WELLS OF BOHAYARA. 
169 
The intense heat having then moderated^ we proceeded 
northward, over a soil similar to that of the preceding 
day. About half past six we stopped, and each of us sup- 
ped upon a piece of barley-cake and some dates. After 
this meagre repast, we again stretched ourselves upon the 
stony ground, where I slept soundly till about three in the 
morning of the 18th, when we started afresh. 
As my guide was fearful of fatiguing his camel, he ob- 
liged me to walk the whole morning : I therefore followed on 
foot the little caravan, which slowly advanced towards the 
N. N. E. over a gravelly soil; the face of the country was 
covered with hills composed of rocks of granite. About nine 
in the morning, we halted at the wells of Bohayara, around 
which the vegetation is luxuriant ; they are twelve feet deep, 
and sunk in grey sand, mingled with coarse gravel. They 
are very near to a camp of Berbers, who water their sheep 
and goats at them: these men inhabit the passes of the moun- 
tains, where they feed numerous flocks of sheep and herds of 
camels, and cultivate a little barley and wheat. They are ro- 
vers, but change their place of abode less frequently than the 
Moors, and whenever occasion calls them to a distance from 
their little fields, they always leave some one behind to take 
care of them. 
I found the Berber women much cleaner and less cu- 
rious than the Moorish. They dress like the latter in old rags, 
but take care to wash them. These women, whose good 
looks proclaim that they live in plenty, colour the tips of 
their noses and chins blue ; they envelop their heads in rag- 
ged cloths of red or white worsted, and wear their hair in tufts 
behind their ears, and fastened in rolls at the back of their 
heads. Their principal ornaments consist of necklaces of 
amber, coral, and various kinds of glass-beads, and in silver 
bracelets and anclets ; their skin however appeared to be as 
dirty as that of the Moorish females of el-Harib. They are 
industrious, and employ themselves in spinning the wool of 
