9^6 SHIPWRECK OF THE 
and the next morning he sent the children of the Moors in 
quest of the fugitives. They came in compliance with his 
orders, and kissed his hand, according to their custom; for 
the Moors entertain a profound veneration for their marabouts; 
ihey fear them more than any other power, and their male- 
diction is more formidable than all the menaces of Algiers ; 
and it is in the name of the marabout, and not of God, that the 
poor ask charity. 
The grand marabout likewise sent for the governor of the 
mountains, and the chiefs of the huts composing the village. 
When they were assembled in that where he was, he informed 
them that the occasion of his visit was the release of five 
French subjects who had escaped from shipwreck; that France 
being at peace with the kingdom of Algiers, they ought not, 
contrary to the faith of treaties, to detain these people, already 
too unfortunate in having lost their relatives and their proper- 
ty, without depriving them of their liberty and their lives ; that 
though the mountain Moors were not subject to the authority 
of Algiers, yet they enjoyed the advantages of the peace v/ith 
France : and lastly, that they would be guilty of great injus- 
tice if they did not release them, having already obtained a 
rich booty from the wreck. The Moors, though their argu- 
ments were bad, defended themselves as well as they could. 
During this contest, the joy which had animated the wretch- 
ed captives at the prospect of a speedy release from the hor- 
rors of slavery was gradually dispelled : gloomy inquietude 
succeeded the ray of hope which had dawned upon their 
minds. But their consternation was extreme when the inter- 
preter told them that the Moors, induced by the authority and 
reasons of the marabout, agreed to set the slaves at liberty 
upon condition that the sheik, or marabout, should retain the 
young lady ; saying that he intended her for a wife for his 
son, a youth about fourteen; that he was not unworthy of her, 
and that if she were even the daughter of the king of France, 
his son was her equal, being the offspring of the king of the 
mountains. This new incident appeared more distressing 
than all the others, and their captivity seemed less dreadful 
than the necessity of leaving their mistress, so young and 
without any kind of support, in the hands of the barbarians. 
Notwithstanding all solicitations, the sheik remained in- 
flexible ; but at length the marabout, taking him aside, put 
into his hand a few sultans of gold, with the promise of more. 
The gold instantly rendered him more tractable. He agreed 
to release all the captives for the sum of nine hundred pias- 
