404 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dustry, he thought, was confined to the manufacture of large coarse 

 pottery, evincing an incipient stage in the ceramic art, and indicating 

 a pastoral people, with ahundant flocks and herds, the hillsides and 

 nlains there being covered with magnificent forests and affording abun- 

 dant pasturage, there being perhaps 150 rainy days instead of 

 50 in the year, as at present. 



But the noonday hour had passed, and we ate our frugal lunch, 

 provided by the landlady at the hotel, with a bottle of native Algerian 

 wine. We were forced to eat it alone, for in vain did we press on our 

 guide and the two Moors a bit of bread and butter and a drink of the 

 mild beverage. They steadfastly refused, for it was the month of the 

 Eamadan. They were strict, consistent Mohammedans, and could not 

 be tempted. 



On our return, not far from the necropolis we passed by Moorish 

 farmers stirring the light soil with their primitive wooden ploughs, 

 shares and all, the yoke being bound around the neck of a cow or steer 

 by cords behind the horns. The cattle were all gray and dirty white, 

 no red or parti-colored ones being observed. Half way back we paused 

 to examine the Eoman ruins, portions of basement stones strewn about 

 the ground. The warmth of the afternoon sun was like that of a June 

 day. We left the native 'douars' behind, and after two or three hours 7 

 descent from the hills behind us, forded the little river and entered 

 the village of Hamman-Meskoutine. 



