42 
The rest of the day was spent in vainly searching for the lost 
camel ; at night we were again the guests of the hospitable Arabs. 
I noticed several pairs of bushchats {Saxicola pldlophthanma) 
which, from being unmolested, had learnt to hop among the Arab 
tents, feeding upon what they found among the small stones, etc. 
iN'ext morning, to add to our misfortune, the mules had departed. 
The intolerable stupidity of the Arabs, in not tying their beasts, is 
beyond belief. When at length the mules were recovered, the 
wind was so strong we could hardly mount them. We now began 
to pass through a vast plain, slightly undulating, interspersed with 
dayats, each a mile, or half-a-mile apart. I saw many birds which 
I did not know, but wm could not stop after them. I shot one 
small bird not unlike a white-throat, which, I have no doubt, was 
a spectacled warbler {Sylvia conspidllata.) I have the following 
note of it in my pocket-book — “ Spectacled warbler, with the 
spectacle faint, and a blush of pink on the breast— eye the colour 
of a white-throat’s.” Nearly every terebinth, of any size, carried 
several nests, and the smaller trees were occupied in like 
proportion. I may here give Dr. Tristram’s definition of a daijat. 
“ An unimprovable oasis, in which there is no constant supply of 
water to be found at any depth.” About noon we came to water j 
it w'as dirty, but drinkable : a gazelle quitted it as wo approached. 
We often saw these graceful animals, but they were very wild. As 
we rode along, the desert-horned lark {Otocorys hilopha) ran before 
us like a little plover. Two birds, which I do not doubt were 
cream-coloured coursers, [Cursor ius isahellinns,) flew before our 
mules, and I twice saw, what (unless I am greatly mistaken) was a 
benighted wryneck, [Yunx torquilla,) crouching upon the arid 
plain. 
That night we were forced to sleep out again in the open air. 
The Arabs kindled a fire, but it was bitterly cold. The wind had 
got up during the day, and I had only a thin burnous, (for my 
wraps were on the camel.) At 9 p.m. it rained in toiTcnts — of 
course our fire was speedily extinguished. The wind now howled 
over the Sahara. Vivid lightning shot across the sky, accom- 
panied by loud peals of thunder. In vain we shifted to the other 
side of the bush. Everything was a complete sop. W e were in 
the saddle again before daybreak, but my wet burnous hung on 
me like a dead weight. Some enormous griffon vultures were 
