184 
UNLUCKY ACCIDENT. 
with a musket. He halted for a moment before us : the 
sheriff in accosting him^ respectfully kissed his white tunic ; 
the Bacha spoke a few words to him in a low tone, after 
which, raising his voice a little, he informed me that I must 
remain at Ghourland till further orders, I readily concluded 
that I had nothing to hope from his highness ; and, return- 
ing to my village, Mohammed confirmed me in my opinion. 
Sidi-Habib-Eenani had set out in the morning for Fez ; 
having refused to give me a mule or any other conveyance 
for three mitkhals of silver, the produce of the sale of my 
two pagnes : thus I found myself at Boheim, without know- 
ing how to leave it. I had a very good coussabe, which 
Abdallah-Chebir had given me at Timbuctoo ; and I deter- 
mined, at the risk of going away without clothing, to sell 
it in the market, and endeavour to hire an ass, so that I 
might be able to set out the day after the morrow with a 
caravan going to Fez : the eldest son of Benani, a merchant 
by profession, sold my coussabe for two mitkhals, which, 
with the three others, sufficed to hire an ass. At ten at 
night, I went as usual to present myself at the gate of my 
host's son, from whom, during the day, I had received as a 
present some bread and a bunch of grapes : he also sent me 
a supper and I went to bed under the sacred roof of the 
mosque. The court of this structure was locked and the 
inmates could not open it during the night ; a circumstance 
which had nearly drawn me into grievous trouble. This 
court enclosed the tomb of a holy sherif, long since de- 
ceased : the following morning, my fellow-lodgers were 
scandalized to perceive that this revered sepulchre had been 
soiled during the night; a universal cry of indignation 
arose, and all eyes were turned upon me. Amazed and 
confounded, I had not courage to assert my innocence ; my 
only excuse was ignorance of the localities, and I protested, 
with perfect truth, that the profanation was not wilful but 
purely accidental. This sincere allegation was, however. 
