2 
DESCRIPTION OF TINTALOUS. 
hinted, that the town of Tintalous, # in front of 
which we are encamped, does not at all answer 
the idea which our too active imagination had 
formed. Yet it is a singular place. It is situated 
on rocky ground, at the bend of a broad valley, 
which in the rainy season becomes often-times 
the bed of a temporary river. Here and there 
around it are scattered numerous trees, many of 
considerable size, giving the surface of the valley 
something of a park-like appearance. The herbage 
is not rich, but it is ornamental, and refreshes the 
eye in contrast with the black, naked rocks, which 
rise on all hands to the height often of two or three 
thousand feet. To the east, it is true, the country is 
a little open ; and between the mountains run in 
numerous white sandy wadys, sprinkled with fresh 
green plants, or shaded by various species of mi- 
mosa and other spreading trees, under which the 
shepherds and herdsmen find shelter from the 
sun. 
The principal feature of Tintalous itself is what 
may be called the palace of En-Noor. It is, indeed, 
one, compared with the huts and stone hovels amidst 
which it is placed. The materials are stone plas- 
tered with mud, and also the w r ood of the mimosa 
tree. The form is an oblong square, one story high, 
* Tintalous is 40 short and 30 long days from Ghat, N.N.E. ; 
60 short and 50 long from Mourzuk, N.E. ; 20 short, 15 long, from 
Zinder or Damerghou, S.S.W. ; 7 long, 10 or 12 short, from Bilma, 
E. ; 38 to 45 days from Tuat, N.W. (via Taghajeet). Maharees, of 
course, trot and gallop in half the time. These are native statements. 
DSi 
