58 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. Chap. XXXIX. 
some distance from the well where we encamped for 
the night ; for its bottom presented one uninterrupted 
mass of vegetation, impenetrable in many spots. 
Here the botanist might be sure to find some new 
species, although the principal trees were the kurna 
(Comus), serrakh, um el barka, or Mimosa Nilotica, 
hajilfj, or Balanites, and the talha, M. ferruginea, but 
all interwoven with creepers, and offering the most 
delightful shade. 
These valleys, which afford the only watering- 
places, must of course be very dangerous during the 
night, on account of the wild beasts, principally lions, 
of which there are great numbers hereabouts. Here 
our companions received a messenger from Ghet, the 
young chief of the Welad Sliman. 
Tuesday ^ e rema ^ ne( i m the forenoon and during 
sept. 30th. the h ea £ 0 f ^ e ^ a y ' m our encampment. 
While stretched out in the shade of a fine mimosa, 
I obtained some valuable information regarding the 
various tribes dwelling in Kanern, and the districts 
of their settlements. But it will be better, instead of 
inserting it here, to collect all the information I re- 
ceived at different times into one general account, 
which shall be given in the Appendix. 
In the afternoon the camels and the heavier portion 
of the troop were allowed to start in advance, and the 
horsemen followed about half an hour afterwards, 
after having watered the horses; but instead of 
taking care to follow the footsteps of the camels in a 
wild country where there was no regular path, they 
