While with us, in France, the stirrup is not supposed to bear more than the weight of the leg; with the Arabs, on the contrary, the whole weight of the body, when going at a good pace, is thrown upon the stirrups. Footnote 40: France was indebted to the hatred of Abd-el-Kader cherished by Mustapha-ben-Ismaïl for the unfailing loyalty of the illustrious chief of the powerful tribe of the Douairs. He had been for upwards of thirty years the Aga of the Turks. Thus, when the son of Mahi-Eddin, at the age of twenty-five, was proclaimed Sultan by the tribe of the province of Oran, the aged warrior refused to yield obedience to him, saying that "never with his white beard would he go to kiss the hand of a mere boy." The consequences of this enmity forced him to take refuge in the _mechouar_ of Tlemcen, where for two years he held out against the _hadars_, or citizens, all of whom were devoted to the cause of him who had assumed the title of Commander of the Faithful. Only when reduced to the last extremity did he demand and obtain succour from Marshal Clauzel, whose column relieved him in 1836. From that period, notwithstanding his great age, he took part at the head of the "goums" of the Douairs and the Zmelas, in all the actions fought in the province of Oran. France recompensed this energetic attachment by a Marshal's baton and the cross of a Commander of the Legion of Honour. Mustapha-ben-Ismaïl was killed by the Flittas, on the 19th May 1843, in his eightieth year, while skirmishing in the rear, protecting the rich booty taken from the Hashem-Gharabas, at the capture of the Smala. Footnote 41: Tents pitched in a circle, a subdivision of the tribe. Footnote 42: A river in Algeria. Footnote 43: The plural form of _Ksar_, a hamlet, village, or town of the desert. Footnote 44: The _Stipa barbata_ of Desfontaines. This plant grows abundantly in the Sahara. The inhabitants of that unproductive region wander far and wide to gather the seeds of this grass, and often collect a large quantity. The seed is ground down and used for the same purposes as wheaten flour. Footnote 45: This plant is very common throughout Algeria, and is much used for feeding horses. In our expeditions our chargers have often had nothing else to eat. It is the _Lygeum Spartum_. The culms of this grass do not rise above ten or twelve centimètres in height. It is the _Stipa tenacissima_ used in the East for making basket work, etc., and in some parts of Algeria the natives weave it into mats. Footnote 46: The Arabs understand by the hot season from April to September inclusive, and by the cold season from October to March inclusive. Footnote 47: A very important tribe situated to the North-West of Oran. Footnote 48: Gold coins, worth from ten to twelve francs each. Footnote 49: