274 
SHELTER UNDER A ROCK. 
passed over the supposed high, and perhaps snow- 
capped mountains of the interior. 
We were all now suffering greatly from the heat ; 
the man who was with me was quite exhausted : 
under the annoyances of the moment, his spirits 
failed him, and giving way to his feelings of fatigue 
and thirst, he lay rolling on the ground, and 
groaning in despair ; all my efforts to rouse him 
were for a long time in vain, and I could not even 
induce him to get up to boil a little tea for himself. 
We had halted about eleven in the midst of a low 
sandy flat, not far from the sea, thinking, that by 
a careful examination, we might find a place where 
water could be procured by digging. There were, 
however, no trees or bushes near us ; and the heat 
of the sun, and the glare of the sand, were so in- 
tolerable, that I was obliged to get up the horses, 
and compel the man to go on a little further to seek 
for shelter. 
Proceeding one mile towards the sea, we came to 
a projecting rock upon its shores; and as there was 
no hope of a better place being found, I tied up my 
horses near it ; the rock was not large enough to 
protect them entirely from’ the sun, but by standing 
close under it, their heads and necks were tolerably 
shaded. For ourselves, a recess of the rock afforded a 
delightful retreat, whilst the immediate vicinity of the 
sea enabled us every now and then to take a run, and 
plunge amidst its breakers, and again return to the 
