at the entrance to the fort.  This latter is built of stone, lime, and pine planks and beams.  Riches abound.  Caravans go from there to Timbuctoo, the Soudan, Sahara, and Agadir-Ndouma.  They go to these countries to buy ivory, ostrich feathers, slaves, gold and silver.  If it hurries, a caravan consumes a whole year in visiting these places.  The people of the different countries buy from them and give in exchange other merchandise, such as linen, cotton, silks, iron, steel, incense, corals, cloves, spikenard, haberdashery, pottery, glass, and everything that comes, as they say, from the country of Christians.  When these goods enumerated above have arrived, the merchants, both Jews and Mussulmans, come forward and buy them according to the needs of their business.  I will add here, with more details, some words about Hecham.  He has twelve sons, all horsemen, who have thirty-six horses.  As for oxen, sheep, and camels, God alone could tell the figure.  The number of the wives that Hecham has married is four white and six slaves—­the latter black.  His only son has as many white wives as his father, but more black ones.  The men of Tizeroualt are of the number of 1,400.  But for the women, boys, and girls, God alone knows the figure.  They possess 200 horses, beside those of Hecham.  There are 750 houses; the number of books in the mosque is 130—­in the Chelha language.

III

The sheik Sidi Hammad, son of Mahomet Mouley Ben-Nacer, has written his book in Amazir.  It is entitled the “Kitab-amazir.”  This work treats of obligations and traditions of things permitted and forbidden.

IV

There are 3,500 men in the Aglou country.  They have 2,200 houses and 960 horses.  This district is on the sea-coast and possesses a stone-harbor.  There are barks which are used in fishing.  The inhabitants were living in tranquillity when one day, as they were starting out to fish, a ship arrived off shore.  They fled in fear and left it in the sea.  The ship waited till midnight.  Then it entered the port and ran up a red flag.  It remained at anchor for fifteen days.  The people of Aglou assembled day and night, big and little, even the horsemen before it.  No one was missing.  The chiefs of the town wrote letters which they sent to all the villages.  They sent one to Sidi Hecham couched in these words:  “Come at once.  The Christians have made an expedition against us, and have taken this port.”  Sidi Hecham sent messengers to all the provinces over which he ruled and said in his letters:  “You must accompany me to the country of Aglou, for the Christians have made an expedition against us.”  All the neighboring tribes assembled to march against the Christians.  When Sidi Hecham had joined them he said, “You must raise a red flag like theirs.”

They raised it.  When it was seen by those on the ship, a sailor came ashore in a small boat and approached the Mussulmans there assembled.