41 
aquaticns,) which perch upon the reedi?, and the Ammnmarips 
isaheUina. This inconspicuous hu'd is met with on hill sides and 
bare stony plains. In its habits it assimilates to the chats, except 
that it runs more. 
Gazelles and jerboas abound, and in the small half-dry marsh 
there are a good many water tortoises. The ant of the desert 
digs a curious structure, and perhaps there is not such another 
jdace in the worM for coleoptera. Beetles of every size and 
shape swarm. The chameleon is also found, and the deadly 
viper !i come would bo common if not rigorously kept down. 
Large lizards were often brought to mo ; one was upwards of 
three feet long. 
On the 9th of April, having engaged ^lohammed Belhuri and 
another Arab, with mules, a camel to carry the luggage, and all 
the necessaries for an expedition into the Mzab country, I quitted 
the little hotel at Laghouat. Mohammed had called mo early, 
and we were “ on route” by 10 a.m. We had guns and pi.stols, 
for the Mzab are sons of desert chieftains, and no Frenchman 
woidd think of travellinf; unarmed among them. The embers of 
the late rebellion still smoulder. As we rode along T shot my first 
Bihisiatod lark [Corthihiuda dexertoruin.) Dr. Tristram truly 
remarks of this species, “ that although its uniform of incon- 
spicuous drab renders it most difficult of detection on the ground, 
the moment it extends its wings, the broad black bar across the 
snow-white secondaries attracts the eye, and renders it an easy 
mark [Ihis i, p. 428.) 
By sunset we had reached some clumps of trees — jujubes, tere- 
binths, olive, &c. ; all the large ones had raven’s nests, and I 
may here remark that the ravens of Algeria appear to be much 
smaller than English ones. They moreover breed in society, but 
this Professor Xewton informs me they always do where they 
are sufficiently mimerous. Our camel took fright at the assemblage 
of ravens, and utterly deserted us with all the baggage, and we 
passed the night in our thin burnouses on the ground. Mohammed 
was well nigh distracted when next morning there was no sign of 
the missing beast. M'e got breakfost, of which I stood much in 
need, at some Arab tents. It consisted of dry dates, “ cousmus," 
and sheep’s milk. Cou.-<c.ous is a kind of broth mixed with half- 
ground barley, and one of its ingredients is often camels' grease. 
