On the 25th of November, an hassane stole some oxen belonging to a marabout of our camp, which caused a great bustle; every body was on foot all the evening, and two friends of the injured man went to the hassane’s camp to demand the oxen. I was told that if the king had been there the thief would have been severely punished. The same evening Mohammed-Sidy-Moctar arrived; I expected to see his family very joyful upon the occasion, and was surprised that nobody went out to meet him. He entered his tent, and saluted them all; his greeting was very coldly returned; his daughter alone rose, and laid her hands respectfully upon his head, without any demonstration of affection. I have never seen the Moors embrace each other; even a lover does not kiss his mistress; he lays his hand on her lips, and then puts it to his own, no doubt to convey to it the kiss which she has impressed on it. The next day the marabouts who went to demand the oxen returned; but without success. On the 28th, the grand marabout went himself to claim them, and they were given up; he had much difficulty in prevailing, and did not return till the 6th of December; the oxen arrived shortly after him. The Moorish laws are very severe against theft, but they are hardly ever enforced. If the thief is taken in the king’s presence, the king may order him fifty or sixty stripes on the back, or have his ears cut off, without any form of trial. Capital punishment is sometimes inflicted upon the tributaries, but never upon hassanes or marabouts. By the law of Mahomet, a thief is to have his hand cut off; but every body has an interest in mitigating this clause, for the Moors would all be one-handed if it were rigorously enforced. The law does not apply to those who pillage christians; on the contrary, that is considered a meritorious action, and they lose no opportunity of plundering them. On the 10th of December, the camp moved twelve miles W. ¼ N.W. to a spot three miles east of lake Aleg, whither a party went to fetch water for the use of the camp. The women are charged with this labour; they fill the skins and load them upon asses; at nine they left the camp, and they were back again in an hour. It was now beginning to be cold; the north wind blew violently, and rendered the nights very unpleasant. At this season the Moors set up the _varroi_, a large covering made of tanned sheep-skins sewed firmly together; they stretch it over stakes in their tents, with the sides hanging down, so as to keep off the wind during the night. They have also woollen counterpanes, or cloaks, which they buy from the Koont traders, who bring them from Wâlet, or other great towns in the interior. They wrap themselves up in these counterpanes at night, and also in the day, when the cold is severe. The slaves sleep also under the varroi, upon the ground, with no other covering than the sheep-skin which serves for their clothing.