lustre whereof enlightens the darkest difficulties; a conduct
conformable to his sincerity, and acts conformable to his designs!'

Let us here take a long breath, and rest a minute. O, Abou Inau Faris!
we envy the blessed people that were gathered under thy wing; we weep
for our degenerate age, wherein thy like is nowhere to be found. No
wonder that Ibn Batuta declares that he lays aside forever his pilgrim's
staff--that, after traversing the Orient, he sits down under the full
moon of the Occident, preferring it to all other regions, 'as one
prefers gold-dust to the sands of the highway.' We, too, had we found
such a ruler, would have laid aside our staff, and taken the oath of
allegiance.

The traveler gives us the day of his departure from home: June 14, 1325.
'I was alone,' says he, 'without a companion with whom I could live
familiarly, without a caravan of which I could have made part; but I was
forced onward by a spirit firm in its resolution, and the desire of
visiting the Holy Places was implanted in my bosom. I therefore
determined to separate myself from my friends of both sexes, and I
abandoned my home as the birds abandon their nest. My father and mother
were still alive. I resigned myself, with grief, to separate from them,
and this was a common cause of sorrow. I was then in my twenty-second
year.'

Having safely reached the town of Tlemeen, he found two ambassadors of
the king of Tunis, about to set out on their return, and attached
himself to their suite. On arriving at Bougie, he was attacked with a
violent fever, and was advised to remain behind. 'No,' said the
determined youth, 'if God wills that I should die, let me die on the
road to Mecca,' and pushed on, through Constantina and Bona, in such a