Routes o f the Caravans minated b y the Arabs (E l Bahar billa maa), a sea without water, more dangerous than the perfidious waves o f the ocean. In the midst o f the latter the pilot always entertains some hopes, but in these parching Deserts, the traveller never expects safety, but from the cessation o f ihe wind. I f it continues, the most numerous caravans are often buried under mountains o f sand, which, like the tempestuous billows in a storm, advance in an undulating manner, stopping and accumulating wherever they find the smallest substance to impede their progress, insomuch that in a few hours a mountain o f sand is thus accumulated, where it was before an uninterrupted plain, then the wind shifting, scatters in the air these newly constructed mountains, forming amidst this chaos dreadful gulphs and yawning abysses; the traveller continually deceived b y the aspect o f the place, can discover his situation only by the position of the stars ; morebver the desiccating nature o f these winds is such, that th e y exhale the water carried in skins b y the camels for the use o f the passengers and d r iv e r s ; on these occasions, the Arabs and people o f Soudan affirm, that 500 dollars have been given for a draught o f water, and that 10 or 20 are commonly given when a partial exhalation has occurred. In 1805, a caravan proceeding from Timbuctoo to Tafile lt, plains, which attaches to every fixed object in its course, and soon buries it. Savary, who often sacrifices truth to the pomp of language, has committed^ gross error in describing the Desert; he says—“ Woe to him, whom a whirlwind from the south surprises in the midst of the solitude, if he have not a tent to shelter him ; he is assailed by clouds of burning dust which fills his eyes, ears, and mouth, and deprives him of the faculty of sight and breathing.” (See Letters on Egypt.} Now, so far from tents being any permanent protection during these winds, they are rather an annoyance, for it is impossible to keep them upright; and if they are not immediately struck, they, and all within them, are soon buried in the overwhelming torrent of sand. to and from Timbuctoo. 285 was disappointed, in not finding, water at one o f the usual watering-places, when, horrible to relate, the whole o f the persons belonging to it, 2000 in number, besides 1800 camels, perished o f thirst! Accidents o f this sort account for the va s t quantities o f human and other bones which are found mingled together in various parts o f the Desert. It is generally affirmed, that the guides, to whom the charge o f conducting these numerous and accumulated caravans is committed, in their routes to and from Marocco, direct their course b y the scent o f the sandy e a r th ; b u t I could never, discover any reasonable foundation for such an opinion, and apprehend it to be an artful invention o f their own, to impose on the credulity o f this superstitious and ignorant people, and thus to enhance the va lu e o f their knowledge. These guides possess some idea o f astrology, and the situation o f certain stars, and being enabled b y the two pointers to ascertain the polar star, they can b y that un varyin g guide steer their course with considerable precision, preferring often tra ve lling in the n ight, rather than under the suffocating heat o f the effulgent meridian sun. . When the akkabaah reaches A k k a , the first station on this side o f the Desert, and situated on the confines thereof, in Lower Suse, which is a part o f Bled-el-jerrede, the camels and guides are discharged, and others there hired to proceed to Fas, Ma- rocco, Terodant, Tafilelt, and other places. T h e akkabaahs perform the traverse o f the Desert, including their sojournments at El-wahaht, or Oases, in about 130 days. Proceeding from the city o f Fas, they go at the rate o f 9$ miles an hour, and travel seven hours a d a y ; the y reach Wedinoon, Tatta, or A k k a in eighteen days, where they remain a month,
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