The feeble glimmerings of light died away, and it w'^s night ; but
there was no moderation in the force of the gale. The light returned,
and I concluded that it was again day ; but fiercer flew the sands, and
louder howled the whistling blasts. I had tasted nothing now for nearly
twenty-four hours, not even a drop of water. With my eyes shut, I felt
for the skin, and untying its mouth took about half a pint. It was evi-
dent that the water was evaporating beneath the extreme aridity of the
air ! " O Thou, who boldest the wind in the hollow of thy hand, save
me ! save me ! "

Notwithstanding the sip of water, which was all that I could allow
myself, the sensation of thirst grew in fierceness. Without the practice
and the training that I had had un'der the privations and sufferings of
the oasis, it would have been ungovernable. What reason, thought I,
to thank God for all things ; even for the barbarities of Mohammed and
the hatred of his wives ! Besides the sensation of thirst, there was the pros-
tration of strength, the exhaustion and agony of obstructed respiration.
An occasional low moan from my companion added to my own sufferings
the awful apprehension of losing in him my only earthly dependence.
