THE HUMOURS OF THE RACECOURSE iii 



Here comes in a double allowance of flutes and 

 tambourines ; and so on to the end, when he declares 

 that as soon as Rhamadan is over, and he has money 

 enough, he will marry Sara, and take her to his tent, 

 but not in the Sahara. 



' On the south side of Constantina rise the heights 

 of Mansourah ; and beyond them is a great plain, 

 watered by the Rummel, and crossed by the road to 

 Batna and the Sahara. The racecourse was on this 

 plain, and as the distance by path was half that by 

 the road, we elected to go on foot. I think the 

 appearance of the vehicles and their occupants for- 

 tified us in this determination. In either case we 

 were sure of heat ; but heat in the open air is more 

 endurable than heat in a box on wheels, by courtesy 

 called an omnibus, plus dust and Arab society. For 

 although the shore of " Araby the blest " may have 

 once diffused Sabean odours of a refreshing sort, the 

 property has not been transmitted to the garments 

 of the children of Araby of the lower and middle 

 classes, and they cannot be described as " spicy " in 

 any sense of the word. 



' The first view of the course on coming down on 

 it from the Mansourah was very striking. On a race- 

 course in any other part of the world the great bulk 

 of the spectators would have been on foot. Here, 

 except a comparatively small knot of people about 

 the grand stand, every one was on horseback. The 

 course itself was in the form of a circle, about a mile 



