by travellers who have visited these parts, that they are a
tribe of great extent and power; that they inhabit detached
fertile spots of land where they find water, and pasturage
for their flocks, but do not at all practise agriculture. I
have occasionally seen Arabs of this tribe during my
residence at Mogadore. They appear to be an extremely
fine race of men. Their complexion is very dark, almost
as black as that of the Negroes; but they have straight
hair, which they wear in large quantities, aquiline noses,
and large eyes. Their behaviour was haughty and insolent:
they spoke with fluency and energy, appeared to have
great powers of rhetoric; and I was told that many of them
possessed the talent of making extempore compositions in
verse, on any object that attracted their notice. Their
arms were javelins and swords. D.
Note 43, p. 55.
The circumstances of Adams's neglect of his employment,
and of the punishment which he received in consequence,
appear to have made a strong impression on
him; for he frequently mentioned them to me; always
adding, that he had firmly determined to persevere in his
resistance, though it had cost him his life. D.
Note 44, p. 58.
Adams described the circumstances of his escape from
the Woled D’leim, to El Kabla, precisely as they are here
related: but he observed to me that, with respect to
masters, he had scarcely bettered his condition; and at
all times he shewed an inveterate animosity against any of
the Arabs of the Desert whom he saw at Mogadore.
El Kabla, means the eastern Arabs, so distinguished from
those of West Barbary and the coast. In the pronunciation
of a Desert Arab, the name might sound very like
El Gibla, or Hilla Gibla.
These people inhabit large tracts of the Desert on the
northern limits of the Woled D’leim. They are looked
upon as a tribe of considerable importance, and are frequently
employed by the traders in crossing the Desert,
serving as guides or escorts as far as Taudeny. They have
been represented to me as a haughty and ferocious race,
yet scrupulously observant of the rites of hospitality. In
persons they are ; said to resemble their Woled D’leim
neighbours, being extremely dark, straight haired, and of
the true Arabian feature. They are reported to be descendants
from the race of Woled AbousseMh; from whom
they probably separated themselves, in consequence of
some of the disputes which frequently involve the Desert