168 
TRAVELS IN NORTHERN AFRICA. 
CHAP. IV. 
instigator of it. He soon after again fell sick, and constantly pro- 
fessed his great regard for us. 
After Boo Klialloum's departure, some Arab Sheikhs were esta- 
blished as inmates of the castle, and Mukni frequently walked 
hand in hand with one of them, who was Chief of the tribe Barooda. 
This man was considered as being better acquainted with all the 
roads of the desert, than any other person in Fezzan. His own 
tribe were, at this time, near Egypt ; and many suspected, that 
Mukni intended, with his assistance, to go off in that direction. 
But whatever might have been his destination, every route would 
have been equally dangerous for him, since he was detested by all 
the Arabs, and hable to be tortured and put to death by the 
Negroes, should he fall into their power. 
For the present, however, leaving him confined in his castle, I 
shall speak more of the people of Morzouk. The ablest person 
of our sick party always went to the gardens to shoot pigeons, 
which had been numerous, but which now had emigrated to the 
countries to the southward. These visits to the date groves gave 
us many opportunities of observing the manner of cultivating the 
grain and esculents. The wells are generally about 20 or 30 feet 
in depth, and more resemble large deep ponds than what we call 
wells. The water hes on a stratum of grayish clay, is salt, and 
generally smells very badly : it is raised by means of sheers made 
of date trees, lashed together, and placed slopingly over the. centre 
of the pit. One or two asses, according to the number of buckets 
used, are attached by a light harness and run down a steep bank, 
which renders their work less laborious. The men who attend 
also draw with them, and quicken their pace by pricking them on 
the flanks, with their small reaping hooks, in so rude a manner, that 
many of the poor animals are quite scarified. The water runs into 
