~120 
AL^- LUCAS'S 
The Dcfiirt (a term of die fame meaning with its Arabic 
iiam^e of Zahara) may be faid, like the ocean, to conne6t the 
verv nations vvliich it feems to feparate ; for, in comparifon with 
the v/oods and moraffes of America, it furniilies the Merchant 
with an eafy and convenient road. 
A fandy heath of various levels, in fome places naked and 
B=n Aiii. bare, but much more frequently covered with an odoriferous 
plant, which the Arabs call the She, and which, though far fu- 
perior in fragrance, has at leafl: a remote refemblance to the v/ild 
thyme of Europe, conftitutes the general appearance of the De- 
fart. The exceptions, however, are interefting and important: 
for befides the diverlity that arifes from the different flirubs, 
which are often fcantily intermixed with the She, and of which 
the thorn}^ plant that forms the harili food of the camel appears 
to be the moft common, an elTential variation is furniflied by the 
comparative fertility of fome particular diftrids, and by the total 
barrennefs of others. 
In fome portions of the general wildernefs, thoufands of 
and 
Ben Alii, fliecp, and goats, and cows, are feen to pafture ; while in others 
nothing is prefented to the eye but defolate hills of fhifting 
fand. 
To 
