winds; but here also there are oases, whole tracts, like the great oasis of Touat. Beyond these immense plains rise mountains as fertile as the mountains of the north. This is the country of the Touareug, the freebooters of the desert. At the other side of the mountains lies the land of the Soudan, the land of the negroes, of whom so many marvels are related. Such is the country, drawing a perpendicular line from Algiers to Kachna, at more than eight hundred leagues from the sea.* The kingdom of Haoussa, of which Kachna is the capital, was conquered thirty years ago by a white Musselman race called the Foulanes. Thus, by a singular contrast, whilst a Christian power was establishing its domination in the north, Islamism was imposing its religion and its yoke on the centre of Africa.

The caravan, under the guidance of the Arab Cheggueun, left Metelli, which is nine days' march from Abiot-Sidi-Chirq where the French columns had halted. It set out in the month of

From Egypt to Darfour, which is about the same height as the coast of Africa, the country, it would seem, presents the same character. M. Theodore Pavie, in the Revue des Deux Mondes, (January 1st, 1846,) has given a curious analysis of a journey of Cheik-el-Tounsi, to Darfour.

October, traversed the great oasis of Touat and the country of the Touareug, and finally arrived about the month of March in the kingdom of Haoussa, the land of the negroes. Cheggueun, its conductor, the historian of the journey, begins by giving some details with respect to the organization of the band, which under his direction were about to undertake this pilgrimage.

"In the Sahara we call the conductor of a Caravan khrebir, for you Christians must understand that we cannot commit ourselves to the waves of the desert, our sand seas, which have their sand banks, billows, and tempests like the ocean, without a chief. All the caravan must obey passively the master put over them. He has chaous to execute his orders, chouafs (voyans) to explore the country, a writer to preside over his transactions, a public crier to make announcements, a moudden to call to prayer, and an iman to pray in the name of the faithful.

The khrebir is always a man of intelligence, bravery, and many resources that have been put to the test. He must understand how to travel by the stars, and, by the experience of former voyages, know the roads, wells, and the pasture spots; the dangers of certain passages, the means to avoid them;

all the chiefs whose territories are to be traversed; and the remedies against disease, the bite of a serpent, and the sting of scorpions. In these vast solitudes, where there is no certain pathway, where the sands, shifted by the winds, often efface the traces of former travellers, the khrebir, to steer his course safely, must note a thousand things. When the night is dark, and there is neither moon nor stars to direct him, the inspection of a handful of herbs, or a bit of earth, which he has to examine by touch, smell, and taste, must tell him where he is, and that without the possibility of a mistake."

Such should be the khrebir of a caravan, and such was Cheggueun. The caravan might well be confided to him, for he had three wives, one in the Touat, at Insalah, another among the formidable Touareug, and another at Metelli. He was young, strong, and tall; he was master of the arm; his eye commanded respect, his speech captivated the heart; but though in his tent his words were soft, when with the caravan he spoke rarely, and never laughed. Come then, my brave comrades, listen to the narrative of Cheggueun, throw the reins of your imagination into his hands, and believe him when he tells you: "The Soudan is the

richest country in the world; a slave there is not worth a burnous; gold is as abundant as silver; Buffalo and goat skins, ostrich feathers, sayes, * and ivory, may be had for a trifle. The merchandise of the caravans returns a hundred times its value. You are fools, my lads, to stop at Timi-Mount-a fine voyage, indeed, as long as from my nose to my ear! If you wish to be rich, come to the country of the negroes. Recollect what the prophet says,

"La gale (des chameaux) son remède est le goudron, Comme la pauvreté, son remède est le Soudan.''

The love of adventure, the temptation of riches, who can resist them? In spite of its unknown dangers, the caravan never fails to set out. Those who compose it first purchase their stock of merchandise at the emporium of Beni-Mzab; then, returning with three laden camels, lay in provisions for the route."

These provisions consist of the following articles: a saú (a sack of about eighty kilogrammes) of couscoussou, a goat-skin of butter, dried meat,

* A cotton stuff, manufactured by the negroes.

A city, a market of Touat, three hundred and eighty leagues from the coast.

two skins of water, a leathern bucket with a cord, to give drink to the camels, two pairs of shoes, cobblers' needles to sew leather to mend them, a tinder box and tinder.

But on so long a voyage it was not only necessary to provide against hunger and thirst, there was provision also to be made against robbers, and the best friends of the traveller are therefore a good gun, a pistol, and a sabre. The companions of Cheggueun took then these arms with them, and also flints, powder, and balls, as a reserve stock, having only on their persons twenty-four charges in twenty-four reeds, which contained their cartouche pouches.* Each of the band then chose out four strong camels, three for the merchandise and one for the baggage, and it was decided that the caravan should start on Thursday, for the prophet had said, "Never set out on a journey except on a Thursday, and always in company. If you are only one, the demon will follow you; if two, two demons will tempt you; if three, you are kept from bad thoughts; and as soon as there are three there must be a chief."

On quitting Metelli, the caravan met the beau

* The Arabs keep their cartouches in the hollows of reeds.