THE CONDUCT OF DESERT MARCHES. 403 



the features of the country, at considerable distances, 

 almost as readily as by day. Even good-sized print is 

 sometimes quite legible. * 



Count D'Escayrac de Lauture states that on these 

 occasions he used to set out upon his journey about 

 3 o'clock in the afternoon, that being the hour after 

 which the heat begins to decline, and he continued 

 his march until the setting of the moon, f He then 

 encamped for the remainder of the night, and the 

 camels were fed on grain, or if there was grass, could 

 graze during the early hours of the morning. Then, 

 an hour and a half before sunrise, or thereabouts, the 

 order was again given to load the camels and resume 

 the march until about midday. These questions as 

 to the conduct of marches, however, depend on a num- 

 ber of technical considerations; here therefore it will be 

 sufficient to note that the longer the moonlight lasted 

 by night, the less the count travelled by day. In this 

 way he was able to make his passage with the 

 maximum of speed and the minimum of suffering both 

 to the men and animals. In crossing extensive tracts 

 of waterless desert where the grim spectre of thirst is 

 always hovering over the party, it must of course be 

 obvious that circumstances will not admit of delay. 

 The weight of water is very great, every gallon of it 

 weighing ten pounds, without allowing for the weight of 

 the water vessels; the amount that can be carried is, 

 therefore, but limited, and it is essential to reach water 

 before the stock of the precious fluid becomes exhausted. 



The daily progress of a caravan is but slow, the 



* Dr. Earth, Travels in Northern Africa, Vol. i, 1857, p. 310. 

 j- Le Desert et Le Soudan, par M. le Comte D'Escayrac de Lauture, 

 Paris, 1853, p. 617. 

 Ibid., p. 619. 



