4th.—We might have reached the well of Falezlez last night; but as we did not know who might be waiting for us there, preferred halting three-quarters of an hour from it, and advanced only in the morning, in broad daylight.

Round and near Ghât we found the stones which are set up at certain intervals to mark the direction of the roads, frequently arranged in circular heaps. An usual form is pyramidal, but the most common practice of all is to set up one stone end-ways upon one or two others. Sometimes a hundred of these will be seen together.

All these demands I firmly resisted as long as I could; but at length, when a compromise seemed necessary, we arranged for a hundred reals more in goods. A part we have given here, and the rest we have promised on our arrival at Aheer. Nothing is now said of Zinder, although the first arrangement was from Aheer to Zinder. Such are the people we have to deal with in Africa. But could we not find similar extortion amongst the innkeepers and the conductors of carriages on the highways of Europe?

That all the people are soua soua—"higgledy-piggledy" is our only equivalent phrase—is bad news for a Saharan traveller; for it signifies nothing less than that there is no paramount authority in a country, and that the traveller is exposed to the insolence of every evil-disposed person. Such is represented to be the condition of Tidek, the first province of Aheer upon which we shall enter.

To express great numbers, the Arabs and Tuaricks always use the similitudes, "like the dust," or "like flies." When the Tuaricks say we are to give nothing to anybody—speaking, of course, of other people, as Hateetah to me—they take up a little sand between the ends of their fingers and scatter it on the palms of their hands. When they wish to describe roads free from hills and ravines they extend the palm of their hands, adding, "Like this." I cannot say that I admire the Kailouees in any respect. Barth's comparison to snakes is tolerably correct. They have duped us in various ways, and our only consolation is being able to report their conduct to their friends in Ghât and Zinder.

About ten in the morning, on the 5th, a solitary white camel, with a rider, was reported as trotting rapidly over the hills to the east. The circumstance created some excitement. It was Mohammed Wataitee, son of Shafou, coming riding like the monarch of the desert, as he is, upon his fine maharee. He had been travelling three days and three nights consecutively; and however eager we were to hear his opinion of the dangers that threatened us, it was necessary to allow him to spend the whole day in repose.

When we could get speech of the traveller, he talked boastfully of the value of his protection, and assured us that we had really nothing to fear. He had heard, or would acknowledge to have heard, no rumours of the hostile intentions of his father's cousin; only, he observed, "He is an old man," with a gesture that implied wilfulness. He would have us believe that this terrible enemy who has been pursuing us—at least in our imagination—is nothing but a testy old gentleman, who says these sort of things in a fanciful way just to express his power.

My old broken white umbrella attracts some attention amongst the Kailouees. They all make a trial of it. Strong umbrellas would be very useful during the hot summer months for all Saharan travellers.

7th—We made another long and weary day of twelve hours. The fatigue is killing. Our course was south-west, through heaps and groups of rocks and narrow shallow wadys. In some directions, ridges of small rocks; in others, isolated masses of conic form. The bed of the desert is mostly granite, and some of the rocks are of the same substance. Indeed, the Central Sahara seems to bristle with ridges of granite. Then there are many varieties of this stone, and others springing out of granite, as quartz rocks and felspar, and some sandstone mixed with quartz. Across our path we observed many traces of wild oxen, and a few were seen with their immense horns. Birds and reptiles were rare, and the lizard not so frequent as before. Our camels found scarcely a mouthful of hasheesh; no trees were visible, except a few miserable tholukhs.

8th.—We started at sunrise, and made a short day of seven hours and a-half, resting at last in a wady surrounded with rocks, where there was some good herbage.

In the course of this march we met another portion of the large Soudan caravan, and consigned to it our letters. They brought the news that the Tanelkums were a day only in advance, having halted to take up water at Aroukeen, where they dug again the old well which had been blocked with stones.

This caravan informed us, besides, that the body of the large caravan was resting at the well of Tajetterat. They had seen no Tuaricks. We begin to hope that we have been disturbed by false alarms.

At about four hours from the encampment of yesterday we descried some mountains to the south-west. Near them is the well of Janet, said to be about seven hours out of the line of route. It is a frequent resort of Tuaricks, who come to the neighbourhood for hunting purposes. All this region is favourable to sport. Along our route to-day were noticed footmarks of wild oxen and wadan.

In the evening we had a visit from three Tuarick sportsmen, with a couple of dogs. We purchased two carcases of wadan from them. It would have been most amusing to an untravelled European to witness the bartering between us. The principal hunter got hold of the grey calico, and would not let go until he had his full measure. Then how deliberately he measured again with his long arms, with all the appearance of justice, whilst he was filching off inches at once! Two small carcases cost us about a mahboub. Wataitee pretends that these hunters never carry provisions with them, but must catch wadan and oxen or die. I made a tremendous supper of wadan, being as ravenous as a wolf for a little meat and soup. The meat is so strong and nourishing, that it threatened to produce injurious effects. It is necessary to be cautious about indulging in unaccustomed food. Still this meat is far superior to camels' flesh.

Our course had been over an elevated rocky plain; but I had no idea of the height to which we had arrived. Suddenly the ground broke up on either side of the track into rocky eminences, and we now came to the brow of a sharp descent. The valley of Aroukeen wound as it were like a snake far down at the bottom of an immense hollow, surrounded on all sides by an amphitheatre of savage-looking mountains—great stony swells, made hideous here and there by crags and ravines, and piled away on all sides in shattered magnificence. This is the grandest desert prospect I have yet seen, and must strongly clash with the ordinary notion of the Great Sahara which untravelled geologists have represented as the recently-elevated bed of some ocean. We must now have reached the summit of an inland Atlas, dividing the extreme limits of the Ghât territory from the, to us, mysterious kingdom of Aheer.

We are now, they say, about twelve days from Aheer, exclusive of the stoppages; twelve days, I mean, of twelve hours a-piece. These long stretches are desperately fatiguing, and trying to the health; but there is no remedy. We must make these weary stages on account of the scarcity of water and herbage for the camels. The Kailouees tie their camels by the lower jaw, and fasten the string to the baggage piled on the back of the preceding animal; and the long line moves on well this way. The Tuaricks fasten their bridles, when they ride their maharees, by a round ring in the nose.

We had granite again to-day, and fine beds of felspar, pebbles, and rocks. The geology of this portion of Sahara is very interesting, but no crystals have yet been found. Yesterday and to-day, the wind has been high, moderating greatly the heat. The wind is nearly always south-east. The nights are resplendent. Jupiter and Venus are seen close together in beautiful conjunction. The constellation of the Scorpion rises higher in the south, whilst the Pole-star apparently falls.

I read nothing nowadays but a few verses of the Greek Testament, and write these miserable leaves of journal. I must save my strength. I am very weak as it is. We have still got nearly forty days of actual travelling to make before we enter Soudan, but we hope Providence will allow us a little rest at Aheer.

Wady Aroukeen is in every respect a desirable place for the resting-place of a caravan. It is full of trees and hasheesh, and lined with lofty precipitous rocks, which afford shelter in winter and in summer, and, as say the Scriptures, give "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." The well dug by the Tanelkums supplies very palatable water. It lies about an hour and a-half from our encampment.

I sent off my Soudanese servant this morning to the Tanelkums, to ask them to wait for us; or at least leave the things behind which I require for our use.

Yesterday evening the new moon (second evening) was seen by our people, telling them that the Ramadhan was finished. They saluted the pale crescent horn with some discharges of their guns.

To-day is a great feast, but they have not the means of keeping it.

My Kailouee friends do not seem to share our apprehensions. Sometimes this circumstance cheers me; at others it suggests the idea that they may be in league with their brethren. Let us hope not. At any rate I am still displeased with them on account of their shabby conduct, and disposed, perhaps, to look at them more unfavourably than they deserve.

11th.—We started somewhat late, and made a good day of nine hours and a-half through winding narrow valleys, supplying a fair quantity of hasheesh. The country around was wild and rugged—still the same primitive formation, gneiss being the most common rock. On the way we heard the story of the origin of the Kailouees, as given by the Haghar Tuaricks; it is probably meant as a satire. According to this people, a female slave escaped from their country, and travelling over the desert, reached her native place in Soudan. But she bore within her bosom a pledge that still half bound her to her ancient masters. She brought forth a male child, and loved him and reared him; so that in process of time he took a wife, and from this union sprung the bastard race of Kailouees.

In this part of the country the scenery is far more open than it was before; the mountains are lower, but the wadys are not so wide. Here and there occurred considerable patches of herbage, called sabot, and many large, fine trees. Amongst the smaller ones, for the first time, we came upon the senna plant, some of the leaves of which our people plucked. Higher up, in Aheer, is apparently the native soil of this plant. We had also again the adwa, several trees, and the kaiou or kremka, the only plant we have yet seen with a truly tropical aspect.

The adwa bears a fruit something like the date, and is eaten by the people in Soudan. As to the sabot, above mentioned, it is a kind of herbage, which covers the beds of the valleys in this region of primitive rock: it forms the principal food of our camels. The bou rekabah, however, the best for them, is in small quantities, but when seen is devoured to the sand. The people of Aheer eat its seed as ghaseb.

The first two demands I successfully resisted, as also the third at Ghât. The fourth was compromised; we paid twenty-eight reals instead of seventy. The last I yielded, on the condition that I should only give three burnouses.

13th.—The water of Esalan is, likewise, nothing but a deposit of rain. Several holes are scooped out in the sand, down to the rocky bed of the valley.

We moved on from the well of Esalan in the evening, but only for an hour and a half, to a place in the same wady; where there was abundant herbage for the camels. Here we had another Tuarick dispute. Wataitee pretended to fix at a very high rate his services in answering to our call, and proceeding with us as far as this well. At first I refused to give anything at all, since he had stipulated to conduct us as far as the frontiers of Aheer. I then offered him a burnouse (a small white one), and a shasheeah (or fez), both which he obstinately rejected in my teeth, but did not state what he wanted—except muttering, "Money, money, money!"

Fearing some violence from his threatening manner, I was obliged to load my guns and pistols. Whilst declaring he would not take anything by force, he used very threatening language. He was to have left us at the well, but followed us this evening; and when we decamped I determined, therefore, if possible, to come to some arrangement with him through En-Noor, as he might prove a dangerous enemy.

Taking these things into consideration, and making a merit of necessity, we agreed together to offer him thirty reals. He had already come down to fifty, and now accepted the thirty, but said they must be the large ones, or douros (dollars). It was arranged that I should pay the money to En-Noor in Aheer; for all now had become convinced that not one of us three had any dollars worth speaking of left. I believe I have some six or seven, whilst the Germans have none. If we had brought a thousand with us, they would all have been scattered to the wind in these Tuarick countries. Our servants, being persuaded that we have no dollars left, have sworn to the fact; so that my candid declaration, "That if they were to kill me, they could not find ten dollars to pay them for their trouble," is now believed.

To-day the weather was misty, and we felt as if entering into the circle of a new climate. Few or no animals were seen. All is dismal and dreary.

15th.—We rose at daybreak, and proceeded steadily on, making a day's journey of thirteen long weary hours. The stony plain opened rather more than yesterday, but there were always rocks on either hand.

To-day we had the first drops of Soudan rain, and a complete Soudan atmosphere. We also observed the vermilion tinge on the clouds, peculiar to Central Africa; and the air was hot and clammy. Every sort of desert phenomenon is seen in these parts in perfection. The mirage often fills up the interstices left between the rocks, and inundates the plain ahead with its fantastic waters.

Whilst we were indulging in these reflections, there came on a regular desert-storm. A vault of clouds, like huge irregular rocks, was soon heaped up overhead. The thunder roared from side to side of the horizon. The lightning flashed, sometimes above, sometimes between, the isolated hills, showing them like long black tents pitched here and there on the plain. Our beasts moved eagerly on; and their drivers, though accustomed to such phenomena, were hushed into awe. The tempest did not last many minutes; but it was accompanied by wind so violent that we could scarcely preserve our seats in the saddles, and finished off with so violent a shower of rain that we got quite wet through almost in an instant. This is a fair warning that we are really within the tropics.

I believed that the Haghar would not follow the Kailouees upon their own territory, but I was mistaken. Just before sunset, to our surprise, we saw rising above the hills around the valley where we are encamped, three mounted men. These mysterious Haghar are then determined, we thought, to pursue us Christians as their natural prey! The men rode coolly up and mingled with us, probably understanding and enjoying the looks of suspicion and terror that greeted them. No one thought proper, at first, to address them a single question; and they were allowed to picket their maharees without molestation. It must be confessed that there was no little agitation in our camp, and everything was done to give any attacking force a warm reception. We made barricades of the boat, and kept watch all night. We also scoured the valley all round to see if there were any other people about.

By the way, it may be as well to mention here, that the reader may know how to call the enemies we feared, that although vulgarly the whole race that inhabits between the borders of Fezzan and Timbuctoo are called Haghar, the Tuaricks of Ghât are properly distinguished as Azgher; and those located towards Tuat and the Joliba, Haghar. Had they and their party been of generally predatory dispositions, they would have had something to occupy them—the caravan belonging to Haj Ibrahim coming from Soudan. We should, perhaps, be uncharitable enough to hope that precious time might be occupied in plundering these good people, were we not certain that, if we are really to be attacked, it is because of the presence of Christians. Will our guides peril life or limb to preserve from danger people whose tenets they abhor?

I wrote up my journal to-day, and am in good health. My spirits are a little soured, nay, exasperated into activity by these constant troubles. It is very hot now. I have hit upon a happy contrivance for keeping out the sun from my tent. I lay my carpet on the sandy floor of my tent, and with my table and the frame of my bed I make a wooden covering over. On the top I place my mattress and thick blankets, I then lay myself down underneath; and am perfectly protected from the sun above, whilst the cool breeze enters at the bottom of the tent. There is, then, not a person in the caravan who suffers so little from the heat as I do, I recommend the plan to travellers.

Sometimes, however, the camels went at least three miles an hour. We have come, indeed, about 130 miles, and nearly all south; which has brought us so much more within the influence of the climate of Soudan. On the third day, at noon, the granite region disappeared, and we have now sandstone again.

Some of our servants have begun to feel uneasy, and are becoming troublesome, in consequence of these constant alarms of Haghar. To do the free blacks justice, they behave well. Yusuf is getting out of temper, and somewhat changed in manner. He is annoyed at seeing me not place so much confidence in him as at first; I have reason to be dissatisfied with his carelessness. Mahommed of Tunis is a good servant, but at times impertinent.

As a rule, all these women are modest and decorous in behaviour, and are treated with considerable respect. No master interferes with the slaves of another, and most of them are permitted in their turn to ride. A poor creature belonging to a Tuatee, however, is forced always to trudge on foot, although its master often takes a lift himself. Two of the women have infants in their arms—little things, as knowing, to all appearance, as those that can run. These mothers, with their children, are treated with great tenderness and care.

The name of the place where we are now encamped is, as I have said, Takeesat, and that of the rocky plain we traversed between Esalan and Aisou is [omitted in Journal]. We shall now have great confusion in the denominations of places, the Tuaricks using one name and the Kailouees another.

20th.—We rose early, and at four o'clock were already in motion. It was a long and weary day—fourteen hours of actual travelling; but this, thank Heaven! is, we are told, the last long stretch of that kind we shall have to undertake. The country was nearly similar to that between Falezlez and Aisou; plains or slightly indented valleys. The granite appeared again, with sandstone on the top. No herbage was found to-day, except a few scanty bits here and there.

The three mysterious Haghars still continued to follow us throughout the day, declaring that they had no evil intentions, but were merely poor wayfarers journeying to Aheer. They have made friends with the Tanelkums, with whom they have more points of resemblance than with the Kailouees. In appearance and manners they are remarkable enough. They wear a shield of bullock or rhinoceros hide hanging down on one side of their camels. During our march, it was evidently their desire to show off; for they moved in order of battle as they called it, in a line, the two who had spears holding them bravely up. It was certainly a pretty sight to see them play off this little exercise. But in the evening, after dark, they returned from feeding their camels somewhere in the mountains, and came and bivouacked close to us and our baggage. This alarmed us, and we sent En-Noor to remonstrate with them. After some wrangling, they promised to leave us if we would give them supper. We did so, and got rid of them for the night.

21st.—We rose an hour before daylight, and journeyed eight hours, passing through a country resembling that of yesterday, and a pleasant valley called Wady Jeenanee, until we arrived at the wells of the same name. They are scooped out of the sand in a stony bed, and amidst rocks. The water is very palatable. It has no natural source, but there is an abundant supply for several months, and even years, after great rains.

To-day we noticed, for the first time on our journey from Tripoli, the recent marks of the fall of a great quantity of rain. It had left after it exactly the same forms on the sandy valley which we see at all times, quite dry, in the more desolated regions of the Sahara. There cannot be a doubt that occasionally an immense quantity of rain falls in every region of this great desert.

The senna plant was picked up again to-day, and the tree called aborah appeared in great numbers in the wady, in a corner of which we encamped.

Notwithstanding that the blacks of our caravan (mostly slaves) walked on foot fourteen long, long hours yesterday, they still danced, and sang, and played games in the evening, and kept it up till midnight! How capable are these Africans of bearing up against fatigue and toil! Could we Europeans do as they do? Not even in our own country, and under our own climate.

They afterwards made a collection of small articles of clothing, and other little things. I gave them a handkerchief, with which they were greatly delighted.

We had a perfect Soudan atmosphere to-day. The heavens were surcharged with clouds, and when the sun appeared through them for a few minutes, it was burning, scorching hot. The abundance of herbage and trees in Wady Jeenanee combined with these circumstances to show that we had entered the gates of a new climate.