TRAVERSING THE DESERT. 247 
danger : he has thus the advantage over the Euro- 
pean in the desert, that a swimmer has in the water 
over the man who cannot swim ; conscious of his 
own powers and resources, he feels not the least 
apprehension, whilst the very terrors of the other 
but augment his danger. On the other hand, the 
general habits, mode of life, and almost tempera- 
ment of the savage, give him an equally great ad- 
vantage. Indolent by disposition and indulgence, 
he makes very short stages in his ordinary travels, 
.rarely moving more than from eight to twelve miles 
in the day, and this he does so leisurely and quietly, 
that he neither becomes excited nor heated, and 
consequently does not experience that excessive 
thirst, which is produced by the active exertions or 
violent exercise of the European, and which in the 
latter is at the same time so greatly augmented, by 
his want of confidence and anxiety. 
Another very great advantage on the part of the 
natives is, the intimate knowledge they have of 
every nook and corner of the country they inhabit ; 
does a shower of rain fall, they know the very rock 
where a little water is most likely to be collected, the 
very hole where it is the longest retained, and by re- 
pairing straight to the place they fill their skins, and 
thus obtain a supply that lasts them many days. 
Are there heavy dews at night, they know where 
the longest grass grows, from which they may col- 
lect the spangles, and water is sometimes procured 
thus in very great abundance. # Should there be 
* Vide vol. i. p. 361. 
