When they settle their money transactions, they squat down upon the ground, and having levelled a spot with their hands, make dots as they reckon; and if they find themselves wrong, they smooth the spot again, and repeat the calculation. All this time the by-standers, though they have nothing to do with the business, are as eager to put in their word, and to correct mistakes, as if the affair was their own. Even in common conversation, if they sit without doors, they level the sand in order to go on with their discourse, and at every sentence mark it with their fingers. An extensive plain, encompassed by mountains, the irregular circle of which is interrupted on the West, where it seems to communicate with the Desart, composes the Kingdom of Fezzan. To the influence of the neighbouring heights it may possibly be owing, that in Fezzan, as in the Upper Egypt, the situation of which is extremely similar, no rain is ever known to fall. A light sand constitutes the general soil; and sand hills of various forms are seen in particular districts; but though the character of the surface and the dryness of the Heavens may seem to announce an eternal sterility, yet the springs are so abundant, and so ample a store of subterraneous water is supplied by the adjacent heights, that few regions in the North of Africa exhibit a richer vegetation. From wells of eight or ten feet deep, with several of which every garden and every field are furnished, the husbandman waters, at sun-rise, the natural or artificial productions of his land. Of these the principal are, The Talk, a tree that in size resembles the small Olive. It flowers in yellow sprigs, and supplies the hard and lemon-coloured wood, from which the handles and frames of the Fezzanner’s instruments of husbandry are made: The White Thorn: A kind of brushwood that resembles the Spanish broom: The Date tree, which is common: The Olive and the Lime, which are described as scarce; the Apricot, the Pomegranate, and the Fig: Indian corn and barley, the two favourite objects of the Fezzanner’s cultivation: Wheat, of which but little is raised: Pompions or calabash, carrots, cucumbers, onions, and garlick. Of the _tame_ animals that are raised in Fezzan, the Shereef enumerates, The Sheep, which is described as of a light brown colour; as having a broad tail, and as cloathed with a species of hair rather than of wool: The Cow, which does not seem to be common, except in a few districts in which the pasture is excellent: The Goat, and the Camel: A species of the domestic fowl of Europe. The _wild_ animals of the country are, The Ostrich: Antelopes of various kinds, one of which is called the Huaddee, and is celebrated for the singular address with which, when chased by the hunter amidst its craggy heights, it plunges from the precipice, and lighting on its hams without danger of pursuit, continues till evening in the vale below: