128 
WELLS OF TRASAS. 
sell Sidi- Abdallahi/' pointing at me with his finger. The 
other replied that I was not a christian but a Musulman, 
and that a Musulman was worth all the gold in the world, 
I could not refrain from darting a look of contempt at Body ; 
and I even told him I saw plainly, that if he could he would 
sell me, the sooner the better, without any respect for his 
religion. He did not seem to pay attention to what I said ; 
but Molut looked at me with a smile and said : ^' Body is a 
rogue, is not he Abdallahi ?" 
The soil over which we travelled in the afternoon was 
covered with hills of loose yellow sand ; we saw some vege- 
tables, but at long intervals ; the heat was excessive, and 
again increased the pangs of thirst. At last, about two in 
the afternoon, we halted near the wells of Trasas or Trarzas, 
situated in a plain surrounded by hills of yellow sand. These 
wells, which are numerous, are seven or eight feet deep ; the 
water is salt and most disagreeable. 
Here we found some Trajacant Moors, the very people 
whom we had descried the day before, and who had alarmed 
us so much ; we had occasioned them equal alarm, and it 
was for this reason that they had not halted at the wells of 
Crames. The wells of Trasas were filled with sand, but the 
Trajacants had cleared out two of them. In this plain, the 
surface of which is composed of hard grey sand, we found 
some lumps of salt, and near the place where we watered 
our beasts, several houses built with bricks of this substance. 
The Moors informed me, that there was formerly a large 
village in this place, belonging to their tribe, and that the 
inhabitants used to work the Trasa salt mines, and carried 
on considerable commerce in this article with the Soudan. 
They had many camels, as I learnt from the same authority ; 
but the village had been destroyed by the Tafilet Moors. 
It is, nevertheless, very probable, that this village was vo- 
luntarily abandoned by the inhabitants, who might be dis- 
