for stowage on the camels' backs. Even the sheikh's
wife and daughters performed their part, with our assistance. The men
were in the meantime bringing in the baggage camels--which, kneeling
down, were rapidly loaded.

We marched much as we had been accustomed to do with Sheikh Hamed's
tribe: a strong guard of armed men brought up the rear, scouts were sent
out on our flanks, and another body, with which the sheikh generally
rode, went ahead,--the whole covering the plain for an immense distance.
There must have been three thousand camels, at the least, with several
thousand sheep and goats, and a considerable number of horses and asses.
Thus we moved forward day after day towards the north-east; not in a
direct line, however, for we had frequently to make detours to reach
wells or water-holes, or spots where water could be obtained by digging.
Sometimes, too, we had to push across sandy regions in which not a drop
of water could be found. On such occasions the poor animals, with the
exception of the camels, suffered greatly; and even they became sensibly
weakened, while we ourselves suffered greatly, from the want of water.

We were allowed to ride on camels, but were otherwise--with the
exception of Boxall--treated as slaves. I was allotted to the sheikh's
wife, who proved a very imperious mistress. Ben had been claimed by a
relation of the sheikh, the owner of a camel of the celebrated Bu Saef
breed, noted for its speed, which it was his especial duty to tend;
while Halliday and Selim became the property of other principal men
related to the sheikh. Boxall, in his character of a doctor, belonged
to the sheikh, though he was allowed to practise among all in the camp
who claimed his services. My condition, from being able to act as
interpreter, was better than it might otherwise have been; and I often
blessed my old friend Andrew Spurling for having incited me to study
Arabic. Boxall, however, confessed to me that he was on dangerous
ground. Had he possessed a stock of simple medicines with the
properties of which he was well acquainted, he believed he might have
been the means of alleviating the sufferings of many; but he was well
aware that if any patient should die to whom he had given a draught, he
would be accused of murdering him, and in all probability be put to
death. He had therefore to confine his skill to bruises, wounds, or
broken limbs, which he invariably treated with the cold-water system
when