SKIRTING THE DESERT 
505 
We then came to a belt of desert, absolutely barren, the 
ground being a hard, level plain of a variety of brown 
colours, crossed by low dunes of yellow sand, that looked 
like logs of wood lying on the earth. Many small pebbles 
were scattered over the plain. During this day’s march 
we came across the first traces of the wild camel ; at least 
Yollchi said it was a wild camel, but I was not at all sure 
of it. Further on the camel-tracks became numerous. 
But, on the other side of the argument, it was not very 
likely that tame camels would have run away into the 
desert by themselves. We also observed the droppings 
and footmarks of horses ; and Yollchi swore that the wild 
horse ranged that part of the desert. On the top of one 
of these dunes I halted a moment, in order to observe 
through my field-glass a troop of animals grazing on a bed 
of reeds a long way off towards the north. But before 
I could make out whether they were horses or antelopes, 
they disappeared, going off northwards. The dry grey clay 
was built up into small terraces and ridges, so strangely 
like the grey clay houses in the towns, that I could not 
rest until I went and examined them at close quarters. 
That day the dogs were very restless, and several times 
went off a long way from the caravan. Once they were 
absent a quarter of an hour, and when they came back, 
they were wet underneath. Evidently they had dis- 
covered water somewhere. After going about 11 ^ miles 
we stumbled by chance upon a pool. I bade Kasim try 
what it tasted like. “Sweet as honey,” he replied after 
swallowing a good mouthful. The consequence was, that 
we pitched the tent and made our camp by the side of the 
pool. Men, dogs, sheep, poultry,— all hastened to quench 
their thirst; and as the day had been hot, we were all 
properly thirsty. The water was as clear as crystal and 
perfectly sweet, and bubbled up out of a spring, afterwards 
running into a hollow of the ground some eighty or ninety 
yards long by about four wide ; so that the water stood at 
about the same general level below the surface that it did 
in the wells we had dug. All the same, it was not more 
than four feet down. The temperature was 7^°4 F^hr. 
