EL- ARA WAN. 
103 
more abundant, the inhabitants use camels' milk as an 
article of food. 
On the 1 4th of May, a violent gale blew from the east, 
which unroofed several of the houses, and raised such a 
quantity of sand, that it was impossible to keep the doors 
open. The heat^ though there was no sun, was stifling. 
The air was full of sand, which descended in the night. It 
would be impossible to express what I suffered during this 
storm. 1 was obliged to lie on the ground, with my head 
enveloped in a pagne, to protect myself from the burning 
sand, Avhich entered through the chinks in the door. I ex- 
perienced a continual thirst, and had nothing but warm 
and brackish water to quench it. This unwholesome drink 
caused a violent derangement of the stomach, and the heat, 
rising to a degree I had never before felt, produced a dread- 
ful head-ache. 
The slaves, obliged sometimes to walk barefoot on the 
sand, complained of violent pain, which they were not able 
to bear long, but which soon compelled them to return 
home. The Moors stay within doors, keeping a piece of 
cloth constantly before their lips, to prevent the sand from 
getting into their mouths. I was unable to comprehend how 
the mere love of gain could induce these people to live for 
twelve or fifteen years in such a dreadful country. 
The town of Walet, mentioned by Mungo Park, is ten 
days' journey W. N. W. of El-Arawan. Some Moors, whom 
1 saw, told me, that no water is to be met with on the road, 
and that .this town carries on a great traffic in salt with San- 
sanding, Yamina, and Sego. This last place is five days' 
journey to the south ; salt, which is its principal article of 
trade is obtained from the mines of Waden,* situated in the 
great desert, fifteen or eighteen days' journey north of Wa- 
let. This salt is made up in cakes of the same dimensions as 
those of Toudeyni. The inhabitants keep a great many ca- 
* The Hoden of the maps. 
