On the 8th of July, another troop of Berbers carried off several camels which were grazing at a distance. The whole camp took the alarm, and arming themselves with guns the men set off in haste, some on foot and others on horseback; but the thieves were already distant, and their pursuers returned without having overtaken them. The evening was spent in lamentations on the part of the owners of the camels, their relations, and friends. They had recourse to fortune-tellers to know if they should recover them, and came to consult me on the subject, requesting a charm to bring them back; this I refused, under pretence that my writings did not possess that virtue. On the 11th of July, the Berbers who were to escort us to Tafilet arrived, and great was my joy to think that on the morrow I should quit a place where I had experienced so many mortifications. Aly had a sheep killed for the Berbers’ supper and gave me a little bit, with an apology on account of the many persons who were to partake of it. On the 12th, at five o’clock in the morning, our preparations were made for departure; but before quitting this country I shall give a description of it. The territory of el-Harib, two days’ journey west of that of el-Drah, and one to the east of the tribe of the Trajacants, is situated between two chains of mountains, which extend from east to west, and separate it towards the north from the empire of Morocco, to which it is tributary. The inhabitants are divided into several roving tribes. Their principal wealth consists in the great quantity of camels which they breed, and which in the wet season produce abundance of milk for their sustenance. All the Moors of el-Harib travel in the Soudan; they go to Timbuctoo, el-Arawan, and Sansanding; the merchants of Tafilet, el-Drah, and Soueyrah, give them loads for their camels; on their own account they carry only wheat and dates, and these in small ventures. When in the Soudan they remain there several months, for the purpose of traffic; making little journeys to Toudeyni, where they purchase mineral salt, which they sell again to the principal merchants in the two chief entrepôts, receiving in exchange grain, the stuffs of the Soudan, and gold. Having spent nine or ten months in this traffic, they take a load for Tafilet or some other city, and afterwards return into their own country and to their family, bringing with them gold only and some slaves, whom they sell in Morocco. On returning to their own country, they are obliged to pay a small tribute to a chief called the sheikh. The goods brought by the Moors from the Soudan to el-Harib are transported to Tafilet or other places by the Berbers alone, or under escorts which they furnish at a price agreed upon; without which precaution the merchants would certainly be robbed or murdered on the road.