WRECK OF THE ROSE VIRGINIE. 53 
of us, and that he had no more change of apparel than his 
subjects, for he remained all night in his wet clothes. 
I have already mentioned that this storm took every- 
body by surprise ; in a general way the Moors strike their 
tents when they are threatened by a storm, leaving only a few 
small ones, which almost always resist its force, and serve to 
shelter the king and the royal family ; all the rest remain 
outside exposed to the rain. On this occasion the wind was 
so high, that the very smallest tents were thrown down, and 
the princes and princesses shared the common fate. 
On the 21st of September, a Trarzas marabout, from 
Portendik, arrived at the camp : T was called to see some 
articles which he brought with him from that place : he 
showed me a pair of pantaloons, which 1 thought I recog- 
nized as having belonged to M. Lacaby, who was wrecked in 
the Rose Virginie, on the bank of Arquin ; he had also a 
handsome little dressing-case, and seaman's boots, which 
he used to protect himself from the thorns and khakhames. 
I should have liked to ask him a few questions, but I dared 
not for fear of exciting suspicions. The particulars of this 
shipwreck I had been acquainted with before I left Saint 
Louis, and I had even seen some of the sufferers. 
On the 23d of September, the messengers who had been 
sent to look for pasture returned, and said that they had 
found no water in the direction in which they had been : 
it was then determined to move to the N.E., where we 
hoped for better success. 
On the 24th, the camp broke up. My marabout's camel 
was ill, so I travelled on foot. We crossed the hills ; about 
six miles from the place which we had left we came to a 
lake, called Lakhadou, surrounded by a fine plain of argilla- 
ceous soil, covered with vegetation : here we halted for 
several days. This lake is pleasantly shaded by grewias. 
For the last three days, Fatme-Anted-Moctar had 
omitted to send me a meal of sangleh, as she had been 
