The land around the town is slightly undulating, and covered in the depressions with the Acacia Arabica. Herbage and good water abound. There are no orchards near, except in Wady Ameluli; but El-Hakhsas, three hours distant, produces melons, cucumbers, and melochiyeh, and supplies the whole town.
The women of Aghadez are reported to be free and easy in character, and let loose tremendously as soon as the Sultan had departed on his razzia. Dr. Barth had some difficulty in keeping them at a distance. There are more children, however, to be observed in Aghadez than in most Aheer towns.
This journey of Dr. Barth's has considerably extended our acquaintance, both with the geography and the political state of Asben or Aheer. We see now that it is strictly a portion of the Sahara, intersected with fertile valleys, that towards the south begin to assume quite a tropical character. The inhabitants are various in origin and in name; but it is difficult to describe their subdivisions with any accuracy. According to the natives, there are only two great tribes—the Kailouees, which division includes the Kailouees proper, the Kaltadak, and the Kalfadaï; and, secondly, the Kilgris, including the Kilgris proper, the Iteesan, and the Ashraf. But, in questions of detail, numerous other names appear which it is difficult to arrange under any proper head. The Kailouees are, I think, of genuine Targhee origin, although, as I have already mentioned, with a mixture of the Soudan races. The Kaltadak and the Kalfadaï seem to be identical with the borderers who attacked us on our first entrance into this country. The Kilgris are located southward, beyond Aghadez, along the Sakkatou route, and even far into Soudan, where the influence of the Targhee races seems to be rapidly on the increase.
According to some of the Tanelkum Sheikhs, the following are the names of the principal Targhee tribes scattered over the desert of Sahara, excluding the inhabitants of Aheer:—
| 1. Ouraghen | family | of Shafou. |
| 2. Emanghasatan | " | of Hateetah. |
| 3. Amana | " | of Jabour. |
These are Ghât Tuaricks—Azghers.[9]
4. Aheethanaran, the tribe of Janet.
5. Hagar (Ahagar), pure Hagars and Maghatah, who stand to them somewhat in the relation of the Kourglouss of Algiers to the Turks. They occupy the tract between Ghât, Tuat, and Timbuctoo.
6. Sagamaram; located on the route from Aisou to Tuat.
7. Oulimad; tribes surrounding Timbuctoo in great numbers. In conjunction with the Berebisheers, a tribe of Arabs, they shut up the road between Aghadez and Timbuctoo by their predatory character.