Santa Maria Arrived From Ghabs Without Accident, Having Scarcely Seen A
Soul The Whole Of The Way.
He certainly was an enterprizing fellow,
worthy of imitation.
He calculated the distance from Ghabs to Toser at
200 miles. There are a number of towns in the districts of Ghabs better
built than those of Nefta and Toser; Ghabs river is also full of water
and the soil of the country is very fertile. The dates are not so good
as those of the Jereed. Ghabs is about 130 miles from Ghafsa. We here
took our farewell of Santa Maria; he went to Beja, the head-quarters of
the summer-camp: thence, of course, he would proceed to Algiers, to give
an account of his _espionage_. Next season, he said, he would go to
Tripoli and Ghadames; he had been many years in North Africa, and spoke
Arabic fluently.
We next marched to Byrlafee, about twenty miles, and ninety-one from
Toser, where there are the ruins of an old town. The weather continued
cold and most wintry. Here is a very ancient well still in use.
Fragments of cornices and pillars are strewn about. The foundations of
houses, and some massive stone towers, which from their having a pipe up
the centre, must have had something to do with regulating the water, are
all that remain.
We had now much wind, but no rain. A great many camels and horses
perished. Altogether, the number of camels that died on the return of
the camp, was 550.
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