nnually to
accompany the great salt-caravan, which sometimes numbers ten thousand
camels--Saharan statistics--to Sakkatou.

The town of Aghadez was formerly divided into a variety of quarters, the
names of which still remain, although the space they occupied--three
miles in circuit--is now principally filled with ruins. With the
exception of five or six rubbish-hills, the whole space is level. The
houses are spacious, with large rooms and court-yards. They are of mud,
whitewashed, and furnished with flat terraces. Doves, children, and
young ostriches, enliven the streets. There are some mosques, but none
of imposing architecture. One, however, has a lofty tower, almost
pyramidal in shape, supported on a basement of pillars, and rising to
the height of about ninety feet. There is a kind of ladder inside; but
Dr. Barth was not allowed to ascend, being told that the entrance was
walled up.

The land around the town is slightly undulating, and covered in the
depressions with the _Acacia Arabica_. Herbage and good water abound.
There are no orchards near, except in Wady Ameluli; but El-Hakhsas,
three hours distant, produces melons, cucumbers, and melochiyeh, and
supplies the whole town.

The women of Aghadez are reported to be free and easy in character, and
let loose tremendously as soon as the Sultan had departed on his razzia.
Dr. Barth had some difficulty in keeping them at a distance. There are
more children, however, to be observed in Aghadez than in most Aheer
towns.

This journey of Dr. Barth's has considerably extended our acquaintance,
both with the geography and the political state of Asben or Aheer. We
see now that it is strictly a portion of the Sahara, intersected with
fertile valleys, that towards the south begin to assume quite a tropical
character. The inhabitants are various in origin and in name; but it is
difficult to describe their subdivisions with any accuracy. According to
the natives, there are only two great tribes--the Kailouees, which
division includes the Kailouees proper, the Kaltadak, and the Kalfadai;
and, secondly, the Kilgris, including the Kilgris proper, the Iteesan,
and the Ashraf. But, in questions of detail, numerous other names appear
which it is difficult to arrange under any proper head. The Kailouees
are, I think, of genuine Targhee origin, although, as I have already
mentioned, with a mixture of the Soudan races. The Kaltadak and the
Kalfadai seem to be identical with the bord