This large and well-built town appears to have been the centre of various tribes, although I can scarcely conceive that my informants were right, when they asserted that their ancestors had been living there, together with the Hogár and the Kél-owí, as from this statement, if it were true, we should have in this place a much more remarkable example of a community founded by several Berber tribes together, than is afforded by the history of Ágades. Be this as it may, the name of Súk has settled upon this tribe, who still form quite a separate body, being distinguished from the neighbouring tribes for their learning and peaceable pursuits. Besides several respectable men of this tribe, I received a visit also from Nássaru, a daughter of one of their chiefs named Khozématen. She was one of the finest women that I saw in this country. Her decent apparel contributed not a little to increase her beauty, for over her under-gown she wore an upper-garment of red and black silk, in alternate stripes, which she occasionally drew over her head. Her features were remarkable for their soft expression and regularity, but her person rather inclined to corpulency, which is highly esteemed by the Tawárek. Seeing that I took an interest in her, she, half-jokingly, proposed that I should marry her; and I declared myself ready to take her with me if one of my rather weak camels should be found able to support her weight. As a mark of distinction I presented her with a looking-glass, which I was always accustomed to give to the most handsome woman in an encampment, the rest receiving nothing but needles. She returned the next day with some of her relations, who were equally distinguished by their comeliness, and who were anxious to obtain a glimpse of me, not less than of the Sheikh El Bakáy. These noble Tawárek ladies furnished a remarkable example of the extreme liberty which the females belonging to this tribe enjoy; and I was greatly astonished to see the pipe pass continually from their mouths to those of the men, and from the latter back again into the mouths of the women. In other respects, I can only hope that they surpass the female portion of the population of Tademékka, of whose virtue El Bekrí speaks in rather doubtful terms.