133 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON, 



beries, did not come into view in their intercourse with the 

 English, who, being received into their camp, having eaten 

 of their bread and salt, and being bound in the cord of 

 friendship, were entitled to all the rights of hospitality, and 

 would have been protected even at the hazard of life. 



The caravan arrived in due time at Traghan, a small 

 town containing a fine carpet-manufactory, and ruled by a 

 marabout, who used the sanctity of his character to main- 

 tain order and promote the prosperity of the place. Pass- 

 ing that station they were soon in the heart of the Desert, 

 where they spent whole days without seeing a living thing, 

 even a bird or an insect, that did not belong to the caravan 

 itself. After painful marches under the direct action of the 

 solar rays, they were delighted by the stillness and beauty 

 of the night. The moon and stars shone with peculiar 

 brilliancy ; cool breezes succeeded to the burning heat of 

 the day ; and on removing a few inches of the loose hot 

 soil, a soft and refreshing bed was obtained. Even the 

 ripple of the blowing sand sounded like a gentle and mur- 

 muring stream. Every noise was rendered doubly impres- 

 sive by the deep stillness, as well as by an echo from the 

 surface of the surrounding waste. The road derived a very 

 peculiar aspect from the quantity of salt with which the 

 soil was impregnated ; the clods were often cracked so as 

 to resemble a ploughed field ; and from the sides of cavities 

 were hanging beautiful crj'stals of that mineral like the 

 finest frost-work. Sometimes the ground for several miles 

 was glazed over, resembling a sheet of ice ; but though the 

 surface was very hard, the interior was brittle, and the salt 

 fell away in flakes. 



The travellers had not proceeded far when the melan- 

 'choly aspect of the Desert was heightened by a succession 

 of objects which could not be viewed without the deepest 

 horror. The ground was strewed with the skeletons of 

 former travellers, who had perished in the attempt to cross 

 this extensive wilderness. These at first appeared singly, 

 but afterward increased till they amounted to fifty or sixty 

 in a day. At Meshroo a hundred were seen together ; and 

 near the wells at El Hammar they were found lying in 

 countless multitudes. One forenoon, as Major Denham 

 was dozing on horseback, he was awakened by the sound 

 of something crashing under his horse's feet, and on look- 



