rame of his saddle. He had
fastened the two largest skins we had with our supply of good water on
the top of his saddle, and having covered them over with blankets and
carpets, on them, he sat and slept through the whole night. Alas! the
weight of his body burst both skins during the night and squeezed all the
water out!

So here we were, with only two small skins of fresh water left, which
would have to last the whole party several days. But we were to have a
further misfortune on the following march.

The heat was intense--146 deg. in the sun--not an inch of shade in the middle
of the day, and the river-bed being cut into the plain, and therefore
lower than the surface of the remainder of the desert, the lack of a
current of air made this spot quite suffocating; so much so that both
camels and men were getting quite overcome by the heat, and we had to
start off early in the afternoon at 4 o'clock.

CHAPTER VII

Fortress-like cliffs--A long troublesome march--Sixteen hours on
the saddle--All our fresh-water supply gone!--Fever--Electricity
of the desert--Troublesome camel men--A small oasis--An ancient
battered tower--A giant--Naiband mountain and village--Rock
habitations--A landmark in the desert.

Fortress-like, vertical rocky cliffs rose to our left and enormous
boulders tumbled down to our right. Our direction was due north. On our
right, as we were again entering the flat desert, a quadrangular fort of
natural formation stood on the mountain-side.

We did not halt for dinner as we could find no fuel to do the cooking
with, and we marched all night (November 15th)--a most painful march, for
the camels were all more or less sick and tired, and they dragged
themselves jerkily, grunting and making the most awful noises all night.

My fever got very bad and I was seized with bad pains in my ribs and
spine. Sadek and the camel men complained of feeling very ill, and the
cats remonstrated from their high perch at not being let out of their box
at the customary hour. To add to our happiness, one of my camels,
carrying some air-tight cases with sharp brass corners, collided with
the camel conveying the precious load of the two remaining water-skins
which hung on its sides, and, of course, as fate would have it, the brass
corners wrenched the skin and out flowed every drop of water, which was
avidly absorbed by the dry sand.

[Illustration: The Trail we left behind in the Salt Dese