_16th._--I had lent Mustapha a sword; but, after keeping it a night, he was obliged to return it, sending word that a firmân had been written to all the functionaries of the Porte, forbidding them to receive any presents,--an excellent measure, doing credit to the Sultan's administration. The great plague of the East is the system of bribery carried on under the form of presents. The pay of the Pasha is six hundred and fifty mahboubs per month, nearly all spent in the town. _17th._--The weather is extremely hot and sultry. The sun burns the umbrella if you pass for a few minutes under it. Even the natives complain of the extreme heat of the weather. _18th._--Not quite so oppressive; but, as Dr. Barth says, the south wind blows throughout Northern Africa in May. _20th._--This morning, the black who came with us, and had two wives, divorced one of them, returning the woman's dowry of thirty-seven Tunisian piastres. The divorce took place before the Kady in the open streets. _21st._--Haj Lameen came to see me. He does not forget to remind us that the Tuaricks expect many presents. I have no doubt they do. He says we must be generous at all the following places:--Ghât, Aheer, Aghadez, Damerghou, Zinder, Minyou, Tesaouah, Kashna, Kanou, Sakkatou, Bornou, Begharmi, Mandara, and to the Tibboos of Bilma; not to mention the intermediate towns and villages. However, if the presents be valuable, we may expect in some places rations of food in return. It is worthy of remark, that this said Haj Lameen, brother of the governor of Ghât, took an oath during the past year that he would never again purchase slaves. This is a remarkable instance of the progress of opinion. I afterwards gave Lameen a present, consisting of one pound of tea, five pounds of coffee, and four heads of loaf sugar. This was the first considerable present I made. In the evening we observed Mercury in conjunction with Venus. The heavens were unusually bright for Mourzuk. We saw also Jupiter's satellites at seven in the evening. The two upper ones were much nearer than the two lower ones to the great planet, but all in a line. Mars was very bright. The rings, or extinct volcanoes of the moon, were also truly transparent this evening. Usually the sky of Mourzuk is charged with a dirty red haze, and not at all favourable to astronomical observations. _21st._--The culture of water-melons is progressing for the summer season. The melons are planted in the irrigation ducts that lead to the squares of clover, which is cultivated at this season for the horses of the cavalry stationed here, and also for the camels of the merchants. Every fifteen or twenty days a fresh crop is ready, all produced by irrigation.