he intellectual capital. Then
again those who are sunburned and bronzed are more of the Arab stock
than of the Berber.

These Berbers, the original Barbarians, known to the Romans and Greeks
as such before the Arab was heard of outside Arabia, are at once the
greatest and the most interesting nation, or rather race, of the whole
of Africa. Had such a coalition as "the United States of North Africa"
been possible, Europe would long ago have learned to fear and respect
the title "Barbarian" too much to put it to its present use. But the
weak point of the Berber race has been its lack of homogeneity; it
has ever been split up into independent states and tribes, constantly
indulging in internecine warfare. This is a principle which has its
origin in the relations of the units whereof they are composed, of
whom it may be said as of the sons of Ishmael, that every man's hand
is against his neighbour. The vendetta, a result of the _lex talionis_
of "eye for eye and tooth for tooth," flourishes still. No youth is
supposed to have attained full manhood until he has slain his man, and
excuses are seldom lacking. The greatest insult that can be offered to
an enemy is to tell him that his father died in bed--even greater than
the imputation of evil character to his maternal relatives.

Some years ago I had in my service a lad of about thirteen, one
of several Reefians whom I had about me for the practice of their
language. Two or three years later, on returning to Morocco, I met him
one day on the market.

"I am so glad to see you," he said; "I want you to help me buy some
guns."

"What for?"

"Well, my father's dead; may God have mercy on him!"

"How did he die?"

"God knows."

"But what has that to do with the gun?"

"You see, we must kill my three uncles, I and my two brothers, and we
want three guns."

"What! Did they kill your father?"

"God knows."

"May He deliver you from such a deed. Come round to the house for some
food."

"But I've got married since you saw me, and expect an heir, yet they
chaff me and call me a boy because I have never yet killed a man."

I asked an old servant who had been to England, and seemed "almost
a Christian," to try and dissuade him, but only to meet with an
appreciative, "Well done! I always thought there was something in that
lad."

So I tried a second, but with worse results, for he patted the boy
on the back with an assurance that he could not dissuade him from so
sac