40 
(from -which the caravanserai takes its name,) the country assumes 
a more Tell-like appearance — becoming fertile and woody. These 
remarkable mountains are well worth a visit ; seen at a little 
distance they present a blue appearance, but it is not difficult to 
find large pieces of salt of the purest white, and quite fit for the 
table. They have the additional recommendation of being the 
home of the kestrel, the raven, the neophron, the kite [Milvus 
ater f) and of other birds ; I counted thii’teen or fourteen kestrels 
in the air at one time, and observed that they took their insect 
prey upon the wing. 
After this the road mends ; lately built houses, an orchard of 
almond trees just coming into bloom, and other symptoms of 
civilization are noted ; and, in process of time, our “ voiture,” if 
that miserable contrivance for jolting passengers deserves the 
name, passed the eighth halting-place and arrived at Laghouat. 
Laghouat or El Aghouat, according as we prefix the French or 
Arab article, is the last French out-post ; rendered pretty by the 
number of tall palms, it is in fact the first oasis in the Sahara, 
while to the north stretch plains as far as Djelpha. Rocky moun- 
tain ridges protect it from the wind, which frequently blows the 
sand in overwhelming clouds. Nearly all the houses are white, 
fiat-roofed, and made of mud bricks. The same materials partition 
off the Arab gardens. The coach or courier arrives about 5.30 
p.m., just when the last “red rays” of the setting sun are shed- 
ding “ a golden pathway ” through the forest of stately palms. 
These matchless trees encompass the town to the number of 
.20,000, and form a noble belt of verdure, beneath which the vine, 
the fig, the pomegranate, the olive, the peach, the apricot interlace 
their foliage, mingling in rank confusion. There is nothing 
picturesque about the Arabs at Faghouat. The French have 
improved away the old stock, and the present peo 2 -)le are their 
degenerate descendants. Not so the wild tribes of the true 
desert, who still cherish a jealous hatred towards that people 
against whom their hardy fathers swore eternal enmity. 
The beautiful desert bullfinch {Car^odacus gWiagineus) was 
common at Laghouat. Its resorts ore gravelly steppes and rocky 
ground destitute of trees. Its trumpet note is one of the marvels 
of Algeria. Iho only other birds which I shall notice are tho 
fantail and aquatic warbler, [Cisticola sluenicola and Calamodus 
