INTERIOR OF AFRICA. 145 
appeared at first rather shocked at the thought of having a Chris- 
tian so near her : but when I had (by means of a Negro boy, 
who spoke the Mandingoand Arabic tongues) answered a great 
many questions, which her curiosity suggested, respecting the 
country of the Christians, she seemed more at ease, and pre- 
sented me with a bowl of milk ; which I considered as a very 
favourable omen. 
The heat was now almost insufferable ; all nature seemed sink- 
ing under it. The distant country presented to the eye a dreary 
expanse of sand, with a few stunted trees and prickly bushes, 
in the shade of which the hungry cattle licked up the wi- 
thered grass, while the camels and goats picked off the scanty 
foliage.' The scarcity of water was greater here than at Be- 
nowm. Day and night the wells were crowded with cattle, 
lowing and fighting with each other to come at the troughs : 
excessive thirst made many of them furious ; others, being too 
weak to contend for the water, endeavoured to quench their 
thirst by devouring the black mud from the gutters near the 
wells ; which they did with great avidity, though it was com- 
monly fatal to them. 
This great scarcity of water was felt severely by all the people 
of the camp, and by none more than myself; for though Ali 
allowed me a skin for containing water, and Fatima, once or 
twice, gave me a small supply, when I was in distress, yet such 
was the barbarous, disposition of the Moors at the wells, that, 
when my boy attempted to fill the skin, he commonly received 
a sound drubbing for his presumption. Every one was asto- 
nished that the slave of a Christian should attempt to draw 
U 
