When the Moors make war upon one another, they take no prisoners; if any of their enemies fall into their hands, they kill them immediately, and the spoils of the slain belong to the conqueror. They fight from a distance, and only attack by surprise. The chiefs fight like their subjects; I have been told, however, that when Hamet-Dou goes to war, he is always accompanied by one of his ministers, whose business it is to hold him by his coussabe and to keep him at a safe distance: report says the coussabe has never been torn; but this may be a calumny. It is the hassanes who always make excursions against the negroes to pillage them, and carry off slaves; and on these occasions they are seldom accompanied by the zenagues. The hassanes are idle, mendacious, thievish, envious, superstitious, and gluttonous; they combine in short, all possible vices. An hassane who possesses a horse, a gun, and coussabe, thinks himself the happiest of mortals. Filthiness they seem to consider as a virtue. The men swarm with vermin, of which they take no pains to rid themselves. The women are disgusting; lying always upon their couches, with their heads besmeared with butter, which, being melted by the heat, runs down their faces and their whole bodies: they exhale in consequence a perfume which to Europeans is any thing but agreeable. In idleness they surpass the men, for they will not even rise to take their food, but rest on their elbows while a slave gives them their milk. The commerce of the Braknas is carried on by the marabouts. It is they who collect all the gum, for which they pay no tribute; and when they have disposed of it to Europeans, they travel into a distant part of the country, to sell the guns and Guinea cloth which they receive in exchange. They often stop at Adrar, seven days’ journey north of lake Aleg; this town gives its name to a small kingdom, and is inhabited by a number of marabouts who are wholly engaged in agriculture, and keep numerous herds of cattle. Dates are plentiful in this part; the fields are surrounded by date-trees. These marabouts do not live in tents, like the Braknas; they have mud houses one story high, and flat at the top. They barter their dates and millet, for the guns and Guinea cloth of the Braknas; of the Guinea cloth they make garments, for they grow no cotton. They have many slaves, who are employed in the cultivation of rice and millet, and in the tending of the cattle. Pasturage is not abundant in the neighbourhood of the town, so that they are obliged to send their flocks to a distance to graze: it is said that the slaves who take care of them are sometimes absent for one or two months. This nation is peaceful, and only takes up arms to defend itself against the depredations of its neighbours. It is during the rainy season that the Braknas undertake their trips to Adrar, in which they are compelled to cross a desert of four days’ journey. These particulars I received from some marabouts who have