When we could get speech of the traveller, he talked boastfully of the value of his protection, and assured us that we had really nothing to fear.  He had heard, or would acknowledge to have heard, no rumours of the hostile intentions of his father’s cousin; only, he observed, “He is an old man,” with a gesture that implied wilfulness.  He would have us believe that this terrible enemy who has been pursuing us—­at least in our imagination—­is nothing but a testy old gentleman, who says these sort of things in a fanciful way just to express his power.

6th.—­We were off soon after sunrise, and made a long day of twelve hours.  The Kailouees were half an hour more performing the same distance.  They started first, and we travel a little faster than they.  Scarcely a blade of herbage cheered our sight to day.  A sandy, gravelly hamadah, with a few rocks and sand-hills here and there,—­such is the nature of the country.  The rocks now assume a conic form, ke ras suker, like a sugar-loaf, as the people say.  Our course was south-west, and so it will continue to be, nearly as far as Esalan, I was amused by an observation of Dr. Overweg; he said, “I now understand the system of these people” (Saharan travellers).  “It is to travel as much as possible without labour—­to do all that is necessary, but nothing more.  When we left Tripoli, instead of reposing immediately at the camping-ground of the caravan, everybody was running about to climb the hills and rocks; but now we all fall down to rest as soon as we have halted.”  The Doctor speaks of himself and Barth, certainly not of me; for I always rested as much as possible with the people.

My old broken white umbrella attracts some attention amongst the Kailouees.  They all make a trial of it.  Strong umbrellas would be very useful during the hot summer months for all Saharan travellers.

I to-day asked the son of Shafou how his father liked the sword.  An unfortunate question.  He replied, “Ah, he sends his compliments; but says the sword is a little thing, and that you ought to have sent him some money.  There were many people waiting to see you at Aroukeen.  They were much disappointed at your not coming.  They said,—­’The Christians must pass this way.’” It appears that a whole tribe of Tuaricks were waiting for us, to beg, and to “eat us up,” as the Arabs graphically express it.  In this respect we have been fortunate in not finding Tuaricks on our line of route.

7th—­We made another long and weary day of twelve hours.  The fatigue is killing.  Our course was south-west, through heaps and groups of rocks and narrow shallow wadys.  In some directions, ridges of small rocks; in others, isolated masses of conic form.  The bed of the desert is mostly granite, and some of the rocks are of the same substance.  Indeed, the Central Sahara seems to bristle with ridges of granite.  Then there are many varieties of this stone, and others springing out of granite, as quartz rocks and felspar, and some sandstone mixed with quartz.  Across our path we observed many traces of wild oxen, and a few were seen with their immense horns.  Birds and reptiles were rare, and the lizard not so frequent as before.  Our camels found scarcely a mouthful of hasheesh; no trees were visible, except a few miserable tholukhs.