FOOD FOR BREAKFAST. 243 Emperor takes this before he drinks tea in a morning : his father, Seedi Muhamed ben Abdallah, also, who drank none but fine hyson tea, never would drink that beverage till he had first laid a foundation of el hassua. The Arabs and Shelluhs, with whom el hassua is generally used, urge its salubrity, by reporting that a physician alighted in a strange country, and when he arose in the morning, after performing his matins, he seated himself with some of the inhabitants, and, conversing, asked them how they lived, and with what food they broke their fast ? " With el hassua,'' was the reply : " Then," rejoined Esculapius, (Salam u alikume, " Peace be with you ; for if you eat el hassua in the morning you have no need of a doctor :" and he immediately departed.

When I established the port of Santa Cruz, and opened it to European commerce, the gratitude and hospitality of the Arabs and Shelluhs of the province of Suse, was demonstrated in every way : so rejoiced were they to see their port, after an inactivity of thirty years, again re-established. If I rode out to visit any part of the country, the women, on my approach to a douar, would come out to a great distance with bowls of milk on their heads ; others with bowls of honey, with thin scrapings of butter in them, and bread or cakes '*, similar to pau» '* See a similar custom in Genesis, xviii. 5— 8, R 2