486 APPENDIX L. 



' One of the points we had determined to visit on our torn- 

 was the ruin known by the Moors as " Pharaoh's Palace," or 

 " Pharaoh's Tomb." The time of our journey was in some 

 respects unfortunate for visiting places held in veneration by 

 the natives ; we were, in fact, staying in Fez at the time of 

 Mohammed's birthday, when religious fanaticism exhibits itself, 

 not merely in holidays and powder-play, alternating with devo- 

 tional exercises, but in processions to the shrines of saints, and 

 in sundry manifestations of ill-will to unbelievers. We had 

 considerable difficulty in obtaining intelligible information as to 

 the exact site of the ruins. Our idea had been that they ought 

 to have been accessible from the road between Alcazar and Fez, 

 striking off near Sidi Guiddar. The interpreter and the mounted 

 soldiers who were with us, overruled this when it was proposed, 

 and we therefore continued our journey. They were probably 

 right ; but in our various conversations with them on the sub- 

 ject they managed to convey the impression that either they did 

 not themselves know the precise locality, or that they did not 

 intend that we should visit the place. 



' During our stay in Fez we were joined by two Englishmen, 

 Messrs. G. T. Biddulph, and F. A. O'Brien, whose acquaintance 

 we had made in Tangier, and we proceeded to Mekinez in 

 company. Mekinez is a sort of Mecca to the Aissowies — the 

 most fanatical of all the sects of western Mohammedans — and 

 the road was thronged with devotees returning from their 

 annual pilgrimage to the city of Mohammed-ben-Aissa, their 

 prophet. We were kindly received by the Lieutenant Bashaw 

 (Kai'd Hamo), who seemed desirous to forward our views in 

 every way in his power. He thought it necessary on our 

 departure to provide us with a soldier who knew the district 

 thoroughly, so that altogether we had a guard of four regular 

 soldiers. Thus furnished, the tone of our interpreter changed, 

 and we had no more obstacles thrown in our way. 



' We proposed to make the Roman station the first stage on 

 our road from Mekinez to Rabat. Whether it would have been 

 better to have taken it, as we had originally intended, on the 

 way to Fez, or subsequently, between Fez and Mequinez, it is 

 needless now to inquire ; it certainly is a good deal out of 

 the direct route between Mekinez and Rabat, if maps are 

 to he trusted. However, we got on the way on March 23 a 



