856 
MR PARK'S FIRST JOURNEY 
became soon reconciled to him, when he had an- 
swered her a number of questions concerning the 
country of the Christians. This lady seemed to 
compassionate his situation, and, from her, he re- 
ceived the only instances of kindness which he ex- 
perienced in Ludamar. The country around Bu- 
baker presented only a dreary waste of sand, diver- 
sified with dwarf trees and prickly bushes, scatter- 
ed at intervals. The insufferable heat had de- 
stroyed vegetation, and dried up almost all the wa- 
ter ; nature seemed sinking under its influence, 
and the stillness of the desert prevailed, except at 
the watering-places, where it was interrupted by 
the constant lowing of the cattle, furious with 
thirst, that contended around the wells, while 
those that were too weak to endure a struggle, de- 
voured the black mud in their vicinity. From this 
scarcity of water, Mr Park suffered severely, 
though he received some supplies from Fatima ; 
and, as the Moors at the wells were afraid of pol- 
luting their vessels by the touch of a Christian, he 
was forced, when he could procure water, to drink 
from the troughs along with the cows. The rainy 
season now approached, when the Moors annually 
retire to the Great Desert, and no opportunity oc- 
curred of effecting his escape, when he obtained 
leave, through the intercession of Fatima, to ac- 
company Ali to Jarra, where he went to treat with 
the fugitive Kaartans, who solicited his assistance 
