This was an important day in my journey, as having performed the most dangerous part of this wearisome desert march, I reached Tegérri, or Tejérri, the first outlying inhabited place of Fezzán. The village, although very small in itself, with its towering walls, the view of which burst suddenly upon us through the date-grove, made a most pleasing impression, and I could not prevent my people from expressing their delight in having successfully accomplished the by no means contemptible feat, of traversing this desert tract with so small a band, by firing a good number of shots. In consequence of this demonstration, the whole population of the little town came out to salute and congratulate me on having traversed this infested desert tract without any accident. But that was the only advantage that we reaped from having reached a place of settled habitation; and having taken up our encampment on the north-western side of the kasr, among the date trees, we had the greatest difficulty in procuring even the slightest luxury, and I was glad when I was at length able to obtain a single fowl and a few measures of dates. There was therefore no possibility of our staying here and allowing the animals a little rest, but we were obliged to push on without delay to the village of Madrúsa. But I had the greatest difficulty in reaching that place in the evening of the 8th, having lost another camel and one of my horses; and of the animals which remained to me I was obliged to abandon in Madrúsa another, which I had to pay for the hire of a couple of camels to carry my luggage to Múrzuk. This was the native place of my servant El Gatróni, who had served me for nearly five years, (with the exception of a year’s leave of absence, which I granted him in order to see his wife and children,) with the strictest fidelity, while his conduct had proved almost unexceptionable; and of course he was delighted to see his family again. Besides a good breakfast and a couple of fowls with which he treated me, he made me also a present of a bunch of grapes, which caused me no little delight as a most unusual treat. However, being anxious to get over this desert tract, I started a little after noon the same day, and met at the village of Bakhíl, about six miles beyond, a Tebu caravan, which was accompanied by a courier from Kúkawa, who had found an excuse in the state of the country to remain absent on his mission to Múrzuk nine months, instead of having retraced his steps directly to his own country. About four miles further on we reached Gatrón, consisting of narrow groups lying closely together, and by the fringe of its date grove contrasting very prettily with the sandy waste around.