Miss Blanche asked the same question of Louis, but he was not even as wise as the commander.
"I could hardly keep from laughing," she added.
"Captain Ringgold cautioned us not to laugh; for it was a religious ceremony, and should be treated with respect," replied Louis.
By this time the tourists were tired enough to return to the ship; but the big four obtained permission to walk about the streets for a while, Munif to go with them.
"If I were going to live here, the first thing I should do would be to kill off a lot of these dogs," said Scott, as they walked up the Rue de Pera.
"The Turks would kill you if you did that," added Munif.
"These dogs are the only scavengers that go about the streets," said Louis. "They don't have any swill-tubs here, but throw everything into the street. The dogs live on this garbage."
"They starve on it then," replied Scott. "I have not seen a decent-looking dog among them; they are all curs."
"There's a row among them," added Morris, as a tremendous howling and yelping was heard in the next street. "I did not suppose they had grit enough to fight; and they are all small dogs, lank and mangy."
"There are lots of battles among them every night, more than in the daytime. All the dogs have quarters; and when one lot invades the home of another, looking for something to eat, the residents of the section attack them, and a hard fight sometimes follows, as I read the other day in Yusuf," explained Louis.