11^ INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF WATER. 
of his camels that Sidi- Aly came and mixed our beverage with- 
out washing his hands ; if by chance he did wash them, he 
gave the water he had used for this purpose to his poor slave 
to drink! I cannot describe the horror and disgust which I felt 
at this man's contempt for his fellow-creatures. 
At five o'clock in the afternoon, we pursued our course 
towards the north ; at ten we stopped for prayer, and having 
discharged this pious duty, we received a ration of water, very 
insufficient however to quench our thirst ; for the further we 
advanced into the desert, the more intense became the heat. 
In the night I was almost consumed with thirst ; but I could 
get no water. I doubled myself up upon my camel, whose 
motion lulled me and made me feel drowsy^ but I could get 
no sleep. 
On the 22d of May, at nine in the morning, the caravan 
halted ; we were all exhausted by thirst ; the east wind was 
hotter than ever, and our water was rapidly diminishing, for 
the wind caused a great evaporation by drying the skins ; 
and a great deal of water filtered through the pores. As I 
lay on the sand, I ruminated on the possibility of alleviating 
the horrors of our condition ; I desired Sidi- Aly to buy two 
or three more skins if any could be found, and I gave him 
for this purpose some goods which I had received from 
the Moors of Timbuctoo. He replied that nobody would sell 
them at any price ; which I believed, but I suffered too much 
not to insist upon making the experiment. He then pro- 
posed to send one of the men belonging to the caravans to 
the nearest wells which he said was the best way of getting 
w^ater to make sangleh to recruit our exhausted strength. I 
thought this a good plan, and agreed to it with pleasure; but 
Sidi-Aly, who was not the most scrupulous of Musulmans, 
never made the least inquiry for such a person; he took into 
his own possession what 1 had given him to pay the messen- 
ger, and sent his son to the well. This he would have done 
