In 1805, a caravan proceeding from Timbuctoo to Tafilelt, was disappointed, in not finding water at one of the usual watering-places, when, horrible to relate, the whole of the persons belonging to it, 2000 in number, besides 1800 camels, perished of thirst! Accidents of this sort account for the vast quantities of human and other bones which are found mingled together in various parts of the Desert. It is generally affirmed, that the guides, to whom the charge of conducting these numerous and accumulated caravans is committed, in their routes to and from Marocco, direct their course by the scent of the sandy earth; but I could never discover any reasonable foundation for such an opinion, and apprehend it to be an artful invention of their own, to impose on the credulity of this superstitious and ignorant people, and thus to enhance the value of their knowledge. These guides possess some idea of astrology, and the situation of certain stars, and being enabled by the two pointers to ascertain the polar star, they can by that unvarying guide steer their course with considerable precision, preferring often travelling in the night, rather than under the suffocating heat of the effulgent meridian sun. When the akkabaah reaches Akka, the first station on this side of the Desert, and situated on the confines thereof, in Lower Suse, which is a part of Bled-el-jerrêde, the camels and guides are discharged, and others there hired to proceed to Fas, Marocco, Terodant, Tafilelt, and other places. The akkabaahs perform the traverse of the Desert, including their sojournments at El-wahaht, or Oases, in about 130 days. Proceeding from the city of Fas, they go at the rate of 3½ miles an hour, and travel seven hours a day; they reach Wedinoon, Tatta, or Akka in eighteen days, where they remain a month, as the grand accumulated akkabaah proceeds from the latter place. In going from Akka to Tagassa[198] they employ sixteen days, here sojourning fifteen days more to replenish their camels; they then proceed to the Oasis and Well of Taudeny, which they reach in seven days; here again they remain fifteen days; their next route is to Arawan, another watering place, which they reach in seven days; here they sojourn fifteen days; and then proceed and reach Timbuctoo the sixth day, making a journey of fifty-four days actual travelling, and of seventy-five days repose, being altogether, from Fas to Timbuctoo, one hundred and twenty-nine days, or four lunar months and nine days.[199]