156 
ADVENTURE OF DR. EARTH. 
gone to Ghat. We now calculated that our com- 
panion had been twenty-four hours without a drop 
of water, a gale of hot wind blowing all the time! 
Dr. Overweg proposed to me that we should offer 
a considerable reward, as the" last effort. He 
mentioned twenty, but I increased the sum to 
fifty dollars. This set them all to work, and a 
Tuarick with a maharee volunteered to search. 
I found it necessary, however, to give him two 
dollars for going, besides the proffered reward ; 
he left at two p.m., and all the people were sent off 
by Hateetah a couple of hours after him. 
This was a dreadfully exciting day. I confess, 
that as the afternoon wore on I had given up nearly 
all hope, and continued the search merely as a mat- 
ter of duty. Few will be able to imagine the an- 
guish of losing a friend under such circumstances 
in the wide desert, where you may for ever remain 
uncertain how he came by his death, whether by the 
spear of a bandit, the claws of a wild beast, or by 
that still more deadly enemy, thirst. Just before 
sunset I was preparing fresh fires as a last resort, 
when I saw one of our blacks, the little Mahadee, 
running eagerly towards the encampment. Good 
news was in his very step. I hastened to meet him. 
He brought the joyful intelligence that Dr. Barth 
had been found, still alive, and even able to speak ! 
The Tuarick whom I had despatched, in scouring 
the country with his maharee, had found him about 
eight miles from the camp, lying on the ground, 
