TRAVELS IN THE SAHARA* &67 
The gardens produce excellent grapes, which are 
dried by the Arabs, and converted into brandy by 
the Jews. Great quantities of oil, wax, and to- 
bacco, appear in the public markets. More indus- 
trious and more laborious than their neighbours, 
the Monselemine nation cultivates the earth. - The 
chiefs of families choose the ground most fit for 
cultivation. Its surface is turned slightly over with 
a kind of paddle, and then the seed is sown upon 
it ; the field is surrounded with bushes, to mark 
the spot, and to preserve it from the cattle of the 
wandering Arabs. When the crop is ripe, which 
is generally at the end of August, three months 
after the sowing of the seed, it is cut about six 
inches from the ear, and formed into little bundles j 
during which time every one labours, without in- 
termission, from morning to night. The corn is 
brought before the tent, threshed, winnowed, and 
placed in the magazines. When the harvest is 
over, they set fire to the long stubble, and abandon 
the field for two or three years. Their magazines 
are large holes in the earth, formed like the frus- 
tum of a cone, the insides of which are hardened 
by burning wood in them, before the half-winnow- 
ed corn be deposited. When filled with corn, 
they are covered with planks placed close to each 
other, over which a layer of earth is laid level with 
the soil, to prevent it from being discovered by 
enemies. In these magazines, every one shares in 
