among my companions. One can hardly
conceive how disagreeable this leaven was to the taste. The water with
which it was mixed had been procured upon the sea-shore, and had been
preserved afterwards in the skin of a goat newly killed. To prevent it
from corrupting, they had mixed a kind of pitch with it, which rendered
the smell of it doubly noxious. The same water was given us to drink,
and, bad as it was, our allowance of it was extremely small.

The Arab whom I had struck, observing that I was complaining, gave me
the remainder of his broth, and told me that to-morrow we should eat the
goat that had been killed for us. This he made me understand by signs. I
informed him, partly by signs and partly by words, how much I was
surprised to have found these provisions. He took the same method of
telling me, that the guide, who went before us, had procured them for us
from a village in the country, and that he had concealed them under
ground, to keep them from the sight of the Moors, in case they should
pass that way. These particulars surprised me, though I confess, it was
still more astonishing to me, to find the resentment of this Arab turned
into acts of kindness and complaisance. Our repast being ended, each of
us lay down to sleep behind a bush.

At break of day, we heard the voice of our masters, ordering us to
gather together the camels and load them. After doing as desired, we
pursued our journey, carrying with us the small remainder of our
provisions. It was nearly mid-day when we stopped in a great plain,
where we did not find so much as a single tree to screen us from the
sun, which darted right upon our heads. There we were employed in
unloading the camels, and in pulling up roots to make a fire, which was
a very painful operation, as all the trees, roots and herbs, were
thorny. When the fire had thoroughly heated the sand, the goat was
wholly covered with it; and we were employed in keeping fuel to the
fire, while our masters regaled themselves with the raw fat of the goat:
they appeared to consider this as a very great rarity. So soon as the
meat was baked, and withdrawn from the fire, our Arabians, without
allowing us time to clean it from the sand, devoured it with incredible
voracity. After having thoroughly gnawed the bones, they made use of
their nails for scraping off any flesh which remained upon them; they
then threw them to us, with orders to eat expeditiously, and reload our
camels, so that our jou