THE CAMP OF DEATH 
563 
I had not tasted a drop of water. But suffering the 
extreme tortures of thirst, I ventured to swallow about 
a tumblerful of the horrible and abominable concoction 
which the Chinese call brandy, stuff that we carried to 
burn in our Primus cooking-stove. It burned my throat 
like oil of vitriol. Yet what of that? It was at any 
rate liquid, and so calculated to maintain the moisture of 
my body. When Yolldash saw me drinking, he came 
running up, wagging his tail. But when I showed him 
it was not water, he slunk away downcast, and whining. 
Fortunately the men refused to touch the liquor. After- 
wards I hurled the bottle with loathing into the side of 
a dune. 
However in the meantime my strength left me, and as 
the caravan slowly struggled on, ever towards the east, 
my legs failed and refused to carry me further. In the 
still atmosphere the funereal camels’ bells rang out clearer 
than ever before. We had left three graves behind us. 
How many more were we destined to leave by the side 
of our track ? The funeral procession was rapidly ap- 
proaching the churchyard. 
Islam Bai w'ent on first, compass in hand. The five 
camels were led by Mohammed Shah and Kasim, Yollchi 
followed close behind the last camel and urged on the 
string. Dead tired and tortured by a consuming thirst, 
I staggered on a long way behind in the rear of the 
caravan. Down they went out of sight behind each 
sand-hill in turn ; then up they mounted again to the 
crest of the next after it. The echo of the camels’ bells 
sounded fainter and fainter, and at longer and longer 
intervals, until at last they died away in the distance. 
I dragged myself on a few steps further ; then I fell 
again. I scrambled up, reeled on a short distance, and 
once more fell. This was repeated time after time. I 
could no longer hear the sound of the camels’ bells. 
A dead silence reifjned all round me. But the caravan 
had left its trail behind. This I stuck to like grim death, 
all the time steadily counting my heavy, dragging foot- 
steps. At length, from the summit of a dune, I once 
