586 
THROUGH ASIA 
of the day. Kasim dug out a hole immediately under 
the crest of the dune, going down till he came to the 
layers of sand that were still cool from the night-air. We 
took off every stitch of clothing and buried ourselves up to 
the neck in the sand. Then, putting up the spade, and 
hanging our clothes over it, we made a sort of screen to 
shelter our heads against the sun. And so we lay all 
day long, cool and comfortable ; sometimes indeed we 
were actually cold. But the sand gradually g-rew warm 
from the heat of our bodies and from the sun-saturated 
atmosphere. Then we crept out of our hole, and Kasim 
dug a fresh one, heaping the cool sand all over me. How 
delicious it was ! like a cold douche in the burning' sun- 
, O 
shine. We left nothing but our heads sticking out, and 
them we protected to some extent against sunstroke. One 
midge and two flies kept us company. But then they 
might have been blown by the wind from a great distance! 
Thus we lay buried alive in the eternal sand, uttering 
never a word, and yet not being able to sleep. We did 
not move until six o’clock in the evening; ; then we got out 
of our sand-bath, dressed, and continued our journey at 
a slow and heavy pace, for in all probability the dry sand- 
bath had weakened us. Nevertheless we stuck to it 
doggedly, although we had innumerable stoppages, pushing 
on eastwards, ever eastwards, until one o’clock next 
morning. Then, thoroughly wearied out, we lay down 
and went to sleep on the top of a dune. 
May 3rd. After a refreshing sleep we woke up at 
half-past four in the morning. We always travelled best 
just before sunrise, because, the air being then fresh, we 
were able to go long distances without stopping. That 
day our dying hopes once more revived, and our courage 
was rekindled. All of a sudden Kasim stopped short, 
gripped me by the shoulder, and with wildly staring eyes 
pointed towards the east, without uttering a word. I 
looked and looked in the direction towards which he 
pointed, but could see nothing unusual. But Kasim’s eagle 
eye had discovered on the verge of the horizon the green 
foliage of a tamarisk — the beacon upon which all our hopes 
