$66 TRAVELS IN UPPER 



assemblage of several birds. I distinguisbed per-' 

 coptner vultures ; several lapwings which hopped 

 about seeking their food upon the sand, that is to 

 say, different species of insects; laundresses; and, 

 finally, crested larks or cochevis *. 



Whilst the draughtsman, with whom I left the 

 janisary of the consul, was working at the land- 

 scape of Abou-Mandour, I buried myself in the de- 

 sert. At a distance this sandy region appears to be 

 a plain surface. However, it is furrowed with steep 

 hills of sand, which form between them narrow and 

 deep valleys, at the bottom of which you soon ar- 

 rive without the trouble of walking thither. It is 

 sufficient to let yourself go, and the moving sand, 

 which crumbles under your feet, conveys you 

 gently down. These deep intersections are, ac- 

 cording to all appearance, the work of those waters 

 which have flowed over a soil so ungrateful at the 

 present, and which formerly they rendered fertile. 



The traces of different animals were imprinted 

 on the sand: I recognised those of numerous 

 jackals, and their recent dung which they had care- 

 fully covered with sand, scratching like cats. 



The dust which overspreads these beds of sand is 

 go fine, that the lightest animal, the smallest insect, 



* Cochevis, ou la grosse alouette huppe. Buffon, Hist. Nat. 

 des Ois. et pi. enlum. No. 503, fig. 1. — Alauda cristata. Lin. 



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