to the bargain. The little Tetuan shops are a species of club, for each
Moor has certain shops at which he habitually sits and may be found with
more or less certainty. While the owner and his goods remain inside the
shop, there is room for two people outside on the sill or doorstep, and a
couple of fat leather cushions are provided for them. Even Mr. Bewicke
was in the habit of sitting every day at Hadj Mukhtar Hilalli's shop and
hearing the news, between four and seven o'clock every evening.

[Illustration: OUT SHOPPING.

[_To face p. 90._]

He interpreted for us in our early days. We spent a whole morning buying
_humbells_ (striped carpets) at a shop where the owner was sitting on the
floor playing chess with a friend and drinking green tea. All over Tetuan
draughts and chess are played constantly on little boards, either on the
doorstep or inside the shop. The game had its origin, like bridge and
polo, eastwards of England, and was introduced into Europe after the
Crusades, together with baths and other civilized habits. Our shopman
looked exceedingly bored at the interruption. However, after much
bargaining, we bought a humbell, having to point to everything we wished
to buy, for no Moor likes a Christian to come inside his shop, because of
his dirty boots. A Moor is either in a pair of clean yellow slippers, or
else they are on the doorsill, and his feet are bare: he tosses all his
silks, towels, embroideries, carpets, on the floor, and sits among
them, while the purchaser stands outside, points to the shelves and heap,
and trusts to the owner's divining which particular silk handkerchief is
wanted.

In another shop we found a second humbell, chiefly black and orange, the
property of a taciturn individual in a snow-white _selham_ (hooded
cloak), a turban to match, with scarlet peak, a dark blue garment
underneath the selham, and a complexion like cream and roses. He lay at
full length on a pile of many carpets. We stopped in front of the shop.
Neither rising, bowing, nor bustling about to show off his goods, the
white figure lay still, looking dreamily through and beyond us. We were
bores. In reply to a question of price, a long sum was murmured. At last
we expressed a decided wish to inspect the humbell, and, slowly rising,
he condescended to lift it from a shelf, his looks suggesting that he
would prefer being left alone. Again we asked his lowest price.
Twenty-one shillings. We offered sixteen. Without deig