A LIFE-SAVING SLEEP 



103 



stiff blades, with points as sharp as needles, and was on this 

 account avoided by the men, whilst the cattle scarcely cared to 

 eat it. The spot was so strewn with rubbish that the men had 

 to clear it before we could pitch our tents, and it was pretty 

 evident that the raiding party mentioned above had been here 

 before us. They had set up little crescents of stones, behind 

 each of which two or three men could get shelter and protec- 



A HARD RESTING-PLACE FOR THE NIGHT. 



tion from the dust-laden east wind ; a capital plan in a sandy 

 district such as this. 



Looking up the valley at the outlet of which we were 

 camped, we obtained a nearer view of the surrounding mountain . 

 district, which presented a terrible chaos of yawning chasms 

 and ravines, with perpendicular brownish-black precipices, the 

 general character and trend of which led us to suppose them 

 to be a continuation of the same fissure as that in which our 

 progress had been arrested during our march along the western 



