I purchased of the people of Ghareeah a greyhound bitch for four Tunisian piastres, so that we may now expect some hares and gazelles. In returning to the encampment I observed the phenomenon of a column of dust carried into the heavens in a spiral form by the wind, whilst all around was perfectly calm. Such columns are not of so frequent occurrence in the desert as is imagined, but from time to time, as in this instance, are seen.

The evening was spent in making arrangements with Dr. Barth and Dr. Overweg, who had agreed to traverse the Hamadah by day, whilst I was to follow by night, with the blacks. Next morning, accordingly, the caravan separated into two portions, and my companions rode slowly away over the burning desert.

This important day could not be allowed to pass by my people without a tremendous quarrel. Our blacks seemed to be in a peculiarly excitable state. Ali, especially, who has distinguished himself for several days in the obstreperous line, has had a regular turn-to with his father-in-law; and not satisfied with this, nearly strangled Moknee's son. The Mandara black threw himself on the ground and called out,—"Load my pistol, O Chaouch; I must shoot this reprobate Ali!"

This fellow is a pest in the caravan, and I have been obliged to send him off and insist on his return to Tripoli. He may be brought to his senses in this way.



CHAPTER IV.

Commence crossing the Hamadah—Last Pillar of the Romans—Travelling in the Desert—Rapid March—Merry Blacks—Dawn—Temperature—Ali returns—Day-travelling—Night-feelings—Animals—Graves of Children—Mirage—Extent of the Plateau—It breaks up—Valley of El-Hasee—Farewell to the Hamadah—Arduous Journey—The Camel-drivers—New Country—Moral and religious Disquisitions—The Chaouches—Reach Edree—Abd-el-Galeel—Description of Edree—Subterranean Dwellings—Playing at Powder—The Kaid—Arabic Literature—Desertion of the Zintanah—Leave Edree—Sandy Desert—Bou Keta the Camel-driver—Wady El-Makmak—The Lizard—Reach Wady Takadafah—Sand—Another Embroglio.

The sun was setting as our caravan, which we had collected in as compact a body as possible, got under way, and rising out of the valley of Tabooneeah, began to enter upon the plateau. It is difficult to convey an idea of the solemn impressions with which one enters upon such a journey. Everything ahead is unknown and invested with perhaps exaggerated terrors by imagination and report. The name of Desert—the waterless Desert—hangs over the horizon, and suggests the most gloomy apprehensions. Behind, in the fading light, the trees of the valley still show their dim groups; before, the lofty level, slightly broken by undulations, stretches away. There was one cheering thought, however. My companions had by this time set up their tent for the night; and although, creeping along at the camel's slow pace, we could not expect to come up to that temporary home until it was about to be deserted, still the knowledge of its existence took away much of the mysterious terror with which I entered upon this desolate region in the hour of coming shadows. An additional solemnity was imparted to the commencement of this arduous journey by the fact that we now passed the last pillar erected by the Romans. Their mighty power seems to have recoiled, as well it might, before the horrid aspect of the Hamadah.

We pushed on at a steady pace over the rough ground; and as I surveyed the scene from my elevated position on the camel's back, I could not help contrasting this primitive style of travelling with that with which I had been conversant a few months before. Instead of whirling along the summit of an embankment, or through a horizontal well miles deep, in a machine that always reminded me of a disjointed dragon, at the rate of some fifty miles an hour, here I was leisurely swaying to and fro on the back of the slowest beast that man has ever tamed, in the midst of a crowd loosely scattered over the country, some on foot, some in the saddle—not seeking to keep any determinate track, but following a general direction by the light of the stars, which shine with warm beneficence overhead. There is no sound to attract the ear, save the measured tread of the caravan, the occasional "Isa! Isa!" of the drivers, the hasty wrench with which our camels snatch a mouthful of some ligneous plant that clings to the stony soil, the creaking of the baggage, or the whistling of the wind that comes moaning over the desert. These are truly moments in a man's life to remember; and I shall ever look back to that solemn night-march over the desert, which my pen fails to describe, with sentiments of pleasurable awe.

This night we moved at comparatively a rapid pace—nearly three miles an hour; for there was scarcely any temptation to the camels to linger for browsing purposes, and the drivers seemed desperately anxious to get over as much ground as possible at once. At first all went well enough; and now and then even, the blacks, who were on foot, braved the Hamadah with a lively ditty—celebrating some Lucy Long of Central Africa. But by degrees these merry sounds ceased to be heard; and the hastily-moving crowd of the caravan insensibly stretched out into a longer line. The poor women were beginning to knock up, and several fell at times from mere exhaustion. We proceeded, however, without stopping, for eleven hours, and after a long, dreary night indeed, halted at five in the morning, having reached the encampment of our German friends.

The dawn soon lighted up the waste, and enabled us to see that it was a level plain of hard red earth, scattered over with pebbles and loose pieces of limestone mixed with flint.

The Hamadah was very cold in the night, the wind being from the north. Dr. Overweg does not think that the plateau is more than fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea; but it may be two thousand, and a little more in some places. By day it is hot enough; and as there is little to be observed on these vast, elevated stretches of stony desert, I thought it best to continue my original plan for three whole nights.

To spare one's self is the great secret of Saharan travelling; and there is, after all, not much to observe in this desolate region.

I should mention, that the second night Ali came up in a penitent state along with a khafilah from Ghareeah, and so our poor black women had an opportunity of getting a lift on the spare camels. We could, therefore, go on until morning without fear of losing any of our party in the night. The position of a person who falls behind a caravan in the desert very much resembles that of a man overboard. This khafilah preceded us to Shaty.

After the third night I found the weather so cool and temperate, that I continued on the whole of the day; and the Germans joining me in the evening, we did not again separate. It was towards the close of the third night that we were assailed by an awful tempest of wind, rain, and lightning, which flashed upon us occasionally through the thick darkness. The Germans, who were encamped, had their tents carried away, whilst we who were in motion found ourselves compelled to stop and crouch under the bellies of our camels until the morning broke, and the hurricane had spent its force. The cold was intense, and our people complained bitterly. More than once, indeed, the thermometer was down to freezing-point whilst we were traversing the plateau; and one morning the desert was covered with a shining frost.

Although we became accustomed to the desolate appearance of this district by degrees, we counted eagerly the days and hours that brought us nearer the confines of Fezzan. Every night's incidents were the same. On we went, nodding drowsily on our camels, sometimes dropping off into a sound sleep, variegated by a snatch of pleasant dreams. But these indulgences are dangerous. I was more than once on the point of falling off. By day, few objects of interest presented themselves: linnets and finches fluttered here and there upon the rare bushes, whilst swallows joined the caravan, and skimmed round and round for hours among the camels, almost brushing the faces of the drivers. Lizards glanced and snakes writhed across the path. We started three wadan or mouflon, churlish animals, fond of such solitudes. As to the birds, our people say they do not drink in winter, and in summer leave the Hamadah altogether. Four-fifths of the surface were utterly barren. Little mounds marked the graves of children, slaves who had perished on the way from inner Africa. The mirage was common, but rarely pretty. Sometimes ridges of low mountains seemed raised on the level plain, probably reflected from the cliffs that edge the plateau. The scattered herbage also assumed regular forms—squares, ovals, circles. Now and then it seemed as if vast ruins were ahead, but as we drew nigh these dwindled into little desert-mosques, formed of half-circles of stones, now turned to the east, now to the west. Here the faithful who may be obliged to traverse these dreary regions stop to offer up their simple prayer to the Almighty Allah, to whom, they say, the dreadful Hamadah belongs.

The extent of this plateau from north to south, varying in our route from S.E. to S.W., is about 156 miles, or six long and seven short days' journey. Sometimes our camels went at the pace of three miles, but nearly always of two and a-half miles in the hour. It is almost impossible to make the traverse in less than fifty-six or sixty hours. The camels may continue on night and day, but it will always require so much time to make the weary journey, which is considered the greatest exploit of Saharan travelling in this portion of Northern Africa.

On the road to Tuat from Algeria, or to Ghadamez from Tunis and Tripoli, or to Fezzan from Bonjem or Benioleed, there is no traverse of six days comparable in difficulty to that which we have just accomplished. There is said to be none other like it on the road to Soudan, except a tremendous desert between Ghat and Aheer. However, we must not trouble ourselves about this as yet.

As for the Hamadah, we know that near Sokna the plateau breaks up and forms what are called the Jebel-es-Soudy, or Black Mountains, a most picturesque group of cliffs; and again on the route to Egypt from Mourzuk, six days' journey south-east from Sokna, it also breaks into huge cliffs, and bears the name of El-Harouj. These mountain buttresses are either the bounds of the Hamadah, or masses of rock where it breaks into hills, forming ravines or valleys. But, in fact, how far the Hamadah extends between Ghadamez on the west and Augila on the east is not yet properly ascertained. It seems to be like a broad belt intercepting the progress of commerce, civilisation, and conquest, from the shores of the Mediterranean to Central Africa. The kingdom of Fezzan, however, advances like a promontory beyond it; and then on every side stretches the desert ocean with its innumerable oases or islands, which, from being once mere fluctuating names, as it were, on a guess map, are now by degrees dropping one by one into their right places.

On the breaking-up of the plateau we observed its geological structure to consist of three principal strata: first, a covering or upper crust, limestone with flints and red earth; then masses of marl; and then sandstone, lumps and masses of which were blackened by the contact of the air with the iron they contain. Under the sandstone was likewise a bed of yellow clay, with a mixture of gypsum.

The face of the cliffs of the plateau was blackened as with the smoke of a huge furnace, which gave a majestic and yet gloomy appearance to the scene as we descended the pass towards the valley of El-Hasee. We found the plain strewed with great masses of dark sandstone, seeming to have been detached by some convulsion from the rocky walls, which now rose in apparently interminable grandeur behind us. We glanced back in awe, and yet in some triumph, towards the iron-bound desert we had thus safely traversed; but our eyes soon turned from so bleak a prospect, when we beheld, dotting the sandy wady, clumps of the wild palm, green copses, and the majestic ethel-tree.

It was about two in the afternoon when we reached the camping-ground, all our people shouting, "Be-Selameh el Hamadah!" Farewell to the Hamadah! I cried out the same words in a joyful voice; for, although now that the dangers of the plateau were overcome they seemed diminished in my eyes, yet I felt that we had escaped from a most trying march with wonderful good fortune. It is difficult to convey an idea of the horror and desolation of so vast a tract of waterless and uninhabited country. They alone who have breathed the sharp air of its blank nakedness can appreciate it, or understand how any accidental delay, sickness, the bursting of the water-skins, the straying of the camels, might produce incalculable sufferings, and even death. "Be-Selameh el Hamadah!" then, with all my heart. "Be-Selameh! be-Selameh!" again rings through the caravan, as we reach at length our camping-ground, and throw ourselves at full-length under the pleasing shade. Even the camel-drivers were so fatigued, that they stretched out as soon as the command to halt was given, and let their animals stray at will, without taking the trouble to unload them. I had observed the same supineness during our halts all through this trying district, which seems to oppress their imaginations as well as prostrate their bodies. Several times I had been obliged myself to collect wood and make a fire to rally our lagging servants. Indeed, on more than one occasion I was compelled to exert my personal authority. On the third night, particularly, I wished all the people to rest one hour. The camel-drivers resisted this reasonable request, and were backed by Yusuf. When it became a question between myself and my interpreter, I jumped off my camel and stopped the caravan. The chaouch supported me, and in this case at least behaved very well. If we had continued all night, we should have made a march of sixteen hours,—too much for the blacks, and indeed for any man on his feet.

On the whole, however, I have to observe, that as we approach Fezzan our camel-drivers are getting more civil and obliging. Is this the genial effect of native air, or expectation of a present? They have not mentioned the latter subject yet, but, on the contrary, promise me some dates.

The broad valley of El-Hasee is sandy, like all those of Fezzan. It is bounded on the north by the perpendicular buttresses of the Hamadah, and on the south by sandy swells. The well is not copious, but affords a regular supply of slightly brackish water. The people descend to the bottom, thirty or forty feet, and fill their gerbahs. The blacks are very troublesome, and require a good deal of patience. This morning they would not fetch water from this well, although quite close by the tent. I was obliged to threaten to leave them before I could get them to move. They are, probably, a little broken down by the fatigue of the Hamadah.

We passed through Wady El-Hasee on the 24th, and after mid-day began to ascend, and continued to do so until we pitched tent at half-past four, at a place called Esfar. This is also a species of plateau, but consists of sand-hills, sandstone rocks, and shallow valleys filled with herbage and shrubs. I was glad to get rid of the eternal limestone and have a change of the sandstone.

On the 25th we started early, and had a cool temperature all day. Our chaouch went out, and by the assistance of the greyhound bitch brought in a young gazelle. For about three hours the camels had herbage; but afterwards came a desert more horrible even than the Hamadah. It consists of sandstone rocks, and valleys covered with pebbles and loose blocks. Some of the rocks are perfectly black, and would be considered by an European geologist, on a distant view, as basalt. Until half-past four in the afternoon we did not see a blade of grass, a sprig of vegetation, or living thing of any description; but at the camping-ground was a thin scattering of herbage, near the foot of the black mountain called Solaou Marrafa.

We have sometimes moral disquisitions among our people. This day we had a dispute on religion. The Zintanah, a real orthodox Musulman, maintained a strict distinction between the believers and unbelievers, giving heaven to the former and hell to the latter. Yusuf and several more tolerant gentlemen held out hope of mercy to us all, as God was "the Compassionate and the Merciful." The chaouch also lectured the people on courage, and publicly maintained that the Fezzanees were all cowards. This fellow is a second Sir John Falstaff, without the corpulence. The tone of all members of the caravan, as I have mentioned, is now much humanised. Every one is more civil to us, and, by habit, to one another. However, the chaouches must, of course, get up a quarrel now and then: they do it between themselves; but, as a sign that they likewise are a little civilised, have only had two regular explosions to-day. Probably these worthies, who remind me of a bull-dog and a terrier, find particular pleasure in this form of social intercourse; for I always observe, that they are on more friendly terms than ever after they have almost come to beard-pulling.

I interfere as little as possible in all these quarrels, but now and then it is difficult to hold aloof. This morning, for example, the black who has two wives, took it into his head to beat one of them in public. I called upon him to desist, upon which he went to work harder than ever; so that I was compelled to break a stick over his shoulders to reduce him to quietness. These little caravan incidents were often the only ones that diversified our day.

On the 26th, after a march of ten hours, with cool weather at first, but suffocating heat afterwards, we reached Edree, a town of El-Shaty, in a state of great exhaustion. During the latter part of the march, however, we had been cheered by the sight of the town, which stands on a small mound of yellow clay and rock. The whitewashed marabout of Bou Darbalah gleamed a little distance in front of the place, which in itself is now a heap of ruins, having been destroyed by Abd-el-Galeel, on account of the resistance of the inhabitants to his usurped authority. He also, with a cruelty rarely practised in Saharan warfare, cut down above a thousand palms; thus rendering it impossible for the place to recover rapidly from its disasters. Previously there had been a hundred and twenty heads of families; now there are only twenty-five, and these are still diminishing it is said. However, many little children are now in the streets, naked, and covered with filth.

These few inhabitants are a mixed race, some being as fair as those on the coast, whilst others are as black as the darkest negroes of Central Africa. The Sheikh and two or three patriarchs of the village were polite and hospitable, and showed every disposition to comply with the orders sent by the Pasha of Mourzuk to supply us with fresh provisions without payment. I accepted a sheep and two fowls; but the dates for our blacks I paid for, and added a few presents.

The valley of Edree is very shallow, and this portion of it is mostly covered with bushes of wild palm and with coarse herbage; it looks green and grateful amidst the surrounding aridity. There are still remaining many fruit-bearing date-trees—about seven thousand, scattered at great distances. The water is good, although the surface of the valley is in parts covered with a whitish crust of salt. Some large springs are continually overflowing with bubbles of gas, like the great well of Ghadamez.

In the garden-fields of Edree are cultivated wheat and barley, the former white and of the finest quality. A good deal of grain has already been got in this year. With industry, and a few more animals to draw the water for irrigation, a great quantity of wheat might be grown in this oasis. The gardens contain also a few figs and grapes. Doves were fluttering in the branches of the palms, and swallows darting through their waving foliage. There were thousands of native flies here, besides those that had come with us. When we complained, we were answered, "This is a country of dates!"

Shaty has eighteen districts, some very limited, but having date-palms, and paying contributions to Mourzuk. Edree, itself, is drained of four hundred mahboubs per annum.

27th.—I rose at sunrise and went to see the ancient dwellings of Edree, where the people lived underground: they are excavations out of the rock, some fifty yards from the surface beneath the modern town. The entrances are choked with sand, and they are not entered by the people, who say "They are the abodes of serpents." At present, there is nothing remarkable about them. Probably they were originally natural caves, which were enlarged and arranged as dwellings.

On returning to the encampment, I found that the Kaid, or commander of the troops of the Shaty district, had arrived with some Arab cavaliers: he has in all thirty horsemen. Our visitors offered to "play powder" in order to do us honour; but were compelled to beg us to supply the ammunition. It was a very animating scene, after the dreary journey over the Fezzanee deserts. A dozen mounted cavaliers dashed to and fro, shaking the earth, scouting and firing from time to time. Everybody enjoyed it; even the half-naked, dirty, brown-black ladies of the town, stopped with their water-jugs, and looked on with satisfaction. The Kaid was the best man of his men; but Yusuf afterwards dressed and beat the victor, riding with great dexterity, and attracting the spontaneous applause of all the spectators. The Kaid trembled whilst contending with Yusuf, who was set down as a marabout in consequence by our chaouch.

I gave the Kaid, who was a mild and respectful man, a handkerchief, a little bit of writing-paper, and some soap, and sent him off to his station, whence he had come on purpose to visit us. Three handkerchiefs formed also an appropriate present to the Sheikhs of Edree.

Yusuf has been reading an Arabic book, which I at first thought was some commentary on the Koran; but to-day I was undeceived. He related what he read; it reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. A tall man walks through the sea, cooks fish in the sun, and destroys a whole town, whose inhabitants had insulted him, by the same means that our comparative giant saved the palace of Lilliput from conflagration.

This evening it was announced as an event that the Zintanah, a servant of the Germans, was going to Tripoli, having resolved to return home. Some said one thing about him, some another; but most, "He's afraid of the fever of Mourzuk." The fellow came afterwards to me, asking for letters to Tripoli. I told him to go about his business; that he was a man of words and had no heart, otherwise he would continue with us to Mourzuk. I wished to discourage such acts of desertion, for they produce always a bad effect. My German companions seemed glad to get rid of him.

We started again on Sunday morning (the 28th). This was our first day of sand. We had almost forgotten that there was such a thing as sand in the desert; but we shall have two days more of the same kind of travelling, to keep us in mind of this unpleasant truth. However, we were glad enough to leave Edree. Our marabout, comparing this place with El-Wady, for which we are now journeying, says, "Edree is like a jackass; El-Wady is like a camel!" Yusuf calls Edree "the city of camel-bugs." These vermin are the leeches of the camels. During the morning we passed two or three forests of palms, and afterwards traversed a flat valley, where was a little herbage. The people said; "There is no tareek (track): the tareek is in our heads." Bou Keta noted the route in many parts by the presence of camels' dung; but the shape of the sand-hills in these parts seems to be perfectly familiar to these men. We saw one or two lizards, but no birds or other signs of life, except two brown-black Fezzanees, trudging over the desert.

At four in the afternoon, after a day of hot wind, we encamped in Wady Guber, where there is water two or three feet below the surface; and a small forest of palms belonging to our camel-drivers, having descended to them in small groups from their grandfathers.

Next day (29th) we again went on over the sand, which extends beyond Ghadamez and Souf, to the west, and even to Egypt on the east. It is met at different points by the khafilahs, and crossed in different numbers of days. We found it very hard work to cross it, and understood why, in these parts, the words raml, sand, and war, difficult, have become convertible terms. Bou Keta had considerable trouble in keeping to the route, being reduced to depend chiefly on the camels' dung, which rolls about the surface of the sand. Here and there was a patch of coarse herbage, scattered like black spots on the bright, white surface. Every object was very much magnified at a little distance; I saw what seemed to me to be a horse on the top of one of the hills, but on drawing near it proved to be our own greyhound bitch smelling the hot air.

Bou Keta gave some account of himself to-day. It seems that "Fezzanee" is not a very respectable epithet in those countries.

"I am not a Fezzanee," said Bou Keta, abruptly.

"Then what are you?"

"My mother was a Tuarick woman, and my father one of the Walad Suleiman."

"Then the Walad Suleiman are gentlemen, whilst the Fezzanees are Turks and dogs?"

"That's the truth," quoth he.

To-day I found the veil of my sister-in-law of essential service. Doubled, it shielded my eyes perfectly from the hot wind and sand. It serves also as an excellent protection for the eyes against the flies whilst I am writing. This is the second day of the hot wind. In the evening we heard crickets singing in the scorching sand. At mid-day the thermometer, when buried, rose to 122 deg. Fahr. We encamped in Wady El-Makmak, where we had good water, far superior to that at Guber. As in nearly all sandy places, a hole is scooped in the sand and then covered over, or left to be filled by the action of the wind after the khafilah is supplied. Two pretty palms point, as with two fingers, to the buried wells of El-Makmak.

Some of our people noticed the lizard to-day. This seems to be the omnipresent animal of the Sahara, inhabiting its most desolate regions when no other living creature is seen. It changes in species with the nature of the country. To-day, those seen are large; very soon they will become small, meagre, and will change colour. In the valleys I have observed them nearly the same colour as the sandy soil. Perhaps the beetle is nearly as common as the lizard in the desert, being found in its most arid and naked wastes. It is generally a big, round, black-bottle beetle, which produces a trail in the sand that may be mistaken for that of the serpent.

Still the following day we had to cross the same kind of desert, under the enervating influence of the gheblee, or hot wind; the thermometer in the sand reached 130 deg.. Although the camels were eight hours on foot, little progress was made. I stopped an hour to rest in Wady El-Jumar, where were two or three palm-groves. One of the Fezzanees ferreted out a lot of dates, hidden in the sand, and taking some distributed them amongst us.

Thus refreshed we pushed on to encamp in Wady El-Takadafah, where there is a well of water, good to drink, but disagreeable in smell, like that of Bonjem. The odour resembles that of a sewer, and is produced by hydrogen of sulphur. We have had good water every day in this sandy tract, and I have no doubt that some may be found in every wady, a little below the surface. Birds begin now to reappear: a few swallows, a dove, and some small twitterers, were seen to give life to the otherwise melancholy wadys.

Dr. Overweg examined the sand, which rolled in great heaps on every side, and found it to consist of grains of four kinds,—white, yellow, red, and black; the latter colour caused by the presence of iron. These variegated sands form the basis of sandstone, and may be a decomposition of sandstone. The sand near Tripoli is of a finer sort, consisting mostly of a decomposition of limestone. There is a blue-black earth in the wadys, arising from the wood, a species of crumbling coal.

This evening we had a famous embroglio between our chaouch and the marabout. The latter had caught a waran, or large species of lizard, and skinned it to dispose of the skin. The chaouch impudently swore he had been eating the flesh of the reptile—a direful accusation. A tremendous war of words ensued; and not of words only, for presently the holy man came in for a gratification of ropes' end. All the Fezzanees rushed forward to save the honour of the marabout; and the chaouch retreated to my tent in search of arms. A stupid joke was on the point of leading to murder. I interfered, and succeeded in appeasing the storm in some degree. I then rated the chaouch soundly for beating a man invested with a sacred character in the eyes of all Musulmans. This produced a good effect, and the culprit, hanging his head, seemed ashamed of the part he had played. Subsequently he kissed the hand of the holy man, and they were reconciled.



CHAPTER V.

More sandy Desert—Fatiguing March—Water and Herbage—Water-drinking—Sight the Plateau over the Mourzuk—Hot Wind—Arrival in El-Wady—Tuaricks—Laghareefah—Fezzanees—The Chaouches astray—The Sheikh Abd-el-Hady—Description of the Oasis—Tempest—Native Huts—Official Visits—Desert News—Camel-drivers—Ruins of Azerna—Move on—The Kaid—Modest Requests—Ladies of the Wady—Leave the Oasis—Vast Plain—Instinct of the Camel—Reach Agar—Reception—Precede the Caravan—Reach Mourzuk—Mr. Gagliuffi—Honours paid to the Mission—Acting Pasha—Climate—Route from Tripoli—Its Division into Zones—Rain in the Desert.

On the 1st of May we had an arduous piece of work to perform. The khafilah was in motion fourteen entire hours, over heavy sand, with the hot wind breathing fiercely upon it. No amateur walking was indulged in. Every one kept sullenly to his camel; and those who were obliged to advance on foot dragged slowly along, seeming every moment as if they were about to abandon all exertion in despair, and lie down to perish. Our course lay mostly south, as usual; but varied occasionally from south-east to south-west. The scene was one of the most singular that could be imagined. Camels and men were scattered along the track, treading slowly but continually forward, and yet not seeming to advance at all. Instead of the cheering cry of "Isa! Isa!" which urges on the burdened beasts over rocky deserts, the dull, prolonged sound of "Thurr! Thurr!" was substituted. Beyond this there was no noise. The men had no strength to talk or to sing, and the tread of many feet awaken no echo in the sandy waste. Waves of red and yellow, or of dazzling whiteness, swelled round in a circle of ever-varying diameter as we rose and fell. Here and there stretched great stains of black herbage. Every object is magnified and changed to the eye. The heat and the swinging motion of the camel produce a slight dizziness, and the outer world assumes a hazy indistinctness of outline—something like dream-landscapes. There is a desert-intoxication which must be felt to be appreciated.

We must not, however, libel even the Sandy Desert, by producing the impression that it is all barren and comfortless. Though far more difficult to travel over than the Hamadah, it possesses the inestimable advantage of having water every day once at least. A little after noon, indeed, we passed two lakes; one small, and the other of considerable dimensions, containing sweet water, and bordered by a fringe of palm-trees. At times there is very good herbage for the camels. The most frequent shrub on which they browse is the resou, which has small ears of grain, eaten also by men as food. Traces of animal life, as I have observed, are few; but we saw this day two broken ostrich-eggs. How they came there it is difficult to say: no traces or footmarks have been remarked.

At length I had begun to find drinking a necessity. During these days of sand I imbibed more than during the whole of the rest of the journey. The eating of dates added to my thirst; and the blacks complained of the same thing. Dates are much better in the winter, and keep the cold out of the stomach; but I should recommend all Saharan travellers to eat as few of them as possible, at any season of the year.

During this last day, beyond the expanse of sandy waves through which we swam, as it were, had risen ahead some very conspicuous mountains. Even at five in the morning we could see detached along the line of the horizon the highest and most advanced portion of the edge of the plateau of Mourzuk. In three hours the white line of cliffs came in view, looking like a stretch of black-blue sea, contrasting strangely with the sparkling white-sand undulations that stretched to their feet. Some of us thought that an inland sea—never before heard of—had rolled its waters athwart our path, so perfect was the illusion. The heavens, this day particularly, attracted our attention. What a sky! how beautiful! The ground was a soft, light azure; and on its mildly resplendent surface were scattered loosely about some downy, feathery clouds, of the purest white—veils manufactured in celestial looms!

We expected to reach our premeditated halting ground about noon, or before, these cliffs seeming so near. But as day wore on, new expanses of glittering desert seemed to stretch out before us; and every hillock gained disclosed only the existence of new hillocks ahead. Meanwhile the hot wind still blew with unremitting violence, scorching our faces, and penetrating to the inmost recesses of our frames. The poor blacks, who were on foot, gazed wistfully ahead, and ever and anon called to those who were nodding on the camels, as if stunned by the heat, to tell them if they might hope for rest. I found my eyesight dimming, and deafness coming on. The thermometer was plunged into the sand, and the mercury instantly mounted to above 130 deg..

At length we sighted the wady, stretching like a green belt between the sand and the mountains beyond. We found that we had been traversing an elevated swell of the desert, for we were full three quarters of an hour descending to the level of the valley.

The first specimen of inhabitants we saw on arriving was a group of naked children with their mother, who covered herself up in her barracan on our approach. The children were nearly all females, and even those of not more than three or four years of age seemed wonderfully developed. They had formed a house out of a thick bush of wild palms over the well.

These people are what are called Tuaricks of Fezzan. They are a dwarfish, slim race; and the Fezzanees call them their Arabs. They cover up their faces like their kindred of Ghat, but have for the most part white thelems instead of black. A few sport a red fotah, or turban. They speak Arabic commonly, but some know also the language of Ghat; which fact connects them certainly with that country. Their proper name is Tanelkum, a genuine Tuarick word, and decisive of their Targhee origin. Their trade is chiefly camel-driving between Ghat and Fezzan. They are a fairer and finer race than the Fezzanees, and do not intermarry with them. Their numbers are not great, perhaps scarcely more than a thousand souls in all Fezzan; but they live in a state of entire independence, and pay no contributions to the Porte.

We passed the first well and came up with the true Fezzanees at the village of Laghareefah, where we encamped. It is situated in Wady Gharbee, more properly called El-Wady par excellence, on account of its superior fertility and culture. There is also Wady Sherky, and several others; as Etsaou, Akar, Um-el-Hammam, Takruteen, and Aujar. The people of Laghareefah are all of a black-brown hue, and some had the ordinary negro features. They were a little rude at first, but made some compensation in the evening by sending us a good supply of meat and fresh bread to our tents.

To our surprise, we saw nothing of our chaouches here; and on making inquiries, we found that they were not with the caravan. They were known to have pushed on ahead, impatient to arrive. We suspected they had taken the wrong route, and did not remember to have seen the track of their horses' hoofs on the sand as we advanced. At first we were not sorry that they were suffering a little for their bad conduct all the way from Tripoli, to which I have only made passing allusions. But then we began to be alarmed for their safety, and begged the Sheikh to send a man after them with water. They did not make their appearance until morning, when we learned that with immense fatigue they had succeeded in striking the valley lower down at another village, where they had tarried the remainder of the night. As might be expected, they were in no good humour after their excursion in the sand; but our people, who had enjoyed a brief respite of unwonted tranquillity during their absence, instead of condoling with them, received them with laughter and jeers.

The Sheikh Abd-el-Hady sent us breakfast, and he and his people were far more polite than yesterday. We learned that there was a caravan in the wady about to start for Ghat, and I took the opportunity to write to that place to produce a proper impression of our views and intentions, as I learned that a very erroneous one had gone abroad. The Sheikh and his elders came to ask me to lend them twelve mahboubs, to make up the amount of tribute now being collected by the agents of the Pasha of Mourzuk. Of course I did not consent, representing that I was at the outset of a long journey, and that the Pasha would certainly punish them if he ever heard that such a request had been made. As a solace for the disappointment, I gave the Sheikh three handkerchiefs and a pocket-knife. The Tuaricks came in for a little soap, an article seemingly in universal request.

El-Wady is a deep valley, lying like a moat between the elevated sandy desert and the plateau on which Mourzuk is situated. This plateau, at the distance of every few miles, juts out huge buttresses of perpendicular cliffs, which frown over the broken thread of green vegetation in the valley. Thick forests of palms stretch at various points along the low plain, where are springs plentifully furnished by filtration from the high ground on either hand. The various kinds of oasian culture are pursued here with success. Wheat and barley are produced in considerable quantities; and camels, asses, and goats find plentiful nourishment. The villages are numerous; but some contain only few men, and none exceed forty-five. Takarteebah, the largest place, pays four hundred and ninety mahboubs per annum, cultivates four thousand palms, yielding a hundred and fifty kafasses of dates, thirty of wheat, and eight of barley; it feeds eleven asses. I observed that all domestic animals, the goats especially, attain a very diminutive size in these oases, the nourishment for them being but scanty.

In this oasis the palm-groves are much more dense than in any other I have seen. They almost merit the name of forests, both from their size and wild luxuriant appearance. The Fezzanees pay little attention to their culture, and when a tree falls it is frequently suffered to lie for months, even though it block up the public road. In contrast to the burning desert we had just traversed, these dense woods casting their shadows on the white sand produced a most pleasing effect. We eagerly wandered into the cool arcades, and watched with delight the doves and hippoes, and other birds, as they fluttered to and fro amidst the drooping leaves.

Laghareefah, like Edree, had been destroyed by the brilliant, though ruthless usurper, Abd-el-Galeel, on account of its resistance to his authority. The old town is at a little distance from the new, and was evidently a much better-built place, commanded by an earthen kasr or fortress.

On May 2d, we had a tempest of thunder and lightning to the south on the hills, produced by the intense heat of the morning, and its accumulation during the previous few days. Rain seemed to be falling at a distance of a few hours. In the evening the mercury still stood about 100 deg.. The heat now was still very distressing. The wind came charged with dust that rolled in columns, like smoke beaten down by a tempest, across the surface of the valley. All the vegetation seemed withered, as if in an oven; and the wheat in the ear was brittle, as though roasted. There is a good deal of wheat in this oasis. I observed an old woman reaping, and went to chat with her. Her sickle had a long handle, and the blade itself was narrow, but slightly bent and somewhat serrated. I tried it, and found that it answered its purpose very well, however rude in appearance.

I entered one of the huts made of palm-branches, and carelessly smeared with mud—an attempt at plastering that can hardly be called successful. The door was formed of rough planks of date-wood, and the flooring of hard-trodden earth, covered with mats. The principal article of furniture was, as usual, the small hand corn-mill, for nearly every person in the East is still his own miller. The huts, though rude in outward appearance, were dark, cool, and comfortable within. In the town itself, many of them are built entirely of mud; that is to say, of round mud balls, first moistened with water, and then dried in the sun. I entered several, and found that most were empty. Where we found people, they were courteous and cheerful in manners, and smiled at the curiosity with which I lifted up the wicker covers of their pots and jars. In one I found a little sour milk; in another, some bazeen; in another, a few dates soaking in water. A small vessel now and then occurred, full of oil; but this is the greatest luxury they possess.

None of the doors has either lock or key. The Fezzanee observed, "Strangers may steal, but Fezzanees never. All the dates remain securely on the trees until gathered by the owners." It must be observed, however, that the anomaly of vast possessions being held by one man, who can scarcely consume or utilise the produce, whilst others have not a stone whereon to lay their heads, and depend even for a burial-place upon charity, is not to be observed in this barbarous country.

The children of the Wady, up to the age of seven or eight years, go about perfectly naked, which may partly account for the bronze-black colour of their skins. The Tuaricks are generally fairer than the Fezzanees, though some of these latter are fair as the Moors on the coast, whilst others are black as very niggers.

We received a visit from the Nather, or civil governor of the Wady. He is a Fezzanee, Abbas by name; and thankfully received the present of a handkerchief. The Kaid, or military commander, is a Moor from Tripoli. Everybody seems interested about us, and there is a perfect flux of visits. All the authorities around seem to make our arrival a holiday. We are quite the fashion. The chaouch gets drunk in the evening on leghma, furnished by the Nather, who wants to worm out all the news; and there is little doubt that he has learned the whole truth, and a good deal more. El-Maskouas, the Turkish officer employed in collecting contributions for Mourzuk, arrived at the camp and brought letters from M. Gagliuffi. He also told us that the Sheikh of Aghadez had not yet returned from his pilgrimage to Mekka. The motions of all these desert magnates are circulated from mouth to mouth as assiduously as those of our Mayfair fashionables.

Among our visitors was Haj Mohammed El-Saeedy, the owner of our camels. His social position answers to that of an English shipowner. He is a marabout of great celebrity in this country, and moves about in an atmosphere of respect. By the way, when it became clearly impressed upon my mind that the Fezzanee camel-drivers were merely employed for hire, and had no property whatever in the beasts they drove, my opinion of them began to rise. It would have been impossible to take more care of the camels than they did.

We remained stationary in the Wady, from the 1st of May to the evening of the 3d, when we moved on to Toueewah. After dark was passed Azerna, in the neighbourhood of which stood the ancient town, celebrated for its ruins. The modern place, though presenting a martial kind of appearance with its battlemented mud walls, contained only ten inhabitants, who live like so many rats in holes or under the piles of ruins. On the 4th, when the people removed our beds in the morning, a scorpion sallied furiously forth. We had been sleeping with him under our pillows. We moved on, still in the Wady, for a couple of hours, until we came to the house of the Kaid, and once more encamped. His habitation is large, commodious, and well protected from the sun. He showed us his sleeping-apartment, which is airy and well protected from the sun. A number of little wicker baskets, the handiwork of his wife, served as so many clothes-presses. The baskets of Fezzan are perfectly water-tight.

This Kaid, called Ahmed Tylmoud, is quite a character, and looks very droll with his single eye. He has twenty soldiers only under his command throughout the valley. The Turks do not waste their men, making up by severity for want of numbers. Like the commandant of Shaty, this Ahmed Tylmoud insisted on "playing at powder" with his men for our edification; but was also obliged to beg his ammunition. It is singular, that although these people are only armed with matchlocks, and are supposed to be ready for service, either to defend the country or levy contributions, they seem entirely destitute of all necessary provisions for that purpose.

We were pestered with two very modest requests, which were not in our power to grant. In the first place, the native inhabitants sent a deputation to ask us to use our influence with the Governor of Mourzuk to procure a reduction of their taxes; and then the Arab troops desired that we should procure for them their discharge. Our refusal even to take the charge of these verbal petitions seemed very harsh. An impression had evidently got abroad that we came to bring about a general redress of grievances; or, at any rate, that our influence was far greater than we chose to avow.

I gave to the Kaid a handkerchief, as well as some snuff and tobacco. In return, he sent a little bread and a fly-flapper; so that we parted good friends. During our stay, we heard this jolly fellow entertaining the chaouches and his own horsemen with a description of the ladies of the Wady, who had no reason to be flattered by his account. And yet he seems to have married one himself: hinc illae lachrymae, perhaps. My chaouch had already given me a confirmation of these libels, and was evidently greatly delighted by this testimony to his exactitude.

There are several roads from the Wady to Mourzuk, all much about the same distance. It is said, also, that Ghat is only ten days from Laghareefah. We moved on a little further on the evening of the 4th, but did not start properly until next day, when we made a long stretch of more than thirteen hours, and encamped at the village of Agar, where I remembered having halted once before on my way from Ghat. During this day's march we found, that what we had supposed to be the border of the Mourzuk plateau was not in reality so. We soon reached the summit of the cliffs, and having cast back a glance upon the valley, with its expanse of corn-fields and thousands of palm-trees, expected to find an elevated plateau beyond; but the hills gradually softened down into a plain on their eastern side. Our route may be said to have led through a wilderness, not a desert. On all sides were clusters of the tholukh, which grows prettily up, and has a poetical appearance. The ground at some places was strewed with branches, cut down for the goats to feed on. Then we came to a small wady full of resou, which our marabout calls the "meat of the camel;" and all the camels at once stopped, and for a long time obstinately refused to proceed. This appeared strange to us, but on inquiry we found that the sagacious brutes remembered perfectly well that until the evening there would be no herbage so good, and were determined to have their fill whilst there was an opportunity. The drivers, after indulging them a few moments, took them in flank, and their shouts of "Isa! Isa!" and some blows, at length got the caravan out of this elysium of grass into the hungry plain beyond. As we proceeded, a cold bracing wind began to blow from the east, and considerably chilled our frames. I had met the same weather four years previously. Towards evening, however, it became warmer, as it usually does. The country was bare and level, like an expanse of dull-coloured water; and the palm-trees that cluster near the village rose slowly above the horizon as we drew nigh. The sun had gone down, and the plain stretched dim and shadowy around before we came in sight of the group of hovels which form the village. As I looked back, the scattered camels slowly toiling along could be faintly traced against the horizon.

The Sheikh of Agar received us well this time, sending us two fowls and supper for our people. This place consists of huts made of palm-branches and of mud hovels, several of which are in ruins. The same remark constantly recurs in reference to almost all the towns of Barbary, both towards the coast and far in the interior. The vital principle of civilisation seems to have exhausted itself in those parts.

I was now in a country comparatively familiar to me, and knew that I had but one more ride to reach the capital of Fezzan. Rising early on the 6th, therefore, I determined to press on in advance of the caravan; and starting with warm weather, puffs of wind coming now from the south-east, now from the north-west, very unsteadily—the atmosphere was slightly murky, with sand flying about—I soon came in sight of the palm-groves of Mourzuk, without making any other rencontre than a Tuarick coursing over the desert in full costume. The old castle peeped picturesquely through the trees, but I had still a good way to go before reaching shelter. The sand and white earth that form the surface of the oasis near the town were painfully dazzling to my eyes.

At length I reached the suburbs, where a few people stared curiously at me. My arrival had been announced by the chaouches, who had gone on about a quarter of an hour before; and at the eastern gate the soldiers allowed me to pass without notice, or any allusion to gumruk. Mr. Gagliuffi had come out to meet me; but having taken a different gate we crossed, and I arrived on my camel at his house, and found it empty. My veil being down in the streets I was recognised by no one. The acting Governor had arranged to meet me with twenty horsemen, but I had taken them all quite unawares. The letters forwarded requesting us to make a halt in the suburbs, and then advance slowly in "holiday costume," for the sake of effect, had not reached me. However, they had hoisted the Ottoman flag on the castle, in honour of our expected arrival,—a compliment that had not before been paid to strangers, and one never offered at Tripoli.

Our German friends arrived shortly afterwards, and we all had a very hospitable reception from Mr. Gagliuffi, with whom we lodged. A few calls were made upon us in the evening, but we were glad enough to seek our beds. Next day the chief people of the city, the Kady and other dignitaries, began early to visit us. When we had exchanged compliments with them, we went in full European dress to wait on the acting Pasha. We found him to be a very quiet, unassuming man, who gave us a most kind and gentlemanlike reception, equal to anything of the kind of Tripoli. He is a Turk, and recognised me as having been before at Mourzuk. We had coffee, pipes, and sherbet made of oranges. Afterwards we visited the Treasurer, who also gave us coffee, and was very civil; and finally called upon the brother of the Governor of Ghat, who was writing letters for us to-day.

I feel in better health than when I left Tripoli. Yet we are all a little nervous about the climate of Mourzuk, which is situated in a slight depression of the plain, in a place inclined to be marshy. The Consul has just recovered from a severe illness.

We had been, in all, thirty-nine days from Tripoli, a considerable portion of which time was spent in travelling. This makes a long journey; but I am told that our camel-drivers should have brought us by way of Sebha, and thus effected a saving of three or four days. The greater portion of our sandy journey was unnecessary, and merely undertaken that these gentlemen might have an opportunity of visiting their wives and families.

On a retrospective view of the route from Tripoli to Mourzuk, via Mizdah, I am inclined to divide the country, for convenience sake, into a series of zones, or regions.

1st zone. This includes the sandy flat of the suburbs of the town of Tripoli, with the date-palm plantations and the sand-hills contiguous.

2d zone. The mountains, or Tripoline Atlas, embracing the rising ground with their influence on the northern side, and the olive and fig plantations, covering the undulating ground on the southern side, where the Barbary vegetation is seen in all its vigour and variety. This may also be emphatically called the region of rain.

3d zone. The limestone hills and broad valleys, gradually assuming the aridity of the Sahara as you proceed southward, between the town of Kaleebah and Ghareeah; the olive plantations and corn-fields disappear, entirely in this tract.

4th zone. The Hamadah, an immense desert plateau, separating Tripoli from Fezzan.

5th zone. The sandy valleys and limestone rocks between El-Hasee and Es-Shaty, where herbage and trees are found, affording food to numerous gazelles, hares, and the wadan.

6th. The sand between Shaty and El-Wady, piled in masses, or heaps, extending in undulating plains, and occasionally opening in small valleys with herbage and trees.

7th. The sandy valleys of El-Wady, covered with forests of date-palms, through which peep a number of small villages.

8th. The plateau of Mourzuk, consisting of shallow valleys, ridges of low sandstone hills, and naked flats, or plains, sometimes of sand, at others covered with pebbles and small stones.

All these zones beyond the Atlas are visited by only occasional showers, or are entirely without rain, the vegetation depending upon irrigation from wells. I do not go into further detail on this subject, because, although our line of route was new, this stretch of country is tolerably well known to the geographical reader.

I have omitted to mention, or to lay much stress on the fact, that we were unable to procure sufficient camels at Tripoli to convey our goods all the way to Mourzuk. We were compelled to leave three camel-loads behind, in the first place, at Gharian; these were subsequently got on to Kaleebah, and thence to Mizdah: but there the influence of Izhet Pasha's circular letter entirely failed to procure for us three extra camels, and we were compelled to push on to Mourzuk, leaving part of our goods in the oasis. This circumstance caused me a great deal of annoyance, both on the route and after our arrival, for it was a long time before we got in all our baggage. However, it at last arrived, and the delay only served to illustrate the difficulty of procuring conveyance in these dismal countries, and to lead us into considerable expense.



CHAPTER VI.

The Oasis of Fezzan—Population—Ten Districts—Their Denomination and Condition—Sockna—Honn—Worm of the Natron Lakes—Zoueelah—Mixed Race—Improvements in Mourzuk—Heavy Ottoman Yoke—Results of the Census—Amount of Revenue—Military Force—Arab Cavaliers—Barracks—Method of Recruiting—Turkish System superior to French—Razzias—Population of Mourzuk—Annual Market—Articles of Traffic—Acting-Governor and his Coadjutors—Story of a faithless Woman—Transit Duties in Fezzan—Slave Trade—Sulphur in the Syrtis—Proposed Colony from Malta.

The Pashalic of Fezzan, although it occupies a considerable space upon the map—advancing like a peninsula from the line of Barbary countries into the Sahara—is in reality a very insignificant province. From all that I can learn, its entire population does not exceed twenty-six thousand souls, scattered about in little oases over a vast extent of country. It is, in fact, a portion of the Sahara, in which fertile valleys occur a little more frequently than in the other portions. Immense deserts, sometimes perfectly arid, but at others slightly sprinkled with herbage, separate these valleys; and are periodically traversed by caravans, great and small, which in the course of time have covered the country with a perfect network of tracks.

Fezzan is divided into ten districts, of which the principal is El-Hofrah, containing the capital, Mourzuk, and several smaller towns. It is here and there besprinkled with beautiful gardens, in which are cultivated, besides the date-palm, several of the choicest fruits that grow on the coast—as figs, grapes, peaches, pomegranates, and melons. In these gardens, as in most of the oases of the desert, the fruit trees that require most protection from the sun are planted between the palms, which make a kind of roof with their long leaves. Abd-el-Galeel destroyed many of these groves to punish their owners, refractory to his authority.

Two crops are obtained in the year: in the spring, barley and wheat are reaped; and in the summer and autumn, Indian corn, ghaseb, and other kinds of grain. All the culture is carried on by means of irrigation, the water being thrown over the fields by means of runnels of various dimensions twice in the day; that is, once early in the morning, and once late in the afternoon until dark.

Wady Ghudwah is a single town with gardens, and the other features common to all the Fezzan oases.

Sebha includes two towns, having a considerable population, with gardens and date-palms.

Bouanees includes three towns, well peopled, and has immense numbers of date-palms.

El-Jofrah contains the second capital or large town of the pashalic, Sockna, built of stones and mud, with nine or ten smaller towns, all tolerably populous.

Sockna is situated midway between Mourzuk and Tripoli, and is about fourteen days from the former. The inhabitants are Moors, and, besides Arabic, speak a Berber dialect. Sockna is celebrated for its fine sweet dates, called kothraee; and there is abundance of every kind of this fruit. A considerable quantity of grain is sown—wheat and barley—and the gardens abound with peaches. The town of Honn, distant about two hours from this place, is nearly as large, and also surrounded with gardens.

Wady Gharby, and Es-Shaty, have already been described. In the sands between these two places are situated the celebrated natron lakes, in which that miraculous dud ("worm") spontaneously appears at certain seasons of the year, and is eaten as people in Europe eat sardines—to sharpen the appetite. The natron is also a source of profitable exportation. Wady Sharky almost exactly resembles Wady Gharby, in population and natural features.

Sharkeeah, besides some insignificant places, includes the interesting ancient capital called Zoueelah, whence the name of Zoilah is given by the Tibboos to all Fezzan. Half the population of this place consists of Shereefs, and there are indeed great and increasing numbers of this class of persons throughout the whole country.

Ghatroun includes, with Tajerby the most southern place of Fezzan, three small towns. The inhabitants are all black, speaking the Tibbooese and Bornouese languages, and very little Arabic. The other nine districts above enumerated contain a mixed race, like the population of Mourzuk; but some of the northern towns are inhabited by people of purer blood, with comparatively fair complexions.

Mourzuk itself, the seat of the Pashalic,—distant about four hundred and twenty miles from Tripoli, in a straight line, and five hundred, counting the sinuosities of the road, via Benioleed, Bonjem, and Sockna,—is a rising town, becoming daily more salubrious by the improvements made since the residence of the Turks here, and the subjection of the inhabitants to a more orderly and powerful government than they had been accustomed to. The British Consul, Mr. Gagliuffi, has rendered important aid to the administration, in embellishing the appearance of Mourzuk, and giving it the air and character of a Turkish city of the coast. Our camel-drivers pretend that it is already superior to Tripoli. At the Consul's suggestion a colonnade has been built in the main street, in front of the shops, affording shelter from the fiery rays of the summer sun, as well as being an agreeable place for the natives to lounge under and make their purchases. He was also the principal promoter of the erection of new barracks for the troops, and the appropriation of a large house as a hospital for the poor. His last improvement is the plantation of a garden of the choice fruit-trees and vegetables of the coast; and his example has been imitated by the Bim Bashaw, commandant of the troops, who is now laying out a garden in a conspicuous part of the city.

Since the departure of Abd-el-Galeel with his Arab followers, the Walad Suleiman, for the neighbourhood of Bornou, the province of Fezzan has certainly enjoyed profound tranquillity. But on account of heavy taxation, high customs' dues, and other clogs to free commerce, the people are sinking deeper and deeper into poverty and wretchedness, and, except in the capital, there is a general retrograde movement. The Ottoman yoke is a peculiarly heavy one; it keeps the people in order, but it crushes them; and perhaps the Fezzanees may now regret somewhat the wholesome anarchy that distinguished the Arab chieftain's reign.

As I have said, the entire population of the ten districts of Fezzan is, according to the last Turkish census, only about twenty-six thousand souls, of whom about eleven thousand are males, including the children. The disproportion of the sexes arises in part from the number of female slaves, in part from the emigration of the men to the commercial countries of the interior, either for temporary gain, or permanently to escape from the grinding weight of taxation.

The whole amount of revenue collected by the Government is estimated at fifty thousand mahboubs per annum. Twenty-three thousand of these are raised by direct taxation, whilst the remainder is produced by customs' dues and the date-palm groves, which are the property of Government.

The military force by which the Turks hold possession of this vast but thinly-peopled territory—stretching north and south twenty-one days' journey, or about three hundred miles—is the very inconsiderable number of six hundred and thirty men. The garrison of Mourzuk itself consists of four hundred and thirty men, of whom about one-half are Fezzanees, twenty or thirty Turks, and the residue Arabs or Moors. The remaining three hundred are Arab cavaliers, living chiefly on their own means, and changed every year, who serve as a flying corps, or mounted police, for all the districts of Fezzan. The rate of pay for this latter class is one kail of wheat and half a mahboub per month for those who have no horses, and one kail of dates additional for those who are mounted. This division, however, is fastidious at present, as all those on service in Fezzan are now possessed of horses. In the whole regency of Tripoli there are but six hundred and sixty of these Arab soldiers; but in Bonjem and the Syrtis they are not cavalry, and the detachment at Ghadamez is mixed.[3] I am afraid these janissaries are obliged to commit spoliations in the towns and districts where they are stationed to avoid starvation.

[3] The distribution of the corps is as follows:—

In Gibel 150 Fezzan 200 The Syrtis 150 Bonjem 60 Ghadamez 100

I visited the barracks of Mourzuk, and found them to be commodious, and apparently salubrious. The good living of these stationary troops surprised me. They have meat and excellent soup everyday, with rice and biscuit. The Fezzanee is never so well fed and well clothed and lodged as when he is a soldier. Indeed the men seem too well off, in comparison with their former state and with the rest of the population. Nevertheless, they are glad to escape when the time of their service expires. The people all dread being made soldiers: so that Government is compelled to resort to the most paltry tricks to get recruits. Men are often unjustly charged with theft or debt, and put in prison, and then let out as a favour to be enlisted, or sometimes are clapped into the ranks at once. Youths have been seized as soldiers for kicking up the dust in front of a sentinel and dirtying his clothes. I remarked the number of soldiers that were black, and the Bim Bashaw observed that he hoped the time would come when there would not be a white private left in Mourzuk. The Turks manage to do with twenty or thirty of their own people, mostly officers, in this garrison; but, by one method or another, get as many Fezzanee recruits as they want.

The Turkish system is vastly superior to the French in this important matter of garrisoning their possessions in Northern Africa. The latter require one hundred men where the Turks are content with one to hold the country. Perhaps one of the chief reasons may be the difference of religion. The Arabs and other natives of North Africa cannot endure the sight of a ruler of another faith. Something, however, may be attributed to the immense and sacred authority of the Ottoman Sultan, the great chief of the Mussulmans of the East, as the Shereefan Emperor of Morocco is the chief of the Mussulmans of the West. We may add, also, the tremendous severity of the Turkish criminal law, or, rather, the inexorable justice with which a crime committed against a Turkish functionary is visited. The French make their razzias and strike off heads enough; but their criminal code in Algeria is perhaps not so summary and sanguinary as that of the Turks. Possibly one of the chief reasons of this curious contrast may be the fact that the French soldier is scarcely to be depended on when isolated. He acts well in masses, but considers himself deserted and betrayed when left comparatively alone. At any rate, the fact is that the Turks hold Tripoli with a handful of men, whilst the French, with a military force nearly as large as the whole British army, can scarcely maintain a feverish and uncertain possession of Algeria.

The population of Mourzuk numbers two thousand souls. It is very much mixed, and the people vary greatly in colour, so that there is no general character. There are more women than children, the greater portion of the females belonging to the members of the great winter caravans. Contrary to what I had been told, these women seem to be rather remarkable for modesty and virtue than otherwise. It is worth observing, that Fatamah, the proper name of Mahomet's daughter, is here used, by excess of delicacy, to describe the softer sex, more especially ladies.

From October to January, as at Ghat, there is a large annual souk, or market, at Mourzuk. One general caravan comes from Bornou and Soudan, every year during the winter season, and small bodies of merchants also go up and down to Soudan in the summer; whilst to Bornou there is no intermediate trade. Caravans also congregate here from Egypt, Bengazi, Tripoli, Ghadamez, Ghat, and Tuat. From forty thousand to sixty thousand Spanish dollars is the value of the merchandise that usually changes hands during the great mart. The principal articles of traffic from the interior are slaves, senna, and ivory. This is the first year that a hundred and fifty cantars of elephants' teeth have been brought from Bornou; sixty or seventy of these were consigned to one merchant, forty were on account of the Vizier of Bornou, and the remainder belonged to Arab traders. This export of elephants' teeth direct via Fezzan has only lately been opened. Some manufactured cottons are likewise brought from Soudan, and sell easily in this part of the Sahara, especially amongst the Tuaricks. Besides, there are exported bullocks' and goats' skins, and a small quantity of ostrich feathers. The gum trade has lately been introduced into Fezzan by the British Consul, and one hundred cantars per annum are already collected from the tholukh-trees.

The acting Governor of Fezzan always resides at Mourzuk. His principal coadjutors in the despatch of affairs are a Kady with two secretaries, a Sheikh or mayor of the city, some respectable men who act as privy councillors, the Wakeels of Bengazi, Augila, Sokna, &c.

A little story may find its place here, as an apt illustration of the state of society and manners in this out-of-the-way capital. A married woman preferred another man to her husband, and frankly confessed that her affections had strayed. Her lord, instead of flying into a passion, and killing her on the spot, thought a moment, and said,—

"I will consent to divorce you, if you will promise one thing."

"What is that?" inquired the delighted wife.

"You must looloo to me only when I pass on the day of the celebration of your nuptials with the other man."

Now it is, the custom for women, under such circumstances, to looloo (that is, salute with a peculiar cry) any handsome male passer-by. However, the woman promised, the divorce took place, and the lover was soon promoted into a second husband. On the day of the wedding, however, the man who had exacted the promise passed by the camel on which the bride was riding, and saluted her, as is the custom, with the discharge of his firelock. Upon this she remembered, and looloed to him. The new bridegroom, enraged at this marked preference, noticing that she had not greeted any one else, and thinking possibly that he was playing the part of a dupe, instantly fell upon his bride and slew her. He had scarcely done so when the brothers of the woman came up and shot him down; so that the first husband compassed ample vengeance without endangering himself in the slightest degree. This is an instance of Arab cunning.

A subject of considerable importance was brought under my attention at Mourzuk. It appears that whilst the objects of legitimate commerce, in being exported from the interior to Fezzan and Tripoli, pay double duties—that is, twelve and a-half per cent in each place—slaves pay no transit duty whatever in this regency of Barbary if they are destined for the Constantinople market, and even if sold in Tripoli or Fezzan only pay once a duty of ten mahboubs per head. It frequently happens besides that the Turkish merchants, who embark with their slaves for Constantinople, sell a considerable number on the way. On arriving at their destination, they pretend that such as are missing from their register have died; and in this manner they contrive to evade the payment of all duty whatever. It has been attempted to get the impost of ten mahboubs paid in Mourzuk, and likewise to force all the caravans to take that route. This would have acted as a check upon the slave-trade; but the influence of the Gadamsee merchants was too great to allow the measure to be carried out. It is most important that the legitimate trade should not be burdened with double custom-dues, and it is to be hoped that the influence of the British Government will be used to bring about some reform in this matter. We should bear in mind, that as most of the goods and merchandise passing through Fezzan are only in transit, they are therefore legally subject to a duty of no more than three per cent.

I have paid as much attention to this subject of the encouragement of the legitimate trade as my time and other occupations would allow me. It will be as well to make a note here on another point, though it may seem out of place,—the existence of sulphur in the Syrtis. There appears no doubt that this substance can be procured at the foot of a mountain called Gebel Sinoube, about six miles from the sea at the innermost point of the Syrtis. A considerable quantity is obtained by the Arabs near this mountain, about eighteen camel-hours south-west from a place on the coast called Maktar, the eastern limits of the district Syrt. There is also good sulphur found in the Gebel-Harouj, five or six days east from Sokna. But what is really the per-centage of pure sulphur on the rough masses of the mines is not ascertained; nor is the quality precisely known, except that of the Harouj mountain. Accurate information could only be procured by despatching a trustworthy Sicilian miner to make a report. Perhaps these mines could only be brought into profitable working in the event of the stoppage of a supply from Sicily. It has been proposed to establish a colony of Maltese at Zafran, on the shore of the Syrtis. If this idea were carried out, the sulphur mines might by this means be brought into play.



CHAPTER VII.

DIARY OF RESIDENCE AT MOURZUK.

Sickness of Gagliuffi—Baggage left at Mizdah—Runthar Aga—The Hospital—Various Visits—Arrival of the New Governor—Animated Scene—Correspondence—Visit Mustapha Agha—Bragging Sheikh Boro—Tibboos of Tibesty—Curious Country—Presents to Turkish Functionaries—A Woman divorced—Haj Lameen—Presents expected—Brilliant Atmosphere—Water-Melons—The Gardens—Winnowing Grain—Houses of Salt Mud—Nymphs of the Gardens—Wells—Presents to Functionaries—Phrenology—Queen's Birthday—Walks in the Orchards and Gardens—Corn-threshing—Kingdom of Aheer—Ass's Head—A Wedding—A Funeral—Great Dinner—Tibboos—Prepare to depart—The Pilgrim Caravan; its Privileges—Tuat and the French—Departure of Germans—Wife of Es-Sfaxee—An Arab Saying—Letters—Disease—Arrival of Escort—Eastern Consulates—Business—Hateetah—The Son of Shafou—Poor Sheikhs—Hard Bargain.

May 7th.—We are already busy with preparations for our start to the interior. Mr. Gagliuffi has written to Ghat to-day for Hateetah and his escort of Tuaricks. Excitement protects us, perhaps, from the deadly influence of the climate of Mourzuk. Mr. Gagliuffi is recovering from a severe attack, and anticipates being obliged to leave for the coast. We trust he will not be driven from his post whilst we are in Soudan. However, we must trust to the same Providence that has hitherto watched over us.

I am having all our letters of recommendation for the interior copied, to be sent home to Government, so that if anything happen to us they may know what kind of support we have received. If anything happen! The presence of that doubt gives a solemnity and an importance to the most trifling thing we do. A soldier is allowed to indulge in serious thought before going into battle, and the chances in his favour are greater than those in ours. We, too, may have to do battle with men; but the dangers of the desert are also arrayed against us, and when they are passed, the miasmas of Central Africa fill the air beyond.

The marabout, with his camel and burden, has not yet come up; he left us to visit his country. We are likewise still without news of three camel-loads left behind at Mizdah. There is always a train of stragglers behind every caravan that is not huddled together by fear. We should never have procured beasts enough on the road, and did well to take them direct from Tripoli. The Pasha's circular letter was of little or no use in this respect; and, indeed, we could not expect it to cause camels to start out of the ground.

8th.—I paid a visit to the commandant of the troops, Runthar Aga, Bim Bashaw, quite a Christian Moor; and got information on military affairs whilst tasting the soup in the kitchen. Also called upon our old friend the Doctor, and inspected the hospital, which certainly holds out no temptation to a man to be ill. The patients are few: two have strong fevers; five or six are convalescent; the sick-list contains no other cases; but it will be different when summer comes on.

9th.—Received a visit from the acting Governor, and presented him with a bottle of snuff. Like other great men, this Pasha makes a great consumption of rappee, and empties nearly a box a-day.

10th.—The military seem to have taken a fancy to us. Here comes the Commandant, to return our call, with all the officers of the garrison. Smiles and courtesy are the order of the day. Dr. Overweg brings out some of his scientific instruments, and the knowing ones have an opportunity of showing their ignorance. All passes off well. Mr. Gagliuffi observes: "You would not have had so much attention paid to you in Tripoli." Possibly; but this may partly be accounted for by the rarity of Europeans at Mourzuk. Familiarity has not had time to breed contempt.

11th.—There is excitement in the town. What news? The new acting Governor, my old acquaintance of Ghadamez, Rais Mustapha, is in sight, hull above the horizon. We all go out to meet him, and soon see his cortege breaking between the groves. This is the gayest and most spirited scene I have witnessed since leaving Tripoli. Mustapha brings his staff and 200 Arab cavaliers with him, to relieve the Fezzan irregulars. They make a gallant-looking body of men as they come swiftly on. All the authorities of the town, with whatever cavalry is already collected here, pour out of the gates to pay their compliments; and then come crowds of the lower classes of citizens, with their rude bagpipes, which scream discordantly. The horsemen galloped hither and thither in the plain whilst the interview between the great men took place, and effectually drowned all the polite things that were said by their trampling and hurrahing. We rode up likewise to welcome the new great man. Mustapha looked well, was excellently mounted, and dressed almost like an European officer. He smiled graciously on seeing his old friend of Ghadamez, and shook me by the hand; he also recognised the Germans, having seen them at Zaweeah, near Tripoli. Satisfied with this little interview, we drew aside, and the procession moved towards the gate. There was instantly a rush of the Arab horsemen, every one trying to get in front; and as the entry was narrow an obstruction soon took place. We drew aside, and called out to those who were pressing on to make way for the Governor. One fellow would not hear; and Mustapha himself riding up, lashed him with a small whip across the shoulders. Bad taste; but perhaps excusable in this case, if ever. These lawless soldiery can never be taught good manners, without which true discipline is impossible. However, we at length got within the gate, and the procession poured along the streets, the women loo-looing as we passed, the bagpipes shrieking louder than ever, the crowd buzzing, the horses thundering, the cavaliers shouting. In fine, this hubbub carried us quite back into the regions of civilisation, where men collect on public occasions often without any real joy, and by mere process of action and reaction succeed in working themselves up into a state of boisterous enthusiasm.

Several days were now chiefly occupied in writing reports on the progress made by the expedition hitherto; and in voluminous correspondence on petty, matters—petty, I mean, in themselves, but very important to us—all connected with our future proceedings. I forwarded to the Foreign Office a letter addressed by the Sultan Laoul, of the Tibboos of Bilma, to Mr. Gagliuffi. It appears these people are now nominally subject to the Ottoman Porte.

12th.—We went to pay a visit to Mustapha Agha, my old friend of Ghadamez. He received us with all the honours—a guard of officers, pipes, coffee, and sherbet. That important subject of health was a good deal talked of. Mustapha fears the climate of Fezzan, and finds little consolation in the doctrines of fatalism. He seemed surprised at the bulk of the despatches last forwarded from the Consulate, and asked if we all knew how to write. He cannot understand the necessity of minute directions. We explained as well as we could; and then talked of the journeys we had respectively performed. This gave Mustapha an opportunity of astonishing us in his Turkish way. He said that he had come with 200 men and 300 camels from Tripoli in sixteen days, having stopped only one day, and travelled regularly from three in the afternoon to nine next morning. We marvelled, as in duty bound; but refrained not from making inquiries; the result of which was, that the real time was thirty-one days, only eight days less than we had occupied. We did not scold Mustapha for his exaggeration, but might perhaps have done so without offence. When a Turk does tell a lie, he submits to be accused of it with good-humour.

After leaving the hyperbolical Governor, we went to see Sheikh Mohammed Boro, Sakontaroua of Aghadez, who has arrived here en route from Mekka. He was recommended to us by Hassan Pasha of Tripoli; but Mr. Gagliuffi does not think much of him. We shall see.

14th.—Walked in the gardens, and were pleased with their aspect. On returning, I wrote out the different kinds of dates in this country. We saw some Egyptian camels with a pilgrim caravan, of a dark and almost black colour.

My Fezzanee marabout, by the way, has left Mourzuk, after making me a present of some cakes and dates of dainty quality. He has been of great use to me, and I shall remember him with pleasure.

I had to-day a conversation with a Tibboo of Tibesty. How interesting it is to talk with the natives of those untrodden countries, to which chance may some day lead us! He says Tibesty is ten days from Gatroun, and fourteen from Mourzuk. It is all mountainous, except one long wady where the population is located. There is no regular town; but all along the valley the population, which is said to be about 5000, though desert statistics are little to be credited, is scattered in groups of three or four, cultivating the ground and tending on the flocks which feed on the rich herbage, whilst goats scramble for food along the slopes of the boundary mountains. The people dwell either in huts or in caverns scooped out of the sides of hills, some of them very extensive. What a picture of primitive life! Families living separate, not yet driven to hide behind walls, or congregate in masses for safety. The desert is their bulwark. This place lies, indeed, far east of the caravan route from Bornou. There is no road direct eastward from Tibesty, but caravans can go south-east to Wadai. The valley produces, besides other grain, a good quantity of ghaseb, which is the principal food of the inhabitants. Some palms rise here and there in clumps, but are not very productive; and dates are imported from Fezzan. The tree most frequent is the tholukh; but there is also another common tree, called the arak. In the open country, the wadan, the gazelle, and the ostrich are found, and the people hunt them with dogs. Good water is supplied by wells and streams, in sufficient quantities to irrigate the fields of ghaseb, wheat, and barley. Rain is abundant some years, but fails in others; torrents are continually descending from the mountains: one stream flows through a space of two days' journey. If these accounts be correct, the country must be one of the most interesting in Africa. They say, that on account the height of the mountains some of the inhabitants do not see the moon for fifteen days together. A Sultan rules paternally in this out-of-the-way country, where the Mohammedan religion reigns paramount. My informant made me pay three Tunisian piastres and two common handkerchiefs for a vocabulary of the language of the Tibboos of Tibesty. A visit to this singular oasis might repay a hardy traveller; but the people of the country have a faithless character, and it would be dangerous to trust to their promises of protection.

The Tibesty Tibboos must not be confounded with the Tibboos of the salt-mines of Bilma, who have recently made their submission to the Porte. There is little connexion between the people, although they speak a similar language. The Bilma Tibboos lie in the direct route to Bornou, and were fully studied by the Denham and Clapperton expedition.

15th.—Continue to prepare papers to send home. Report the fact, that the functionaries of Mourzuk trade in slaves.

16th.—I had lent Mustapha a sword; but, after keeping it a night, he was obliged to return it, sending word that a firman had been written to all the functionaries of the Porte, forbidding them to receive any presents,—an excellent measure, doing credit to the Sultan's administration. The great plague of the East is the system of bribery carried on under the form of presents. The pay of the Pasha is six hundred and fifty mahboubs per month, nearly all spent in the town.

17th.—The weather is extremely hot and sultry. The sun burns the umbrella if you pass for a few minutes under it. Even the natives complain of the extreme heat of the weather.

18th.—Not quite so oppressive; but, as Dr. Barth says, the south wind blows throughout Northern Africa in May.

20th.—This morning, the black who came with us, and had two wives, divorced one of them, returning the woman's dowry of thirty-seven Tunisian piastres. The divorce took place before the Kady in the open streets.

21st.—Haj Lameen came to see me. He does not forget to remind us that the Tuaricks expect many presents. I have no doubt they do. He says we must be generous at all the following places:—Ghat, Aheer, Aghadez, Damerghou, Zinder, Minyou, Tesaouah, Kashna, Kanou, Sakkatou, Bornou, Begharmi, Mandara, and to the Tibboos of Bilma; not to mention the intermediate towns and villages. However, if the presents be valuable, we may expect in some places rations of food in return. It is worthy of remark, that this said Haj Lameen, brother of the governor of Ghat, took an oath during the past year that he would never again purchase slaves. This is a remarkable instance of the progress of opinion. I afterwards gave Lameen a present, consisting of one pound of tea, five pounds of coffee, and four heads of loaf sugar. This was the first considerable present I made. In the evening we observed Mercury in conjunction with Venus. The heavens were unusually bright for Mourzuk. We saw also Jupiter's satellites at seven in the evening. The two upper ones were much nearer than the two lower ones to the great planet, but all in a line. Mars was very bright. The rings, or extinct volcanoes of the moon, were also truly transparent this evening. Usually the sky of Mourzuk is charged with a dirty red haze, and not at all favourable to astronomical observations.

21st.—The culture of water-melons is progressing for the summer season. The melons are planted in the irrigation ducts that lead to the squares of clover, which is cultivated at this season for the horses of the cavalry stationed here, and also for the camels of the merchants. Every fifteen or twenty days a fresh crop is ready, all produced by irrigation.

The fig-tree is found frequently in the gardens of Fezzan, and when planted near a well, produces as fine fruit as those on the coast. The rich green of its leaves is very refreshing to the eye. During the present season, however, the greater portion of the gardens is devoted to onion-raising. Whole fields are covered with this vegetable. Parsley is running to seed. The korna is also seen in the suburbs. Few birds visit the gardens of Fezzan, which are all planted with palms. One or two groves have been recently added, and are distinguished as the "new trees." The irrigated beds are covered with palm-shoots, the curving fan-like leaves bending prettily over the ground.

The winnowing of grain is conducted in the most slovenly manner. The ripe ears with the dry stalks are thrown on the sand, and then half-a-dozen donkeys are driven over them—an animated threshing machine. The grain, of course, mixes with the sand, and is separated from it with considerable loss and waste of time.

The sandy soil of the gardens is sometimes mixed with a large quantity of salt, which gives it a firm consistence. Of this soil the houses of the city are built. Rain would melt them; but this blessing never cools the scorching atmosphere of Mourzuk.[4]

[4] Showers of rain are subsequently mentioned, however; and it is a mistake to suppose that the hard blocks of fossil-salt mixed with earth, of which the houses in the oases of Northern Africa are often built, can be so easily melted down.—ED.

In this day's agricultural and horticultural walk I fell in with the nymphs of the gardens; or, in other words, the washerwomen of Mourzuk. They come out constantly to the wells, when the irrigation is going on, early in the morning or late in the evening, and thus take advantage of the supply of water raised. They are all dark women of the city, for the most part unlovely and very dirty in appearance, despite their occupation. Their system of washing is the primitive one practised by the labouring classes all over the north of Africa. They roll up the clothes into a round flat heap, and then with their heels keep up a continual round of treading, using for soap a peculiar sort of clay. Some of the girls are very impudent and immodest when a stranger passes by; but as a rule they are not so. The wells at Mourzuk are not all good; some are fresh, others salt. In many places will be found a well of very sweet, delicious water; and running nearly to the surface, at twenty paces distant from it, are found others really quite salt. The same phenomenon has been observed at Siwah, in the Libyan desert.

One of our party received a present this morning of some fresh and most delicious leghma. A good deal is drunk in Mourzuk, in an acrid state, for the purposes of intoxication.

In the evening I went to see the acting Pasha, with the Consul. He received us with his usual urbanity, and gave coffee and lemonade twice. He mentioned the things which a functionary of government was permitted to receive as presents,—viz., two sheep, twelve pounds and a half of butter, fifty eggs, and two fowls. This to be received once only from a friend. But some of the functionaries say they can receive a cantar of butter, if divided into sufficiently small quantities, and spread over several days.

People all admire the clock I purchased for the Sultan of Sakkatou, to give him instead of the chronometer. When it strikes the hours, I tell them it speaks various languages, at which they are greatly astonished.

Yesterday evening, a shower of bats made their appearance at dusk.

22d.—I went with Dr. Overweg to visit the Pilgrims. We had previously examined the head of one of them phrenologically. The news had been spread in the tents, and the whole troop came to have their craniums studied on our arrival amongst them. This science—if such it can be called—tickles the fancies of people hereabouts, being suited to their capacity. One fellow wished to know from his head whether he should gain much money this year. They looked upon the matter as a species of fortune-telling.

23d.—The Pilgrims' heads must have itched all night. Here they are again to have them handled! All the polls in Mourzuk will probably pass under our hands if this goes on. It is singular that the pilgrimage to Mekka has not nourished sufficient fanaticism to prevent these good people from allowing an infidel doctor to make free with their crowns, and expatiate on their passions and propensities. There is no calculating on the strength of the impulse of curiosity.

24th.—The Queen's birthday. At eight o'clock Mr. Gagliuffi fired a musket, and hoisted the British jack and pennant over the Consulate. At noon, fifty-one discharges of muskets and matchlocks announced the auspicious event to the natives of this city, and to the Tibboos, Tuaricks, Soudanese, Bornouese, and all other strangers of the Sahara and Central Africa. In the evening, the Consul gave a dinner to us travellers and to the Pasha and his officers. The healths of her Majesty, the Sultan, and the King of Prussia, were drunk in champagne with enthusiasm. There were thirty or forty dishes on the table, and among them a turkey, the first ever killed in this city. Mr. Gagliuffi had recently brought a cock and hen from Tripoli. A small saloon was decorated with banners and cotton-stuffs of Soudan, with various devices. Amongst these were a small portrait of her Majesty; an Ottoman blood-red flag, with its crescent and star; and a white flag with the Prussian black eagle. The effect was excellent, and quite astonished the natives. The Turks ate and drank famously, and for the most part got "elevated." When in this state it was curious to see them clawing at the viands, utterly forgetful of Eastern gravity and decorum. I must observe, however, that Mustapha Bey himself and one other officer declined to drink wine. The Turks seem very tolerant to one another in this respect. It is left as a matter for the decision of every man's individual conscience. These sensible people do not think that, because a man is inclined to be an ascetic himself, he is bound to force all other people to be so likewise.

25th.—I took a walk in the gardens this evening, and came upon two or three small circular orchards, having within the circle simply room for holding water, like a shallow pond, with fruit-trees, vines, fig-trees, and pomegranates clustering around. These orchards, when thus formed close by the well-side, are very luxuriant. People now begin to sow ghaseb, ghafouly, dra, and such grains, which are reaped in the summer season. Barley and wheat are sown in autumn or winter, and reaped in spring. As I walked I noticed that the sky was darkly overcast, as if threatening rain; and presently, sure enough, a few precious drops fell on the thirsty sandy soil!

I observed a new plant, large, with broad and smooth thick velvety leaves, but omitted to write down the name. It produces a milky juice, with which the people dye the palms of their hands, instead of with henna. The plant has a disagreeable odour, and every appearance of being poisonous; but they say it is not so, being only bitter in taste.

26th.—In my morning's walk I had the coolest weather experienced since our arrival at Mourzuk. The wind was from the north-east and the sky much overcast. It actually rained,—a slight shower of ten minutes' duration. How gratefully the trees seemed to spread their leaves to catch the pleasing drops! The gardens and groves all wore a happy smile. We hear, that lately a great deal of rain has fallen in the Ghat district, and on the route to Aheer.

The people are preparing to thresh their corn, and I was interested in observing all the details of their process. They had scattered yesterday evening the full ripe grain in its dry stalks over the ground, in the form of a large circle, to the depth of about two inches; and had then smoothed the sand all around in small ridges, so that if a thief came during the night they might observe his footmarks. They thresh out the grain by means of four or five asses or camels tied abreast, and driven round and round over this primitive floor. Great waste is occasioned by allowing the grain to mix with and sink in the sand; the task of winnowing is most difficult afterwards.

27th.—This day I had some conversation with Boro, the Sheikh of Aghadez, about the country and localities of Aheer,—a Saharan kingdom never yet explored, and which we intend to traverse on our circuitous route across the desert. It appears that Aheer is the general name of the whole cluster of towns and districts; that Aghadez is the medineh, or city; and that Asouty is a town on the line of the caravan route to Soudan,—a regular halting-place. Asben and Asbenouah are other names given to this same territory, and do not denote other countries. The Tibboos and Bornouese describe the whole territory of Fezzan as Zoilah, a name derived from that of the ancient capital, Zoueelah. These double names have hitherto caused great confusion in laying down unvisited places in the desert. If we can penetrate and explore the kingdom of Aheer or Asben, it will be doing a great service to geography.