WESTERN MOSQUE. 
71 
return as speedily as possible. As the opportunity on which I 
relied^ was likely to occur soon, I did not neglect to take 
ad\^antage of the short time which would probably be at my 
disposal. I visited the great mosque on the west side of the 
town ; it is larger than that on the east, but is built in the 
same style. The walls are in bad repair, their facing being 
damaged by the rains, which fall in the months of August and 
September, and which are always brought on by easterly 
winds, accompanied by violent storms. Several buttresses 
are raised against the wall to support them; I ascended the 
tower, though its staircase, which is internal, is almost 
demolished. I returned several times to make my notes, for 
in this little frequented spot I was not afraid of being ob- 
served. During these travels, I always endeavoured to 
conceal myself while writing, lest I should awaken the 
suspicion of the Moslems : I always endeavoured to get into a 
wood, or placed myself under the shade of a bush or a rock, 
when I wished to commit what I thought worthy of remark 
to writing.* 
From the tower I had an extensive view over an im- 
mense plain of white sand, on which nothing grows except 
a few stunted shrubs, the mimosa ferruginea, and where the 
uniformity of the picture is only here and there broken by 
some scattered hills or banks of sand. I could not help con- 
templating with astonishment the extraordinary city before 
me, created solely by the wants of commerce, and destitute 
of every resource except what its accidental position as a 
place of exchange affords. The western quarter of the 
mosque seems very ancient, but the whole fa9ade on that 
side is in ruins. There are also some vaulted arcades, from 
which the whole of the plaster facing is detached. This 
* When I wrote in the desert, I sat down and placed on my knees 
some leaves of the Koran, which I was supposed to be copying and 
studying. See plate 3. 
