power gives confidence: so it proved with my Tibboo. We continued travelling another night and day in these most dreary wastes, with nothing but the wide expanse of sand and sky to gaze upon. On Monday the 27th of September, a little before noon, we observed something in the distance, which had the appearance of a body of men moving towards u s ; but from the effect of the mirage assuming different shapes, and sometimes appearing twelve or fifteen feet above the surface of the desert, the Arabs declared it to be a Tuarick party on the forage, and all our followers loaded and prepared for action. On their approach, however, we found to our great joy that it was a kafila from Fezzan: they had been as much alarmed at us as we at them, and were all formed, in front of their camels several hundred yards, in extended order, as the Arabs always fight: they gave us some Fezzan dates, which were a great luxury; and some of the traders who were short of water exchanged a jar of butter, worth at least two dollars, for every full skin they could so purchase. They told us the road was perfectly safe, although their fears of falling in with the Tuaricks had detained them seventy- two days on the journey from Mourzuk. I t is scarcely possible to convey an idea of the sensations of all parties on a meeting of this nature on the desert. The Arabs were equally alive to these feelings as ourselves; and, in their usual wild expressive manner, sang, for days after such a rencontre, ballads descriptive of the event*. * The following lines may be taken as a sample, at least, i f not a literal translation, o f their poetical sketches on these ocean meetings. T h e Arab rests upon his gun, H is month o f labour scarce begun Of passing deserts drear: Straining his eyes along the sand, He fancies in the mist, a band O f plunderers appear. We halted at noon, at a place called Gassooma-foma. In the afternoon we moved again; and the guides told me that the road was so difficult that, until the moon fell, we should make the best of our Again he thinks o f home and tribe, Of parents, and his Arab bride Betrothed from earliest years: Then high above his shaven head, Th e gun that fifty had left dead Rallies his comrade’s fears. “ Yeolad b o o ! yeolad boo ! “ Sons o f your*fathers ! which o f you if Will shun the fight and fly ?” They rush towards him, bright in arms, Thus calming all his false alarms By promising to die. The sounds o f men, as objects near, Strike on the listening Arab’s ear. Laid close upon the sand: H e hears his native desert song, And plunges forth his friends among T o seize the proffered hand. Asalam ? Asalam ? from every mouth; What cheer ? what cheer ? from north and south, Each earnestly demands: And dates and water, desert fare, While all their news o f home declare, Are spread upon the sands. But, soon ! too soon! the k a f las move; They separate again, to prove How desolate the la n d ! Ye t, parting slow, each seeks delay, And dreading still the close o f day, They press each other’s hand.
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