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obliged to buy the grass or ghedeb (of which I stood in need for my camels) with dried fish, and I felt sorry that I had not laid in a greater supply of this article in Bárruwa.

Monday, June 17th. Before setting out, I thought it prudent to pay another visit and bid farewell formally to Mai-Bákr, as I was anxious, unprotected as I was, to secure my rear. I then followed my camels, and having crossed two defiles, formed by projecting cliffs, which interrupt the valley, reached, after a march of seven miles, the town of Anikímma, situated at the side of an isolated promontory projecting from the cliffs, which form here a sort of wide recess, and encamped at the border of the palm grove, when I immediately received some hospitable treatment from my friend Kólo, who was a native of this place. This is the modern road which is taken at the present time, the town of Kisbi, or rather Gézibi, which lies on the western side of the valley, and along which the former mission passed, being at present deserted. This road led in former times by Kisbi to Azanéres. But, although we were treated in a friendly manner in this place, I did not like to lose any time, but was anxious to proceed at once to A'nay, the northernmost town in the valley of Kawár, in order to prepare myself there, without the least delay, for that second great station of my desert journey, which I had to traverse quite by myself, as my friend Kólo was to stay behind, and was not going to undertake the journey for a month or so. I recommended to him my freed slave 'Othmán, who had remained behind, as he was suffering from the effects of the Guinea-worm. Kólo, however, accompanied me in the afternoon for a few hundred yards, together with a Tebu from Tibésti of the name of Maina Dadakóre, who had recently been plundered of all his property by the Tawárek. The distance from Anikímma to A'nay is not very great, about two miles and a half. The site of A'nay is very peculiar, as may be seen from the description given by the former expedition,* who were greatly struck by its singular appearance, although the view which they have given of the locality is far from being correct. The first thing which I had to do here was to endeavor, by means of dollars, cloves, and the remnant of dried. fish which I still had left, to procure as large a supply of ghedeb as possible, in order to carry my camels through this trying journey, as my only safety with my small band of people consisted in the greatest speed. It was very unlucky for me that the black* Denham and Clapperton's Travels, p. 17.

smith of Dírki broke his word in not bringing up the shoes for my horses, a circumstance which would have been productive of the most serious consequences if I had been attacked on the road. as both my horses became lame.

Tuesday, June 18th. Having prepared every thing in the forenoon, we set out on our lonely and dangerous journey with a fervent prayer, and after a march of little less than two miles emerged from the valley, or hénderi, through a rocky defile. We then gradually ascended the higher level of the desert plain, and having made a stretch of about sixteen miles, we encamped. Having kept strict watch, as it was not improbable that some people might have followed us, we started again at an early hour, long before the dawn of day, and, after a march of about thirteen miles, reached I'ggeba (Denham's Ikbar), a shallow depression at the western foot of a mountain, clothed with some herbage, and adorned with a rich profusion of dúm palms. The well here afforded a supply of the most delicious water. However, the locality was too unsafe for our small troop to make here a long stay, it being frequently visited by predatory expeditions. We therefore thought it prudent to start again in the afternoon along the western road, by way of Siggedim, which has been laid down very erroneously by the former expedition, they probably not having taken the accurate distances and directions of this route, as they relied upon the direct track, which they had traced with accuracy. This road is called "Nefasa seghíra," from a defile or "thníye" which we crossed about two miles and a half from our starting-point. About ten miles beyond we encamped, and reached the next morning, after a march of ten miles more, over a beautiful gravelly flat, and crossing the track of a small caravan of asses coming from Brábu, the beginning of the oasis of Síggedim, stretching out at the western foot of a considerable mountain group, the direction of which is from east to west, and well wooded with dúm palms, date-trees, and with gerredh, or Mimosa Nilotica. The ground, which is richly overgrown with sebót, in several places shows an incrustation of salt. We halted for the midday hours, a little more than a mile farther on, near the well, as we could not afford to make any long stay here. The place was at present quite deserted, but I was told that about a month later in the season people occasionally take up their temporary residence here, and a few isolated stone dwellings on a projecting cliff testified to the occasional presence of settlers.

VALUE OF HORSES IN THE DESERT.

621 From hence we reached, in an afternoon's and a long morning's march of altogether nearly thirty-four miles, the shallow vale of Jeháya (Denham's Izhya) or Yát. We were in a sad state, as besides being exhausted by fatigue, we were almost totally blinded by the glare of the sand in the heat of the day. A smaller strip of vegetation on the west side of the rocky eminences which dotted this country had already some time previously led us to hope that we had reached the end of our march; but when at length we had gained the spot, we found the vale, with its rich growth of herbage, very refreshing, and men as well as animals had an opportunity of recruiting their strength a little.

June 22d. The horse which the sheikh had given me being quite lame, I wanted to mount the only one of the camels which seemed strong enough to carry such a burden in addition to its load, but it refused to rise with me, and I was thus obliged to mount the donkey-like nag which the Sultan of Sokoto had given me, my servant going on foot. It is certainly very difficult to carry horses through this frightful desert with limited means, but it is of the utmost importance for a small party to have a horse or two with them, in order to scour the country to see whether all be right, and to make a spirited attack or to pursue the robbers in case of a theft having been committed.

Having advanced in the course of the evening a little more than eighteen miles, we traversed early the next morning a narrow defile, inclosed between rocky heights on both sides, in a very stony tract of country, and halted, after a march of about twelve miles, at a little distance from the mountain group Tíggera-n-dúmma, where the boundary is formed between Fezzán and the independent Tebu country, by a valley clothed with a good profusion of herbage and a few talha-trees just in flower. From here we reached, after a march of sixteen miles more, the well of Mafaras, the southernmost well of Fezzán, in such a state of exhaustion that we felt induced, notwithstanding the danger from the E'fadaye, to allow ourselves and the animals a day and a half's repose; I myself being particularly in want of a little rest, as I had been suffering a great deal from rheumatism for the last few days. In addition to this, the well contained so little water that it required an enormous time to water the animals and to fill our skins. The vale was pleasantly adorned with a good number of fine talhatrees, and there was even one isolated dúm palm, while of another one nothing but the trunk was remaining. Although we had

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