worst of all, my beautiful gold repeater lay at some
distance from me, rendered entirely useless. I was
as nearly naked as I could be; a few rags held together,
but my shirt was gone, with the exception of
some shreds that adhered to my arms. I was, of
course, streaming with blood, and looked much more
as though I had been clawed by a leopard, than as
having simply charged a bush. The camel had fallen
down with the shock after I had been swept off
by the thorny branches. To this day I have the
marks of the scratching.
Unless a riding-camel is perfectly trained, it is
the most tiresome animal to ride after the first
.green leaves appear; every bush tempts it from the
path, and it is a perpetual fight between the rider
and his beast throughout the journey.
We shortly halted for the night, as I had noticed
unmistakable signs of an approaching storm. We
quickly pitched the tents, grubbed up the root and
stem of a decayed mimosa, and lighted a fire, by
the side of which our people sat in a circle. Hardly
had the pile begun to blaze, when a cry from
Mahomet’s new relative, Achmet, informed us that he
had been bitten by a scorpion. Mahomet appeared
to think this highly entertaining, until suddenly
he screamed out likewise, and springing from the
ground, he began to stamp and wring his hands in
great agony : he had himself been bitten, and we
found that a whole nest of scorpions were in the
rotten wood lately thrown upon the fire ; in their
flight from the heat they stung all whom they met.
There was no time to prepare food; the thunder
already roared above us, .and in a few minutes the
sky, lately so clear, was as black as ink. I had
already prepared for the storm, and the baggage
was piled within the ten t; the ropes of the tents
had been left slack to allow for the contraction,
and we were ready for the rain. It was fortunate
that we were in order; a rain descended with an
accompaniment of thunder and lightning, of a
volume unknown to the inhabitants of cooler climates
; for several hours there was almost an uninterrupted
roar of the most deafening peals, with
lightning so vivid that our tent was completely
lighted - up in the darkness of the night, and its
misery displayed. Not only was the rain pouring
through the roof so that we were wet through as
we crouched upon our angareps (stretchers), but the
legs of our bedstead stood in more than six inches
of water. Being as wet as I could be, I resolved
to enjoy the scene outside the tent; it was curious
in the extreme. Flash after flash of sharp forked
lightning played upon the surface of a boundless
lake ; there was not a foot of land visible, but the
numerous dark bushes projecting from the surface
of the water destroyed the illusion of depth that
the scene would otherwise have suggested. The
rain ceased, but the entire country was flooded
several inches deep, and when the more distant
lightning flashed as the storm rolled away, I saw