The greater part of the Moors believe that we live upon the sea, and that we have only a few little islands like St. Louis: under this impression they imagine that we wish to possess ourselves of their country, which they consider as the finest in the world. The marabouts are better informed, and know that we inhabit a country far superior to theirs. They often expressed their regret that they had nothing good to offer me; observing that God would recompense me for my voluntary privations, in relinquishing the happy land of the christians to live amongst them. They have however no idea of our arts or manufactures. They often inquired what use we made of gum and were always persuaded that I was deceiving them; they would not believe any other than that we transform it into amber, which it somewhat resembles in colour, and into other merchandise of great value, and that we could not dispense with gum nor even exist without it. I could not undeceive them on this point; and in like manner when discussions arise at the settlements or at the markets, or if they are refused what they ask, they threaten to bring no more gum. CHAPTER IV. Difficulty in going to market. — Oxen stolen by a neighbouring tribe. — The Ramadan. — Circumcision. — The feast of Tabasky. — Gum trade with the Europeans. — My return to St. Louis. We sojourned upon the shore of lake Aleg till the 20th January. The north winds blew with violence and were very cold; part of the time they lasted, I was kept in my tent by fever. In the course of the month, slaves were sent to a distance with part of the cattle, because the grass diminished around the camp; they only kept the milch cows, as indispensibly requisite for the support of the inhabitants: they pursue this plan to avoid removing the tents elsewhere. The 21st January, 1825, the pastures being entirely exhausted, we broke up the camp and went two miles to the east, over a soil covered with ferruginous hillocks. The place at which we halted was of the same nature, and yet covered with herbage. The slaves set out in the morning to fetch water from the lake and did not return till night; the camp was without water till sun-set, but fortunately the weather was not hot or we should have suffered severely. On the sixth of February, we returned towards the west: at the distance of three miles W.S.W., we crossed the rivulet, and it was not till we had gone nine miles further that we encamped upon a sandy soil, very hard and covered with forage. I had remarked on the banks of the rivulet the _zizyphus lotus_; here we found only the _balanites ægyptiaca_. People were again sent to the lake for water; it was very scarce in the camp on account of the distance; there was often not enough for cooking the meals.