Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/412

404, he thought, was confined to the manufacture of large coarse pottery, evincing an incipient stage in the ceramic art, and indicating a pastoral people, with abundant flocks and herds, the hillsides and plains there being covered with magnificent forests and affording abundant pasturage, there being perhaps 150 rainy days instead of 50 in the year, as at present.

But the noonday hour had passed, and we ate our frugal lunch, provided by the landlady at the hotel, with a bottle of native Algerian wine. We were forced to eat it alone, for in vain did we press on our guide and the two Moors a bit of bread and butter and a drink of the mild beverage. They steadfastly refused, for it was the month of the Ramadan. They were strict, consistent Mohammedans, and could not be tempted.

On our return, not far from the necropolis we passed by Moorish farmers stirring the light soil with their primitive wooden ploughs, shares and all, the yoke being bound around the neck of a cow or steer by cords behind the horns. The cattle were all gray and dirty white, no red or parti-colored ones being observed. Half way back we paused to examine the Roman ruins, portions of basement stones strewn about the ground. The warmth of the afternoon sun was like that of a June day. We left the native 'douars' behind, and after two or three hours 7 descent from the hills behind us, forded the little river and entered the village of Hamman-Meskoutine.