MOHAMMED OVERTAKES US. 409 herb-tea to the stomach. Our provisions soon felt the effects of this continual dry heat. Dates became as pebbles of jasper, and when I asked my servant for bread, he gave me a stone.

As we were journeying along over the plain, we spied a man on a camel trotting behind us, and in half an hour, lo ! Mohammed the guide. The old scamp came up with a younger brother behind him, whom he had brought without asking permission, and without bringing food for him. This made eight persons I was obliged to feed, and as our bread and meat were only calculated for six, I put them on allowance. Mohammed had his hair newly plaited and covered with a layer of mutton-fat, a quarter of an inch thick. I saw very little of the vaunted temperance of the Arabs. True, they will live on dates — when they can get nothing else ; and they will go without water for a day — when they have none.

I found a quart of water daily amply sufficient for my own needs, notwithstanding the great heat we endured ; but I do not think one of the men drank less than a gallon in the same time, and as for their eating, Achmet frequently declared that they would finish a whole sheep before getting to "el hamdu lillah ! " — the usual Arabic grace after meat.

Towards sunset we reached an open space of ground which had not been touched since the rains of the previous summer.

The soil had been washed smooth and then dried away in the sun, leaving a thin, cracked crust, like that which frequently forms after a light snow-fall. Our camel's feet broke through at every step, making the only trails which crossed it, except those of gazelles and vultures. Achmet was about to pitch my tent near some snaky-looking holes, but I had it moved to a clearer spot. I slept without interruption, but in the morn-18