92 EXPORTS FROM MOGADOR. ch. iv. 



from our experience it would not be difficult to find one 

 who would become a useful servant. 



In the coiKse of the day we visited the extensive stores 

 of Messrs. E. Bonnet & Co., who export large quantities 

 of olive oil from the neighbouring provinces. By increased 

 care in the preparation and subsequent purification of the 

 oil, its quality has been much improved. The cultivation 

 of the vine has of late rapidly increased, and wine of 

 tolerable quality has taken a place among the products 

 which Marocco supplies to England. 



Notwithstanding all that we had heard of the excel- 

 lence of the climate, we had to confess that at this season 

 Mogador is not a paradise for the botanist. The NNE. 

 winds come saturated with vapour, and charged with 

 minute particles of salt from the breaking of the Atlantic 

 waves on the reefs near the town ; and, as the temperature 

 of the land is scarcely higher than that of the sea, the air 

 has little or no drying effect on paper and plants. The 

 consequence was that Mr. Carstensen's kitchen was used 

 both by day and night to save our specimens from destruc- 

 tion by damp. 



As our interpreter, besides the cook and one or two 

 more of our retinue, were .Jews, it was decided that, in 

 order to spare their feelings and those of the Jewish 

 community in Mogador in respect to the Sabbath, we 

 should despatch them along with our heavy baggage on 

 April 28, while we should follow on the succeeding day to 

 the spot where they were to await us. Later in the day, 

 after completing the arrangements for our journey, we 

 went by invitation to dine with the Grovernor. We 

 found that our host had had a table prepared with chairs 

 for Mrs. Carstensen, who with two European ladies graced 

 the entertainment. Beside them a carpet was spread for 

 Mr. Carstensen and our party; while the Grovernor himself, 

 with three native functionaries, sat in their usual fashion, 

 cross-legged, on another carpet several yards distant. The 

 first preliminary was the washing of fingers. One atten- 



