[16]. Feminine of sherif, signifying a descendant of the Prophet.
[17]. In their poetic effusions, the Arabs frequently call the sun aâin ennour, "eye of light."
[18]. Among the Arabs, there are no rejoicings without firing off of guns.
[19]. When a desert tribe is at peace, the camels are sent away ten or twelve leagues, to graze, and it may be easily conceived that if a sudden swoop be made upon them it needs excellent horses and vigourous horsemen to recover them.
[20]. Small and restless ears as well as lively and prominent eyes are a sign, say the Arabs, of a healthy action of the heart, and that the animal is full of life.
[21]. The mahari is much more slender in its proportions than the djemel, or common camel. It has the exquisite ears of the gazelle, the supple neck of the ostrich, the hollow belly of the slougui or greyhound. Its head is lean and gracefully attached to the neck; its eyes bright, black, and prominent; its lips long and firm, covering well the teeth; the hump is small, but the chest where it touches the earth when the animal couches down, is strong and protuberant; the dock of its tail is short; its legs, very lean in the upper part, are furnished with muscles from the ham and the knee down to the hoof, and the sole of its foot is neither broad nor thick: finally, it has very few hairs on the neck, and its coat, of a tawny colour, is as fine as that of the jerboa. See General Daumas' work on the "Great Desert." In the desert, the mahari is to the djemel what, with us, a race horse is to a draught horse.
[22]. Hôor, in the plural harar. Not unlikely, this word brought by our ancestors from the crusades is the origin of the word haras.
[23]. The nomadic tribe of the Arbâa encamps in the neighbourhood of Leghrouât. It is divided into three great sections: el Mamera, el Hedjadj, and Ouled Salah. (Sahara Algérien, p. 45.)
[24]. All these tribes pitch their tents in the quadrilateral comprised between Sidi-Khaled, Tougourt, the Beni-Mzab, and Leghrouât.
[25]. The French league is rather less than 2-1/2 miles English.