ferent Moorish Korrees, or watering places, which is commonly levied in cattle; and a tax upon all merchandize which passes through the kingdom, and is generally collected in kind. But a considerable part of the king’s revenue arises from the plunder of individuals. The Negro inhabitants of Ludamar, and the travelling merchants, are afraid of appearing rich ; for Ali, who has spies stationed in the different towns, to give him information concerning the wealth of his subjects, frequently invents some frivolous plea for seizing their property, and reducing the opulent to a level with their fellow citizens. Of the number of Ali’s Moorish subjects, I had no means of forming a correct estimate. The military strength of Ludamar consists in cavalry. They are well mounted, and appear to be very expert in skirmishing and attacking by surprise. Every soldier furnishes his own horse, and finds his accoutrements, consisting of a large sabre, adouble barrelled gun, a small red leather bag for holding his balls, and apowder horn slung over the shoulder. He has no pay, nor any remuneration but what arises from plunder. This body is not very numerous ; for when Ali made war upon Bambarra, I was informed that his whole force did not exceed two thousand cavalry. They constitute, however, by what I could learn, but a very small proportion of his Moorish subjects. The horses are very beautiful, and so highly esteemed, that the Negro princes will sometimes give from twelve to fourteen slaves for one horse. Ludamar has for its northern boundary, the Great Desert of Sahara. From the best inquiries I could make, this vast ocean of sand, which occupies so large a space in Northern Africa, m a y be pronounced almost destitute of inhabitants ; except where the scanty vegetation which: appears in certain spots, affords pasturage for the flocks of a few miserable Arabs, who wander from one well to another. In other places, where the supply of water and pasturage is more abundant, small parties of the Moors have taken up their residence. Here they live,; in independent poverty, secure from the tyrannical government of Bar- bary. But the greater part of the Desert, being totally destitute of water, is seldom visited by any human being ; unless where the trading caravans trace out their toilsome and dangerous route across it. In some parts of this extensive waste, the ground is covered with low stunted shrubs, which serve as landmarks for the caravans, and furnish the camels with a scanty forage. In other parts the disconsolate wanderer, wherever he turns, sees nothing around him but a vast interminable, expanse of sand and sky ; a gloomy and barren void, where the eye finds no particular object to rest upon, and the mind is filled with painful apprehensions of perishing with thirst. “ Surrounded by this dreary solitude, the traveller sees the dead bodies of birds, that the violence of the wind has brought from happier regions ; and, as he ruminates on the fearful length of his remaining passage, listens with horror to the v oice of the driving blast; the only sound that interrupts the awful repose of the Desert.” * The few wild animals which inhabit these melancholy regions, are the antelope and the ostrich ; their swiftness of foot * Proceedings o f the African Association, Part I .
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