IV 



My Lo^ 399 



into a room in which we could see three or four men 

 dressed like the ordinary Algerines, seated cross- 

 legged, with their backs against the wall ; in the 

 opposite corner was another archway opening into 

 another room, which also contained seated figures, 

 better dressed and evidently superior in rank to 

 those on our left. In the right-hand opposite corner 

 was a projection which apparently communicated 

 with the apartments at the back, and every now and 

 then some one would come and lounge on it for a few 

 moments, and vanish like a spirit. Above, in the 

 gallery, we could just catch a glimpse of the white 

 veils of the women in the gloom. Under the 

 corridor to our left sat the sheik, master of the 

 house and head of the sect, a placid old man of 

 eighty who looked neither particularly roguish nor 

 particularly fanatical. On either side of him sat one 

 or two decently -dressed Arabs ; on his right, one 

 with a red skull-cap who, we were told, was a 

 neophyte, or, as the Irish assistant-surgeon called 

 him, a zoophyte. The square central court was 

 covered with red matting, and around this were spread 

 thin mattresses. In the centre stood a low table 

 about a foot high, with a candle a yard long upon it. 

 Standing round this were eight or ten wiry fellows, 

 some of whom were thumping tambourines and 

 chanting monotonously, others joining in the chant, 

 without the tambourines, the hands held with the 

 palms uppermost and little fingers touching. I do 

 not know the substance of the melody, it was the 



