ith their bodies. We did not wish to
take them, fearing that the people of the Douar would espouse the
cause of their countrymen, but my people gave the alarm, and
exclaimed "_Erd abellek asas_," i.e. "Be watchful, guards!" We then
saw these marauders jump up, and run away as fast as they could;
keeping watch the rest of the night: we were advised to take no
notice of this circumstance. The people of Ait Zimurh are professed
robbers: they would not allow us to pitch our tents _within_ their
circular encampment, a privilege universally granted to strangers
and travellers. I thought this very unhospitable; being totally
different from any thing I had ever before witnessed in this
country, where hospitality generally exceeds all bounds. I have no
doubt that the people of the Douar were in league with the robbers;
I considered my escape, the next day, when I was apprised of the
danger of the country I had confided in, quite providential, and I
have no doubt but these people would delude any one that would
trust to their honour: they reminded me of the ancient Africans, as
described by Sallust, in the wars of Jugurtha.

[Footnote 113: The Zimurites, or Ait Zimure, are probably the
descendants of the Zemarites: for which see 1 Chron. i. 16.]
117
We struck our tents at five o'clock, and travelled very fast to get
out of these treacherous habitations; for we learned that, the
preceding night, Alkaid L'Hassan Ramy, a Negro captain of the
emperor's army, passed this Douar, and was robbed of his bridles,
saddles, and tent equipage, with which the thieves made off,
without being discovered. I afterwards met Alkaid L'Hassan Ramy at
Mequinas; and he appeared quite astonished that I should have
escaped being robbed at the above Douar, calling the whole Kabyl a
set of lawless thieves. On the 17th, we started at five o'clock,
and arrived at Mequinas at nine o'clock, performing the journey
from Rabat to Mequinas in twenty-two hours, being sixty-six miles.
The city of Mequinas is the court-town of the northern division of
the empire: the imperial palace at this place is above two miles in
circumference. At the corners are erected (_Coba's_) square
buildings or pavilions, containing one room up stairs, where the
emperor frequently transacts business. This pala