489 
CHAP. LXIX. 
POLITICAL STATE OP THE COUNTRY. — DANGEROUS CRISIS. 
In the meantime, while I was thus warding off a deci- 
sive blow from my enemies, the political horizon of 
these extensive regions became rather more turbulent 
than usual ; and war and feud raged in every quarter. 
Towards the north the communication with Morocco 
was quite interrupted, the tribe of the Tajakant, who 
almost exclusively keep up that communication, being 
engaged in civil war, which had arisen in this way. 
A "Jakani"* called 'Abd Allah Weled Muliid, and 
belonging to that section of their tribe which is called 
Drawa, had slain a chief of the E'rgebat who had 
come to sue for peace, and had been killed in his 
turn by the chief of his own tribe, a respectable and 
straightforward man of the name of Mohammed Ei 
Mukhtar Merabet. Thus, two factions having- arisen, 
one consisting of the U'jarat and the A'hel e' Sherk, 
and the other being formed by the Drawa and their 
allies, a sanguinary war was carried on. But not- 
withstanding the unfavourable state of this quarter, 
which is so important for the wellbeing of the town, 
on account of its intercourse with the north, the 
Sheikh, who was always anxious to establish peaceable 
* That is the singular form of the name Tajakant. 
