" THE TUARICKS ARE COMING ! '* 
225 
We expected to behold groups of inhabitants com- 
ing joyfully to welcome us. Our imaginations 
had adorned this country almost with the colours of 
home. It was about one that we crossed the un- 
marked frontier. Still there were rocks around, 
their angles softened away by trees ; still wild 
flowers mingled with the herbage* on every side; 
the heavens were clearing overhead, and the sun 
shed down a warm mantle of rays upon the land ; 
yet there were no signs of life. The silence that 
reigned, I know not why, introduced ideas of terror 
into our minds, and we began to gaze anxiously to 
the right and to the left. We remembered that this 
region, likewise, was inhabited by Tuaricks, though 
not of the Haghar tribe. They might be inhospi- 
table, perhaps hostile. All the caravan, by degrees, 
seemed to join in our uneasiness ; and when at 
length, just before we pitched our tent, the cry 
arose of "The Tuaricks! the Tuaricks are coming!" 
it rose as a cry of warning and alarm. Every one 
snatched up his weapons as a small group ap- 
proached ; and all waited with impatience to learn 
whether they came as friends or enemies. 
Our uneasiness was soon quieted. The new- 
comers were known to some of our people, the Ta- 
nelkums, and soon scraped acquaintance with us> 
They paid a visit to my tent, and I gave them a 
number of little things, with which they were very 
much gratified. There was reason, then, to hope 
that our first impressions of . security were well- 
VOL. I. Q 
