45 
where the dull prospect was perhaps suddenly broken by a patch 
of green, formed by the rain collecting in a hollow, but these fresh 
spots were few and far between. And now by narrow defiles our 
cavalcade drew near this Mozabite capital. I could not help 
thinking as often as I reined in my mule what awful havoc the 
long guns of the Arabs woidd make with an invading army in such 
a place; and no doubt, for them, many a winding pass here teems 
with historic interest. The bullet marks on the walls testify that 
the city itself has figured in many a sanguinary conflict. Standing 
upon a gentle eminence, crowned by the never-failing mosque, its 
flat-roofed houses rising tier above tier, above the evergreen palm 
trees, Gardaia’s exotic aspect can never be effaced from my 
memory. 
Her gardens, indeed, stand at some little distance, but they are 
far more extensive than would at first sight appear, and should bo 
visited in the cool of the morning or in the red blush of sunset. 
Then the “ woods resound ” with joyous carols, and the sparkling 
bee-eater, the painted roller, and the gilded oriole flicker in the 
foliage like a fixiry scene. Hothing can exceed the fertility of 
this oasis. Vines, surpassing any which I ever saw in size and 
luxuriance, were bent with many an unripe cluster, trained from 
palm stem to palm stem, and the figs and apricot trees were 
loaded with green fruit. 
Above them towered 40,000 date palms, affording food and 
shelter to many species of birds. From bush to bush flitted the 
subalpine warbler f Sylvia suhalpina,) and the white shrike 
fLanius dealbafiuij sat on every well, or rose to catch the passing 
locust ; while here and there I saw the cunning Xumidian malurus 
(Crate ropm fulvusj fly with arrowy straightness from the further 
side of a bush or thicket. Beetles, flies, and grain constitute the 
princii>al food of this true denizen of the Sahara. \Yhen, as I 
have said, the broken rays of the evening sun were viewed through 
this mass of foliage the eflfect was superb. 
To return to the city itself ; a motley crowd gathered round us 
as we rode into the market place — brawny men and henna-stained 
children pressed forward, or mounted on the bench of justice, 
with greetings and cries of surprise. "While we waited at the 
guest-house for the arrival of a negro with a ponderous iron key, 
I could not help remarking how many there were in the crowd 
