CHAP. IX. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE DESERT. 
345 
some being so steep as to be entirely impassable : others, and indeed 
all of this particular name, are traversed with difficulty. In some 
instances, palms grow on these hills ; which are generally situated 
on the borders of stony plains, where the wind has collected and " 
formed them. 
Sereer is the appellation of gravelly plains, from which the sand 
has been swept by the force of the winds ; and it is on this kind oif 
Desert alone that sand hills are found. The gravel is generally of 
a small size : in some instances, rounded as pebbles on a sea beach ; 
in others, sharp and pointed, as if recently broken ; and a third kind 
is not unfrequently seen, covering spaces of many miles in extent, 
of stones which have a shining exterior, as if highly pohshed. 
Warr is a rough plain, covered with large detached stones lying 
in confusion, and very difficult to pass over. The tops of moun- 
tains, particularly the Soudah, are distinguished by this name : it is, 
in fact, apphed to such tracts of country as are only travelled with 
the greatest fatigue and difficulty, on account of the many obstacles 
thrown in the way by stones, small hillocks, &c. 
Hatia imphes a spot which possesses, in a slight degree, the 
power of fertihty, and produces a few small stinted shrubs, scattered 
at intervals, on which camels may make a scanty meal, or travellers 
a fire. 
Wishek: sand hills or plains, which afford only wild, unpro- 
ductive, or uncultivated date bushes, are called by this name. All 
Wishek bear the appearance of having been formerly what are 
called 
Ghraba, which is a term always used to distinguish parts which 
produce cultivated or fruit-bearing palms, but having no town 
near them ; the owners of the dates only coming in the season to 
collect them. Zezeera is a term also used in common with Ghraba, 
but I believe only by Fezzanners. 
