acts conformable to his designs!'

Let us here take a long breath, and rest a minute. O, Abou Inau Faris!
we envy the blessed people that were gathered under thy wing; we weep
for our degenerate age, wherein thy like is nowhere to be found. No
wonder that Ibn Batuta declares that he lays aside forever his pilgrim's
staff--that, after traversing the Orient, he sits down under the full
moon of the Occident, preferring it to all other regions, 'as one
prefers gold-dust to the sands of the highway.' We, too, had we found
such a ruler, would have laid aside our staff, and taken the oath of
allegiance.

The traveler gives us the day of his departure from home: June 14, 1325.
'I was alone,' says he, 'without a companion with whom I could live
familiarly, without a caravan of which I could have made part; but I was
forced onward by a spirit firm in its resolution, and the desire of
visiting the Holy Places was implanted in my bosom. I therefore
determined to separate myself from my friends of both sexes, and I
abandoned my home as the birds abandon their nest. My father and mother
were still alive. I resigned myself, with grief, to separate from them,
and this was a common cause of sorrow. I was then in my twenty-second
year.'

Having safely reached the town of Tlemeen, he found two ambassadors of
the king of Tunis, about to set out on their return, and attached
himself to their suite. On arriving at Bougie, he was attacked with a
violent fever, and was advised to remain behind. 'No,' said the
determined youth, 'if God wills that I should die, let me die on the
road to Mecca,' and pushed on, through Constantina and Bona, in such a
state of weakness that he was obliged to unwind his turban and bind
himself to his saddle, in order to avoid falling from the horse. He thus
reached Tunis, in a state of extreme exhaustion and despondency. 'No one
saluted me,' says he, 'for I was not acquainted with a single person
there. I was seized with such an emotion of sadness that I could not
suppress my sobs, and my tears flowed in abundance. One of the pilgrims,
remarking my condition, advanced towards me, saluting and comforting me.
He did not cease to cheer me up with his conversation, until I had
entered the city.'

In a short time, he seems to have recovered both his health and spirits;
for, on reaching the town of Sefakos, he married the daughter of one of
the syndics of the corporation of Tunis. This proceeding strikes us as a
sing