ns call baggage by the appellation of _impedimenta_. In this
country it is so literally, not figuratively. It is absolutely
necessary to have an interpreter who can talk Arabic; for though in
Algeria there are many natives who jabber broken French or Italian,
even this _lingua Franca_ is so disguised that it is almost impossible
to comprehend them; and in the interior there are very few "indigenes"
who understand anything but Arabic. In Tunisia nothing but Arabic is
of any use whatever.

To travel in the interior of Tunis, it is necessary to have a mounted
escort, and also a letter of recommendation to the "Caids" (mayors) of
the different towns through which you pass. Here you must expect a
great want of comfort, as there are no beds, and you generally have to
sleep on the floor. On the Lake of Tunis, close to the city, there is
very good flamingo shooting. The flamingoes sit on the water in rows
like a regiment, and the method I employed in shooting them was as
follows:--I used to take a boat with my gun loaded with buckshot
(chevrotine), and my rifle. I fired my rifle at the line of flamingoes
when about 400 yards off, which used to bring them flying over the
boat for curiosity, when I managed, generally with my gun, to bring
down one or two. This is, I am sure, the best way of shooting them,
though several Europeans told me at Tunis I could shoot them with the
rifle.

The shortest way direct to Tunis is by Malta; and, in passing, let the
sporting tourist visit Gozo, where, in April and September, there is
excellent quail shooting.

The inhabitants of this isle are a simple, primitive race of people,
very lively and intelligent; they speak nearly a pure Arabic. They
live chiefly by fishing, and also serve as sailors in foreign vessels,
where they remain sometimes entire years without being heard of by
their families. In this way they often find a watery grave; and in the
isle I met some females, whose male relations had all perished in this
way.

Navigation appears to have a great charm for these simple islanders;
and when they sail along these southern waters, where the sun shines
with a brilliant lustre, and the moon with a fairy splendour, they
forget not the simple home where the members of their family are
crouched side by side, enveloped in a sort of bournouse, and drinking
perhaps tea which differs only nominally from the tepid waters of the
surrounding ocean, and gabbling a jargon which one can scarcely