I (23) 



Haifa was of cLse. absent. Traces of Bu.tards and Fennecs were seen but we 

 searchcl for them in vain. It seems to me that the originaUnhab.tants ot the 

 hamraada have been driven away by the sand, while the real fauna of the Erg 

 (sand-dunes) has not yet settled here, and that this is the reason for ^^^^'^■^fy^ 

 life iu this, apparently, charming district. According to our gmde, Abd-e -Kade,, 

 there was hardly anv sand here some eleven years ago, and the state of the tele- 

 graph, which connects Ghardaia with El Golea, where it ends (some posts bemg 

 buried in sand almost to the top, so that in one place the wire was enveloped) and 

 the obvious recent alteration of the road in some places, speak for Abd-el-lva.ler s 

 statement, who was several times at his wit's end and did not know where to go ; 

 bnt there was, of course, no possibility of losing our way long, as there was 

 .generally a visible road with kilometre stones and we had the telegraph to go by. 

 The latter is a fine piece of engineering, the wire sometimes bemg spatted over 

 valleys, hanging in the air in great bends, I believe sometimes 3U0 to -tUU 



metres in one line. . ,, ri ■ " r- , 



Pa..m- simplex saharae is not rare, and it mostly nests in the Gmiras {>.e 

 stone-heaps like little pyramids, erected as landmarks by which to hnd the way 

 though in other places it nests in bushes. We had to cross some high dune., bu 

 all had a base of solid rock. Here and there high cliffs were passed, and Batco 

 ferox drtemis as well as Fako hiannicn. erlan,,en had nests with young on these 



'°''' Almost all the way to Ghardaia well-built Bordjs arc found every 25 to 3U kilo- 

 ,^etres-well kept, clean, and new. They are a great comfort in the winter and 

 when a sandstorm blows, and in most of them simple Arab food can be obtained tiom 

 the keeper ; in the summer, however, they become so hot that one generally pre ers 

 to sleep outside, as the walls, on which the sun has been shuung for more than 

 twelve hours, emit such a heat that one cannot sleep, while the air ou sue is lovely, 

 and gnats do not exist. Good water is found in most, though not all, of these 



'*^" On' May 22, between Hassi Zirara and Oued Saadana, Sylcia deserti was 

 found iu full song, and a nest with eggs, covered with sand was found. 0,',uu^he 

 iSaxicola) luge:s halophila, our old friend from the northern deser , app a ed 

 again; ErytkrosjAza gitlmjinea, Ammomanes plmnicurus arenwolor, and A. cUsuti 

 aloeriemia occmrei ; Alaemon alaudipes vi&s not T^re. , „^,pfM,p^ 



Vegetation in most phu^es was rich and interesting, but now and then s retches 

 of bare hammada were crossed and quite bare valleys with fine mealy sand, where 

 marching was very toilsome. We had now unbroken sunshine «-- ;-;""= * 

 evening, but we did not find it too hot in the open, while during the 1-*. ^w^^^ 

 i„El-Golea,aud the first days after that place, the sky was overcast and the air 

 close and very unpleasant. ,^ 



Before Oued Saadana Ga.:eUa lepto.eros Men was ^^f^^y^';^^ 

 simplex saharae had nests in most of the " Gmiras." between On^^S.aUna 

 and El-Hadadra oueds with much vegetation and large Ziz:,i^^u^ bushes ocu , 

 Tl in the latter /...-.. cxcuhitor clegans reappeared. Vegetation became st^^^ 

 richer: iu crevices in the rocks grew Capparis .pinosa, var. ocata^ ^^th it. 

 fragrant Ao^ers, -.nd Daemia cordata; coloquints were common on the sad 

 and now had numerous yellow blossoms; and close to El-Hadadra a large ad 

 vry thick bush, which we had never seen before, appeared in great numbers. 

 FernAoca la.oiyala, which reaches here probably its sonthernmost limit. 



