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pear together, but sometimes only the plaintiff comes; 
in this case the kaid authorises him to fetch the party 
accused, which is done without opposition, because the 
least resistance would be most severely punished. 
The kaid lying on a carpet and some cushions, pre- 
pares to hear both parties, who are placed squatting 
down near the door of the hall, and the discussion be- 
gins. Sometimes the kaid and the parties begin speak- 
ing, or rather bawling aloud, all together for a quarter 
of an hour, and without any possibility of understand- 
ing each other, till the soldiers, who are always standing 
behind the parties, strike them violently with their fists 
to make them silent. The kaid then pronounces his 
judgment, and directly afterwards both the parties are 
turned out of doors by the soldiers with redoubled 
blows, and the sentence is executed without remission. 
It is a remarkable circumstance that all who present 
themselves for judgment before the kaid, are, after the 
decision, turned out in this manner by the soldiers, who 
continually cry out , " sirr, sirr" (run, run.) 
Sometimes the kaid gives audience at the door of his 
house; in this case he is seated in a chair, and a crowd 
presses round him. 
During the first day of my arrival I assisted at one of 
these audiences. A young lad presented himself to the 
kaid with a slight scratch on his face, and made his com- 
plaint. His adversary was brought in and condemned 
to receive one- and- thirty lashes. Be was directly seiz- 
ed by four soldiers who threw him on the ground; a 
cudgel with a running knot was brought, in which his 
feet were fastened, and a soldier gave him one-and-thirty 
lashes on the soles of his feet with a tarred rope. After 
this operation the accuser also was beaten out with re- 
doubled blows. I had a great inclination to ask par- 
