ZAARA, ZAPARA, or SAHARA, a barren and desert country of Africa, stretches itself from the Atlantic Ocean on the west, to the desert of Barca and Nubia on the east; that is, from the eighth degree of west to the twenty-sixth of east longitude; and from Biledulgerid on the north to Negroland on the south; or from the fifteenth degree of latitude quite to the tropic of Cancer, and even beyond; so that it will be about 400 or 500 miles in breadth, from north to south; and above 1500 in length, from east to west. The river Niger is its boundary to the south. It was known to the ancients by the name of Libya Interior, or Libya Deserta; and is supposed to have been then inhabited by the Geuli. At present it is mostly inhabited by Arabs, who, for the generality, are an ignorant, brutish, and savage people, who lead a wandering life, and live chiefly on the milk of their flocks, with a little barley-meal, and some dates. The poorer sort go naked, except the females, who commonly wrap a clout about their middle, and wear a kind of bonnet on their head; but the wealthier sort have a kind of loose gown, made of blue callicoe, with large sleeves, that is brought them from Negroland. Both sexes are very swarthy; the men tall and thin, but the women fat and lusty. When they move from one place to another for fresh pasture, water, or prey, most of them ride on camels, which have generally a sort of saddle between the bunch and the neck, with a string or strap run through their nostrils, which serves for a bridle; and instead of spurs they use a sharp bodkin. Their tents or huts are covered with a coarse stuff, made of camels hair, and a kind of wool or moss that grows on the palm trees. These Arabs live here under the government of their sheiks
or cheyks, as in Arabia, Egypt, and other places. Besides these Arabs, there is a people here who live in settled habitations, and are more civil and hospitable, carrying on a kind of commerce with strangers. The religion of both is a kind of Mohammedism.