448 
TRAVELS IN AFRICA. 
Chap. LXXXV. 
^ ^ 26 h ^ march of from eighteen to nineteen miles 
brought us from Sebha to the small town of 
Temahint, and we encamped a little beyond the well, 
where a numerous herd of camels, belonging to a 
camp of Arabs, was being watered. I was greatly pes- 
tered during my halt by a number of Weldd SKmdn, 
who were anxious for information with regard to their 
relations in Kdnem, and greedy for some presents. 
Making a short halt in the evening, and starting a 
little after midnight, we encamped the following day 
near Zighen. Here I had to hire fresh camels in 
order to pursue my journey, and therefore did not 
set out again till the afternoon of the following day, 
when, through the barren desert tract by O'm el abid, 
and by a very rugged mountainous passage, we 
reached the important town of Sokna in the morning 
of the 2nd August. 
Here the difficulties of my journey, in consequence 
of the revolutionary state of the province, increased, 
and, after a long consultation with some friends to 
whom I had been recommended, the only possible way 
of proceeding was found to be that of leaving the usual 
track by way of Bonjem altogether, and taking an 
entirely different road by a series of valleys lying 
further west, the road by Ben-Ghdzi also having been 
found impracticable. Sokna, even at the present 
time, is a very interesting place, as well on account 
of its mercantile activity and of its fine plantations 
of date and other fruit trees, as owing to the peculiar 
character of its inhabitants, who still retain a distinct 
