Eight more men were shortly buried, and three were missing.  The sudden transition from the intense heat of the one day to the freezing cold of the next, probably gave the latter a treble power, producing these disastrous effects, the poor people being sadly ill-clad, and quite unprepared for such extreme rigour.  Besides, on our arrival at the camp, all the money in Europe could not have purchased us the required comforts, or rather necessaries, to preserve our health.  Cold makes everybody very selfish.  We were exceedingly touched on hearing of the death of a little girl, whom we saw driven out of a kitchen, in which the poor helpless little thing had taken refuge from the inclemency of the weather.

Santa Maria arrived from Ghabs without accident, having scarcely seen a soul the whole of the way.  He certainly was an enterprizing fellow, worthy of imitation.  He calculated the distance from Ghabs to Toser at 200 miles.  There are a number of towns in the districts of Ghabs better built than those of Nefta and Toser; Ghabs river is also full of water and the soil of the country is very fertile.  The dates are not so good as those of the Jereed.  Ghabs is about 130 miles from Ghafsa.  We here took our farewell of Santa Maria; he went to Beja, the head-quarters of the summer-camp:  thence, of course, he would proceed to Algiers, to give an account of his espionage.  Next season, he said, he would go to Tripoli and Ghadames; he had been many years in North Africa, and spoke Arabic fluently.

We next marched to Byrlafee, about twenty miles, and ninety-one from Toser, where there are the ruins of an old town.  The weather continued cold and most wintry.  Here is a very ancient well still in use.  Fragments of cornices and pillars are strewn about.  The foundations of houses, and some massive stone towers, which from their having a pipe up the centre, must have had something to do with regulating the water, are all that remain.

We had now much wind, but no rain.  A great many camels and horses perished.  Altogether, the number of camels that died on the return of the camp, was 550.  The price of a camel varies from 60 to 200 piastres.  Many good ones were sold at the camp for eighty piastres each, or about two pounds ten shillings, English money.  A good sheep was disposed of for four or five piastres, or about three shillings.  There were also some ludicrous sales.  A horse in the extremities of nature, or near to the articulo mortis, was sold for a piastre, eight pence; a camel, in a like situation, was sold for a piastre and a half.  A tolerably good horse in Tunis sells at from 800 to 1000 piastres.