CHAPTER VII. OF FEZZAN. Aspect of the Country—State of Cultivation—Minerals—Animals—Birds—Vegetable Productions—Fruits—Esculents—Time and Manner of cultivating Grain Water —Towns—Food of Inhabitants—Possibility of improving Agriculture—Tenure of t Lands—Weights and Measures—Govemment-r,Prineipal People— Character of the Natives—Inroads into the Negro Countries—State of the Slave Trade—Crimes and Punishments—Character of the Natives—Religion—State of Literature and Ingenuity— Language—State of the Women—Records—Slavery and the Slave Trade —Laws relative to the Issue of Slaves. T h e northern boundary is Bonjem, in latitude 80" 8 5 ' north, of which I have already spoken; and Tegerry, in latitude 24° 4' north, is the southern, which is inhabited by Tibboo of the mountain tribes. Its eastern boundary is the Harutz mountains behind Temissa, and Oubari in the west. The general aspect of the country presents an almost universally barren appearance; fine yellow sand, and a species of gravel, covering the whole face of the plains, save where the Soudah and Harutz extend. The country is very dry, there being only three springs in this immense tract; they are near Traghan; but water is found in many places at ten or twenty feet below the surface, in clay or beds of salt. There is no vegetation on the desert, unless in some of the wadeys, where are found prickly bushes for camels, called Agoul Jj5l, Thamaran and Deesa <taJ u, and a few trees of the mimosa species, called Talhh ¿lb. It is only in the immediate vicinity of towns that palms are cultivated, and a little corn and a few esculents raised with much dififtculty and labour. ; Nothing is more incorrect than the opinion so generally held of the fertility of the Oases. Fezzan may, without scruple, be said to stand in the desert, and is not to be distinguished from it on the score of fertility. The soil, where soft, is almost all sand ; but under the surface, near Morzouk, a Lind of white clay is found, which, on being mixed with the sand, becomes tolerably productive. The 'small spots of ground which are at all cultivated, are fertile; but the immense labour requisite to keep the ground moist, deters the labourers from forming gardens of above an acre in size. Some of the spots so called, are not. above forty or sixty feet square. The water is drawn by asses, and the machinery is very complicated. Soda, called Trona ¿¡jjUl, rock salt, alum, Shub gypsum, saltpetre, and, as I was told, sulphur, are found in this country; the first three in very laTge quantities, which form articles of trade. Thè Soda is produced at or near Germa, in the wadey Shiati ; the salt and alum in many places, but more particularly in the eastern districts. There i s one plain of solid : salt near Mafen, which is nearly thirty miles in length. The animals found in Fezzan are; The Tiger Cat, rather fierce. Hyæna, in great numbers, and very savage. Jackal. Numerous. They approach very near the towns. Fox. Scarce, and much smaller than those of Europe. Wadan. A very fierce buffalo, of the size o f an ass, having large tufts of hair from the shoulders, and very long heavy horns. Red Buffalo. A clumsy Animal, easily taken. •
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