The Next Day, The Road Led Through A Defile, Called Hormut Em-Halla (The Pass Of The Army); Then Passing A Range Of Table-Mountains, Running North-East And South-West, Called Elood, It Crossed A Stony And Very Uneven Plain, Encircled With Mountains, To The Pass Of Hormut Tazzet.

Having cleared the pass, the road opened upon a plain called El Grazat Arab Hoon, where the caravan encamped, after a march of twelve hours and a half.

Here one of the camels died; three others were unable to come up, and all of the camels in the coffle were much distressed, not having for several days tasted any kind of food. Two hours and a half further, they came to a solitary tree, which is reckoned a day's journey from water. Slaves, in coming from the water, are not allowed to drink until they reach the tree, which is one of the longest stages from Fezzan. At the end of nearly eleven hours, the route led through a pass called Hormut Taad Abar, and after wading through a wady, closely hemmed in by mountains, opened into a small circular plain, in which was found a well of brackish, stinking water. In hot seasons, the well is dry, and even at this time it was very low; but the horses sucked up with avidity the mud that was thrown out of it. 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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