THE CARAVAN. 141 



without pause is fatiguing to the rider, yet, ex- 

 cept with light dromedaries, experience is in 

 favor of the practice. To halt without unload- 

 ing the camels would afford them no relief, but 

 fatigue them the more by practically lengthening 

 their day's work ; and if they are unloaded and 

 allowed to wander in search of food, the time 

 lost in collecting them and rearranging their bur- 

 dens would bring the caravan too late to the 

 camping-ground. Where, however, the party, 

 as is the case with military expeditions of a few 

 days' length, is unaccompanied by burden cam- 

 els, and the dromedaries are loaded with only 

 the equipage, water, and provisions of their 

 riders, the hours of travel and repose can, with- 

 out inconvenience, be arranged and varied to suit 

 the exigencies of the occasion. 



The following account of the organization of 

 a caravan, and the every-day incidents of desert 

 travel, is introduced from the unpublished jour- 

 nal, before referred to, not as possessing special 

 merit, but as containing some useful hints for 

 persons about to undertake excursions of that 

 character. 



" If you have well and diligently perused and 

 digested my first number, reader, you are now 

 possessed of some tithe of my painfully gathered 

 stock of learning concerning the camel, and if you 

 will go along with me in my somewhat devious 

 9 



