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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In The Coffle Were Several Parties Of
Liberated Blacks, All Joyful At The Idea Of Once More Returning To
Their
Native land, though the means of their support were very
slender, and many of them, with their young children, had
To walk a
distance of two thousand miles before they could reach their own
country.
The route lay for the first two days over a sandy irregular desert,
and then entered the mountains of Terkoona, situated to the
south-east of Tripoli, and which seems to be a continuation of the
Gharian or Wahryan range. Several little streams flow from the sides
of the hills, abounding with game, particularly snipes and
partridges. On the sixth day, passing over a stony desert, they
reached Benioleed, an Arab town, with about two thousand inhabitants.
It consists of several straggling mud villages, on the sides of a
fertile ravine, several miles in length, and bounded by rocks of
difficult access. The centre is laid out in gardens, planted with
date and olive trees, and producing also corn, vegetables, and pulse.
The valley is subject to inundation during the winter rains, but in
summer requires to be watered with great labour, by means of wells of
extraordinary depth. It is inhabited by the Orfella tribe, subsisting
chiefly by agriculture, and the rearing of cattle, aided only in a
trifling degree by a manufacture of nitre; they are accounted hardy
and industrious, but at the same time dishonest and cruel. Benioleed
castle stands in latitude 31=B0 45' 38" N., longitude 14=B0 12' 10" E.
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