176 INFLUENCE OF SOUDAN ON GhAt. 
similar to that we had left ; curiously shaped sand- 
stone rocks showed themselves on all sides : no 
fossils were discovered. Asses in droves were seen 
feeding about. The Tuaricks possess a good num- 
ber of these useful animals, brought from Soudan, 
of a finer breed than those at Mourzuk. All the 
domestic animals of the country are from the same 
place — the horses, bullocks used to draw the water 
from the wells, as well as the sheep and asses. 
Ghat, indeed, is within the circle of Soudan in- 
fluence ; the people dress in Soudan clothes ; eat 
off Soudan utensils ; and mingle a great deal of the 
Soudan language with their Tuarick dialect. We 
feel, therefore, as if we were now going towards a 
centre instead of from a centre. Mourzuk, on the 
contrary, holds itself in connexion with the Arabs 
of the coast ; and seems to receive no influence from 
the interior except by means of the Tibboos, who 
form a kind of connecting link. There is a con- 
siderable sprinkling of this curious people in the 
lower portions of the population of Mourzuk, and 
there are always some genuine specimens to be met 
with in the streets. It may be said, however, that 
both the capital of Fezzan and Ghat itself seem 
rendezvous from all parts of Africa ; and I imagine, 
that in all the souk (market) cities of the interior 
the same fact will be observed. However, it will 
remain true, no doubt, that south of Ghat the in- 
fluence of Soudan will be far more sensibly marked 
than on the other side. 
