rumble to itself, that

vessel of the more ungainly make?

as human vessels complain sometimes:--

They sneer at me for leaning all awry;
What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?

Beyond the potter the ground was covered with an army of his soft
mud-coloured vessels, all sorted and arranged in groups which matched,
dozen after dozen, far back into the inner shadows of the cave, like some
weird and interminable china shop. I gave the old man a cigarette, which
he puffed at over his wheel.

In the next cave a white-bearded Aaron was solemnly dipping dishes into a
bowl of blue colour and glaze, and placing each with his finger and thumb
on a board by him among countless fellows, while with his other hand he
gravely swirled the liquid to prevent its setting. Others next him were
again cutting out shapes; and three potters were hard at work, one
moulding the bodies of pots, another the necks, another the lids, while a
fourth put all three together.

And thus they laboured on. Their slippers lay in the mouths of the caves
beside their brown jellabs; and the smell of the moist clay and the drip
of water up amongst the green fern mixed with the cool air.

Almighty Potter, on whose wheel of blue
The world is fashioned, and is broken too,
Why to the race of men is heaven so dire?
In what, O wheel, have I offended you?

CHAPTER VII

COUNTRY PEOPLE FORDING THE RIVER--WE CALL ON CI HAMED GHRALMIA--AN
EXPEDITION ACROSS THE RIVER IN SEARCH OF THE BLUE POOL--MOORISH BELIEF IN
GINNS--THE BASHA--POWDER PLAY--TETUAN PRISON.

CHAPTER VII

Set not thy heart on any good or gain--
Life means but pleasure, or it means but pain;
When Time lets slip a little perfect hour,
Oh! take it--for it will not come again.

MANY walks began by degrees to tell upon our boots, for the cobble-stones
of Tetuan and the rocks of Morocco in general are meant less for boots
than for bare feet, which they do not seem to damage. In time, stress of
circumstances drove us to a curly black-headed Jew bootmaker, whose most
expensive pair of thick black boots cost nine shillings. Another
Israelite made us suits of rough brown jellab material, for the sum of L1
each--stuff which wore for ever.

The mountains on the opposite side of the river were our El Dorado, but
the river would not go down in January and allow of our fording it; rain
followed rain, and it was higher than ever. One market da