The house or palace of Ben Dreis, which we were to inhabit, originally belonged to a powerful minister, whose property, after the custom of the country, had been confiscated by the sovereign. In 1864 it was occupied by Sir Moses Montefiore; and a correct sketch of it is given in Dr. Hodgkin’s narrative of that gentleman’s mission of benevolence to Marocco. We were told that a short time would be required to prepare the house for our reception, and it turned out that the first requisite step was to knock down the wall that stood where the entrance had formerly been. A house in which Jews or Christians had lived was regarded as unclean and unfit for the dwelling of a true believer, and accordingly after the departure of Sir M. Montefiore, the entrance had been walled up, and the house had so remained ever since. When the way had been cleared, an escort of soldiers, despatched by the Viceroy, accompanied us to our new dwelling, which stands inside its walled garden very near to the Bab Roub—the gate by which we yesterday entered the city. We were agreeably surprised when we approached by far the finest house which we anywhere saw in this country, a massive square building, entered by a Moorish arch. As usual, the ground-floor rooms, with the central court, roofed in, contrary to the usual practice, were fit only for servants, or for stabling animals and storing goods, and the best apartments were on the upper floor. These were, of course, destined for us. But the first glance showed that in a country where animal, and especially insect, life is so active, the rooms in their present state would be no pleasant habitations. This, however, was foreseen and provided for, and, before many minutes were over, a crowd of men, including our own attendants, were hard at work carrying up large vessels of water from the irrigation stream in the adjoining garden, and armed with rough brooms, with which to complete the work of cleaning the premises. Water was turned on in such abundance as to stand ankle deep in most of the rooms, and pour in a copious stream down the staircases and other openings. When all was done the blazing sun soon dried all up, and during our stay we suffered no inconvenience, and scarcely saw any insects, except a few harmless beetles. When the rooms had been thus cleansed and dried, we proceeded to instal ourselves in our new quarters. There was a large central room, open to the sky in the middle, with roofed bays or recesses around, and several adjoining, which served as bedrooms. The terrace roof, overlooking the trees of our garden and the city wall, commanded a magnificent view of the Great Atlas range, and in the early morning, and towards sunset, afforded an unfailing attraction.