med which way it led out of these hills.

The sun having risen, and the photograph of Sahib Chah shelter duly
taken, we proceeded to catch up the camels, but a few yards from the
shelter all signs of the track ceased, and even the footprints of my
camels had been absolutely obliterated by the high wind of the morning.
To the east-south-east were rather high rocky hills and two passes, one
going round to the north-north-east (which apparently would take us away
from our direction), and another east-south-east, which seemed more
likely to be the right one. To mislead us more we saw what we believed to
be faint camel tracks smothered in sand in this direction, so on we went,
sinking in fine sand, which kept filling our shoes and made walking most
uncomfortable.

I climbed to the top of the rocky hill to reconnoitre, but higher hills
stood all round barring the view, and I was none the wiser. On we
went--certain that we were going wrong, but unable to find where the
track was. Among hundreds of sand hills, dunes, and high parallel hill
ranges it was not easy to discover it.

There were flat stretches of sand and parallel dunes several hundred feet
high stretching from north by north-west to south by south-east, and as I
knew the way must be east we had to go over them, down on the other side,
only to be confronted with others before us like the waves of a stormy
sea.

The sun was scorching, and when the sand got hot, too, walking was most
unpleasant. When we were not on sand while ascending the hill slopes and
tops we were on cutting shale. Sadek, who had not yet recovered from his
previous night's experience at Sahib Chah, was still sick, and with the
extra exertion somehow or other lost his head altogether.

After having gone up and down, I should not like to say how many times,
we were confronted by a flat valley to the south-west and more mountains
to be crossed in the direction we were going, to the north-east. Sadek
thereupon maintained that the track must perforce be along the valley, to
which I would not agree, and I insisted on keeping east, which I knew
would bring us right in the end. As we climbed hill after hill, Sadek
dragged himself behind me with a discontented face, every few minutes
glancing back at the distant flat valley to the south-west, to which he
pointed, sighing: "Good master, that's road!"

But up and down we continued, away from it, eastwards, range after range
of hills being left behind an