On May 2d, we had a tempest of thunder and lightning to the south on the hills, produced by the intense heat of the morning, and its accumulation during the previous few days.  Rain seemed to be falling at a distance of a few hours.  In the evening the mercury still stood about 100 deg..  The heat now was still very distressing.  The wind came charged with dust that rolled in columns, like smoke beaten down by a tempest, across the surface of the valley.  All the vegetation seemed withered, as if in an oven; and the wheat in the ear was brittle, as though roasted.  There is a good deal of wheat in this oasis.  I observed an old woman reaping, and went to chat with her.  Her sickle had a long handle, and the blade itself was narrow, but slightly bent and somewhat serrated.  I tried it, and found that it answered its purpose very well, however rude in appearance.

I entered one of the huts made of palm-branches, and carelessly smeared with mud—­an attempt at plastering that can hardly be called successful.  The door was formed of rough planks of date-wood, and the flooring of hard-trodden earth, covered with mats.  The principal article of furniture was, as usual, the small hand corn-mill, for nearly every person in the East is still his own miller.  The huts, though rude in outward appearance, were dark, cool, and comfortable within.  In the town itself, many of them are built entirely of mud; that is to say, of round mud balls, first moistened with water, and then dried in the sun.  I entered several, and found that most were empty.  Where we found people, they were courteous and cheerful in manners, and smiled at the curiosity with which I lifted up the wicker covers of their pots and jars.  In one I found a little sour milk; in another, some bazeen; in another, a few dates soaking in water.  A small vessel now and then occurred, full of oil; but this is the greatest luxury they possess.

None of the doors has either lock or key.  The Fezzanee observed, “Strangers may steal, but Fezzanees never.  All the dates remain securely on the trees until gathered by the owners.”  It must be observed, however, that the anomaly of vast possessions being held by one man, who can scarcely consume or utilise the produce, whilst others have not a stone whereon to lay their heads, and depend even for a burial-place upon charity, is not to be observed in this barbarous country.

The children of the Wady, up to the age of seven or eight years, go about perfectly naked, which may partly account for the bronze-black colour of their skins.  The Tuaricks are generally fairer than the Fezzanees, though some of these latter are fair as the Moors on the coast, whilst others are black as very niggers.