Unlike the Arabs, whose burnouses are invariably white or a dirty brown, the Mozabites array themselves in garments of many colors. The dress of the common people consists of a sleeveless woolen shirt, as short and full as kilts, called _gandourah_, with tassels of camel’s-hair hanging from their broad belts, their lower faces concealed by loosely bound _haiks_, a necessary precaution in that torrid country. The costumes of the emirs, caïds, and sheikhs are frequently of exceeding richness, however, their enormous turbans, containing yards and yards of fine material, bound with _agals_ of gold thread; their high, soft boots of scarlet Moroccan leather; their delicately colored silk _gandourahs_ girt with broad, silver-studded belts from which protrude the ivory and gold-inlaid hilts of a miniature armory of weapons. As they sweep by astride their splendidly caparisoned horses they seem to have ridden straight out of the pages of the Arabian Nights. While wholly lacking the cleanliness, the sociability, and the charm of manner of the Arabs, the Mozabites far surpass them in industry, in commercial enterprise, and in dependability, their integrity being proverbial in matters where money is concerned. It is said of them, as it is of the Montenegrins, that their word, once given, is never broken, and that they will die rather than betray a trust. In consequence of this enviable reputation, though they are detested by the Arabs for religious reasons, the Arabs will unhesitatingly intrust them with their last franc. A warlike tribe, one of the last to submit to France, most of them have now settled down as peaceful and prosperous agriculturists, cultivators of dates and breeders of live stock, though their other industries have not been neglected, the burnouses and carpets manufactured in the M’zab finding ready purchasers throughout North Africa. Industrious and enterprising, as successful at money-making as the Armenians or the Jews—it is said that a Jew has to work with his hands in the M’zab—they are prone to seek their fortunes outside their native land, finding ready employment in the cities along the Barbary coast all the way from Tangier to Tripoli, where many of them occupy positions of trust and responsibility in banks and mercantile houses or are engaged in businesses of their own. The men usually leave home to engage in commercial pursuits as soon as they attain their majority; but, once they have succeeded in amassing what passes for a fortune among the desert folk, they return to their wives and families in the M’zab, where they settle down to enjoy the fruits of their labors, while the eldest son goes north in turn to carry on his father’s business. [Illustration: FAR HENCE, IN SOME LONE DESERT TOWN