t him." Thus the smaller a man's
means and the greater his wants the more wives he needs.

We had ample proof that these wretched women are often treated as little
better than beasts of burden. Nearer the "Mouth of the Desert" we saw
troops of women carrying enormous burdens of sticks upon their backs,
which they had collected somewhere north of the mountains, while their
lords and masters strutted along unencumbered at their sides, acting the
part of slave-drivers. Even among the wealthy Arabs it is common for the
wives to be employed in the most menial household work; and Madame
Bourguignon assured me that had I been behind the scenes I should
probably have found some of the ladies of the caid's family thus
engaged.

But to return to the house. The open court into which we entered, and
where we found the family assembled, was evidently their living-room
during the day. Four small apartments opened out of it. First, the
kitchen, the whole furnishing of which consisted of a few fire-bricks,
one or two vessels for cooking and a skin for holding water. The other
three apartments were respectively the sleeping-room of the master of
the house, that of the women and that of the elder children; and,
literally, the only furniture of these was a piece of boarding covered
with matting. There was no bedding, no bed-clothing, no attempt at
comfort of any kind. It is certainly not an expensive matter to set up
house at Biskra, the climate of the desert making one independent of
everything except a shade from the sun and a little food to sustain
life. From the court a stair led up to the flat roof which covered in
the four apartments, and this upper story formed the receptacle for all
the filth of the family. The scene was disgusting in the extreme. In any
other climate it must have bred a pestilence. Here, no doubt, this dire
result is prevented by the extreme dryness of the atmosphere. After this
visit I quite appreciated our good landlady's horror of the Arabs. "You
see now," said she, "how it is I cannot bear even to buy fowls fed by
such people."

During the time we remained at Biskra we only twice made excursions
beyond the limits of the oasis--once to some hot sulphur springs a few
miles out in the desert--springs of such wonderful efficacy in all
rheumatic affections that were they in Europe they would speedily make
the fortune of any watering-place. Here they are little known: however,
a bath has been formed and roofed i