who, being unable to support themselves and having
no relatives to fall back upon, were housed and fed
by my charitable host, next came in and squatted
down on the ground outside our room and waited
for their share of the remnants of our supper.
At sunset the great door of the house was closed
and barred, and one of the armed myrmidons took
his seat against the wall beside it, and never moved
from his post until the morning. His fellow man-
at-arms unslung his gun and climbed up the stairway
on to the flat roof of the house, where he took up
his position by the wall overlooking the moat, and,
to judge from the occasional tramping to and fro
which I heard over my head, remained there on
guard all night. It was quite like living in the
middle ages.
When these arrangements for the night had
been completed, the door through which the goats
had vanished opened, and a little train of servants,
headed by the Khalifa himself with a candle in his
hand, emerged and marched solemnly across the
court with the supper.
The desert tribes nearly always retire early to
bed. As soon as our meal was finished it was
cleared away, and mats and pillows were brought in
for my Arabs to sleep on. Abdullah himself went
in to inspect my room, and, having satisfied himself
that it was ready for my reception, wished me * Bon
jour,’ and retired with the Khalifa into the harem-
goat-house wing of the house to bed.
We left N’goussa early the next morning. But,
early as we were,, Abdullah had been before us.
S I