heir thirst. Though the great watering-place on this desert
road, it has not a cheerful aspect; but, as the water is always bubbling
up and keeps the same level, the largest caravan might be fully
supplied. A day was spent here, as both camels and men required rest.

Day after day they travelled on, passing through rocky _wadies_ and
narrow defiles, out of the sides of which projected jet-black masses of
sandstone, giving a wild air to the desolate region.

One day two gazelles were caught, an addition to their bill of fare.

At length in the distance appeared a town on the top of a broad,
terraced rock. They took long to reach it.

It is rarely such a place is seen in that part of the world. The rock
rose in the midst of a valley, occupying a position which in days of
yore must have made it a place of great importance. It is called Ederi.
Amidst the sand-hills which surround it are green fields of wheat and
barley, and here and there groves of date-trees.

Before them now lay a series of sand-hills, intermingled with small
clusters of palm-trees. Sometimes the ascent of the sand-hills was most
trying for the camels. They extend for five days' march or more, but
are nothing in comparison with those in the direction of the Natron
Lakes: so one of their guides told them.

Often, while crossing this sandy waste, thirsty travellers are deceived
by the effects of the curious mirage, when lakes glittering in the sun,
with towers, domes, and minarets reflected on their surface, appear
before their eyes, to vanish suddenly as they approach.

Their camel-drivers had led them them to the left, in order to visit
their own village of Ugrefe. It consisted of about thirty light and low
dwellings made of clay and palm branches. In an open space near it they
encamped beneath two splendid ethel-trees, or tamarisks.

At length, on the 6th of May, they reached the plantations surrounding
Mourzouk, the capital of Fezzan. The walls are built of a sort of clay
glittering with saline incrustations. Going round the whole of the
western and northern sides, which have no gateway wide enough for a
caravan, they halted on the eastern side of the town, not far from the
camp of the pilgrims who were returning from Egypt to Morocco. They
were here welcomed by Mr Gagliuffi, a Greek merchant, who received them
into his house.

The buildings are mostly of one story, with flat roofs and parapets,
with interior courts, and broad porti