Of course I did not consent, representing that I was at the
outset of a long journey, and that the Pasha would certainly punish them
if he ever heard that such a request had been made. As a solace for the
disappointment, I gave the Sheikh three handkerchiefs and a
pocket-knife. The Tuaricks came in for a little soap, an article
seemingly in universal request.
El-Wady is a deep valley, lying like a moat between the elevated sandy
desert and the plateau on which Mourzuk is situated. This plateau, at
the distance of every few miles, juts out huge buttresses of
perpendicular cliffs, which frown over the broken thread of green
vegetation in the valley. Thick forests of palms stretch at various
points along the low plain, where are springs plentifully furnished by
filtration from the high ground on either hand. The various kinds of
oasian culture are pursued here with success. Wheat and barley are
produced in considerable quantities; and camels, asses, and goats find
plentiful nourishment. The villages are numerous; but some contain only
few men, and none exceed forty-five. Takarteebah, the largest place,
pays four hundred and ninety mahboubs per annum, cultivates four
thousand palms, yielding a hundred and fifty kafasses of dates, thirty
of wheat, and eight of barley; it feeds eleven asses. I observed that
all domestic animals, the goats especially, attain a very diminutive
size in these oases, the nourishment for them being but scanty.
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