This evening we had large bowls of sweet lackbi sent us, and we soon perceived that the people were great lovers of this liquor. Five or six drunken men came and honoured us with their company without any invitation. Kaid Saad sold to the women a great quantity of tobacco which he had brought from Zaizow, with which they were very glad to recruit their stock. We hired a guide for the desert, our two attendants being unacquainted with the road.

Dec. 27th. Therm. 5°. At 9.30. A.M. we set out, having taken water for three days in our gerbas. Our road lay over a plain of gravel, bounded by mountains close at hand, to the westward, and a distant range to the eastward. At 10.30. Mejdool bore from a rising ground, N. 44°. E. At 11. the mountains closed in, and our road lay through them. At 12.10. we ascended to a rough stony plain, resembling, in colour and badness of footing, some parts of the Soudah. Indeed, all the mountains here appear composed of nearly the same black irregular masses of basalt. Five or six Tibboo passed us on camels; they were the first I had seen fully armed: every man had his three light darts, and his spear. At 2. we descended to a level plain, by a very precipitous pass. The mountain we descended is the most western of a low black chain, which bounds the view as far as the eye can reach, to the eastward. The rocks here, which are of a clay stone, are, in many places, fantastically streaked with veins of a light pink colour. We stopped to rest ourselves under some Talhh trees, when I was alarmed by seeing my Maherry come towards me, foaming at the mouth, and champing like a mad animal. Besheer soon eased me of my fears, by telling me that he was eating bones, a circumstance I was not before aware of. I now found, however, by observing the camels, that whenever we passed any skeletons, they selected a mouthful of such bones as they could easily break.

At 5.30. P.M. we pitched our tent on the plain, the pass bearing from us N. 44°. E. The whole of this flat is covered with beautiful rounded pebbles of the size of a pea, and even smaller. We made 30 miles.

Dec. 28th. Therm. at tent door, 4°. 50′. At 7.35. A.M. we went on, still over the plain, until 3.30. when we came to sand, having small shrubs on it, called Omeladam Tafsert, and here met a Tibboo bringing sixteen Negresses from Waday. We found a small well, and having watered our horses, proceeded to another, near which we were to pass the night. At 6.30. we came to it, but found it had fallen in. Whilst cooking, we caught a young Gerboa, which came foraging. During our journey this day, Besheer shot a crow with a single ball, very adroitly. We observed the Kaid seize the bird, and pretend that he was desirous of obtaining the wing feathers; but I discovered that he had pulled off the head, intending to keep it about his person, as a charm against a pain in the elbow. We made, this day, S. 45°. W. 35 miles, slept on the sand, and were much disturbed by the howlings of jackals. This well is called Jufāra.

Dec. 29th. Therm. 2°. 30′. At 7.45. A.M. we left the well, and passing over an uneven country, arrived at 9.30. at a few scattered palms, and the wells of Wūdakaire, where we found the water excellent, when compared with that of Morzouk. Having previously heard from our attendants that it was particularly clear, I carried a small tin pot at my saddle-bow, and a paper containing a little tea, with which I hoped to regale myself. In this I was not disappointed, and was content to obtain the luxury, even though destitute of its usual auxiliaries, milk and sugar, articles which had now become almost unknown to us. Proceeded S. 50°. W. At 2. the camels arrived at the gardens, and we went on to the town of Gatrone, where we arrived at 3°. 30′. At 4.50. the camels came in, having made twenty miles.

Besheer and Belford having stopped at Gatrone gardens to water their horses, I rode into the town with Kaid Saad, alone, which greatly mortified him, as he wished me to have made my entrance with four horses abreast, thinking it would look more dignified, and in character for such a great person as myself. He was astonished when I told him, that even the Sultan of my country was neither ashamed nor afraid to ride unattended, and that his soldiers never rode or fired before him on his entering a town. This he wisely supposed must be owing to the excellence of our gunpowder, which our king would not suffer to be wasted unnecessarily. We put up at the house of a Tibboo woman: it had a garden and palms in front, and stood at a short distance from the walls of the town.

Gatrone is surrounded by sand hills, on which are built the low palm huts of the Tibboo, who appear to form a separate community; the people within the walls pretending to call themselves Fezzanners, although the language of Bornou is more generally spoken than the Arabic.

As this was the evening of the feast of Milood, Mohammed’s birth-day, every thing promised a gay meeting, and the young Tibboo girls were adorned for the occasion in all their finery. These females are light and elegant in form, and their graceful costume, quite different from that of the Fezzanners, is well put on. They have aquiline noses, fine teeth, and lips formed like those of Europeans; their eyes are expressive, and their colour is of the brightest black: there is something in their walk, and erect manner of carrying themselves, which is very striking. Their feet and ankles are delicately formed, and are not loaded with a mass of brass or iron, but have merely a light anklet of polished silver or copper, sufficient to show their jetty skin to more advantage; they wear also neat red slippers.

Drawn from Life by G. F. Lyon. On Stone by M. Gauci.