sand which we had to ascend and descend every instant, also
of prickly shrubs over which we were frequently obliged to walk. Those
who were barefooted, felt most severely at this time the want of their
shoes. I myself lost among the bushes various shreds of my dress, and
my feet and legs were all streaming with blood. At length, after two
long hours of walking and suffering, we arrived at the camp of that
tribe to which belonged our Arab conductors. We had scarcely got into
the camp, when the dogs, the children, and the Moorish women, began to
annoy us. Some of them threw sand in our eyes, others amused
themselves by snatching at our hair, on pretence of wishing to examine
it. This pinched us, that spit upon us; the dogs bit our legs, whilst
the old harpies cut the buttons from the officers coats, or endeavored
to take away the lace. Our conductors, however, had pity on us, and
chased away the dogs and the curious crowd, who had already made us
suffer as much as the thorns which had torn our feet. The chiefs of
the camp, our guides, and some good women, at last set about getting
us some supper. Water in abundance was given us without payment, and
they sold us fish dried in the sun, and some bowlsful of sour milk, at
a reasonable price.

We found a Moor in the camp who had previously known my father at
Senegal, and who spoke a little French. As soon as he recognised him,
he cried, 'Tiens toi Picard! ni a pas conneitre moi Amet?' Hark ye,
Picard, know you not Amet? We were all struck with astonishment at
these French words coming from the mouth of a Moor. My father
recollected having employed long ago a young goldsmith at Senegal, and
discovering the Moor Amet to be the same person, shook him by the
hand. After that good fellow had been made acquainted with our
shipwreck, and to what extremities our unfortunate family had been
reduced, he could not refrain from tears; and this perhaps was the
first time a Mussulman had ever wept over the misfortunes of a
Christian. Amet was not satisfied with deploring our hard fate; he was
desirous of proving that he was generous and humane, and instantly
distributed among us a large quantity of milk and water free of any
charge. He also raised for our family a large tent of the skins of
camels, cattle and sheep, because his religion would not allow him to
lodge with Christians under the same roof. The place appeared very
dark, and the obscurity made us uneasy. Amet and our conductors