the feet resounded dull and hollow, and the small stones pricked him like sparks of fire. The reflection of the rays of the sun from the sand was scorching; the atmosphere was loaded with a red vapour, and the country appeared as if filled with flaming volcanoes. Neither birds nor insects could be seen in the air. The profound silence was frightful If a gentle breeze ever arose, it produced extreme languor, chopping of the lips, burning heat of the skin, with small smarting pimples. In other places, the surface is diversified by ravines, rocks, and eminences, so covered with shrubs as to assume, at a distance, the appearance of an extensive forest. These, however, on approaching, are found to be mere stumps without branches, encircled with thorns. Other parts of the desert are composed of moving sand, which, being piled up in hillocks, cannot be passed without the most severe labour. These, when blown by the wind, sometimes produce the most terrible effects, and whole caravans have been found buried beneath them. Brown, however, doubts whether these moving showers ever proceed in such masses as of themselves to produce this tremendous effect. He is rather inclined to suppose that the caravan has perished from some other cause, and, being gradually covered by particles of sand, which are continually floating through the atmosphere, has been supposed to have been buried under them.

This vast track of waste does not present an aspect quite uniform, but is diversified by oases or islands, where the supply of water admits of a certain degree of verdure and cultivation, and affords support to a certain number of inhabitants. In the eastern part of the desert, these oases are so extensive, as to form species of little kingdoms, of which the most remarkable are Fezzan, Asben, and Agades. In other parts, particularly the western, these, like Gadamis, Souat or Touat, Taudeny, &c. consist merely of one or more detached villages, serving as emporia for the trade carried on by the caravans. Sometimes they afford merely springs for the refreshment of travellers, but too small a supply of food to admit of settled habitations. These tracks are inhabited by Nomadic Arabs, roving from spot to spot, as they exhaust that previously occupied. The most remarkable are the Monselemines, who inhabit the frontier of Morocco, the Woled D'ieim, and Woled Abbusebah, who dwell in the interior of the desert, and the Mongearts and Trasarts, who occupy the southern border, approaching to the Senegal. The Monselemines are the most populous and wealthy of these tribes. Their soil admits of considerable culture, and

yields grain, oil, and wine. Their numbers are continually recruited by fugitives from the tyranny of the government of Morocco. The ground is in common, and every one reaps that which he has laboured. When the harvest is over, they set fire to the long stubble, and abandon the field for two or three years. The corn is deposited in magazines, which are large holes in the earth, formed like the frustum of a cone, the insides of which are hardened by burning wood in them, before the half winnowed corn be deposited. When filled, they are covered with planks, over which is placed a layer of earth, level with the soil, to prevent it from being discovered by their enemies. During the intervals between seed and harvest, they wander in all directions with their cattle, taking with them only necessaries, and having recourse to the magazines for a supply. Their villages are built in the Moorish manner, and situated on the declivity of hills. The inhabitants sleep on mats upon the floors of their apartments, and make use of linen; but the inhabitants of the country sleep upon terraces in the open air. The pastoral families practise hospitality, and charge nothing for the entertainment of the traveller.

The Woled D'leim, and Woled Abbusebah, inhabit a more dreary region, and are considerably ruder in their manners. They have no distinct boundaries, and change their habitations as the desert affords pasturage and water. They are tall, handsome, and vigorous. Their hair is bristled, and their nails, which they often use in battle, as long as claws. Large hanging ears, and a long beard, give them a stern ferocious air. The Woled D'leim are particularly fierce and arrogant, though soon discouraged by obstinate resistance, especially when they have not a decided superiority of numbers. They lodge by families, in tents of thick cloth, spun and woven by the women, from camels' hair. The furniture consists of two large leathern sacks, in which they keep old clothes and pieces of old iron, three or four goat skins for holding milk and water, two large stones for grinding their barley, a smaller one for driving the pins of their tents, an ozier matting serving for a bed, a thick carpet for a covering, a small kettle, and some wooden dishes, with packsaddles for their camels. The person who, besides these articles, possesses a few horses, camels, sheep, and goats, is reckoned wealthy. The only endemic diseases to which they are subject, are cholic and sore eyes. The first is caused by the verdigris with which their kettles, being neither tinned nor washed, are entirely crusted over, though its vir

lence is probably abated by the quantity of milk which they use: the latter arises from the reflection of light from the burning sands of the desert. When they chance to reside long in one place, they sometimes plough the moistened spots, and carelessly sprinkle seed over them. Good crops are thus often produced; but they cut them down raw, and roast the grain over hot cinders. Treachery and perfidy appear innate vices with the Arabs; assassinations are frequent; no man trusts to another's promise; yet there are no written agreements, and the poignard cancels all bonds and obligations. They delight in recounting their deeds to each other; but this is often accompanied by charges of falsehood, followed by the drawing of deadly weapons. The rites of hospitality, however, are practised by these tribes, in their utmost extent. The Arab who, in the field, is a rapacious plunderer, becomes liberal and generous as soon as he enters his tent. War is only a species of predatory attack, in which victory is decided at the first shock. The Arab is devoid of sanguinary courage; he attacks only to plunder, and never puts booty in competition with life. At the end of the battle, each party makes graves for the slain, inclosing the tomb with mounds of stones. The women never assume the name of the husband, nor eat with him at meals. They are faithful to the marriage vow; and divorce can take place only upon the decree of the old men. Arab opulence is displayed in female ornaments, the ears, arms, and legs, being generally adorned with rings of gold and silver. An Arab beauty must be very fat, must have long limbs, and large teeth shooting out of the mouth. At the birth of a son, every woman, to testify her joy, blackens her face for forty days. A mother treats her son, almost as soon as he can walk, with the same respect as her husband; she prepares his food, serves him, and eats when he has finished his repast. These Arabs, more rude and ferocious than those bordering on Morocco, are also more confined and illiberal in their ideas. The Mongearts and Trasarts, who border upon the Senegal, particularly the latter, are more numerous and powerful than the tribes occupying the interior of the desert. Park conceives the latter to be, in these respects, on a footing with the people of Ludamar and Gedumah.

The only impulse by which civilised nations are led to traverse these vast and dreary wilds, is that of commerce. That active principle has overcome barriers which nature seemed to have destined to be for ever insurmountable. Valuable means have been afforded by the introduction of that most useful animal the camel,

VOL. V. PART. I..

emphatically termed the ship of the desert, who, by his patience of hunger and fatigue, by the provision which nature has made for enabling him to carry water, and by the structure of his hoof, smoothly gliding over the level sand, seems to have been expressly designed as an instrument for effecting a communication across these immense wastes. The trade is carried on by merchants, inured from their infancy to that train of hardship and difficulty which attends these formidable journies. For the sake of mutual aid and defence, as well as to enliven the dreariness of the route, they proceed in caravans or large bodies, sometimes amounting to the number of 2000. Their food consists of the milk of the camel, with barley-meal or Indian corn, and a few dates; though the more opulent carry dried flesh and coffee. Water is conveyed in goat skins covered with tar, to prevent evaporation, though this precaution does not fully produce the desired effect. At each of the oases, or spots affording water, which occur at distant intervals along the sandy waste, they stop for a few days to take in a supply. The greatest evil which they have to fear is when, in consequence of a peculiarly dry season, one of these springs happens to fail. Thus, in 1798, a caravan from Morocco, consisting of 2000 men, with 1800 camels, entirely perished. These caravans take their departure from every part of Northern Africa; but the three grand points of rendezvous are Cairo, Mourzouk, and the southern frontier of Morocco. Cairo sends three great caravans into the interior; one to Sennaar, partly along the Nile, but chiefly across the de'serts on either side; another proceeds to Darfur, through an extensive desert, by the Great Oasis, Sheb, and Selyme. It sends one also to Mourzouk, which communicates with those dispatched thence into the countries on the Niger. Mourzouk sends two great caravans, one to Bornou, and one to Cassina. It holds intercourse also with Tombuctoo, though on a much smaller scile. The chief communication with that celebrated emporium is maintained by the caravans from Morocco, which are the most numerous of all, though they have to cross the broadest and most desolate part of the desert. By these different caravans are conveyed from Northern Africa salt, cloths, and European goods of every description; while gold, ivory, and slaves to a very great amount, are received in return.

The coast of the Sahara, extending along the desert, is for the most part rocky, dangerous, and destitute of harbours. Hence a considerable number of European vessels suffer shipwreck, and are cast ashore, when the crews suffer the most dreadful fate.

2 A

phetic speech concerning the country which his sons were to inhabit; and it is stated as a place of refuge for some of the kings, who were driven out by Joshua. In sacred writ, Tyre and Sidon are frequently mentioned; and they were known, not only as the two principal towns of Phenicia, but as among the most flourishing and commercial in the ancient world. Sidon was also enriched by an extensive manufacture of glass. During the middle ages, it was occupied by the French, who were at considerable pains in repairing it. Although now much decayed from its ancient greatness, it retains still some importance as the port of Damascus. It is situated in a plain, extending only two miles inward from the sea, when it rises into mountains, incapable of cultivation; so that trade must at all times have been the sole source of its prosperity. The town itself is built on the north side of a hill, and extends 600 paces along the sea. Like other Turkish towns, it is dirty, ill built, and full of modern ruins. The ground in the neighbourhood, however, is laid out in orchards and gardens, which appear very beautiful at a distance. The magnificent harbour, composed of vast moles stretching out into the sea, is now entirely destroyed. Its final ruin is said to have been effected by Feckerdine, emir of the Druses, when he established an independent power, with the view of preventing the grand seignior from landing a maritime force here to act against him. The huge stones of which the mole was built, may still be seen, being capable of filling its whole thickness: some of them are 12 feet long, 11 broad, and 5 deep, on the north-west part of the town, on a point stretching out into the sea. It is supposed to have been built by Lewis IX. but contains on the top a work of an older date. On the opposite side of the town is a modern fort, built by Degnizlu, but consisting merely of a large tower, incapable of resisting any serious attack. The road is formed by a shoal running opposite to the castle, and leaving a space between, in which vessels may ride, though not in perfect safety. The trade of Saida is still considerable, as being the emporium, not only of Damascus, but of the surrounding country. The French, the only European nation here settled, have a consul, and five or six commercial houses. The exports consist of corn, silk, raw and spun cotton, particularly the last, which forms the principal trade of the inhabitants. Saida was once the seat of a pachalic, but is now included in that of Damascus. The population is reckoned at 7000 or 8000. Long. 35. 14. E. Lat. 33. 25. N.

SAIDOU, a small river in the desert part

of Syria, which falls into the Euphrates, near Rabba.

SAIGHTON, OF SAUGHTON ON THE HILL, a township of England, in Cheshire, 5 miles S. E. of Chester.

SAIGNON, a small town in the south of France, department of the Vaucluse, with a population of 1000. 32 miles E. of Avignon.

SAI-ID, a village of Yemen, in Arabia, 8 miles E. of Beil-el-Fakih.

SAIL ROCK, a rock in the Pacific ocean, near the coast of Chili. 4 miles N. of St Ambrose.

SAILING COVE, on the south side of the island of Newfoundland, in the great bay wherein is situated the bay of Trepassi. It is 6 miles N. of Cape Pine.

SAILLANS, a small town in the southwest of France, in Dauphiny, department of the Drome, on the Riouset. Population 1500. It has manufactures of silk and cotton. 9 miles S. W. of Die, and 7 E. of Crest.

SAIMA, a very large lake, or rather a succession of lakes, in European Russia, in the government of Finland, to the north of Wilmanstrand, said to be 250 miles in length. It is of very irregular form, and its breadth very various. It contains a great number of islands, but they consist chiefly of granite, and are in general uninhabited. The lake of Lapwesi is only a part of that of Saima.

SAIN, a small island on the west coast of France, at the south point of the bay of Brest, 3 miles W. of Quimper.

SAINS, a large village in the north-east of France, department of the Aisne, with 2100 inhabitants, and considerable iron works. 7 miles W. of Vervins.

SAINT, a small river of Wales, in Caernarvonshire, which runs into the Menai strait, at Caernarvon.

ST ANTONIO, an island off the western coast of Africa, forming the most northerly of the group of the Cape de Verd islands. It is about nine leagues long and four broad. Some of its mountains are very lofty, and one of them has been said scarcely to yield to the peak of Teneriffe. The numerous streams which descend from them, and water the vallies, render the island very fit for various species of culture, and it yields plentifully maize, plantains, potatoes, inelons, oranges, &c. Indigo and cotton are cultivated with success, and the woods contain many of those trees which yield the gum dragon. Its animal productions are also valuable, particularly cows, wild goats, asses, and hogs. The inhabitants are stated at about 2500. They consist partly of Portuguese, who are very dark in colour, but are said to be a good humoured and