Practically no plants were seen when descending through the eroded portions of the hamada to the floor of the chott (fig. 52), but on reaching the bottom of the great chott a surprisingly large number was observed, including _Anabasis articulata_, _Aristida pungens_, _Ephedra alata_, _Limoniastrum guyonianum_, _Retama retam_, and _Traganum nudatum_ (fig. 51). In the wide central part of the chott, where the salts are perhaps most dense, there are no plants; but on the eastern side are _Euphorbia guyoniana_, _Anabasis articulata_, and _Zygophyllum_ sp. These small species were growing far apart and were badly injured, either by being trodden under foot or by being eaten by the passing animals. To the south of where we crossed the chott and also to the north the sand mountains arise. After leaving Chott Mellala we ascended gradually to go over a low pass separating it from a small chott to the east. Here we obtained a backward view of the sand mountains, low as seen from the pass, with sharp, wind-made ridges, and bearing a few specimens of _Aristida pungens_. Descending somewhat, another but smaller chott was crossed. Between the latter chott and the Ouargla plain the plants were very few and confined to the slopes and the higher ground, avoiding almost wholly the depressions. Of those recognized, _Traganum nudatum_ was the most abundant. This is the “vamran” of the Arabs and is an inconspicuous shrub frequently seen later on the way to Touggourt. =OUARGLA TO TOUGGOURT—VEGETATION.= Ouargla is an ancient, rambling town, somewhat in decay, set in the midst of extensive palm gardens. There are said to be 500,000 date palms at the oasis. It was founded in the tenth century by the M’Zabites and later taken possession of by the Arabs. The town is peculiar in its situation and its gardens, lying, as before described, in the flood-plain of an ancient river. The plants cultivated in the town as ornamentals are fewer than at Ghardaia, but of the same kinds, and (besides dates) the gardens contain fewer fruits and apparently fewer kinds of vegetables. Between the gardens one finds _Tamarix_ in some abundance.