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 the possession of beard and moustaches is useful in concealing homely features, and also because the state of extreme subjection in which the women are kept by their husbands does not tend to beautify them. The poor drudges are severely beaten for the slightest fault, not to mention that they are sometimes, as a native expressed it to me, "little bit speared"; but this I fancy is always with a view to reformation, as in case of capital offences it becomes the husband's duty to spear his wife so that death ensues. However, in a matrimonial quarrel that occurred close to our house, Khourabene, as third party, persuaded the husband to act in a manner both philosophical and conciliatory. A violent altercation had sprung up one night amongst a party of natives that were encamped near us, the dispute being followed with screams and yells such as only black women's lungs seem to have the secret of producing; and as these sounds were plainly accompanied by others that resembled the breaking of a stick, I called to Khourabene, who was eating his supper in the kitchen, and dispatched him in the direction of the uproar, with a message from ourselves that the discipline must be suspended. He started off at a run, supper and beer in his hands (the tin pannikin, be it observed, was deep, and not over full), and the yells soon gave place to a loud talking, as if each individual in the company was giving a different version of the affair at one and the same moment. To this Babel succeeded a dead stillness, followed by the re-appearance of my ambassador, evidently much pleased with the result of his interference and the superior judgment which he had displayed. "Womany drunk," he said with an air of