When we came to talk over the varied experiences of the day, we first of all agreed that, old travellers as we all were, and familiar with the squalor of Oriental cities, we none of us had ever known, or even imagined, the existence of a large town so expressive of human degradation, so utterly foul and repulsive, as this wherein we found ourselves. Of all the places commonly visited by travellers Jerusalem is perhaps that which at the first moment approaches nearest to the same impression; but, not to speak of the numerous important buildings and the associations connected with them, nor yet of the modern structures that have arisen during the last half-century, the poorest quarters of Jerusalem are far from rivalling the universal squalor and hideousness of all that meets the eye in Marocco. A ruinous house, with windows closed by weather-beaten rickety lattice-work, is not a beautiful object, but it may be sometimes picturesque, and, at the worst, is far better than a dead wall of crumbling mud, such as here meets the eye on every side. It would seem as if the most miserable suburbs of all the other towns of North Africa and Western Asia had been collected together and enclosed within a lofty wall, so that seen from without the whole might be palmed off on mankind as the effigy of a great city. On deliberating over the events of the evening in relation to our own future prospects, we found reason to think that what had happened did not necessarily bode ill for the objects of our expedition. A fierce rivalry, as we knew, already existed between El Graoui and Ben Daoud, men whose power and influence in the State were supposed to be of equal weight. Whether to gratify his own feelings, or because he so understood the intentions of the Sultan, Ben Daoud had showed himself unfriendly, while El Graoui had clearly declared himself on our side. But as Ben Daoud had no authority whatever in the Atlas valleys, his enmity could do us no real harm; while El Graoui, whose opposition alone was to be feared, might easily be carried farther than he would have otherwise gone on our behalf for the mere pleasure of thereby spiting his rival. In this way our visit came to play a certain part in the interior politics of Marocco, and the serio-comic development of the story acquires a share of interest from the light it throws on native character.