SIDI-ALY, THE GUIDE. 105 
I used frequently to converse, made me a present of a skin to 
enable me to increase my supply of water. He informed me 
that I should suffer much from thirst on the journey, and that 
for seven or eight days we should meet with no wells. The 
description he gave of crossing the desert at this season made 
me shudder. I thought I should certainly share the fate of 
the many unfortunate travellers who had perished there. 
However 1 rallied my courage, by dwelling on the hope of 
relating in my native country the result of my observations. 
I then no longer thought any difficulty insurmontable. 
Sidi-Aly, whom I had not seen at Timbuctoo, and to 
whom Sidi-Abdallahi, my host, had strongly recommended 
me, gave me extraordinary proofs of his regard. He as- 
sured me that he would treat me as his son. He confirmed 
the report I had previously heard respecting the scarcity 
of water on the road, and stated that we should have to 
undergo great privations, but that I must not be disheart- 
ened, as he would take care of me, seeing that 1 was not 
like the rest, accustomed to the heat of the desert, and could 
not so well bear the excessive thirst, to which we should often 
be exposed. This person was looked upon by the Moors as 
a zealous Musulman. I was assured that he feared God, and 
that he would act towards me as he had promised. Sidi- 
Aly always carried in his hand a rosary two feet and a half 
long, the beads of which were as large as nuts. He never 
failed, when he met any one in the streets, to cast his eyes 
piously on the ground, at the same time moving his lips, 
as if he were muttering a prayer. By this hypocrisy he 
imposed on me, as he did on others, and I believed that he 
was as good as he pretended to be; but I was cruelly de- 
ceived. Notwithstanding his feigned zeal for religion, the 
old hypocrite did not keep one of the promises he made me, 
as will be seen in the sequel. 
We left El-Arawan on the 19th of May 1828, at six 
o'clock in the morning. Aly, my guide, had sent his son 
