The Demons or _Alchinen_ play a great part amongst them, and are looked upon as almost human. They are supposed to inhabit the mountains, camping on them, and living a life very much like that of the Tuareg tribes themselves. They have their own quarrels, their own wars, and they too make raids on each other. They are, however, endowed with the power of becoming invisible, and they come unseen to take and to drink the milk of the cows belonging to the Tuaregs. “Beware,” say the Tuaregs, “when you are out at night that you do not run against an _alchin_ (the singular of _alchinen_). You will see nothing at the time, but the next morning when you wake you will find that your foot is sore and you cannot walk. You have trodden on the foot of a demon.” [Illustration: A YOUNG TUAREG.] In spite of the undoubted courage of the Tuaregs, they hate the idea of death. They do not say of any one who has died, “He is dead,” but _Aba_, he has disappeared. It is a sign of very bad breeding to speak of a dead relative or even to pronounce his name. He must be alluded to only as _mandam_, or such an one. None but the descendants of an illustrious chief or the sons of an Amenokal tolerate any allusion to their ancestors, in which case pride is stronger than superstition. We came in contact on our journey with the two great Confederations of the Igwadaren and the Awellimiden; the former, as we have seen, are a prey to anarchy and they rob traders, but their importance is almost _nil_. It is very different with the Awellimiden. I do not of course deny that certain tribes are dangerous to travellers; for frequent revolts against the central authority occur, and during our stay at Say the Cheibatan tried to shake off the suzerainty of the Amenokal, but they were cruelly punished by Madidu and his nephew Djamarata. As a rule, however, the protection promised by a chief can be depended on, and for this reason the Awellimiden will certainly be the first Tuaregs whom we shall be able to induce to lead a more civilized life. True Awellimiden, or direct descendants from Lemta, are few. They include at present three tribes, the Kel Kumeden, the Kel Ahara, and the Kel Tedjucane. The Amenokal or principal chief is always a member of the first-named, and inherits in the usual order of primogeniture in these districts, that is to say, the brothers reign in succession according to age, then the son of the eldest, and so on. It is, however, open to the Confederation to depart from this rule, and the Amenokal is not regularly invested with authority until the consent of the assembled Ihaggaren has been given. But it is a very rare thing for an exception to be made, and the right of veto, though it has been used, is seldom exercised. The predecessor of Madidu was Alimsar, who had succeeded his brother El Khotab, the protector of Barth. I transcribe below the genealogy of the descendants of El Khotab and Alimsar just as it was given to me.