By this time we were beginning to feel the effects of the unsatisfactory dietary to which we had been reduced during the four weeks since we left Mogador. It may seem unreasonable for men in health, plentifully supplied with fowls, sheep, and eggs, to complain of their food; but those who have experienced the difference between the meat of well-fed animals and the stringy tasteless fibre which is produced in such a country as this, will duly appreciate our longing for some variety. As the season advanced, and the herbage in the lower country became more and more parched, the sheep, always miserably thin, approached nearer and nearer to the condition of skeletons, covered with skin and ragged wool, and for some time back we had given up the attempt to eat any part, except the liver and kidneys broiled on short sticks; while the fowls had become equally distasteful. The _keskossou_, daily presented with the _mona_, was prepared with large quantities of rancid butter, to which, in spite of many experiments, we never could reconcile ourselves. Our attempts at obtaining any variety of diet were quite unsuccessful. Ducks and geese, being by Mohammedans considered unclean, were out of the question; and the turkey and guinea-fowl appear to be unknown to the domestic economy of the Moors. Our chief desideratum was fresh vegetables or fruit, but these were not to be obtained. Except in the neighbourhood of the coast towns, where they have been introduced by Europeans, none of our European vegetables are cultivated in South Marocco, except the cucumber and the pumpkin, and, owing to the want of the most elementary skill in horticulture, these seem to remain in season for a very short time; while the cultivation of fruit, at least in the districts we traversed, seems to be generally neglected. In this respect Marocco presents a striking contrast to most places with a somewhat similar climate in the Mediterranean region. Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, however low they may have fallen owing to corrupt and oppressive government, have retained some share in the inheritance of an ancient civilisation. We had carried with us sundry tins of preserved vegetables, of which green peas were by far the most acceptable; but our stores were now nearly exhausted, and our chief remaining luxury was portable soup, made with compressed vegetables and biscuits, which was now served out very sparingly. Tea without milk was often pleasant in the evening; but cocoa, prepared with milk in small tins, was much preferred for the morning meal. The evening air was cool and pleasant, and, in spite of the advancing season, the night almost cold, though the height of our station, by the mean of two observations, did not exceed 2,867 feet (874 m.). Even the horrible howling of the dogs in a neighbouring village failed to keep us from a good night’s rest.