butter, vegetables; four hours back
again with oil, sugar, salt, tea, and every sort of necessary which is
not home grown. And three times a week. And only women. We met a string
of them as we set our faces homewards, like "toiling cattle straining
across a thousand hills"; but they all had a word to say and a smile, as
they sloped along at a steady swing.

The sun was setting when we left the good upper world of silence and the
winds; by-and-by the crest-line intervened between ourselves and the
strong serene heights--they were seen no more; and we came "hand over
hand down the Beanstalk" which led to the white city below.

CHAPTER IX

WE LEAVE TETUAN--A WET NIGHT UNDER THE STARS--S`LAM DESERTS US--WE SAIL
FOR MOGADOR--PALM-TREE HOUSE--SUS AND WADNOON COUNTRIES--THE SAHARA--THE
ATLAS MOUNTAINS.

CHAPTER IX

The stream of life runs, ah! so swiftly by,
A gleaming race 'twixt bank and bank--we fly,
Faces alight and little trailing songs,
Then plunge into the gulf, and so good-bye.

ABOUT the month of April, Morocco takes its head from under its wing; the
bad weather turns its back on the country; the tracks dry up and are fit
for travellers to take to once more. The time had come for the sake of
which we had borne with the rains, and we longed to be off, to know
something more of this strange and fascinating land.

May is a better month than April, up in the north, for travelling; April
is often dashed with the tail-end of the rains; but our desire was to go
down into the far south, and May and June in the south are both too hot
to enjoy camping out. April is quite warm enough; indeed, Morocco City
"stokes up" early in April; therefore we made it the middle of March when
we said good-bye to Jinan Dolero and set our faces Tangier-wards, there
to await some steamer which should take us down the coast. The odds and
ends which had furnished us at Tetuan and were not wanted had to be
sold--a very simple matter. The day before we left our white
garden-house, S`lam and some _mesdames_, as in his best French he always
spoke to us of his ragged countrywomen, carried them into the sok, as
they were, on their backs; and they were sold to the highest bidder
among the market-goers.

To transport ourselves and our belongings over to Tangier, a Jew
muleteer was requisitioned, who provided men and mules for the two
days' journey. After long consultations we decided to take S`lam with
us on our tra