month,
they again departed, accompanied by nearly all those of the town, who
could muster horses; the camels had moved early in the day, and at
Zerzow, they found the tents pitched. From Zerzow to Traghan there is
a good high road, with frequent incrustations of salt. A marabout of
great sanctity, is the principal person in Traghan, as his father was
before him. After being crammed as it were by the hospitality of this
marabout, they left Traghan for Maefen, an assemblage of date huts,
with but one house. The road to this place lies over a mixture of
sand and salt, having a curious and uncommon appearance. The path, by
which all the animals move for some miles, is a narrow space, or
strip, worn smooth, bearing a resemblance both in appearance and
hardness to ice.

Quitting Maefen, they quickly entered on a desert plain, and after a
dreary fourteen hours march for camels, they arrived at Mestoota, a
maten or resting place, where the camels found some little grazing,
from a plant called ahgul. Starting at sunrise, they had another
fatiguing day, over the same kind of desert, without seeing one
living thing that did not belong to the kafila, not a bird, nor even
an insect; the sand is beautifully fine, round, and red. It is
difficult to give the most distant idea of the stillness and beauty
of a night scene, on a desert of this description. The distance
between the resting places is not sufficiently great, for the dread
of want of water to be alarmingly felt, and the track, though a sandy
one, is well known to the guides. The burning heat of the day is
succeeded by cool and refreshing breezes, and the sky ever illumined
by large and brilliant stars, or an unclouded moon. By removing the
loose and pearl-like sand, to the depth of a few inches, the effects
of the sunbeams of the day are not perceptible, and a most soft and
refreshing couch is easily formed. The ripple of the driving sand
resembles that of a slow and murmuring stream, and after escaping
from the myriads of fleas, which day and night persecute you, in the
date-bound valley in which Mourzouk stands, the luxury of an evening
of this description is an indescribable relief. Added to the solemn
stillness, so peculiarly striking and impressive, there is an
extraordinary echo in all deserts, arising probably from the
closeness and solidity of a sandy soil, which does not absorb the
sound. They now arrived at Gabrone. The Arabs watch for a sight of
the high date tre