herbage. Every object is magnified and changed to the eye. The heat and
the swinging motion of the camel produce a slight dizziness, and the
outer world assumes a hazy indistinctness of outline--something like
dream-landscapes. There is a desert-intoxication which must be felt to
be appreciated.

We must not, however, libel even the Sandy Desert, by producing the
impression that it is all barren and comfortless. Though far more
difficult to travel over than the Hamadah, it possesses the inestimable
advantage of having water every day once at least. A little after noon,
indeed, we passed two lakes; one small, and the other of considerable
dimensions, containing sweet water, and bordered by a fringe of
palm-trees. At times there is very good herbage for the camels. The most
frequent shrub on which they browse is the _resou_, which has small ears
of grain, eaten also by men as food. Traces of animal life, as I have
observed, are few; but we saw this day two broken ostrich-eggs. How they
came there it is difficult to say: no traces or footmarks have been
remarked.

At length I had begun to find drinking a necessity. During these days of
sand I imbibed more than during the whole of the rest of the journey.
The eating of dates added to my thirst; and the blacks complained of the
same thing. Dates are much better in the winter, and keep the cold out
of the stomach; but I should recommend all Saharan travellers to eat as
few of them as possible, at any season of the year.

During this last day, beyond the expanse of sandy waves through which we
swam, as it were, had risen ahead some very conspicuous mountains. Even
at five in the morning we could see detached along the line of the
horizon the highest and most advanced portion of the edge of the plateau