h wanderer over the sandy plains of
the Saara.

He was allowed but scant time to philosophise upon these ethnological
phenomena. As the _douar_ became stirred into general activity, he,
along with his two companions, was rudely startled from his attitude of
observation, and ordered to take a share in the toils of the captors.

At an earlier hour, and still more rudely, had Sailor Bill received the
commands of his master; who, as the first rays of the Aurora began to
dapple the horizon, had ordered the old man-o'-war's-man to his feet, at
the same time administering to him a cruel kick, that came very near
shivering some of his stern timbers.

Had the black sheik been acquainted with the English language, as spoken
in Ratcliff Highway, he would have better understood Sailor Bill's reply
to his rude matutinal salutation; which, along with several not very
complimentary wishes, ended by devoting the "nayger's" eyes to eternal
perdition.

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.

AN OBSTINATE DROMEDARY.

The morning meal was eaten as soon as prepared. Its scantiness
surprised our adventurers. Even the more distinguished individuals of
the horde partook of only a very small quantity of milk, or sangleh.
The two sheiks alone got anything like what might have been deemed an
ordinary breakfast; while the more common class, as the half-breeds,
_hassanes_; and the negro slaves had to content themselves with less
than a pint of sour milk to each, half of which was water, the mixture
denominated _cheni_.

Could this meal be meant for breakfast? Harry Blount and Terence
thought not. But Colin corrected them, by alleging that it was. He had
read of the wonderful abstemiousness of these children of the desert;
how they can live on a single meal a day, and this scarce sufficient to
sustain life in a child of six years old; that is, an English child.
Often will they go for several successive days without eating; and when
they do eat regularly, a drink of milk is all they require to satisfy
hunger.

Colin was right. It was their ordinary breakfast. He might have added,
their dinner too; for they would not likely obtain another morsel of
food before sundown.

But where was the breakfast of Colin and his fellow-captives? This was
the question that interested them far more than the dietary of the
Bedouins. They were all hungering like hyenas, and yet no one seemed to
think of them, no one offered them either bite or sup. Filthy as w