TheImprovement ofTropical and Subtropical Rangelands

PASTORAL REGIMES 0' MAURITANIA 221
FIGURE 1-1 Rigaiba' Lqacem of nor'hem Mauri'ania (after Bisson, 1963).
reserve wealth of the Inq, operate at great distances from the family
camp site. Most I,;q, also have a herd of sheep that is tended by
the older children at a short distance from the camp site, to which
they return twice each week to water the stock. It is quite common,
therefore, for a substantial number of people and animals to be away
from the Inq at any time, thus conveying a false impression of small
herds. This dispersal from and circulation around the actual tent
site is greatest during the winter months when pastures are better
and more widespread, but at all times the tent remains the focus of
the pastoral system, and periodic return trips are made to the Iriq to
water the stock. Thus, while the separate movements of the various
herds during winter and summer grazing complicate the pastoral
regime, they in no way detract from the essential regularity of the
seasonal well-to-desert pattern of movement.
The Tribee mSouthern MauritaDla
In the broad stretch of territory extending from the Adrar to
the lIOuthem border of Mauritania are found a number of different
types of nomadic adjustments. Camels, sheep, goats, and cattle are
all herded in this zone. Some tribes specialize in one animal, but
tribal herds more often contain a variety of species, the exact mix