s, Mequinas, Marocco, &c. have writing over
them, which is a kind of Arabic short-hand, that none but the
learned understand; these writings, however, are not moveable,
being engraven on a square table on the stone itself.

_Extraordinary Abstinence experienced in the Sahara_.

The Arabs or inhabitants of the Sahara, can support the most
extraordinary abstinence. Occasions occur, wherein they will travel
354 several days without food. After suffering a privation of a day or
two, they tie their (_hazam_) belt round their loins, every morning
tighter than the preceding day, thereby preventing, in some
measure, that action of the bowels which promotes appetite. A
Saharawan will thus go five or six days without food of any kind,
in which case, when he reaches a habitation, or a (_wah_)
cultivated spot in the Desert, he will drink about half-a-pint of
camel's milk; this remains on the stomach but a short time: he then
takes another draught, which, with some, remains and gives
nourishment, but with others _it_ is also rejected by the stomach;
_a third draught is then taken, which restores the exhausted
traveller!_ I have been assured, that instances have been known in
Sahara, wherein a man has been without food of any kind for seven
days, and has afterwards been restored by the foregoing regimen!

355

LANGUAGES OF AFRICA.

_Various Dialects of the Arabic Language.--Difference between the
Berebber and Shelluh Languages.--Specimen of the
Mandinga.--Comparison of the Shelluh Language with that of the
Canary Islands, and Similitude of Customs_.

Yareb, the son of Kohtan[204], is said to have been the first who
spoke Arabic, and the Muhamedans contend that it is the most
eloquent language spoken in any part of the globe, and that it is
the one which will be used at the day of judgment. To write a long
dissertation on this copious and energetic language, would be only
to repeat what many learned men have said before; a few
observations, however, may not be superfluous to the generality of
readers. The Arabic language is spoken by a greater proportion of
the inhabitants of the known world than any other: a person having
a practical knowledge of it, may travel from the shores of the
Mediterranean Sea to the Cape of Good Hope, a