34 
WILD BEASTS. 
annoyed us exceedingly. At lengthy the wind having ceased^ 
the storm dispersed without rain. 
I'he weather having become calm, the Moors prepared 
our supper^ which consisted of a little couscous, which we 
took without salt, my guides having forgotten to procm*e a 
supply at Podor ; but, having eaten nothing all day, appetite 
compensated the want of seasoning. The soil was of the 
same nature as at our preceding halting place. 
September 2nd. At five in the morning we resumed our 
route proceeding N. E. Our road led through a delightful 
country. The ground, diversified by hills covered with ver- 
dure, presented, with its numerous valleys, rich in vegeta- 
tion, a prospect of the most pleasing kind. Game is here 
very plentiful ; the woods abound in wild boars and ante- 
lopes. I saw a wild cat, which on perceiving us, set up a 
loud cry, and then scampered away. The generally received 
opinion that ferocious beasts are numerous in the desert 
is erroneous ; for, neither did I see any during my residence 
among the Braknas, nor did I ever hear of any accident in- 
dicating their presence. I have since remarked, during my 
journey to Timbuctoo, that these animals are not more nu- 
merous in the interior. It is the inhabited tracts, or those 
contiguous to the lakes and rivers, which are the haunts of 
lions and leopards ; it is there that they attack cattle, and 
sometimes, but very rarely, men. 
We halted an hour near a pool, by which stands a large 
baobab (adansonia digit at a) ; the water was so muddy, 
that it was scarcely possible to drink it : the Moors, to ren- 
der it less disagreeable, mix with it a little treacle. This 
forenoon we travelled nine miles. At three o'clock we 
stopped for prayer, and continued our journey for the space 
of twelve miles to the N. E. over a tolerably rich soil, 
covered with zizyphus lotus and a species of the gramineous 
tribe, the prickly seeds of which adhere to the clothes and 
run into the flesh ; I had my feet full of them, and they 
