residue to a brother Arab, with the hearty ejaculation,
“ El hambd el Illah ” (Thank God !).
My wife was seriously ill from the fatigue and intense
heat, but there can be no halt in the desert; dead
or alive, with the caravan you must travel, as the party
depends upon the supply of water. A few extracts
verbatim from my journal will describe the journey :—
“ May 20.—Started at 12.30 p .m . and halted at
6.30. Off again at 7.30 p .m . till 2.45 a .m . About four
miles from Moorahd, grey granite takes the place of
the volcanic slag and schist that formed the rocks to
that point. The desert is now a vast plain, bounded
by a range of rugged bills on the south. On the north
side of Moorahd, at a distance of about eight miles,
slate is met w ith; this continues for about three miles
of the route, but it is of impure quality, with the exception
of one vein, of a beautiful blue colour. A few
miserable stunted thorny mimosas are here to be seen
scattered irregularly, as though lost in this horrible
desert.
“Many years ago, when the Egyptian troops first
conquered Nubia, a regiment was destroyed by thirst
in crossing this desert. The men, being upon a limited
allowance of water, suffered from extreme thirst, and
deceived by the appearance of a mirage that exactly
resembled a beautiful lake, they insisted on being
taken to its banks by the Arab guide. It was in vain
that the guide assured them that the lake was unreal,
and he refused to lose the precious time by wandering
from his course. Words led to blows, and he was
c h a p . THE PERISHED REGIMENT. 13
killed by the soldiers, whose lives depended upon his
guidance. The whole regiment turned from the track
and rushed towards the welcome waters. Thirsty and
faint over the burning sands they hurried—heavier
and heavier their footsteps became:—hotter and hotter
their breath, as deeper they pushed into the desert
—farther and farther from the lost track where
the pilot lay in his blood; and still the mocking
spirits of the desert, the afreets of the mirage, led
them on, and the lake glistening in the sunshine
tempted them to bathe in its, cool waters, close to
their eyes but never at their lips. At length the
delusion vanished—the fatal lake had turned to
burning sand! Eaging thirst and horrible despair!
the pathless desert and the murdered guide ! lost!
lost! all lost! Not a man.ever left the desert, but
they were subsequently discovered, parched and
withered corpses, by the Arabs sent upon the search.
“May 21.—Started at 5.45 a .m . till 8.45 ; again, at
1.45 p .m . till 7 p .m . ; again, at 9.30 p .m ., till 4 A.M.
Saw two gazelles, the first living creatures, except the
crows at Moorahd, that we have seen since we left
Korosko; there must be a supply of water in the
mountains known only to these animals. Thermometer,
1 1 1 ° Fahr. in shade; at night, 78°. The
water in the leather bottle that I repaired is deliciously
cool. N.B.—In sewing leather bottles or skins for
holding water, no thread should be used, but a leathern
thong, which should be dry; it will then swell when
wetted, and the seam will be watertight.