206 DISCOVERIES OF THE FRENCH. 
preceding travellers, who had described this region 
as almost a paradise, whereas he could discover no- 
thing that was not horrible in the extreme. The 
country is a plain of burning sand, which affords 
no delight either to the eye or any other sense. 
The gardens are few, and produce almost nothing. 
During the day, the heat to an European is quite 
insupportable ; in the night, it is still painful, and 
accompanied by the incessant stings of Hies with- 
out number. The fish is bad, the flesh detestable, 
and if kept a single day, must be thrown into the 
river. Water is found only by digging five or six 
feet deep, and then brackish to a degree, which 
even distillation will not wholly remove. If a man 
goes out to take a walk, he is in hourly danger, 
either of being devoured by wild beasts, or carried 
captive by men equally ferocious. The only benefit 
is, where he is tired of life, and seeks a termination 
to it ; since, by merely remaining on the spot where 
he is, this wish will be certainly and very speedily 
fulfilled. If unluckily lie should desire to prolong 
the term, this can only be done by adopting the 
diet of the negroes, which is utterly loathsome to 
an European palate. 
Saugriier agrees with Adanson, in describing the 
men of Senegal as the tallest and best made, and 
the women as the handsomest in Africa. The 
former are also remarkable for courage, to a degree 
bordering even on rashness. Their chief fault is 
