480 ADAMS'S NARRATIVE. 
tained the ransom of their countrymen, and of* 
Adams along with them. About three weeks af- 
ter, the whole party set out to cross the desert. 
They proceeded for ten days, at the rate of fifteen 
to eighteen miles a day, along the banks of the 
Mar Zarah, in the direction of east, inclining a 
little to the north. The country appears to have 
been thinly inhabited, though they occasionally 
saw a negro hut. Before losing sight of the river, 
they loaded their camels with water, and then 
took a northerly direction. The territory became 
then desolate, and they saw only parties of negro 
traders bringing salt from Taudeny. The soil 
produced shrubs, a low kind of grass like moss, 
and occasionally a tree. In thirteen days they ar- 
rived at Taudeny. A supply of excellent water, 
and the fertility which it produces, render this a 
valuable place of refreshment for travellers across 
the desert. It contains also numerous beds of 
salt, an article in universal demand over Soudan. 
These beds are from five to six feet deep, and from 
twenty to thirty yards in circumference. The 
salt, which is partly red, comes up in large lumps 
mixed with earth. Taudeny is a large village 
inhabited by Moors and negroes, who are both 
equally black ; its neighbourhood is cultivated 
like that of Tombuctoo, and abounds with date 
and fig trees. Here the travellers remained 
fourteen days for refreshment. They then en- 
