WIFE OF ES-SFAXEE ARAB SAYING. 117 
sant weather to be out in the desert. I found it bad 
enough at Mourzuk — 100° in the shade at four 
o'clock in the afternoon. Hateetah was reported to 
be on the road ; so I determined to wait five or six 
days for him, and thus not deviate from my original 
plan. 
I went to visit the wife of Mohammed Es- 
Sfaxee, who goes with us to Soudan as a mer- 
chant, carrying a considerable quantity of goods 
on account of M. Gagliuffi : this gentleman accom- 
panied me. The object of our visit was to see 
whether the Sfaxee had left a sufficient quantity of 
provisions with his wife to support her during his 
absence. It is necessary to take such precautions 
with these Moors, who often barbarously abandon 
their families, without any adequate provision, for 
months and even for years together. We found that 
he had left dates, wheat, and a little olive-oil and 
mutton-fat — the ordinary stock of all families in 
Fezzan. Only a few rich people indulge in such 
luxuries as coffee, sugar, meat, and liquid butter. 
An Arab saying : " You must always put other 
people's things on your head, and your ov/n under 
your arm. Then, if there be danger of the things 
falling off your head, you must raise your arm, and 
let fall your own things to save those of others." I 
do not know what things I shall let fall of my own ; 
but this I know, that during my whole residence in 
Mourzuk my mind has been continually occupied in 
