our chaouch and the other chaouch--between our chaouch and the sheikh of
the country--between Yusuf and the Fezzanee--between every individual
black and every other individual black--Between our chaouch particularly
and all the people of Mizdah:--in short, there were as many rows as it
were possible for a logician to find relations betwixt man and man.

I must not forget that our chaouch, in spite of all this effervescence,
had got up this morning in a very pious state of mind. He told us that a
marabout had appeared to him in a dream, and had said, "O man! go to
Soudan with the Christians, and thou shalt return with the blessing of
God upon thee!" This vision seemed to have made a deep impression upon
him at the time, but he had forgotten it long before it had ceased to be
the subject of my anxious thoughts--"O God, I beseech thee, indeed, to
give us a prosperous journey! But thy will be done. We are entirely in
thy hands!"

_April 10th._--We had another glorious row this morning before starting.
A man who had gone to fetch the blacksmith, and found him not, demanded
payment of two Tunisian piastres. The chaouch, suspecting that he never
went at all, but concealed himself in the village, would not pay him.
This brought on a collision. Sheikh Omer supported us; and so all the
people of the other village took part against us. Two of them were
armed, and some of us thought it advisable to load our pistols. At last,
however, we pushed them away from the tent by force; and, in the first
moment of indignation, wrote a letter to the Pasha about them. Hearing
of this, they came to beg us not to send the letter, which was
accordingly torn up by the Sheikh. My chaouch was the great actor in all
this affair; and it was necessary that I should support him, even if he
were a little wrong, otherwise he would have had no confidence in
himself or us in cases of difficulty.