S04 
TRAVELS IN NORTHERN AFRICA. 
CHAP. VIII. 
given his Boozaferr, ^jy, or footing in the country, which I men- 
tioned our having done at Sockna, or more properly in the Soudah 
mountains. The Arabs in these cases procure either the skeleton 
of an animal, or some carrion, and, digging a grave, bury it, howl- 
ing as if for a deceased friend. All the night they imitate the 
cries of wolves and hyaenas, as if in search of food, saying, " Where 
is our Bouzaferr ? we are crying for our Bouzaferr ; the natives are 
starving ; give your Bouzaferr." The buried bones are intended 
to imply a starved friend, who is supposed to be unable to rest till 
the survivors are fed. The old man was, however, deaf to all their 
hints, and in consequence the Arabs made a little grave (for him, 
as they said), and left him, not without a few hearty wishes that 
some harm might befall him. 
As we sat round our little fires, during our march over the 
desert, we amused ourselves with a variety of Arab games and 
puzzles, and a few clumsy tricks with date stones, and much laugh- 
ing and joking passed off our evening very pleasantly, until sleep 
seized us, and we then laid ourselves down on the sand round the 
fire until morning. 
Friday ISth. Thermometer 2°. — As there was at this place great 
plenty of Agool, and other shrubs for the camels, they were, owing 
to a concerted scheme of the Arabs, not to be found ; we there- 
fore were destined to pass the day here, in spite of all our threats 
and remonstrances. One of a party of Arabs, who had joined our 
Kaffle at Sebha, and from whom I hired the camel which Behbrd 
rode, offered one for sale. It would not, like other camels, eat 
dates, and no food was to be found in the track we were to pass. 
We consequently despaired of its being able to get through the 
desert ; and I, thinking to make a good bargain with him, offered 
him for it two dollars, or ten shillings. He refused this, and went 
away ; but an Arab soon after brought me the animal, having pur- 
