en with this quantity the camels are often left for
three or four days without any. They never use mules in this part
of the journey; they neither find the _sheh_[12], nor the thorny
plant so common in the deserts of Africa.

The country on the borders of this desert, to the right and left,
is inhabited by roving Arabs, at the distance of three or four days
from the track which the caravan pursues; and is said to be partly
plain, and in part hilly, with a little grass, and a few shrubs;
when the cattle of these Arabs have consumed what grows in one
spot, their owners remove to another. The caravan, though it
generally consisted of about 400 men well armed, seeks its route
through the most unfrequented part of the desert, from a dread of
the attacks of the Arabs. The hottest wind is that from the
east-south-east, and is called _Esshume_[13]; the coldest is that
which blows from the west-north-west. To alleviate the great
drought which travellers feel in the desert, they have recourse to
melted butter.[14]

[Footnote 11: These goat-skins, when containing water, are
called by the Arabs _kereb_, or _ghireb_, plur. _kerba_, or
_ghirba_, sing.]

[Footnote 12: The _sheh_ is the wormseed plant, the thorny
plant here alluded to is the wild myrtle.]

[Footnote 13: _Esshume_, or the hot wind. For a particular
description of this extraordinary wind, see Jackson's Account
of the Empire of Marocco, &c. &c. 2d or 3d edition, page 283
and 284.]

[Footnote 14: This is old butter kept several years in a
_matamore_, or subterraneous cavern. It is called by the Arabs
of the desert, _budra_; and much virtue is ascribed to it when
it has attained a certain age: a small quantity swallowed,
quickly diffuses itself through the system.]

6 After passing this desert of twenty days, they enter a country
which varies in its appearance, particular spots being fertile[15]
(called El Wah). Here they meet with _sederah_[16], a kind of wild
myrtle, in great quantities. This plant is called by the natives,
_gylan:_ its height is about that of a man; the camels feed upon
it. Between these shrubs there is a very small quantity of grass in
particular spots. In this part of the desert they meet with
extensive st