y in the
apprehension of this phenomenon, for "The Gulf Stream," on leaving the
Gulf of Mexico, "has a temperature of more than 27 deg. (centigrade), or
80-6/10 degrees of Fahrenheit." [38]

Many a fish must pass through and live in this stream. And after all,
since water is the element of fish, and is hotter or colder in all
regions, like the air, the element of man, which he breathes, warmer or
cooler, according to clime and local circumstances--there appear to be
no physical objections in the way of giving implicit credence to our
tourists.

Water is so abundant, that the adjoining plain might be easily
irrigated, and planted with ten thousand palms and forests of olives.
God is bountiful in the Desert, but man wilfully neglects these aqueous
riches springing up eternally to repair the ravages of the burning
simoum! In one of the groves we met a dervish, who immediately set about
charming our Boab. He began by an incantation, then seized him round the
middle, and, stooping a little, lifted him on his shoulders, continuing
the while the incantation. He then put him on his feet again, and, after
several attempts, appeared to succeed in bringing off his stomach
something in the shape of leaden bullets, which he then, with an air of
holy swagger, presented to the astonished guard of the Bey. The dervish
next spat on his patient's hands, closed them in his own, then smoothed
him down the back like a mountebank smooths his pony, and stroked also
his head and beard; and, after further gentle and comely ceremonies of
this sort, the charming of the charmer finished, and the Boab presented
the holy man with his fee. We dined at the Kaed's house; this
functionary was a very venerable man, a perfect picture of a patriarch
of the olden Scriptural times of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There was
not a single article of furniture in the room, except a humble sofa,
upon which he sat.

We inspected the old Kasbah at Ghafsa, which is in nearly a state of
ruin, and looked as if it would soon be down about our ears. It is an
irregular square, and built chiefly of the remains of ancient edifices.
It was guarded by fifty Turks, whose broken-down appearance was in
perfect harmony with the citadel they inhabited. The square in a
building is the favourite form of the Moors and Mohammedans generally;
the Kaaba of Mecca, the _sanctum sanctorum_, is a square. The Moors
endeavour to imitate the sacred objects of their religion in every way,
eve