In three days’ time the family of Aly began to persecute me; they conceived they could not do better than imitate the chief, who, on all occasions, manifested an implacable hatred to me. The women appeared to take pleasure in tormenting me; they would not allow me a tent; the moment I lay down to sleep, they played a hundred tricks to oblige me to rise, they pricked me with a piece of wood, dragged me by the legs, took away my wrapper, and threw water over my face. Tired of these endless annoyances I resolved to take refuge in the tent of a good blacksmith who had performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, which was a great recommendation to him in that country: his aged mother was very pious, and received me kindly; she gave me for refreshment milk and water, which beverage they, as well as the Braknas called cheni. The good old woman thought she was performing a meritorious act, acceptable to God, in saying that her tent was mine, and that I might come thither to sleep whenever I pleased. Though a devout Mahometan, she was full of spirits and fond of a joke, nor did I find her given to falsehood like the other women. Sidi-Aly, seeing that his people would not endure me in any of his tents, had one pitched for me alone, but it was impossible to remain in it, for, as the air entered at one side only, the heat was suffocating. Early on the 2nd of July, the sister of Sidi-Aly came to seek me, holding in her disgusting hands a lump of sangleh covered with hairs, for she had used the same butter to grease her head and to season this mess: though I was exceedingly hungry I had not courage to taste it. This woman, about sixty years of age, took me aside, and said in a low voice: “Listen, Abdallahi, thou who wert brought up among the christians, who know every thing except the path to salvation, thou shouldst be as wise as they are; and I come to pray thee to make me a charm for one of my nieces who wants a husband; if thou consentest, and the charm proves good I will provide thee with sangleh for two days.” She paused a moment to hear my answer; she then added, that she had induced the Moorish priests to write several for her and had paid them well in _dragmes_, but that they had produced no effect; she hoped that mine would turn out better. The situation in which I now stood did not permit me to reject this proposition: I only insisted upon the clause that she should not put butter into the sangleh. Without loss of time she fetched ink and a straw to use as a pen. She first told me the name of the desired lover, and the names of his parents, and recommended to me particularly to keep the secret: as she had no paper I furnished her with a little bit, and wrote in her presence the charm she wished for. To give it the more importance, I ordered it to be tied round the neck of the young girl, which was immediately done, and finally, to inspire a high idea of my skill in magic, I traced upon a little