THE ALGERIAN SAHARA. 53 
suppose him to have been, was reading in the doorway. 
He rose on the entry of Simhamed Betoumi (that I believe 
to have been the name of my conductor,) with many genu- 
flections. As he seemed anxious to show me everything, 
we walked all over his house without any ceremony. 
There were texts upon the walls, and printed books which 
appeared to be portions of the Old Testament. The man 
was a silversmith. Before leaving I was invited to partake 
of the thin Jews’ bread, and some absinthe, the most 
dangerous of all spirituous liquors. 
I found that the Mzab sheiks knew the name of London, 
and some very curious questions were asked me through 
the interpreter about its extent; also about the Queen and 
our navy—whether we had more men-of-war than the 
French, etc.? I catechising them in return about their 
manners and customs. They evidently supposed that I 
had come to inspect the products of the country with a view 
to commerce. 
T had often asked my attendant to get me an opportunity 
of seeing the Mosque, but knowing the prejudices of the 
Arabs, and that he was himself a Mahommedan, it was 
quite unlooked for when the chier’s sanction came one 
morning, and a Christian and a stranger I passed up the 
slippery ascending passage, by which the faithful draw near 
the sanctuary at Gardaia; but I was not to be permitted to 
enter. From the top of the roof only might the Christian 
dog look down upon the worshippers. In an inner open 
court, some forty feet square, about a dozen devotees are 
chanting, in a low monotonous tone, the prayers which 
Mahomet commanded. No verses from the Koran, no 
gilded lamps, no mural decorations, only the same 
reiterated wailing chant. But my attendant hints that we 
are there by stealth, so after briefly noticing that they keep 
the hazk on, (for their heads are shaven) I slip away from 
the precincts and return to the Guest house, glad to have 
