Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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Still There Was Not Any Fodder For The
Camels, Till, About The Middle Of The Next Day's March, They Reached
A Small Wady, In Which There Were Some Low Bushes.
A strong sand-wind
from the southward now rendered the march extremely harassing.
The
sand flew about in such quantities, that the travellers were unable
to prepare any food, and they could not even see thirty yards before
them. In the evening they encamped amid a plantation of palms, near
two wells of tolerably fresh water, at a short distance from Sockna.
Of this town, which is about half-way between Tripoli and Mourzouk,
Captain Lyon gives the following description: -
Sockna stands on an immense plain of gravel, bounded to the south by
the Soudah mountains, at about fifteen miles; by the mountains of
Wadam, about thirty miles to the eastward; a distant range to the
west, and those already mentioned on the north. The town is walled,
and may contain two thousand persons. There are small projections
from the walls, having loop-holes for musketry. It has seven gates,
only one of which will admit a loaded camel. The streets are very
narrow, and the houses are built of mud and small stones mixed, many
of them having a story above the ground-floor. A small court is open
in the centre, and the doors, which open from this area, give the
only light which the rooms receive. The water of Sockna is almost all
brackish or bitter. There are 200,000 date trees in the immediate
neighbourhood of the town, which pay duty; also an equal number, not
yet come into bearing, which are exempt.
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