DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11636#0400
366 TRAVELS IN UPPER
assemblage of several birds. I distinguished per-
coplner vultures ; several lapwings which hopped
about seeking their food upon the sand, that is to
say, differentspecies of insects; laundresses; and,
finally, crested larks or cochevis *.
Whilst the draughtsman, with whom I left the
janisary of the consul, was working at the land-
scape ot Abou-Mandoiir■, I buried myself iu the de-
sert. At a distance this sandy region appears to be
a plain surface. However, it is furrowed with steep
hills of sand, which form between them narrow and
deep valleys, at the bottom of which you soon ar-
rive without the trouble of walking thither. Jt is
sufficient to let yourself go, and the moving sand,
which crumbles under your feet, conveys you
gently down. These deep intersections are, ac-
cording to all appearance, the work of those waters
which have flowed over a soil so ungrateful at the
present, and which formerly they rendered fertile.
The traces of different animals were imprinted
on the sand: I recognised those of numerous
jackals, and their recent dung which they had care-
fully covered with sand, scratching like cats.
The dust which overspreads these beds of sand is
so fine, that the lightest animal, the smallest insect,
* Cochevis, 011 la grosse alouette hupp£. Buffon, Hist. Nat.
des Ois. et pi. enlum. No. 503, fig. 1.—Alauda cristata. Lin.
leaves
assemblage of several birds. I distinguished per-
coplner vultures ; several lapwings which hopped
about seeking their food upon the sand, that is to
say, differentspecies of insects; laundresses; and,
finally, crested larks or cochevis *.
Whilst the draughtsman, with whom I left the
janisary of the consul, was working at the land-
scape ot Abou-Mandoiir■, I buried myself iu the de-
sert. At a distance this sandy region appears to be
a plain surface. However, it is furrowed with steep
hills of sand, which form between them narrow and
deep valleys, at the bottom of which you soon ar-
rive without the trouble of walking thither. Jt is
sufficient to let yourself go, and the moving sand,
which crumbles under your feet, conveys you
gently down. These deep intersections are, ac-
cording to all appearance, the work of those waters
which have flowed over a soil so ungrateful at the
present, and which formerly they rendered fertile.
The traces of different animals were imprinted
on the sand: I recognised those of numerous
jackals, and their recent dung which they had care-
fully covered with sand, scratching like cats.
The dust which overspreads these beds of sand is
so fine, that the lightest animal, the smallest insect,
* Cochevis, 011 la grosse alouette hupp£. Buffon, Hist. Nat.
des Ois. et pi. enlum. No. 503, fig. 1.—Alauda cristata. Lin.
leaves