II 



II 





1 88 



SHOOTING SEAR TASGIERS. 



housetop ; a hundred merr>' voices from the summits 

 of the surrounding edifices will break upon your 

 ear, while from the bay will float the manly songs of 

 the crew of many a contrabandista. The sky over- 

 head will be so clear, so many thousands of stars will 

 fleck it, and the air you breathe will feel so invigora- 

 ting and pure, that you will mentally exclaim, ere you 

 " turn in," " I had no idea that this world was haK as 

 beautiful and glorious as it is !" 



In the gardens that surround the town there is at 

 times fair shooting to be found, woodcock not unfre- 

 quently being abundant there, but it is rather un- 

 certain work, and the proprietors object to trespassers ; 

 so I should advise a start for the interior to be made as 

 soon as possible. The direct course is through the 

 *' soke " or market-place. If it is a busy day it is well 

 worth halting here for a few minutes, for you will be 

 surrounded by a novelty of sights, yet withal so typi- 

 cally oriental, that you have probably never witnessed 

 the like before. Amid crowds of groaning, screaming, 

 fractious, bad-tempered camels, nearly all lying down, 

 some loaded, others about to be, walk crowds of 

 Moors, interspersed among them slav^es, Bedawins, 

 and free blacks, all robed in the picturesque costume 

 of Barbary. Their upright walk, fearlessness of ex- 

 pression and soldierly bearing, proclaim at once their 

 independence and courage. Many of these people have 

 travelled from the upper waters of the Senegal, from 

 Timbuctoo, Kanem, or even Darfur, and know more 

 of the secrets and dangers of the heart of the Dark 

 Continent than any Christian living. The distances 

 they have come, the greater portion probably on foot, 

 appear as if it were a trifle to them to endure fatigue, 

 for year after year they repeat it, the only reward ex- 

 pected being the profits derived from the white man's 

 manufactures, when bartered for gold dust, ivory, etc. 



But pushing on, several mosques are passed, till at 

 length " the olive grove " is reached. 



