380 SHIPWRECK OF THE MEDtTiJA. 
of it, but found it as salt as the sea. Mr. Garnet desired us to 
have patience and we should find some at the place where 
our caravan waited. We forded that river knee-deep. At last, 
having walked about an hour, we rejoined our companions, 
who had found several wells of fresh water. It was resolved 
to pass the night in this place, which seemed less arid than 
any we saw near us. The soldiers being requested to go and 
seek wood to light a fire for the purpose of frightening the fe- 
rocious beasts which were heard roaring around us, refused ; 
but Mr. Garnet assured us that the Moors Avho were with 
him knew well how to keep all such intruders from our 
camp. In truth, during the whole of the night, these good 
Arabs promenaded round our caravan, uttering cries at inter- 
vals like those which we had heard in the camp of the gene- 
rous Amet. 
We passed a very good night, and at four in the morning 
continued our route along the shore. Mr. Garnet left us to 
endeavor to procure some provisions. Till then our asses 
had been quite docile ; but, annoyed with their riders so long 
upon their backs, they refused to go forward. A fit took pos- 
session of them, and all at the same instant threw their riders 
on the ground or among the bushes. The Moors, however, 
who accompanied us, assisted to catch our capricious ani- 
mals, who had nearl}^ scampered off, and replaced us on the 
hard backs of these head-strong creatures. At noon, the heat 
became so violent that even the Moors themselves bore it 
with difficulty. We then determined on finding some shade 
behind the high mounds of sand Avhich appeared in the inte- 
rior ; but how were we to reach them ? The sands could not 
be hotter. We had been obliged to leave our asses on the 
shore, for they would neither advance nor recede. The great- 
er part of us had neither shoes nor hats; notwithstanding, we 
were obliged to go forward almost a long league to find a lit- 
tle shade. The heat reflected by the sands of the desert could 
be compared to nothing but the mouth of an oven at the mo- 
ment of drawing out the bread; nevertheless, we endured it, 
but not without cursing those who had been the occasion of 
all our misfortunes. Arrived behind the heights for which 
we searched, we stretched ourselves under the mimosa gum- 
tree (the acacia of the Desert:) several broke branches from 
the asclepias (swallow-wort) and made themselves a shade. 
But, whether from want of air, or the heat of the ground 
on which we Avere seated, we were nearly all suffocated. 
I thought my last hour was come. Already my eyes 
