394 ADDITIONAL PHENOMENA OF NATURAL MAGIC. 



is parallel with the great desert on the eastern side, the 

 scene of the wanderings of the Israelites, says : " Generally 

 speaking, in a desert there are few springs of water: 

 some of them at the distance of four, six, and eight days' 

 journey from one another, and not all of sweet water : 

 on the contrary, it is generally salt or bitter, so that if 

 the thirsty traveller drinks it, it increases his thirst, and 

 he suffers more than before. But when the calamity 

 happens that when the next well, which is so anxiously 

 sought for, is found dry, the misery of such a situation 

 cannot be well described. The camels, which afford the 

 only means of escape, are so thirsty that they cannot 

 proceed to another well ; and if the travellers kill them, 

 to extract the little liquid which remains in their 

 stomachs, they themselves cannot advance any further. 

 The situation must be dreadful, and admits of no resource. 

 Many perish victims of the most horrible thirst. It is 

 then that the value of a cup of water is really felt. He 

 that has a zenzabra of it is the richest of all. In such 

 a case there is no distinction. If the master has none 

 the servant will not give it to him ; for very few are the 

 instances where a man will voluntarily lose his life to 

 save that of another, particularly in a caravan in the 

 desert, where people are strangers to each other. What a 

 situation for a man, though a rich one, perhaps the 

 owner of all the caravans! He is dying for a cup of 

 water no one gives it to him : he offers all he possesses 

 no one hears him : they are all dying though by 

 walking a. few hours further they might be saved. If the 

 camels are lying down, and cannot be made to rise, no 

 one has strength to walk. Only he that has a glass of 

 that precious liquor lives to walk a mile further, and 

 perhaps dies too. * * * In short, to be thirsty in the 

 desert without water, exposed to the burning sun without 

 shelter, and no hopes of finding either, is the most 



