His Majesty’s encampment is in itself a large camp. Surrounded entirely by high walls of white canvas decorated in patterns of dark blue, it is divided into two portions, in one of which the women are kept, while the other contains his Majesty’s private tents, which are many, and some of huge dimensions. At Tafilet I counted from the hill above the camp no less than between fifty and sixty tents within the canvas walls. None but the most trusted servants and slaves enter the enclosure at all, and then not the women’s portion while they are present. The entrance into the Sultan’s quarters is formed by the two ends of the walls overlapping for a considerable extent and running parallel to one another, and curved as they proceed, so that there is no possible chance of any one seeing within, while the height of the canvas prevents anything but the tops of the tents being apparent from without. Immediately outside, and within the square formed by the cannon, is pitched the office-tent in which his Majesty transacts his business. It is a small square tent of red and green cloth, supported on four poles with gold tops. One side is left completely open. Within it boasts no furniture but carpets and matting and the divan on which the Sultan sits to transact business. Close by is another large tent, of dark canvas, and of the form of a _ghima_, the common dwelling of the Arab. This serves the purpose of a mosque, and there the Sultan, surrounded by the Shereefs, Viziers, and _tolba_, leads the prayers at the regular hours. It was Mulai el Hassen’s custom to leave his private camp at sunrise, and, walking to his office-tent, give audiences to the Viziers, &c., and transact business until nine or ten, when he would retire to the privacy of his own quarters, to reappear again during the cool of the afternoon, generally from four to sunset; and often of a night I could see him sitting there, with members of his Court standing before him taking down his commands. Tiring, indeed, must be the work of a Vizier, for he must always stand in his master’s presence. Mulai el Hassen may be said to have transacted the entire business of his country himself; for although the different Viziers are known by such titles as Ministers of War, and Foreign Affairs, &c., &c., they were in reality little more than private secretaries, and the actual organisation and welfare of his country, as well as its relations with the foreign Powers, rested with the Sultan alone.