A part we have given here, and the rest we have promised on
our arrival at Aheer. Nothing is now said of Zinder, although the first
arrangement was from Aheer to Zinder. Such are the people we have to
deal with in Africa. But could we not find similar extortion amongst the
innkeepers and the conductors of carriages on the highways of Europe?
That all the people are _soua soua_--"higgledy-piggledy" is our only
equivalent phrase--is bad news for a Saharan traveller; for it signifies
nothing less than that there is no paramount authority in a country, and
that the traveller is exposed to the insolence of every evil-disposed
person. Such is represented to be the condition of Tidek, the first
province of Aheer upon which we shall enter.
The scarcity of food in Aheer--one of the causes of the disturbances
that are taking place--arises, we are told, from the quantity of
provisions carried away from the country when the Kailouees made their
expedition against the Walad Suleiman. But this expedition is now
finished, and there has been time for a revival of prosperity. Sickness
and disease are reported in Aheer at the present time. These are
unpleasant tidings for a traveller who is braving the fatigues and
perils of the Great Sahara, in hopes of some little repose at his
journey's end.
To express great numbers, the Arabs and Tuaricks always use the
similitudes, "like the dust," or "like flies.
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