CH. Tin. CAMP AT TASSILUNT. 183 



country, that there is a great deal of human nature among 

 the Moors, as there is amongst most of the people that 

 travellers make acquaintance with, and that the conduct 

 of the soldiers and their officers was pretty much what 

 might be expected from any other men put in the same 

 position. The pay of a captain in the regular army is 

 equivalent to 4s. 2c?. per month, and that of the men not 

 nearly enough to support life, even allowing for the frugal 

 habits of the people. It is only natural that when the 

 opportunity is offered, along with the certainty of im- 

 punity, they should make the most of it, as they certainly 

 do. In some places, as we afterwards learned, they 

 were not satisfied with the large supplies that they re- 

 quisitioned, but demanded and obtained money from the 

 village authorities. 



From the summit of the second pass, the track de- 

 scends about 400 feet into a broad valley, well wooded with 

 olive, carob, and other cultivated trees. 



Soon after seven o'clock we reached a convenient spot 

 on flat ground, beside a rapid stream, near a village called 

 Tassilunt. The scenery here was very picturesque, al- 

 though we liad no view of the higher part of the chain. 

 The nearer mountains were of a deep red colom- — prob- 

 ably sandstone — contrasting finelj with the rich green of 

 trees and shrubs that covered most of the slopes . The 

 floor of the valley here, as in most parts of the range that 

 we visited, is chiefly devoted to olive cultivation, poor 

 crops of grain being raised beneath the trees. 



The sheik of the village soon presented himself, and 

 before long an abundant mona was brought to the tent 

 door, and laid, according to custom, at Hooker's feet. 

 Five large dishes of cooked meat and keskossou, and piles 

 of wheaten cakes, were designed to stay or to whet the 

 appetites of the party ; while a sheep, twelve fowls, fifty 

 eggs, and five pounds of butter formed a provision for 

 their futm'e wants. When it is remembered that nearly 

 as much more cooked food was supplied in the morning, it 



