MEHEMED ALl'S SLAVE -HUNTS. 323 wretches cannot possibly proceed any further, ten or twenty of them are bound by the hand vrith a rope, the one end of which is attached to the saddle-bow of a camel, and thus those who are half dead are dragged onwards; even if one of them happen to sink no mercy is shown, but the fallen man is trailed along the ground and not liberated, even should he breathe his last, before his arrival at the stated place of rest. Before the caravan halts there is no idea of offering any refreshment whatever in the way of food to the exhausted ; the heartless Turk feels no compassion, knows no pity ; even if a drop of water might revive a weary wretch, none is given him—no, he may perish from want.

When the caravan reaches the place of rest, those who have been dragged along are liberated ; whilst the dead and the exhausted are thrown without mercy on the sand, and the latter left to their fate. No prayers, no entreaties can soften the obdurate hearts of their torturers. They do not even allow a wife to take leave of her husband, or a child to press the parting kiss upon the lips of its expiring parent. No one is permitted to approach these unfortunate wretches,—they are given over to their fate. Not even as much as a piece of bread, or a drop of Mater is left behind for them. The discarded wretch is given up to his doom to linger out his existence, add to which the misery of the full consciousness of certain death. In six or fourteen days, the transport reaches Lobeid, and it is no won-