Meanwhile the caravan remained very far behind, and we thought it prudent to wait for them in Wady Tawíl, particularly as the path divided here. It was so hot that my camel, when I let it loose to browse a little would not touch anything. When the other camel-drivers at length came up, there was a dispute as to the path to be followed; but the truth was, that while there could be no doubt about the direct road to Múrzuk, some of the camel-drivers wished to take us to Ubári. But at length the other party, interested only in carrying us westward as far as Ugréfe, which was a great deal out of our route, got the upper hand, and we left the road to Ubári, which passes only two wadys, or hollows, called Tekúr and Uglah, both with bad water, to the west, and followed the road to Ugréfe.
About four o’clock in the afternoon we encamped in the Wady Mukméda, near the sand-hills bordering its southern side, under the shade of a wild palm-bush. Close to it was very good water only two feet below the surface; but as the hole had only just been made, it contained much sulphuretted hydrogen. The following day we crossed several smaller valleys with a few palm-trees (but a larger grove adorned the Wady Jemál), all belonging to one of our camel-drivers of the name of Bu Bakr. He also possessed here a magazine, built of bricks, and probably several centuries old, but entirely covered with sand, where he had deposited forty camel-loads of dates. They were of the kind called tefsirt, of very large size and exquisite taste, and were eagerly devoured by our people. After having refreshed ourselves for a moment, we went on, having just before us the very steepest ascent that occurs on the whole road. I was obliged to dismount from my beautiful Bu-Séfi in order to get him over it. This ridge being once behind us, we were told that all the “wár” was over; there were, however, still a few “difficult passes” before us. In the Wady Gellah, which we next crossed, we found the footsteps of a flock of sheep and of a single camel, which latter animal finds plenty of food in this sandy district, and, at the shallow well in Wady Uglah, is able to quench its thirst without the assistance of man. Thence we descended into Wady Tigidéfa, where we encamped near a couple of palm-trees, the only ones in the wady; a copious well of very good water was near them, overshadowed by a thick cluster of palm-bushes. It was altogether a very satisfactory camping-ground, except that it swarmed with camel-bugs, as such places in the desert generally do.
With a general impulse of energy, we started this morning at a very early hour,—twenty minutes past two o’clock in the morning—in order to get out of the sands, and to arrive in “the Wady.” After seven hours’ constant march, we at length got a fine view of the steep cliffs which enclose the Wady on the south side, and which contrasted marvellously with the white sand-hills in the foreground; for, stretching out in a horizontal dark line which faded away at each end, they exhibited an illusive picture of a lake spread out before us in the remote distance. The cool east wind, which had blown in the morning, and promised a fine day, changed, as is very common in these regions, towards noon into a hot south wind, and made us very uncomfortable and susceptible of the fatigue of a long march, particularly as the distance proved much greater than we had expected. Indeed it was not till nearly two o’clock in the afternoon, that Mr. Richardson and I, who were much in advance of the caravan, reached the border of the Wady, and shortly afterwards the well Moghrás, at the foot of two tall palm-trees, where we found a woman with two neatly dressed children. They belonged to the Azkár-Tuarek, who, leaving their miserable abodes, migrate to these more fertile districts, where they build themselves light cottages of palm-branches, and indulge in a patriarchal life, breeding camels and rearing sheep. Near almost every village in the Wady, outside the palm-grove, in the bare naked bottom of the valley, these poor people form a sort of suburb of frail huts; but nevertheless they keep up family ties with their brethren near Chát, and respect in some degree the authority of the chief Nakhnúkhen. That this state of things might become very unfavourable to Fezzán in an outbreak of hostilities between the Turks and the Tuarek, is obvious; I shall have occasion to say more on this subject further on. A belt of saline incrustation, of more than half a mile in breadth, runs through the middle of the valley, forming a line of demarcation between the separate palm-groups and the continuous grove.
On reaching this grove we soon caught sight of the famous village Ugréfe, the residence of our camel-drivers, which was to them the grand point of attraction, and in truth the only cause of our taking this westerly route. It consisted of about thirty light and low dwellings made of clay and palm-branches, and lay near an open space where we were desired to encamp: but longing for shade, we went a little further on, and encamped near two splendid ethel-trees (Tamarix orientalis), the largest I ever saw before I reached Égeri. When the camels came up and the tents were pitched, the encampment proved most agreeable.
Early next morning I was again in motion, roving over the plantation, and was very much pleased with its general character. The corn, which was a fine crop, was just ripe and about to be harvested; and close to our camping-ground two negro slaves were employed in cutting it, while three or four negresses carried it away to the stores. The negroes were powerful young fellows; the women were rather ugly, excepting one, who had a very handsome figure, and by coquettish demeanour tried to make herself more attractive. All of them accompanied their work with singing and wanton movements, and gave distinct manifestations of the customs of this district, which is notorious for the familiarity of its female inhabitants with the large caravans of pilgrims who annually pass through the Wady on their way to or from Mekka. The fields are watered from large holes or wells, which are sunk through layers of variegated marl.
Being anxious to visit Old Jerma, and to convince myself of its identity with the Garama of the Romans, I hired a miserable little donkey, and, accompanied by the stupid young son of Sbaeda, set out on an exploring expedition into the eastern part of the valley. Keeping in general along the southern border of the plantation, and having on my right the precipitous rocky cliff, of from 300 to 400 feet elevation, I went on slowly till I reached the south-west corner of Jerma kadím, fortified with a quadrangular tower built of clay, and exhibiting a very curious arrangement in its interior. The whole circumference of the town, which was deserted long ago, is about 5,000 paces. Here, near the town, there are no Roman ruins whatever, but the remains of several large and strong towers built of clay are to be seen a little further on; and being unable to make out the sepulchre described by Dr. Oudney, I was obliged to go to Tawásh, the village inhabited by the Merabetín. It is divided into three distinct parts, a Tarki village, consisting of huts of palm-branches, an outer suburb of scattered dwellings built of clay, and a small quadrangular place of very regular shape, surrounded by earthen walls, and furnished with two gates, one on the east, and the other on the west side, and regular streets crossing at right angles. Having here obtained a guide from Háj Mohammed Sʿaídi, a wealthy man and the owner of almost all our camels, I started for the Roman monument, situated in a wide opening of the southern recess. I found it in tolerably good preservation, and without delay made a sketch of it, as it seemed to me to be an object of special interest as the southernmost relic of the Roman dominion. It is a remarkable fact, that several years before the beginning of our era the Romans should have penetrated as far as this place; and that their dominion here was not of a merely transitory nature, this monument seems clearly to show. It is only one story high, and seems never to have been loftier. This is evidently characteristic of the age in which it was built; and I am persuaded that it is not later than the time of Augustus. Those high steeple-tombs which I have described above, seem not to have come into fashion before the middle of the second century after Christ. The base measures 7 ft. 9½ in. on the west and east sides, and at least 7 ft. 4 in. on the other two sides, including a spacious sepulchral chamber or burial-room; but while the base forms almost a quadrangle, the sides of the principal structure are of very different dimensions, measuring not more than 5 ft. 8½ in. on the north and south, and 7 ft. on the west and east sides. It is adorned with pilasters of the Corinthian order. The whole monument is covered with Tefínagh or Berber writing, which was not only intelligible to me, but also to our young camel-driver ʿAli Carámra, whose family lives in this part of the wady, in a homely little dwelling of palm-leaves. However, as the writing was very careless, and my time was fully taken up with sketching the more important subjects, I did not copy the inscriptions, which indeed are only names; but of course even names might contribute something towards elucidating the history of the country.
By a direct path I returned from this place to our encampment, and felt rather fatigued, having been in motion during all the heat of the day. The south wind still increased in the evening; and we could distinctly see that it was raining towards the longed-for region whither we were going, while we had nothing from it but clouds of sand. Overweg, meanwhile, had ascended in the morning the highest cliff of the sandstone rocks forming the southern border of the valley, and had found it to be 1,605 feet high or 413 feet above the ground at our encampment.
Having heard, the day before, in the village of Merabetín, that Háj Mohammed, the owner of our camels, ordered the boy who was with me to tell Sbaeda, his father, that they should not start before this evening, I was not surprised at our camel-drivers not bringing the camels in the morning. It was almost four o’clock in the afternoon when Overweg and I at length pushed on, entering the extensive grove of New Jerma,—a miserable place, which being entirely shut in by the palm-grove, is almost deserted. The grove, however, exhibited a very interesting aspect, all the trees being furnished with a thick cluster of palm-bush at their roots, while the old dry leaves were left hanging down underneath the young fresh crown, and even lower down the stem, not being cut off so short as is customary near the coast. But picturesque as the state of the trees was, it did not argue much in favour of the industry of the inhabitants; for it is well known to Eastern travellers that the palm-tree is most picturesque in its wildest state. Beyond the town the grove becomes thinner, and the ethel-tree predominates over the palm-tree; but there is much palm-bush.