CHAP. LXIII.

TAWA'REK ENCAMPMENT.

339

tains behind us, after a march of about eight miles through a plain covered with dense underwood, reached the encampment of the Tawárek.

This was a very important stage of my journey. Having with the greatest difficulty and danger crossed the wide open country of the other more easterly tribes of the Tawárek on the setting out of our expedition, and heartily glad to have got rid of them, I here once more entered their territory and delivered myself up into their hands without enjoying the protection of a single powerful chief, and guided solely by the advice of that crafty man whose only purpose was to get from me as much as possible. The encampment consisted of leather tents of larger or smaller size, but it evidently belonged to a chief without great power, as seemed to be apparent from the total absence of camels and horses. However, I immediately conceived a favourable impression of the muscular strength and dexterity of these people; for when we approached the tent of the chief, who was sitting inside upon his couch of reeds, he with a single jerk jumped out and suddenly stood upright before us. Of course the tent was open in front, but nevertheless it appeared to me a great gymnastic feat, especially taking into account the lowness of the entrance, as in jumping out he had to stoop at the same time. Without delay a smaller tent was placed at our disposal, and we made ourselves comfortable.

The tents, "éhe" (pl. éhénnan), consist of a large round piece of leather formed of a great number of

smaller sheepskins cut in quadrangular pieces and sewed together, while the borders of the whole are left purposely very irregular, in order to pass the stalks, which describe the outward circle of the tent, through the projecting corners. These skins are spanned over three pairs of poles, the middle pair of considerable elevation, the remaining two not so high, and one of them, on the right of the entrance, being forked, as represented in the accompanying woodcut,

although, as far as I have become aware, the middle poles are not always the same, in some tents both joining at the top, in others seeming to stand apart. The whole character of these tents will be still better understood from the plate representing the Tawárek encampment at Amalélle in the next volume.

CHAP. LXIII.

TAWA'REK COMFORTS.

341

In such a tent there are generally two couches, or divans, called "teshégit," made of a fine species of reed, and raised about a foot from the ground; for these people generally choose the most swampy places for their encampments, and after a thunder-storm are sometimes to be found in the midst of a lake. They are also not wanting in comforts; and on every couch there is a leather pillow, "adafór," which certainly seems very essential, as it would be most uncomfortable to rest the elbow on the uneven and hard surface of these reed couches. Almost all the furniture of these simple people, besides a few wooden bowls for eating and drinking, consists of leather bags of excellent workmanship and sometimes very tastefully ornamented, as will be shown in the following volume. In these they stow away their clothes as well as their provisions; and during the night they surround the whole tent with very neat mattings of a fine species of reed, so that a tent of this description forms quite a comfortable dwelling.

Although our host was evidently not one of the first-rate chiefs, he, as well as his kinsfolk and friends who came to visit us, had a very noble and prepossessing appearance, being rather broad-shouldered, stout, and well knit, with a pleasing expression of countenance and a fair skin, though there were a few among them who, with their coarse features and their dark skin, bore testimony to the deterioration of the Berber blood. We had scarcely made ourselves comfortable, when we were treated with large quan

tities of fresh and sour milk, while a fat sheep was slaughtered and prepared for our supper, but without any additional food, these people living almost entirely on meat and milk.

Of course I had to make a handsome present to my new friends, consisting of a fine black tobe, a túrkedí, and a black harám; but I doubt very much whether my friend El Waláti gave them these articles as a present from me, or whether he sold them as his own. However, be this as it may, I wanted not only their protection, but their assistance too, as my camels were so weakened by the continual humidity to which they were exposed, that they were not fit to carry my luggage any further. But besides, as we had to pass the seats of these lawless tribes, we had to grope our way, as well as possible, from one encampment to the other, so that we wanted guides; and it was therefore arranged that, hiring a couple of pack-oxen at this place, we should join this tribe the following morning, when they would take us on our way to the chief, Somki. The mountainous district, in the direction of Núggera, had the following appearance at its termination.

CHAP. LXIII.

A CASCADE.

343

On returning from this encampment to Bóne, being misled by a man who professed to know the district, which for the most part consists of swampy ground, we fell into a dangerous bog, and made our way with great difficulty. We were also visited by a very heavy thunder-storm in the evening, which swamped the whole country, killed one of my camels, and rendered our night's rest very uncomfortable. In consequence of this violent rain our road the next day, on our way to the Tawárek, was very bad, and we had great difficulty in avoiding the swamps; but I was rewarded by the picturesque aspect of the scenery, a rich cascade rushing down over the steep cliffs of the mountain, from a height of about two hundred feet, and forming at the bottom a powerful torrent, which swept along through a fine border of vegetation in the direction of Bóne. The poor independent inhabitants of that mountain had left their stone cottages and caves on the slope of the steep cliffs, and were busy, after the fertilising rain, with the labours of the field in their limited grounds, clearing them of the weeds. The crops promised well, and had a healthy appearance. When we disturbed these poor people in their labours, they retired behind the safeguard of their Cyclopean rocks, and stared at us with great curiosity, the unusual appearance of our whole train causing them a great deal of dismay; and it was in vain that we endeavoured by our gestures to persuade them to continue their labours, as they did not understand us,