Morocco, the Land of the Extreme West 149 



both horses and their leaders were 

 dragged out onto the further bank by the 

 united forces of the entire party and we 

 proceeded on our way. 



About one o'clock we were halted for 

 luncheon in a valley between the hills, 

 where there was neither shade nor cool 

 water to drink, and the only food pro- 

 duced consisted of a few very gritty 

 dried figs, a little hard and pungent 

 cheese made from the milk of goats, and 

 a glutinous and limp, yet exceedingly 

 tough, galette or cake, which is the only 

 form of bread used by the poorest natives. 

 The few mouthfuls I tried to swallow 

 sickened me, so we were only too thank- 

 ful to mount as soon as we could. 



In vain I tried to learn where we were 

 going. Raisuli had remained in the rear 

 and the surly mountaineers would not 

 answer our queries. 



THE, COUNTRY TRAVERSED 



The ascent, whither our course now 

 led, became steeper as we penetrated 

 further among the hills, and about four 

 o'clock I met with the accident I, had so 

 long apprehended. 



As we came to the bank of a rapid tor- 

 rent, that was confined between steep and 

 slippery rocks, my gray took the water 

 jump; but not so did the sullen native 

 who held the bridle ; consequently there 

 was a crash and, my horse rearing to re- 

 cover himself, the rotten girths parted, 

 and away went both the saddle and rider, 

 backward down the steep declivity. It 

 seemed to me yards before I brought up 

 on a ledge of rock with, as I for the mo- 

 ment apprehended, a broken back and 

 dislocated thigh. Here I lay quivering 

 with pain until Varley came up, and, a 

 little later, Raisuli. I told him of how 

 the man's stupidity had nearly cost me a 

 broken limb. 



Raisuli reproved the man in question, 

 and this fellow was replaced by another 

 guide or jailer. I was hoisted with diffi- 

 culty upon the saddle, now fastened on 



by palmetto cords, and we proceeded 

 upon our melancholy journey. I felt I 

 could not long endure the pain due to my 

 fall, since my leg was already swollen 

 from the thigh to the instep, while I was 

 also numb with the weariness of this pro- 

 tracted ride, which had already lasted 

 throughout the entire night and the bet- 

 ter part of the day. 



Every hour the country grew wilder 

 and the road more abrupt. We only 

 passed within sight of one miserable vil- 

 lage, clinging to the steep hillside, and 

 here the women and children came out to 

 hoot and jeer at us, evidently realizing 

 the situation and rejoicing over our sorry 

 plight. Nor could I learn how much 

 longer this weary march might continue 

 to tax my failing strength ; yet all this 

 was trifling compared with what was yet 

 to come. 



A little later we reached the crest of a 

 hill, from which we looked down upon 

 a wooded vale, beyond which rose a rock- 

 crowned eminence. Pointing to these 

 bristling crags, my attendants told me 

 that beyond these heights lay the village 

 which was the object of our journey. 



It seemed to me, wearied as I was, that 

 it was impossible that I could endure so 

 many more hours of fatigue and pain ; 

 but there was no help for it, since short. of 

 this undiscoverable village there was, it 

 seemed, neither food nor shelter to be 

 obtained. 



Descending into the wooded valley, we 

 crossed a stream, and the party halted 

 beneath the giant oaks which stretched 

 their wide-reaching arms aboveour heads. 

 Here we halted for an hour's rest before 

 we began the steep ascent — a path which 

 took us up through a narrow cleft or 

 gorge at the back of a great mass of the 

 cliff that apparently had slid forward 

 during some cataclysm of nature, leaving 

 this open breach. Passing behind the fal- 

 len mass of rock, we climbed the narrow 

 gorge, so narrow that we had great diffi- 

 culty to protect our knees as our horses 



