For three days the wind had blown hard from the east; the pastures were nearly bare, and messengers had been dispatched to the north to see if they were more abundant in that direction. In the evening a tremendous storm came on, the thunder rolled awfully, and the rain fell in torrents; all the tents were blown over, and the utmost confusion pervaded the camp. The storm had taken every body by surprise; there had been no time to take down the tents; the very huts themselves were carried away, the briars which had been used for fences were likewise torn up, and many persons were hurt. The Moors, though accustomed to scenes of this sort, seemed very much frightened. Nothing was to be heard but men and women recommending themselves to God: the tumult was increased by the doleful lowing of the cattle, which had been torn by the briars which the wind carried off, and were now wandering about at random. This was the first storm that I had witnessed in the desert, and the general consternation which I remarked, made me suppose that there was some imminent danger; for a moment I shared the terror of the Musulmans, but the wind subsided in about three quarters of an hour, and the rain ceased soon afterwards. The people then bestirred themselves to set up the tents again, and to collect the scattered cattle; the fires which the wind had extinguished were re-lighted, and every one dried his clothes, for it is the Moorish custom to have only one suit. I had a dry pagne with which I covered myself, and more than ten people asked me for it to change themselves; but I had too urgent occasion for it myself, to lend it, which drew upon me their abuse. I observed that the king himself had been exposed to the rain like the rest of us, and that he had no more change of apparel than his subjects, for he remained all night in his wet clothes. I have already mentioned that this storm took every body by surprise; in a general way the Moors strike their tents when they are threatened by a storm, leaving only a few small ones, which almost always resist its force, and serve to shelter the king and the royal family; all the rest remain outside exposed to the rain. On this occasion the wind was so high, that the very smallest tents were thrown down, and the princes and princesses shared the common fate. On the 21st of September, a Trarzas marabout, from Portendik, arrived at the camp: I was called to see some articles which he brought with him from that place: he showed me a pair of pantaloons, which I thought I recognized as having belonged to M. Lacaby, who was wrecked in the Rose Virginie, on the bank of Arquin; he had also a handsome little dressing-case, and seaman’s boots, which he used to protect himself from the thorns and khakhames. I should have liked to ask him a few questions, but I dared not for fear of exciting suspicions. The particulars of this shipwreck I had been acquainted with before I left Saint Louis, and I had even seen some of the sufferers.