THE AFRICAN ASSOCIATION. 30& 
depth of jadgment ; yet the general features of his 
narrative had such a similarity to the account ob- 
tained by Mr Lucas, as to confirm the authenticity 
of the principal circumstances. 
Fezzan is a small circular territory, situated like 
an island amid the wilderness of sand. It is an 
extensive plain, surrounded by an irregular circle 
of mountains, interrupted on the west, where it 
communicates with the desert. On the soil, which 
is chiefly a light sand, no rain ever falls, but the 
vegetation is luxuriant, from the number of subter- 
raneous springs, which burst through the shallow 
stratum of sand, and are copiously supplied by the 
adjacent mountains. Little wheat is raised, but 
maize and barley are produced in considerable 
quantities, with pompions, carrots, cucumbers, 
onions, and garlick. The most common trees are 
the date, the white thorn, and the talke, which, in 
size, resembles the small olive, flowers in yellow 
sprigs, and affords a hard lemon- coloured wood, 
employed in framing instruments of agriculture. 
The most sandy soils produce a species of brush- 
wood, resembling the Spanish broom. The camel, 
the goat, and the hairy broad-tailed sheep, of a light 
brown colour, are the most frequent domestic ani- 
mals. The most common wild animals are the ostrich, 
the antelope, and a small beautiful species of deer, 
of a clear white colour, streaked with different hues 
•f brownish red, which, as the Fezzanese believe, 
