292 TRAVELS IN THE SAHARA. ( 
on account of the bleeding of his feet, he was 
mounted on a camel, the bristly hair and hard 
trot of which soon excoriated him so much, that 
the blood ran copiously down its flanks. By 
throwing heated stones into a wooden vessel, filled 
with barley-meal, diluted with water procured on 
the sea-shore, preserved in a goat's skin, and 
mixed with pitch to prevent putrefaction, the 
Arabs prepared a kind of soup, which they knead- 
ed with their hands, and ate unchewed. They 
roasted a goat in heated sand, ate its fat raw, and, 
after having devoured the flesh, gnawed the bones, 
and scraped them with their nails, threw them to 
Brisson and his companions, desiring them to eat 
quickly, and load the camels, that the journey 
might not be impeded. Proceeding eastward, 
they crossed a vast plain, covered with small 
stones, white as sno w , round and flat as a lentil, 
where not a single plant was produced. The 
earth beneath their feet resounded dull and hol- 
low, and the small stones pricked them like sparks 
of fire. The reflection of the rays of the sun from 
the sand was scorching ; the atmosphere was 
loaded with a red vapour, and the country ap- 
peared as if filled with flaming vulcanoes. Nei- 
ther birds nor insects could be seen in the air. 
The profound silence was frightful. If a gentle 
breeze ever arose, it produced extreme languor, 
chopping of the lips, burning heat of the skin^ 
