of straw and palm-branches. The whole oasis is not more than three miles
in extent; the gardens produce only a little wheat, barley, and ghaseb,
with some few kinds of fruit. Good water is supplied by wells; but all
the palm vegetation is stunted.

From the hill that overlooks the town, a fine view is to be obtained of
the little oasis and the vast extent of desert that encircles it on
every side. Far to the south wave in the air the summits of the
palm-groves of Berket, on the way to Aheer. To the west, hills and
ridges succeed one another to the horizon; and to the east, above a line
of glittering sand-hills, rises the unbroken wall of the Wareerat
range--the rampart thrown up by the demons to protect their favourite
Tuaricks from the inroads of the conqueror. The contrast of the bright
green of the oasis with the stony waste beyond is striking; and when the
sun sheds its bright rays over the scene, it may really be called
beautiful.

But these are reminiscences. This day, as soon as we saw the town
appearing over the trees between the rocks, we hailed it with delight;
not, however, as the termination, but as the starting-point of a
journey. Beyond, southward, everything to us was unknown, and, we
believed, to all Europeans. Every step further, then, promised to be a
discovery. Should we be allowed to proceed unmolested? Would no
obstacle, natural or artificial, intervene? Much would depend on our
reception in Ghât. On my former visit I had not, on the whole, reason to
complain of the Sheikhs of the Tuaricks, whose chief place this is. I
remembered the venerable Shafou, the dashing Khanouhen, with Jabour, and
all the others, from whom I had received what might be called kindness.
Hateetah, it is true, had hitherto somewhat disappointed me; and I know
that great expectation had been already aroused in this little secluded