importunity of Hadje Ahmet with me to see him. Hadje Ahmet, the chief of all the Arabs, had resided there for the last thirty years; and although it was the Ehamadan, he ran about with great alacrity, in the heat of the sun, to procure me salt and tar for the camels, and other little necessaries for my own use. But his liberality was unbounded : he even permitted me to visit his seraglio, and told me to pick and choose for myself among, at least, fifty black girls. I took notice that his countrymen would find fault with him for giving up a Mahometan female to a Kafir: “ No, no ; you must have one.” “ Well, as I am sick, and want a nurse, I will take this woman,” pointing to an elderly slave. “ You have done right,” said the Hadje; “ she is an experienced woman, and a good cook ; she has seen the world; she has been in Fezzan.” This was the first offer of the kind I had ever received from a Moslem; and along with the old woman, two young females were sent to assist her. During my sickness, I never before had the benefit of female nurses, and by their care and attention I soon recovered my health and strength. May 15.—Cool and cloudy. I was waited upon, a little after daylight, by Hadje Ahmet, who told me, with an air of mysterious confidence, that he had a stone of very great value to show me, and wished my opinion respecting it. “ Well, father pilgrim, show it to me, and I will tell you its value;” His servant now brought in a leathern bag, from which his master took a bundle of rags; and unrolling them carefully, one after the other, he began to make, the most ludicrous faces of mock ecstasy. At last the gem appeared, which he held up with a cry of rapture:—“ Look there I what will you give for it ?” It was a piece of rock crystal, about two inches in length, and three-fourths of an inch in diameter. Assuming a countenance of corresponding gravity, I affected to muse for a short time in silent astonishment, and then drawled out, “A dollar.'1 The mortified Hadje would not satisfy my curiosity about where it came from, but in hazarding a conjecture that it was obtained in Yacoba, I fancied he betrayed by his manner that 1 had hit upon the spot. Although 1 wished to have the crystal, I was afraid to make another offer, lest, supposing it to be of inestimable price, he might suspect I wished to take an unfair advantage of him; and he again wrapped it up, with like care and solemnity. May 16.—Clear and warm. In the afternoon we had much rain, with thunder and lightning. Kashna is in lat. 12° 59' N. by merid. alt. of Antares. According to Hadje Ahmet, it was called Sangras about a century ago, and afterwards Geshna, from the small underwood of that name growing on the ridge whereon the town is built, and which is one of many long ridges that run from north-east to southwest. The walls are of clay, and very extensive; but, as at Kano, the houses do not occupy above one-tenth of the space within them: the rest is‘laid out in fields, or covered with wood. The governor’s residence resembles a large village, and is about half , a mile to the east of all the other buildings. On account of the Rhamadan, I was exempted from the ceremony of paying him a visit: his name is Omar Delogie. The fruits here are figs, melons, pomegranates, and limes. Grapes are said to have been plentiful in former times, but at the Felatah conquest the vines were cut down. The houses are mostly in ruins, the principal commerce of the country being carried on at Kano since the Felatah conquest; nevertheless, there is still a considerable trade. There are two daily markets, in different parts of the town, one to the south, the other to the north. The southern market is chiefly attended by merchants of Ghadamis and Tua t ; that to the north by Tuaricks. The Ghadamis and Tuat merchants bring unwrought silk, cotton and woollen cloths, beads, and a little cochineal, which they sell for cowries. These are sent to their agents at Kano, to purchase blue
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