TRAVELS IN NORTHERN AFRICA. 
CHAP. II. 
low. The horses, with great avidity, sucked up the mud which 
was thrown out of it. Strong sand wind from the southward. 
April 10th.— At 6. 10. A. M. set off. At 7 cleared the pass, 
and proceeded to a small wadey, where, in spite of a strong Siroc, 
we succeeded in pitching our tents. The sand, however, flew about 
in such quantities, that we were unable to prepare any food, and 
we could not even see thirty yards from us. Mukni took shelter 
with us, and advised that we should strip to x)ur shirts, as the 
lightest way of withstanding the sand showers. Mr. Ritchie here 
presented him mth one of our tents, it being much superior to his 
own. In the afternoon, the wind having a little subsided, we 
cleared away the heaps of sand which had collected round our 
goods, and allowed the camels to graze on the small bushes until 
3 o'clock. We found, on examining some of our stores, that a large 
organ had been burst by the heat, and excessive dryness of the 
\vind ; a discovery by no means welcome to us. At 3. 15. P. M. 
struck our tent, and again made our way over the plain until 7, 
when we stopped amongst some palms, which were thickly planted 
in a range of sand hills. There were two wells of tolerably fresh 
water at tliis place, which is called Hammam, ^^UU- From hence 
we could easily have made our way to Sockna ; but as the Sultan 
preferred entering in the morning, we were content to stop, and 
get our heads shaved, as well as to enjoy a good washing, which 
was very requisite, as we were not over clean. The Sultan's people 
were also employed in preparing themselves ; and a large convoy of 
drummers, bag-pipers, and others, joined us in the night, mounted 
on asses, in order to precede his majesty to his city of Sockna. 
April 11th. — At 7 A. M. proceeded with the Sultan and his 
escort, but found we were sadly in the back-ground with respect to 
outward appearance. Unfortunately we had not thought it neces- 
