Chap. LXV. APPROACH TO TIMBUKTU. 403 
it seemed as if the Tarki chief Kneha was to cause 
me some more trouble, for in the morning he had 
sent me a vessel of butter in order thus to acquire a 
fair claim upon my generosity; and coming now for 
his reward, he was greatly disappointed when he 
heard that the present had fallen into the hands of 
other people. 
It was ten o'clock when our cavalcade at length 
put itself in motion, ascending the sandhills which 
rise close behind the village of Kabara, and which, to 
my great regret, had prevented my obtaining a view 
of the town from the top of our terrace. The contrast 
of this desolate scenery with the character of the 
fertile banks of the river which I had just left behind 
was remarkable. The whole tract bore decidedly 
the character of a desert, although the path was 
thickly lined on both sides with thorny bushes and 
stunted trees, which were being cleared away in some 
places in order to render the path less obstructed and 
more safe, as the Tawarek never fail to infest it, and at 
present were particularly dreaded on account of their 
having killed a few days previously three petty Ta- 
w&ti traders on their way to A'rawan. It is from the 
unsafe character of this short road between the har- 
bour and the town, that the spot, about halfway be- 
tween Kabara and Timbuktu, bears the remarkable 
name of " Ur-immdndes," " he does not hear," mean- 
ing the place where the cry of the unfortunate victim 
is not heard from either side. 
Having traversed two sunken spots designated by 
D D 2 
