210 
A DESERT STORM. 
frontiers of Aheer. It is true that we were pro- 
mised no town, no village, not even visible land- 
marks ; above all, no custom-house officers to sug- 
gest the blessings of civilisation. There was, in truth, 
some idea that very indefinite dues might be exacted 
of us during our progress through the northern dis- 
tricts of the Asben territory. Still it was a comfort 
to get at last within the limits of the influence of 
a form of polity, however rude. 
Whilst we were indulging in these reflections, 
there came on a regular desert-storm. A vault 
of clouds, like huge irregular rocks, was soon 
heaped up overhead. The thunder roared from 
side to side of the horizon. The lightning flashed,, 
sometimes above, sometimes between the isolated 
hills, showing them like long black tents pitched 
here and there on the plain. Our beasts moved 
eagerly on ; and their drivers, though accustomed 
to such phenomena, were hushed into awe. The 
tempest did not last many minutes ; but it was 
accompanied by wind so violent that we could 
scarcely preserve our seats in the saddles, and 
finished off with so violent a shower of rain that we 
got quite wet through almost in an instant. This 
is a fair warning that we are really within the 
tropics. 
We made fourteen hours that day, and felt 
dreadfully exhausted on arriving at the place where 
we expected to encamp for the night. In two 
hours, however, the Kailouees came and told us that 
