POLITE SHEIKH CULTIVATION. 
55 
little children are now in the streets, naked, and 
covered with filth. 
These few inhabitants are a mixed race, some 
being as fair as those on the coast, whilst others are 
as black as the darkest negroes of Central Africa. 
The Sheikh and two or three patriarchs of the village 
were polite and hospitable, and showed every 'dispo- 
sition to comply with the orders sent by the Pasha 
of Moorziik to supply us with fresh provisions with- 
out payment. I accepted a sheep and two fowls ; 
but the dates for our blacks I paid for, and added a 
few presents. 
The valley of Edree is very shallow, and this 
portion of it is mostly covered with bushes of wild 
palm and with coarse herbage ; it looks green and 
grateful amidst the surrounding aridity. There are 
still remaining many fruit-bearing date-trees — about 
seven thousand, scattered at great distances. The 
water is good, although the surface of the valley is 
in parts covered with a whitish crust of salt. Some 
large springs are continually overflowing with bub- 
bles of gas, like the great vv ell of Ghadamez. 
In the garden -fields of Edree are cultivated 
wheat and barley, the former white and of the finest 
qualit}^ A good deal of grain has already been got 
in this year. With industry, and a few more animals 
to draw the water for irrigation, a great quantity of 
wheat might be grown in this oasis. The gardens 
contain also a few figs and grapes. Doves were 
fluttering in the branches of the palms, and swallows 
