The village of Hadge Hajeel is half a mile south of the gardens, and has about 250 inhabitants; this is the place which Home- man mentions under the name o f Sidi Besheer, whose tomb stands near it. Dec. 15th. Therm. 9'. SO'.—A t 8. 30. A. M. we started with Mohammed, who was to take us to Zaizow, and at a mile S.E. of the gardens, arrived at the tomb of Sidi Besheer, where we recited the Fatha, or first chapter of the Koran, and where I gave a dollar to purchase food for the poor. I t was a small mud hut, whitewashed in front, covered at the top with palm branches, and standing on a sandy plain. Custom, and the sanctity of the Maraboot, induce all Kaffi6s coming from the Interior to stop and refresh the slaves and animals at this spot, previously to their entering Mor- zouk ; and here, too, all travellers assembling for the Interior, meet. Hard by are the ruins o f an old Arab Castle, called Gusser Hamadi. On leaving this plain, we got into a most excellent beaten road, running S. and by E. to Zaizow, and passed four of the Sultan’s men on horseback, escorting three poor Augela Arabs, bound on camels, with thirty-eight slaves, once their property. These people had been six years trading in Soudan, and were now on their way to prison. We left fourteen of their countrymen in confinement when we set out. A t 10. 35. arrived at the small village of Zaizow, where we found the Kaid Saad, who was to be our attendant, sitting on the sand, at his own door, making women’s red shoes. On seeing the Sultan’s order, he' sprung up with alacrity, and carrying his tools into the house, returned to us in a short time, in a gay dress, with a sabre hanging over his shoulder. He was a fine honest looking black, very fat and well oiled, and had the appearance of a great eater, which qualification he soon gave proof of. ' While waiting here, we saw a black woman with lips o f a pale pink colour, and one or two marks on each hand, of the same hue. I wished to ask her some questions, but she looked so sulky that I desisted. Zaizow is prettily situated in a little dell, thickly planted with palms, and having a ruined castle on a rising ground in the centre. The houses are nearly all in ruins, and many had palms growing in them: the population, according to the Kaid, amounted to about 70 souls. I t is E. and by S. seven miles from Hadge Hajeel. Mohammed left us in charge of our new friend, the Kaid, who soon found a donkey to carry him on with us to Zuela, at which place he was to find his horse. At 1 1 . 30. A. M. set out, and at 2. SO. passed a village on the left, named Areg el Libban, and an old castle, called Gusser Bighia. 2. 45. Passed the ruined village and castle of Mokhaten S. 12. arrived at a place called Deesa ^ j where we found the Kaid of Traghan, who promised to come to us on the morrow, and to send his brother as soon as he returned home. The village of Ershadi faces Deesa to the southward of the road. Leaving Deesa, we passed for an h o u r over a flat, so completely encrusted with salt, that it had the appearance of a hoar frost in England; indeed, the whole of the road from Hadge Hajeel bore, more or less, the same resemblance. A t 5,, we entered the gardens and date groves of Traghan ^ J o which appeared in a higher state of cultivation than any we had yet seen, and at 5. 45. arrived at the town, which stands clear of the gardens, on a flat desert plain. Yussuf having offered us his house, we put up there, although not without a great deal of clamour from aji over-civil Negress and her husband, who, to do us more honour, shifted us and our baggage about without mercy. The Maraboot, the principal man here, sent to apologise for not being prepared to provide us with bread and meat, At 2. this day the thermometer was 25”.
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