SALT-MINES OF TOUDEYNI. 119 
The whole day was employed in watering the camels, 
who seemed as if they would never be satisfied, and quar- 
relled for the last drop in the trough. I was forced to 
remain in the sun, for the Moors were so busy with their 
camels, that they never thought of pitching a tent. The 
east wind, which blew violently, rendered the day very un- 
pleasant, particularly by the clouds of dust which it threw 
over us. As water was now abundant, we had a little rice 
cooked, which we ate with butter ; it was the first meal we 
had taken since the evening of the 19th. 
On the 27th, many of our companions went to Toudeyni, 
which, as far as I could learn from our travellers, is a little 
less than half a day's journey to the west of the wells of 
Telig. From this little town is procured the salt which 
is brought from Timbuctoo to Jenne, and thence dispersed 
through all the Soudan. Tlie salt mines, as I was informed, 
are three feet and a half or four feet below the surface of 
the ground ; the salt is in thick strata, and is brought out in 
blocks, after which it is split into cakes of the size I have 
already described. These mines are the wealth of the 
country ; they are worked by negro slaves, superintended 
by Moors, who live entirely upon rice and millet, brought 
from Timbuctoo, and cooked with camels' flesh dried in the 
sun. The water which they drink filters through the salt, 
and is extremely brackish ; to render it more palatable they 
put dokhnou and honey into it ; and they also improve this 
detestable beverage by mixing with it a sort of cheese re- 
duced to powder, which I have mentioned above, and which 
is nothing but curd dried in the sun. 
On the 27th, about three in the evening, after having 
filled our skins with water, we broke up our camp, and 
lourneyed to the N. W. hoping we might meet with some 
vegetation for the poor camels, which wanted food the more, 
for having quenched their thirst. About five in the after- 
noon, we halted on a tract of loose sand, of a grey colour. 
