es belonging to the princes of
Tafilelt are very extensive, insomuch that the annual produce
of one plantation is often sold for a thousand dollars, or 220L
sterling. Half a dollar, or five drahems per camel load of
three quintals.]

[Footnote 8: A drahem is a silver coin, ten of which are equal
to a Mexico dollar.]

[Footnote 9: Their colour is darker than new copper, but not
black, It may be compared to the colour of _old_ mahogany, with
a black hue. The natives of Draha are proverbially stupid.]
4
The caravans have not, as in the journey to Mecca, their sheiks[10]
or commanders. From Fas to Tafilelt they had no chief, but as there
are generally a few old, rich, and respectable men in the caravan,
its direction and government are committed to their care.

[Footnote 10: The _sheik akkabar_, or chief of the accumulated
caravan, is generally a _shereef_ or prince.]

From Tafilelt, which, as before observed, is the country of the
shereefs, they are guided by such of the trading shereefs as
accompany the caravan, and who have always great respect paid them,
till they arrive at Timbuctoo. The caravan increases as it proceeds
in its journey: at Fas it consisted of about thirty or forty; at
Draha, of from 300 to 400 camels. From Draha, at the distance of
three days' travelling, they found water by digging, and on the
next morning they entered the _Sahara_, which, for the first twenty
days is a plain sandy desert resembling the sea. In this desert,
when they pitch their tents at night, they are obliged frequently
to shake the sand from their tops, as they would otherwise be
overwhelmed before the morning.

Some part of this desert is hard, and the camels do not sink deep
into it; in others the sand is very loose, which fatigues the
5 camels exceedingly. In travelling, the caravan is directed by the
stars at night, and by the sun in the day, and occasionally by the
smell of the earth, which they take up in their hands. For the
first twenty days after they enter this wilderness they have no
water; during this period, the caravan is obliged to carry water in
goat-skins[11], as not a drop is to be found by digging. On this
account, about a third part of the camels are employed in carrying
water, and ev