FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152  
153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   >>   >|  
it trickles. We determined, however, not to stop at this place, lest the men of Janet[7] might after all arrive; and pushing on, in hopes that our track might be confounded with those of the caravans, we reached, after a rapid march of five hours and a-half, the well of Esalan. As we approached, we saw an encampment in its neighbourhood, and camels grazing about. Our vanguard halted; and the whole caravan soon became massed in the entrance of the gorge through which we were about to issue. Our far-sighted guards, however, soon discovered that there was no cause for alarm. We had at length overtaken our Tanelkum friends; and riding forward I greeted them, and, forgetting all idea of danger, anxiously asked for our baggage, and above all for my inestimable supply of potted soups! [7] This name is sometimes written "Janet," sometimes "Ghanet" by Mr. Richardson, who, moreover, now describes the inhabitants of the place as Haghar and then as Azgher. A more definite account is given further on. It appears, however, that vulgarly in the Sahara all the Tuaricks are called Haghar or Hagar, which seems to have been used rather indiscriminately in the caravan as a term of fear.--ED. In this part of the country the scenery is far more open than it was before; the mountains are lower, but the wadys are not so wide. Here and there occurred considerable patches of herbage, called _sabot_, and many large, fine trees. Amongst the smaller ones, for the first time, we came upon the senna plant, some of the leaves of which our people plucked. Higher up, in Aheer, is apparently the native soil of this plant. We had also again the adwa, several trees, and the kaiou or kremka, the only plant we have yet seen with a truly tropical aspect. The adwa bears a fruit something like the date, and is eaten by the people in Soudan. As to the _sabot_, above mentioned, it is a kind of herbage, which covers the beds of the valleys in this region of primitive rock: it forms the principal food of our camels. The _bou rekabah_, however, the best for them, is in small quantities, but when seen is devoured to the sand. The people of Aheer eat its seed as ghaseb. Yesterday, we saw, for the first time, a bird's nest in the desert, in the side of a rock. It contained no eggs; our people, on a former occasion, brought in some. It is astonishing how few birds' nests are found, though in some places a good number of sma
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152  
153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
people
 

caravan

 

herbage

 
Haghar
 

called

 

camels

 

leaves

 

native

 

apparently

 

astonishing


plucked

 
Higher
 

occurred

 
considerable
 
patches
 

number

 

places

 

brought

 

smaller

 

Amongst


region

 

primitive

 

Yesterday

 

mountains

 

valleys

 
principal
 

ghaseb

 

quantities

 

devoured

 

rekabah


covers

 

contained

 
tropical
 

kremka

 

aspect

 

Soudan

 

mentioned

 

desert

 

occasion

 

entrance


massed
 
grazing
 

vanguard

 

halted

 

sighted

 
guards
 

friends

 
riding
 
forward
 

Tanelkum