The great gong sounded throughout the village this afternoon, to give
note of preparation to all the people, that every one of the males must
be ready to leave this place in the course of three or four days. The
Sheikh says he is determined to leave in three days, whether the people
come from Aghadez or not. Yusuf laid before En-Noor this evening the
necessity of our sending a courier to Mourzuk, stating that we had
nothing left. His highness pitied our case, and said he would look about
for a courier; observing, "The Consul has need of much money and many
presents in Soudan." He said, also, that he would recommend us to go to
Bornou.

_25th._--The days are now pretty hot, and the nights correspondingly
cool. We have a good deal of wind. I wrote a letter to Drs. Overweg and
Barth jointly, calling upon them to assist me in case the Sfaxee would
not wait for his money until the return of the courier. Dr. Overweg
consents. I wrote out the Tuarick alphabet.

The account of the Tibboos pounding the camels' bones and bleeding their
animals to make paste, is confirmed by the Gatronee of the Germans.[4]
He says, moreover, that this is the way in which they proceed. Every
Tibboo must fast three days before he thinks about eating. If on the
fourth day he do not arrive at the _belad_, or country, he then takes
his left sandal from his foot, and stews or soddens it, making something
of a soup. These sandals being leather, or untanned hide, it is,
perhaps, not impossible to make of them a palatable soup! If on the
fifth day he find no village, he then devours the sandal of his right
foot. After this, still not finding a village, he collects bleached
camels' bones and bleeds his camel as before mentioned.