ON REAR-GUARD. 195 any stragglers whatever behind. Often several camels were lying about at the same time, minus their burdens, and sometimes minus their drivers. When one had been set on its legs and flogged along, another would break down, and by the time he was in marching order again, the first's load would come off, and necessitate another three minutes' halt before he could proceed. Meanwhile the column was out of sight, and i was only to be halted by sound of the bugle till we came up with it. It was an aggravating duty in the extreme. We were very lucky in having a moon at all to guide us ; but still it was hard to see any distance through the bushes. Trees, stones, camels, grass, and men were all the same light-grey colour in the moonlight, with intensely black shadows, and the column moving over the soft ground made no noise whatever.

As night went on, it got, as usual, bitterly cold. By three o'clock twenty-three dying camels had been left behind ; all the spare ones had long ago been used up, and yet the brutes kept on dropping. Till now the saddles and loads of the derelicts had been packed on other camels ; but now there were none left strong o 2