^74» TRAVELS IN THE SAHARA. 
the bleeding of his feet, he was mounted on a 
camel, the bristly hair and hard trot of which soon 
excoriated him so much, that the blood ran co- 
piously down its flanks. By throwing heated stones 
into a wooden vessel, filled with barley-meal, diluted 
with water procured on the sea-shore, preserved in a 
goat's skin, and mixed with pitch to prevent putre- 
faction, the Arabs prepared a kind of soup, which 
they kneaded with their hands, and ate unchewed. 
They roasted a goat in heated sand, ate its fat raw, 
and, after having devoured the flesh, gnawed the 
bones, and scraped them with their nails, threw 
them to Brisson and his companions, desiring them 
to eat quickly, and load the camels, that the jour- 
ney might not be impeded. Proceeding eastward, 
they crossed a vast plain, covered with small stones, 
white as snow, round and flat as a lentil, where not 
a single plant was produced. The earth beneath 
their feet resounded dull and hollow, and the small 
stones pricked them like sparks of fire. The re- 
flection of the rays of the sun from the sand was 
scorching; the atmosphere was loaded, with a red 
vapour, and the country appeared as if filled with 
flaming volcanoes. Neither birds nor insects could 
be seen in the air. The profound silence was fright- 
ful. If a gentle breeze ever arose, it produced ex- 
treme languor, chopping of the lips, burning heat of 
the skin, with small smarting pimples. This plain 
was even shunned by wild beasts. After traversing 
6 
