THE INHABITANTS OF THE DESERT. 103 



power. At this time of the year the wild animals — the lion, 

 the gazelle, and the antelope — also wander farther to the south, 

 which at that time provides them, each according to its taste, 

 witli the nourishment which the dry summer is unable to be- 

 stow ; while the ostrich, who during the summer ranged farther 

 to the north, then retreats to the south ; for hot and sandy 

 plains are the paradise in which this singular bird delights to ■. 

 roam. 



In the southern part of the Sahara the tropical rains, whose 

 limits extend to 19° N. 'lat., and in some parts still farther to 

 the north, produce similar periodical fluctuations in the 

 animal life of the desert. Under their influence the sandy 

 plains are soon enlivened here and there with grasses, and the 

 parched shrubs^ clothe themselves with verdure. In the dry 

 season, on the contrary, the green carpet disappears, and the 

 country then changes into a dry waste. P'requently, however, 

 the tropical rains fail to appear on their northern boundaries, 

 and disappoint the hopes of the thirsty desert. 



Two nomadic nations, the Tuaregs .and the Tibbos wander 

 with their camels and sheep over the immense expanse of the 

 Sahara in quest of scanty forage and thorny shrubbery. The 

 abstinence and hardships they frequently endure, the freedom 

 of a roving life, and their predatory habits, gi^e them an 

 evident superiority over the sedentary Berbers, "who inhabit the 

 oases, and repay the haughty demeanour of the nomads with 

 hatred and contempt. Yet, in spite ef these feelings of ill-will, 

 the bonds of traffic and of a common interest connect the 

 vagrant and tbe agricultural tribes. Condemned to perpetual 

 migrations, the nomad is forced to confide all the property he is 

 unable to carry about with him to the inhabitants of the oases ; 

 he may even possess a small piece of land, the cultivation of 

 which he entrusts to the latter, who, on his part, as soon as he 

 has saved something, buys a sheep or a goat which he gives in 

 charge to the nomad. 



An unmitigated hatred, ©n the contrary, exists between the 

 various erratic tribes, as here no mediating self-interest softens 

 the antipathies which are almost universally found to exist 

 between neighbouring barbarians, and their robber expeditions 

 not merely attack the richly-laden vcai'avan, but also the oasis 

 which naay be coniiected toy the bonds of intercourse with theicr 

 hereditary enemies. 



