holy. And Joshua did so.' We should remember
that the Mohammedan faith is based on the Old Testament, though
supplemented by the instructions of Mahomet."

In this ancient Mosque, where the worship of Allah and the study of the
Koran has continued for nine hundred years, we found a few barefoot
worshipers, some kneeling muttering their prayers, while others squatted
on the floor reading the Koran aloud. At one end of the interior we saw
the niche which indicates the direction in which lies the Holy City of
Mecca, and toward this, as is the custom in all Mohammedan mosques, the
worshipers turn their faces while at prayer. There were no benches or
chairs in the mosque, as the devotees assumed a crosslegged position on
the thick rugs during the time of their reading, and stood or knelt
while offering prayer.

The Jardin d'Essai, or Botanical Garden, situated in the suburbs near
the sea about two miles from the center of the city, is reached by an
electric street car of American make which for a three-cent fare
carried us to the gates. In the garden the large and varied collection
of tropical trees, plants, and vines, so different from those growing in
our own temperate climate, greatly delighted us. An "Avenue of Palms"
half a mile long was lined with palm trees of many varieties, some
wide-spreading and curiously branching has broad leaves, and others,
high-growing, has tufted tops swaying in the air fifty or sixty feet
above our heads. A wider avenue of similar length was bordered with
magnolia trees of immense growth which we then saw only in bud, but it
was not difficult to see in imagination the magnificent picture that
would be presented to the eye, when later on, these millions of buds
overhead would be in full bloom. The "Bamboo Pathway" led through a
dense growth of bamboos whose slender poles, bending under a slight
breeze, kept up a continual creaking sound. Huge trees, whose
wide-spreading branches were supported by scores of accessory trunks, so
that each tree formed a grove of its own, we recognized as banyan trees.
In one part of the garden, winding paths led through a tangled tropical
growth so dense and wild that one felt as if in the midst of an African
jungle where a tiger might spring forth or a boa constrictor drop down
on one's head.

On the heights to the east, in the favorite modern residential district,
called Mustapha Superieur, many large white stone hotels and apartment
houses were situated a