144 METHOD OF GRINDING WHEAT. 
to listen to. In order to attract my attention, one struck me 
on the shoulder, another on the head, and another pulled me 
by my clothes. Sidi-Salah, to whom 1 had in the morning 
lent my wrapper, gave me some dates for my breakfast ; I 
found them however so hard that I ate but few, which 
nevertheless renewed the pains in my jaws. 
Aly, my guide, had couscous of wheat prepared for 
two Mahometan priests, of the Trajacants who had tra- 
velled with us : I expected that he would have offered me a 
small share, for I had eaten nothing throughout the day, 
except the bad dates which had been sent to me ; but I 
was disappointed and compelled to wait patiently. 
At sun-set, Aly killed a fine sheep to regale the priests ; 
the liver and suet were stuck upon skewers, laid upon the 
coals, and eaten half-raw. He gave me a taste of it ; the 
children and their parents divided the entrails, which they 
also laid upon the coals. 
The remainder of the mutton made a plentiful supper ; 
they gave me a good portion of couscous of barley-meal, 
adding a small piece of the belly of the sheep which had 
been reserved. Though this couscous was detestable, both 
for its want of seasoning and for the great quantity of fat 
with which it was made, I ate of it with appetite. 
On the 30th of June, the women were early at work 
grinding wheat for the breakfast of the priests. The means 
by which they obtain the flour separated from the bran is as 
follows : they have two round flat granite stones, placed one 
upon another, and set into one another by means of a piece 
of wood fixed to the centre of the lower stone ; the upper has 
an opening through which the grain is introduced ; it is 
then turned w4th a handle. Two women are employed in 
working this machine, although it is neither heavy nor diffi- 
cult to move. 
When the wheat had been thoroughly sifted several 
times through a sieve of thin canvas, the two daughters of 
