f 
476 HAMHAMOU. 
bles the common pea; they also kill two goats for their daily con- 
sumption. The Nayib's two servants, with his mule, quitted us at 
this place, and at three P. M. the rest of the party set out, mounted 
on the mules from Dixan, which with our thirteen camels made a 
very respectable appearance. The road seemed perfectly secure, 
and well frequented, as we saw, almost every hour, small kafilas of 
twenty or thirty people passing with merchandize to Arkeko. 
*' After winding about among the acacias, for three miles or 
more, we turned into the dry bed of a torrent, where at first we 
suffered much from the heat. Our servants having neglected the 
most necessary precaution of filling the skins with water, we were 
in the course of our march incommoded with thirst, the heat being 
intense. I was for a time relieved by the kindness of a poor fellow 
coming down from the hills, who gave me a portion of a small 
quantity that he carried in a cruise upon his back. As we proceeded, 
the valley became contracted to a rocky gully not more than one 
hundred yards wide, bounded on each side, and overshadowed by 
steep and lofty hills. 
" We passed a small burying place on our left ; and soon after, 
the two ridges of mountains apparently closed, having at their foot 
a little rising ground called Hamhamou, a few yards distant from 
the bed of the torrent, where we halted for the night. We had just 
unloaded our camels, and were congratulating ourselves on having 
arrived at the end of a harassing day's journey, during which we 
had taken no refreshment, except breakfast, when our guide told 
us that a storm was at hand. We accordingly collected our bag- 
gage in haste, covered it over with the walls of the tent, and were 
in the act of pitching the tent itself, when the rain came on with 
