marches were pleasant enough; it was only the hour or two
before dawn when the heaviness of sleep troubled us; but just as we
began nodding, and felt in danger of falling off our camels, the keen
change in the temperature which freshens the desert in the early
morning braced us up, and, fully awake, we watched for the coming of
Venus. As she sailed across the heavens, she flooded the desert with a
warm, soft light, which in its luminosity equaled an English summer
moon, and shortly seemingly following her guidance, the great fiery
shield of the sun stood up from the horizon, and broad day swept over
the plain.

Toward the evening we found ourselves in a bowlder-strewn basin amid
rocky, sterile hills, evidently the offshoots and spurs of the
Jeb-el-Gharr, which stood out a purple serrated mass on our left, and
here we saw for the first time for many a month rain clouds piling up
above the rocky heights. Their tops, catching the rosy glow from the
declining sun, appeared in their quaint forms like loftier mountains
with their snowy summits all aglow. This was, indeed, a grateful sight
to us; the camels already pricked up their ears, for the smell of
moisture was in the air. We knew that the end of our waterless journey
was not far off; for where those clouds were discharging their
precious burdens the valley of Ariab lay. But many a weary ridge of
black rock and agaba must still be crossed before our goal was
reached.

We camped at six that evening till midnight, when we started on our
record march. Unfortunately at this time my filter gave out, owing to
the perishable nature of the rubber tubing; the remaining water in our
girbas was foul and nauseating from the strong flavor of the skins. I
resolved to try and hold out without touching the thick, greasy fluid,
and wait till the wells of Ariab were reached. As we advanced, the
signs of water became more and more apparent; the camel grass was
greener down by the roots, and mimosa and sunt trees flourished at
every few hundred yards. When morning came, for the first time we
heard the chirruping and piping of birds. The camels increased their
pace, and all became eager to reach our destination before the extreme
heat of the day. But pass after pass was traversed, and valley after
valley crossed, and yet the wadi of Ariab, with its cool, deep wells
of precious water, was still afar. It was not till past two o'clock in
the afternoon that a long, toilsome defile of rugged ro