288 SIGHING FOR THE FLESH POTS. ch. xi. 



meat of well-fed animals and the stringy tasteless fibre 

 which is produced in such a country as this, will duly 

 appreciate our longing for some variety. As the season 

 advanced, and the herbage in the lower country became 

 more and more parched, the sheep, always miserably thin, 

 approached nearer and nearer to the condition of skeletons, 

 covered with skin and ragged wool, and for some time 

 back we had given up the attempt to eat any part, except 

 the liver and kidneys broiled on short sticks ; while the 

 fowls had become equally distasteful. The kesJcossou, 

 daily presented with the mona, was prepared with large 

 quantities of rancid butter, to which, in spite of many 

 experiments, we never could reconcile ourselves. Our 

 attempts at obtaining any variety of diet were quite 

 unsuccessful. Ducks and geese, being by Mohammedans 

 considered unclean, were out of the question ; and the 

 turkey and guinea-fowl appear to be unknown to the 

 domestic economy of the Moors. Our chief desideratum 

 was fresh vegetables or fruit, but these were not to be 

 obtained. Except in the neighbourhood of the coast 

 towns, where they have been introduced by Europeans, 

 none of our European vegetables are cultivated in South 

 Marocco, except the cucumber and the pumpkin, and, 

 owing to the want of the most elementary skill in horti- 

 culture, these seem to remain in season for a very short 

 time ; while the cultivation of fruit, at least in the dis- 

 tricts we traversed, seems to be generally neglected. In 

 this respect Marocco presents a striking contrast to most 

 places with a somewhat similar climate in the Mediter- 

 ranean region. Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, however low 

 they may have fallen owing to corrupt and oppressive 

 government, have retained some share in the inheritance 

 of an ancient civilisation. We had carried with us sundry 

 tins of preserved vegetables, of which green peas were by 

 far the most acceptable ; but our stores were now nearly 

 exhausted, and our chief remaining luxury was portable 

 soup, made with compressed vegetables and biscuits, which 



