The unfortunate Frenchmen, though thus condemned to an excess of fatigue, misery, and opprobrium, nevertheless occasionally experienced some relaxation, owing to the interference of their master; but the cruelty of his wife was incessant, and at length became unbearable. The Moors never inhabit the same place for a length of time; but when the half-starved herds have devoured all the pasturage, they change their position, and remove to a spot which is more favourable. The care and labour attendant upon such changes were the task imposed upon the French slaves; and from the frequency of these movements they were absolutely exhausted. One day Devoise and Beaudré were beaten almost to death, and left senseless on the sand, because they were unable to perform the required service. For a long time they were compelled to the dire necessity of seeking their food along with the cattle; and on these occasions their only nutriment was plants and live snails. M. de Brisson was possessed of sufficient strength and firmness of mind to resist all these hardships; but he was soon subjected to others. He was compelled to harness the camels to the plough, to attend to the tillage and sowing of the lands; and his master, when he had finished his own jobs, would let him out to other Moors for a portion of milk. He would infallibly have fallen under the fatigue, if some hope of liberty had not remained with him, and if he had not been enabled occasionally to steal some barley and mutton in addition to the small quantity of food which they allowed him. The unfortunate M. Devoise being older, and not so strong in constitution, could not long withstand such hardships. Every day he prayed for death, who at length came to his assistance. This gentleman was the brother of the present French commercial commissioner at Tunis. I was on terms of the strictest intimacy with him; and when I heard of his shipwreck, I sent to the deserts with the most pressing requests that he might be delivered up; but all my endeavours were unsuccessful. M. de Brisson paid him the last duties of humanity. Beaudré also died, and his body was devoured by ravens and serpents. M. de Brisson at length obtained the permission of his master to write to Mogador, which the Moors call Sovia. He addressed his letter to the French consul, and gave a melancholy account of the hardships he suffered. It was conveyed by a Jew, who travelled through that part of the desert; for the Jews who are born in the desert live on good terms with the Moors, and adopt nearly the same customs; but the Jewish inhabitants of the towns being more rigid observers of their religious maxims, receive far worse treatment.