The streets are very narrow, and the houses are built of mud and small stones mixed, many of them having a story above the ground-floor.

A small court is open in the centre, and the doors, which open from this area, give the only light which the rooms receive.

The water of Sockna is almost all brackish or bitter.

There are 200,000 date trees in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, which pay duty; also an equal number, not yet come into bearing, which are exempt.

These dates grow in a belt of sand, at about two or three miles distant from the town, and are of a quality far superior to any produced in the north of Africa.
Owing to their excellence, they are sold at a very high price at Tripoli.