* ROUTE TO TliVTBUCTOO.

very dark, approaching to black, in their com- plexion : this province abounds in fortresses, like

those of Tafilelt.

The caravans have not, as in the journey to Mecca, their sheiks ^ or commanders. From Fas to Tafilelt they had no chief, but as there

are generally a few old, rich, and respectable men in the caravan, its direction and government

are committed to their care.

From Tafilelt, which, as before observed, is the country of the shereefs, they are guided by such of the trading shereefs as accompany the

caravan, and who have always great respect

paid them, till they arrive at Timbuctoo. The caravan increases as it proceeds in its journey

:

at Fas it consisted of about thirty or forty ; at Draha, of from 300 to 400 camels. From Draha, ^t the distance of three days' travelling, they found water by digging, and on the next morn- ing they entered the Sahara, which, for the first twenty days is a plain sandy desert resembling

the sea. In this desert, when they pitch their

tents at niglit, they are obliged frequently to shake the sand from their tops, as they would

otherwise be overwhelmed before the morning.

Some part of this desert is hard, and the camels do not sink deep into it ; in others the sand is very loose, which fatigues the camels

exceedingly. In travelling, the caravan is di-

rected by the stars at night, and by the sun in

^ The sheik akkabar, or chief of the accumulated caravan,

is generally a shereef or prince.