i6 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



Mordjana continued to pull at her bridle, and I had 

 more trouble to quiet her than to urge her on. When 

 two-thirds of the night had passed, and a desire to 

 sleep was growing upon me, I dismounted, and seizing 

 the reins, twisted them round mj wrist. I placed 

 my gun under my head, and at last fell asleep, softly 

 couched on one of those dwarf palms so common in 

 our country. An hour after, I roused myself. All 

 the leaves of the dwarf palm had been stripped off 

 by Mordjana. "We started afresh. The peep of day 

 found us at Souagui. My mare had thrice broken 

 out into a sweat, and thrice dried herself. I touched 

 her with the heel. She watered at Sidi-Bou-Zid, 

 and that evening I offered up the evening prayer at 

 Leghrouat, after giving her a handful of straw to 

 induce her to wait patiently for the enormous bag of 

 barley that was coming to her. These are not jour- 

 neys fit for your horses," said Ben-Zyan in conclusion, 

 " for the horses of you Christians, who go from 

 Alsfiers to Blidah — thirteen leao^ues — as far as from 

 my nose to my ear, and then fancy you have done a 

 good day's work." 



' This Arab had done eighty leagues in twenty-four 

 hours (Berouaguia to Souagui, thirty-one leagues; 

 Sidi-Bou-Zid twenty-five leagues farther on ; and 

 lastly, Leghrouat, twenty-four leagues beyond that) ; 

 his mare had eaten nothing but the leaves of the dwarf 

 palm on which he had lain down, and only once had 

 been watered, about the middle of the journey; and 



