ABSTRACT
This night the author and his companion moved at comparatively a rapid pace nearly three miles an hour for there was scarcely any temptation to the camels to linger for browsing purposes, and the drivers seemed desperately anxious to get over as much ground as possible at once. And now and then even, the blacks, who were on foot, braved the Hamadah with a lively dittycelebrating some Lucy Long of Central Africa. As to the birds, our people say they do not drink in winter, and in summer leave the Hamadah altogether. Four-fifths of the surface were utterly barren. Little mounds marked the graves of children, slaves who had perished on the way from inner Africa. How far the Hamadah extends between Ghadamez on the west and Augila on the east is not yet properly ascertained. It seems to be like a broad belt intercepting the progress of commerce, civilisation, and conquest, from the shores of the Mediterranean to Central Africa.
