part affected.

Another favorite remedy is to pour a little water into a basin on which
passages from the Koran are written, and then either drink or bathe with
it as the disease may appear to require.

These powerful remedies failing to restore health, the invalid is next
taken to the tomb of some celebrated "saint." There, offerings are made
and prayers recited. A favorite resort in Tunis is the Zawia of Sidi
Abdallah, situated just outside the city wall. Here a black cock is
sacrificed and a little of its blood sprinkled on the neck, elbow, and
knee of the sufferer on whose behalf it is offered.

[Illustration: AN ARAB WOMAN ENTERING A SAINT'S TOMB (TUNIS)]

Before our house stands a Zawia (saint's tomb), built in honor of a
female saint, and at this tomb one day stood an Arab woman, knocking
gently at the door and crying in piteous tones, "O lady! Heal me, for I
am very ill! I have giddiness in my head! I am very weak! Do heal me!"
The poor creature calling in her ignorance on a dead saint not only
moves the heart to pity but also creates in the mind a wonder as to who
these saints may be, and what has led to their being thus honored.

Let me give you a sketch of a noted dervish, or saint, who has just
passed away. I first saw Sidi Ali Ben Jaber some years ago seated in
front of a cafe in the Halfouine--the quarter where the late Bey had
built him a house. By his side were native musicians making a discordant
noise while at intervals the holy man was bellowing like a mad bull.
Securing a corner of a doorstep, I managed to peep over the surrounding
crowd and my curiosity was rewarded by the sight of a decrepit, filthy
old man, his bald pate encircled by scant grizzled hair and unadorned by
the usual fez cap. His sole covering was a dirty cotton shirt, open at
the neck and descending no lower than the knees. But what a shirt! As a
mark of saintliness, it had not left his body for years, but had
gradually increased in thickness, for when sufficiently caked with
accumulations of filth and snuff, a clean piece of calico had been sewn
over it. This had been covered by successive layers as required, until
it is just possible that the initiated might have been able to determine
the age of the wearer by the concentric rings of his garment!

Sidi Ali was not always, however, thus seated in state. He would, from
time to time, parade the Halfouine, stopping occasionally to demand