Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 1 - Under the Orders and at the Expense of Her Majesty's Government by James Richardson
page 178 of 292 (60%)
page 178 of 292 (60%)
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[7] This name is sometimes written "Janet," sometimes "Ghanet" by Mr. Richardson, who, moreover, now describes the inhabitants of the place as Haghar and then as Azgher. A more definite account is given further on. It appears, however, that vulgarly in the Sahara all the Tuaricks are called Haghar or Hagar, which seems to have been used rather indiscriminately in the caravan as a term of fear.--ED. 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. Yesterday, we saw, for the first time, a bird's nest in the desert, in the side of a rock. It contained no eggs; our people, on a former occasion, brought in some. It is astonishing how few birds' nests are found, though in some places a good number of small flutterers are seen. |
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