TRAVELS IN THE SAHARA. 
who endeavoured to ingratiate himself with his 
master's favourite, not only failed in this, but in- 
curred her implacable resentment, through his ir- 
ritability, which, to the Arab women, seemed ex- 
tremely to resemble petulance. During his resi- 
dence with Sidi Mahomet, the hardships he en- 
dured were almost incredible. With the excessive 
heat, the milk of the sheep, goats, and camels di- 
minished, and then the dogs fared better than the 
Christians, who were forced to subsist on wild herbs 
and raw snails. When the rains fell, and the least 
pressure made the water to spring up through the 
sandy soil, the Christians slept behind a bush, 
unsheltered, on the bare ground. Brisson and 
his master sometimes reasoned about religion, 
when the latter always answered the harangues of 
the former by declaring, that he preferred a bowl 
of churned milk to such absurdities. Several of 
his companions perished, and were left by the 
Arabs to be devoured by the ravens, while in the 
struggles of death. One of them was supposed to 
be murdered by his master, for milking his camels 
clandestinely. An application made by Brisson 
to the council at Mogador, by a letter entrusted to 
a Jewish merchant, was frustrated through the 
negligence of the vice-consul ; and the Labdesseba 
Arabs thought the journey too dangerous to be 
encountered for the ransom of their slaves. The 
drought became so excessive, that no pasturage 
