July 1st.—­We were astir at the encampment a little after daybreak:  but it takes usually two hours to get off, although we have but seven camels.  I hope our people will be quicker after a little more practice.  The heat was very troublesome; and nothing could keep the Tuaricks from going on all through the day, for ten hours and a quarter, without stopping.  Our course was along the broad wady, which resembles an immense plain.  On the surface of its sandy bed are scattered pebbles and blocks of sandstone and limestone, but the former chiefly.  There was nothing to please the eye but the delicate tints of the line of sand-hills on the left—­a faint yellow, at times mingling with the sky when very luminous; and the round tholukh-trees, scattered like black spots on the light sand of the valley.  A little mirage figured a dark, black lake, which, however, sparkled with light under the trees.  Few animals were seen:  a young camel, left to graze in the valley, followed us most cheerfully this morning.

We passed two or three wells in the course of the day, at a place called Kouwana, with water near the surface, and obtained some by scraping out the sand; we did not, however, take any up, because it was not very good.  Caravans seldom use these wells.  No doubt there is water to be found everywhere throughout the wady, which by a little care might be turned into an oasis.  Perhaps it was one in old times.  There is now no encouragement to cultivate any stubborn ground.

July 2.—­Two hours in getting off again!  We started at six and went on until past five in the afternoon, following a south-west course along the same wady, with the same low line of sand-hills on our left, and sand and the low edge of the plateau, which the people say extends many days’ journey, on our left.  This valley is so shallow that it might almost be considered as part of the plateau, and is, in fact, nearly on a level with it; the temperature tells us we are on very high land.  It is cool for this season, and the Tuaricks even complain of chilliness at night.  Sometimes I am disposed to think the hot weather is passed, but we must take into account the strong breeze blowing from the north-east.

The broad bed of the valley is covered with pebbles of sandstone, between which glanced a few, very few, lizards.  Rarely did any living thing cheer our eyes as we moved along this dismal track.  Now and then gazelles, in threes and fours, went scouring away far out of reach.  One or two small birds fluttered from stone to stone; and some crows cawed at us from a distance.  This is true Fezzan scenery.  The mirage and all its illusions cloaked the plain in various directions, as if seeking to hide its dull uniformity.