etuosity. I immediately ordered my
company to erect a mound around us of a great size, which we did with
astonishing labour and perseverance, and then roofed it over with
certain planks and timber, which we had with us for the purpose. Our
labour was scarcely finished when the sand came rolling in like the
waves of the sea; 'twas a storm and river of sand united. It continued
to advance in the same direction, without intermission, for three days,
and completely covered over the mound we had erected, and buried us all
within. The intense heat of the place was intolerable; but guessing,
by the cessation of the noise, that the storm was passed, we set about
digging a passage to the light of day again, which we effected in a
very short time, and ascending, perceived that the whole had been so
completely covered with the sand, that there appeared no hills, but one
continued plain, with inequalities or ridges on it like the waves of the
sea. We soon extricated our vehicle and retinue from the burning sands,
but not without great danger, as the heat was very violent, and began to
proceed on our voyage. Storms of sand of a similar nature several times
attacked us, but by using the same precautions we preserved ourselves
repeatedly from destruction. Having travelled more than nine thousand
miles over this inhospitable plain, exposed to the perpendicular rays of
a burning sun, without ever meeting a rivulet, or a shower from heaven
to refresh us, we at length became almost desperate, when, to our
inexpressible joy, we beheld some mountains at a great distance, and on
our nearer approach observed them covered with a carpet of verdure and
groves and woods. Nothing could appear more romantic or beautiful than
the rocks and precipices intermingled with flowers and shrubs of every
kind, and palm-trees of such a prodigious size as to surpass anything
ever seen in Europe. Fruits of all kinds appeared growing wild in the
utmost abundance, and antelopes and sheep and buffaloes wandered about
the groves and valleys in profusion. The trees resounded with the melody
of birds, and everything displayed a general scene of rural happiness
and joy.

CHAPTER XXVI

_A feast on live bulls and kava--The inhabitants admire the European
adventurers--The Emperor comes to meet the Baron, and pays him great
compliments--The inhabitants of the centre of Africa descended from
the people of the moon proved by an inscription in Africa, and by the
analog