AFHICAN DESKRTS. 
S45 
*io? plains are composed either of sand, or 
abandoned ; and, as the inliabitants do 
L"’' the^ country, sow any description of 
y ^ supjdied with flour, fee. from Upper 
“*en, and Jndia. 
V 
. *iE AFRICAN DESERTS. 
siiiy^'>se A ®’-‘'*king feature of Africa con.siats of the 
I'll ■^'kich peivadeits surflice, and which are 
'jr.?'^hief the one half of its whole extent. 
V.'p bcj^ ^kese is, by way of eminence, called Sahara, 
tf ’ stretches from the shore.s of tlie Atlantic, 
'iilt^’i'e ti ^’■’■uptions, to the confines of Egypt, a .space 
'"■?‘’'yab." degree,?, or 2;00 geographical 
■s. , of tv/elve degrees, or 720 geographical 
i)y a*?’ I^rly-five degree,?, or 2 ;oo" gTOgraphical 
It i^'^-'^dth of tv/elve degrees, or 720 geographical 
ro^i^' prodigious expanse of red sand, and sand- 
■''Irr’*' 'lt°*^ granulations of which the reil sand 
“ i, y^Ve,., >n truth, an empire of , sand which seems 
1 1a 11 l>"> O t1 F'*/AS triXiS* /*!- T »-* /•! »•« r .. I I 1 ....._ 1. 
Cl 
•* Wii S..II ocuixt V>1U\,U riCUllU> 
human power orinduslr)-, aliliougli 
snL with various islands, .and fertile and cul- 
® of dift'erent ’ " ’ ' ’ 
'kat ■ 
'uat • sizes, of which Fessan is the 
in 'T *'oh have been hitherto explored. 
bet\v of ®™‘^y ocean, .and nearly 
, — „ city which con- 
7 ‘iJs' ^frion *^‘'‘*'t for the commerce of all tlie inte- 
qa .AAA .AAV. lULV.- 
opl _ „ 10 niaintain this commerce is the labo- 
!*t, '■?? desn„i® ^Jihabaars, or caravans, which cross this 
: 7 ^’ fisp Mediterranean Sea and the coast of 
r'*tit(!"®''t‘sti„„'^' of I'ombuctoo, the capital of the 
'he ^ cteph'e of Bembaira — a citv which coii- 
of 
deser vv,„v,.. WO..S uus 
L M)(. ^he tj ' f*;om almost eveiy part of the African 
tf''tir,'^‘"'avan which it is traversed is highly curious. 
l|\^‘’''ied K* of several hundred loaded camels, 
tti-g 'he -A-rabs who let them out to the mer- 
'‘hen g ®P 0 ''t of their goods. During their route, 
Who attacks of the roving Arabs 
In to commit their depredations on 
’ll- ^P'ev ,i' ‘o confines of the desert. In this tire- 
' V, ■ 'ke -- 
caravans do not proceed to the place 
■ h “oanti 00 nor p __ ^ 
ftirn '*' ^ direct line across the trackless 
'he ,. "''"^sionally eastward or westward, ac- 
®Pots of certain fertile, inhabited, and 
' ''"fled oases, interspersed in various parts 
