thither. She will, of course, gladly take leave
of her husband and this young wife and rival. Marriage is an excessively
loose tie here, at any rate amongst the poor. The rich pretend to
respect marriage.

We have all done little in clearing up difficulties, or obtaining
correct information of the Tuaricks of the Sahara. No good informants
are to be found. From the Sheikhs of Ghat it is quite impossible to
learn anything. We hope to get some information from a Tanelkum now
going with us. Many tribes have been mentioned, casually; but the
principal are--the three great tribes of Ghat, those to which Khanouhen,
Shafou, Jabour, and Hateetah belong--a tribe in Janet--the Haghar of
Ghamama--the Isokamara, located on the Tuat route from Aisou--the
Tanelkums of Fezaan--the Maraga, a breed produced from the slaves of the
Haghar and the Sorgou of Timbuctoo.

_26th._--The sky is now frequently cloudy, but no rain falls. The valley
of Tintalous is looking fresh, on account of the great quantity of wild
cauliflower overspreading its surface, called by the Arabs _liftee_.
This word _liftee_, is evidently derived from _lift_, "turnip." The
vegetable grows in lines and circles, determined apparently by the
action of the water, which deposits the seeds. No use is made of this
wild cabbage; it is very bitter, and no animals even eat it.

En-Noor paid me a visit this morning before I was up; he drank some
coffee, and went off to see his camels. The Tanelkums were quite wrong
in their surmisings about En-Noor and his religious fanaticism. He has
shown less fanaticism than any prince with whom we have had yet anything
to do during the present journey. All the Kailouees of Tintalous are
equally tolerant. We have now three quasi-princes, or sons of sultans,
in Tintalous, besides the son of En-Noor. We have Mousa Waled Haj-Ali,
who takes our despatches to Mourzuk, with Yusuf my interpreter, and a
Tibboo, the son of the Sultan of Kouivar. As we proceed onwards, princes
and sons of princes will thicken upon us.

_27th._--I packed up and sent off all my despatches to Mourzuk, together
with a few trifling things for my poor wife, by the hand of Mousa Waled
Haj-Ali, the virtual Sheikh of the Tanelkums.

_28th._--All the male inhabitants, with the exception of five or six,
have gone off this morning to fetch salt from Bilma. They return here in
the course of a month, and the greater part of the salt is transported
from hence to Soudan by the n