At ten in the evening, we broke up, and proceeded towards the N. W. The soil, which was as unvaried as ever, was covered on the surface by quartz. The night was calm, and the heat stifling.
On the 30th of May, we halted at eleven in the morning, and found some herbage, which supplied the camels with food during that day and part of the succeeding night.
On the 31st, at two in the morning, we continued our journey in the same direction. The soil was sandy, and covered with hills of loose yellow sand. In crossing the desert, I perceived, at a distance, immense tracts, which had the appearance of rivers or lakes, with islands of sand rising in the midst of them; they presented themselves to the eye, in the horizon of the desert, as places where one might quench one’s thirst. This prospect broke for a time the uniformity of these vast deserts; on approaching, I was cruelly disappointed, for the water vanished, and I saw nothing but loose sand where I had hoped to quench my thirst. This illusion only rendered my situation more dreadful, when I was consumed with thirst, and saw the sea receding before me as by enchantment. It is impossible to form any correct idea of a mirage without having seen one.
Towards noon we halted; the burning heat was augmented by a scorching wind from the east. My thirst was excessive, but I had no means of quenching it; my companions told me, to comfort me, that we should soon come to wells. In fact, the wells of Cramès are in this part of the desert; and we hoped to find water there; but alas! they were dry. These wells are situated near a chain of hills extending from N. N. W. towards south. At intervals, we came to a few tufts of herbage; the only trace of vegetation which is to be found here.
We pitched our tents, and sheltered ourselves under them from the burning wind; we had a very short allowance of water dealt out to us, on account of the impossibility of procuring more. The soil in this part is composed of hard sand, mingled with gravel; the east wind blew with such violence, that all our tents were overturned. About sunset, we had an alarm; the camel-drivers at a distance from the camp, saw some Moors, whom they took for banditti; they came to us, calling out, “To arms! to arms!” The whole camp was immediately on the alert; every one flew to arms, and hastened to meet the supposed enemy. I saw some of our party tremble, which made me presume that the danger was great. No person was left in the camp besides three or four old marabouts, the slaves and myself; they fell forthwith to prayers, and gave me a little water and a piece of camel’s flesh, I suppose to propitiate Heaven. For my part, I was not less uneasy than the Moors; I speculated sorrowfully upon what would be our lot, if we lost our camels, our only resource in the desert. We shall die in this horrid country, thought I, for we are too distant to receive help from any quarter; and as a climax to misfortunes, our provision of water is exhausted. In fact, a few of the camels had returned, but the greater number were grazing out of the camp. In the course of an hour, I beheld, to my great satisfaction, our intrepid warriors returning; and they informed us, with an air of triumph, that the robbers had disappeared. All the evening the camp was in a tumult; and there was a long deliberation what was to be done for want of water. It was an object to set off at night to avoid the heat of the day; but our prudent companions were afraid of being attacked on their way; it was even suggested, that the robbers might have taken possession of the wells, at which we were to arrive the next day. Sentinels were appointed, and a watch was kept for a mile round the camp.
On the 1st of June, at five in the morning, we prepared to continue our course to the north. Our water-bags were now dry, for we had supplied our last night’s sentinels with water. All the forenoon we were travelling over a barren soil, which was dreary to look at; it was composed of very hard sand, covered with much grey gravel, and small, flat, sharp-edged, black stones. I perceived, which was rather unusual, a number of small tracks of former caravans, and which the winds had not had the power to efface, because the soil is hard and stony.
I shall here relate a conversation which passed in my presence between Sidi-Molut, a Trajacant Moor, and Sidi-Body, associates of Sidi-Aly, my guide, and some of my greatest tormentors; the conversation turned upon the number of slaves they supposed the Europeans to possess— just as they suppose that all the christians, of whom they know nothing but the names, are of one nation and subject to one chief. In this persuasion, Sidi-Molut related that the sultan of Morocco had made an agreement with the sultan of the christians for the exchange of prisoners of both sexes; and that, by this treaty, a christian was to be exchanged for ten Musulmans, or a thousand piastres. The moment Body heard that the price of a christian slave was fixed at this sum, he interrupted Sidi-Molut, and said: “Well, we must sell Sidi-Abdallahi,” pointing at me with his finger. The other replied that I was not a christian but a Musulman, and that a Musulman was worth all the gold in the world. I could not refrain from darting a look of contempt at Body; and I even told him I saw plainly, that if he could he would sell me, the sooner the better, without any respect for his religion. He did not seem to pay attention to what I said; but Molut looked at me with a smile and said: “Body is a rogue, is not he Abdallahi?”
The soil over which we travelled in the afternoon was covered with hills of loose yellow sand; we saw some vegetables, but at long intervals; the heat was excessive, and again increased the pangs of thirst. At last, about two in the afternoon, we halted near the wells of Trasas or Trarzas, situated in a plain surrounded by hills of yellow sand. These wells, which are numerous, are seven or eight feet deep; the water is salt and most disagreeable.
Here we found some Trajacant Moors, the very people whom we had descried the day before, and who had alarmed us so much; we had occasioned them equal alarm, and it was for this reason that they had not halted at the wells of Cramès. The wells of Trasas were filled with sand, but the Trajacants had cleared out two of them. In this plain, the surface of which is composed of hard grey sand, we found some lumps of salt, and near the place where we watered our beasts, several houses built with bricks of this substance. The Moors informed me, that there was formerly a large village in this place, belonging to their tribe, and that the inhabitants used to work the Trasa salt mines, and carried on considerable commerce in this article with the Soudan. They had many camels, as I learnt from the same authority; but the village had been destroyed by the Tafilet Moors. It is, nevertheless, very probable, that this village was voluntarily abandoned by the inhabitants, who might be discouraged by the great difficulty of finding fodder for their beasts, and grain for themselves, and also by the annoyance of being always forced to drink salt water.
As the Trajacants had taken the trouble to clear the wells, we had nothing to do but to profit by their labour; and to reward them, Sidi-Aly and Sidi-Molut joined to give them a good supper.