tree, and a random shot will startle from under the dates a dozing "booma," or little owl.

I said above that the desert, as viewed from the heights of Laghouat, appeared interminable; but my rides to the dayats soon showed that even this has its varieties. If any reader has formed his idea of the Sahara from Turner's well-known picture, with its unbroken horizon-line on all sides, a dying camel in the foreground, and a vulture soaring aloft, the only objects to break its monotony, let him at once dispel the misty illusion. The Dayat, which is very frequent to the south of Laghouat, may be looked upon as an unimprovable oasis, where there is no constant supply of water to be found by boring, but where, from the configuration of the substratum of limestone, it being in fact depressed into something like a saucer, moisture gathers after the rare and uncertain thunderstorms. This moisture affords just sufficient support for a few terebinth-trees and wild jujubes, under whose shade a scanty herbage, intermingled with some desert plants, is browsed by troops of gazelles and a few antelopes. Here the golden eagle and the royal kite hold court and courtship, and carry on a perpetual but bloodless warfare with the raven; and the shrubs below are occupied by many warblers little known, and but rarely seen, by European naturalists.

On my first expedition to visit some dayats in the neighbourhood, the ground was quite brown, but after a fall of rain, an event which had not occurred for a twelvemonth, they were carpeted in three days with verdure, and a few Arabs were already hovering about with their flocks. We rode through some twenty of these desert islands, some of them only 200 yards in diameter, others a mile in length. Near them were numerous

flocks of sandgrouse, already packed, and very wild and wary; and many desert larks of various little-known species. Among the thickets were other species of birds peculiar to the Sahara, and occasionally a desert hare or a ruffed bustard would be started. Towards evening long files of ravens might be seen returning to their desert roosting-places, gregarious and sociable as rooks in England, but cautious withal, as they would make a considerable détour to keep out of gunshot.

On one occasion, on emerging from a dayat, I suddenly came upon a troop of gazelle feeding, about 100 yards in front of me. Hastily dismounting, I shot one through the body, but, though instantly in the saddle again, and in hot pursuit, the poor wounded animal completely outstripped my Arab. Left far behind by his companions, he gained upon me, and, though I could detect the drops of blood in his track, I was at length compelled to discontinue the chase.

My horse played me the same day a most scurvy trick. He was so trained to stand when left alone, that I never thought of hobbling him; but having on my way homeward dismounted to pick up a bird, I beheld him trotting off, and, turning a deaf ear to all my entreaties, he kept a few yards ahead, while I had a weary trudge, with a gun and heavily-laden bag, for twelve miles into Laghouat. The brute certainly entered into the humour of a practical joke, for he would constantly turn round and wait till I got up to him, and then quietly quicken his pace.

The cliffs to the north are the favourite resort of the falcon and raven. These rocks are often rent perpendicularly in huge seams, the stratification being at the same time upheaved and exactly vertical. In places the white face of the precipice has the appearance of having

been pelted by lumps of black mud, which have adhered in irregular masses. These proved to be sometimes nodules of ironstone, but more generally masses of fossil shells embedded in a hard black stone, which we had much difficulty in breaking, and which is very different from the limestone in which it is found. This puddingstone kind of fossilization was quite new to me. While trying to break off specimens I observed a great commotion among the ravens, who were passing overhead with less than their usual caution. They were chasing a falcon, about a dozen to one, and repassed several times. The fugitive easily distanced them, and then, after the manner of a saucy boy, returned screaming within a short distance, to be again pursued. I was tempted at length to fire, and he fell dead at my feet. On examination he proved to be a male specimen of the extremely rare and scarcely known Barbary falcon (Falco Punicus).

In our rambles to examine the geology we were much indebted to the guidance of our kind host Captain Vinçon, who was engaged in repairing a dam which had been raised to throw back the water from the marsh to the oasis, but had been burst through by the unwonted rains. He was also working quarries of gypsum, among which were considerable layers of talc. This talc and sulphate of lime seem confined to the range south of Laghouat, where the dip of the strata is from south to north. On the other side of the basaltic dyke before alluded to, the dip is from north to south. The operations of the engineers are assisted by a squadron of fifty donkeys, taken in a razzia, and dignified by the nickname of "la Cavalerie du Génie Impérial." They are used in every possible way,-in tandem carts, with saddles, panniers, &c.,—and attended by a troop of Arab boys,

who receive 25 sous per diem. The chief of these lads is decorated with two chevrons on his burnous, and rated as "caporal des bourrikos."

Thus pleasantly passed our time at Laghouat with the intelligent and cultivated officers who formed its garrison. We were several times hospitably entertained by the commandant, in his handsome hall, lined and carpeted by the trophies of the chase, skins of lions, leopards, and ostriches, all slain by himself. The dinners also were in character, the courses consisting of gazelle, bustard, wild duck, wild boar, and starling pasty, winding up with huge bunches of dates and wooden bowls of kouskousou, served à l'Arabe, all of us eating from the same dish.

This kouskousou is the principal food of the natives, and when well cooked is both palatable and nourishing. Next to the tedious operation of grinding, the preparation of kouskousou is the chief employment of a Bedouin housewife. The barley or wheat meal is placed in a shallow bowl about two feet in diameter, a little water or milk is poured over it, and then it is rubbed with the palm of the hand into very small pellets, an operation occupying generally a couple of hours. The meal is then steamed gently for two or three hours, and forms the basis of the dish. The poorer sort are content to eat this with merely a little salt or sugar sprinkled over it, but those who can afford it mingle raisins, dates, or preserved apricots with capsicums, and over all pour a quantity of milk or rich broth. If the latter, the meat or fowl is laid on the top of the dish and morsels torn off by the guests, who sit round the bowl in a circle and feed themselves with their fingers. To eat kouskousou is a common Arab expression for a good feast.

Nothing afforded greater astonishment to the natives,

or amusement to the officers, than the experiment of an India-rubber boat with which we were provided, and which under the name of the "Marguerite" was first launched in the Lake of Laghouat by Captain Vinçon, with a pocket-handkerchief union-jack hoisted from his neck, making, as he remarked, the enterprising flag of England float proudly over the waters of North Africa. Even the commandant himself so far descended from his vice-regal dignity as to essay a nautical expedition, and expose himself to a humiliating shipwreck before his subjects.

The admiration of his soldiers for the character of Marguerite is only equalled by the awe of the natives, who believe him to bear a charmed life, and to be possessed of almost supernatural powers. With his eagle eye and piercing glance, he is a noble specimen of the self-reliant soldier, the very man to subdue and rule barbarians. On one occasion, when he was almost without troops, he discovered among a powerful tribe in the district a plot for his assassination, which had been arranged by the chiefs, and was to be carried into effect when they came to pay their imposts. A marabout or holy man had vowed to devote himself to the deed, and many others had bound themselves to follow him.

The commandant's decision was soon made. Alone and unattended, he rode some thirty miles to the Arab camp, dashed suddenly into the midst of their conference, and exclaimed, “You are plotting to take my life, but my hour has not come; yours has, and Allah calls you. In an instant he had pistolled the two principal conspirators, and, turning round to the others, said, "Your designs are all known to me, and, unless tomorrow morning you come to my camp and confess, your carcases also shall be food for dogs." Putting