n amphitheatre of savage-looking mountains--great stony
swells, made hideous here and there by crags and ravines, and piled away
on all sides in shattered magnificence. This is the grandest desert
prospect I have yet seen, and must strongly clash with the ordinary
notion of the Great Sahara which untravelled geologists have represented
as the recently-elevated bed of some ocean. We must now have reached the
summit of an inland Atlas, dividing the extreme limits of the Ghat
territory from the, to us, mysterious kingdom of Aheer.

In Wady Aroukeen there are some of the finest tholukhs I have seen,
reaching the height of thirty or forty feet. There are, besides, two new
species of trees, the adwa of Soudan, called, in Aheer, _aborah_: they
have not been observed before, and are natives of Bornou. Their general
aspect resembles the tholukh, but they have large prickles and a smooth
roundish leaf. There is a good deal of hasheesh in this valley.

We are now, they say, about twelve days from Aheer, exclusive of the
stoppages; twelve days, I mean, of twelve hours a-piece. These long
stretches are desperately fatiguing, and trying to the health; but there
is no remedy. We must make these weary stages on account of the scarcity
of water and herbage for the camels. The Kailouees tie their camels by
the lower jaw, and fasten the string to the baggage piled on the back of
the preceding animal; and the long line moves on well this way. The
Tuaricks fasten their bridles, when they ride their maharees, by a round
ring in the nose.

We had granite again to-day, and fine beds of felspar, pebbles, and
rocks. The geology of this portion of Sahara is very interesting, but no
crystals have yet been found. Yesterday and to-day, the wind has been
high, moderating greatly the heat. The wind is nearly always south-east.
The nights are resplendent. Jupiter and Venus are seen close together in
beautiful conjunction. The constellation of the Scorpion rises higher in
the south, whilst the Pole-star apparently falls.

I read nothing nowadays but a few verses of the Greek Testament, and
write these miserable leaves of journal. I must save my strength. I am
very weak as it is. We have still got nearly forty days of actual
travelling to make before we enter Soudan, but we hope Providence will
allow us a little rest at Aheer.

_10th._--We moved on late this morning up Wady Aroukeen, one hour and
a-half, to a place where we have better feeding for th