Off on a Comet or Hector Servadac

Composed of mud and loose stones, and covered with a thatch of turf and straw, known to the natives by the name of driss, the gourbi, though a grade better than the tents of the nomad Arabs, was yet far inferior to any habitation built of brick or stone. It adjoined an old stone hostelry, previously occupied by a detachment of engineers.