Flatter's expedition moved southwards from Temassinin (today Bordj Omar Driss) and soon followed the plain between the dune area of Erg Issaouane and the Tassili n'Ajjer mountains to the southeast.

The first Flatters expedition left Biskra early in February 1880 and travelled south by Touggourt, Ouargla, Aïn-el-Taïba and Temassinin.

A small island in it was frequented by snipe, herons, and other semi-aquatic birds; and many fish were observed in its waters, including Clarias lazera, Cuv.

This latter circumstance, added to the fact of the temperature rapidly diminishing from the sides, and the assurance of the Tuaregs that the lake was never dry, though of varying size according to season, led the author to the conclusion that there is a permanent source of supply; otherwise it would probably be classed with the neighbouring temporary lakes (Saghen) found north of Tajenout, on Duveyrier's route from Ghadames to Rhat.

[3] The French explorer Gaston Méry visited the lake in 1893 after a long period of drought, and found it completely dry.

This was in a rainy period, and the rains in the preceding weeks had overwhelmed the wadis and turned the plain into a vast swamp.

[7] Attanoux could not approach the lake very closely, and set up his camp a few kilometers to the southwest at the mouth of the Wadi Timatouiet.