Hour after hour we trudged along, now sinking knee-deep in fine sand, then slipping and stumbling as we slowly picked our way across stony ground, the sun beating down upon us from a clear and rainless sky. After exerting ourselves to the very utmost, we found that we had not advanced more than twelve miles from the _Sirius_ by mid-day; and owing to the extreme clearness of the heated atmosphere, this distance did not appear much more than six. We halted to rest under the shadow of a big mass of rock which lay embedded in the sand, and here we ate our food and each drank a cup of wine and water from his flask. Of pure water we had only one small cask, holding a gallon, which Sandy carried slung from his shoulder. This we reserved for any emergency, but we hoped to find a stream or pool before nightfall. We allowed ourselves one hour's rest, then resumed our march, and continued struggling on till sunset. During the afternoon we crossed a stretch of better ground, and by the time we halted for the night, we seemed to have done at least half the distance that separated the _Sirius_ from the mountains. We encamped in a rocky hollow. Tent or fire we had none: we could not carry the one, and no materials for the other were to be got in this wilderness. We ate our cold supper and then fell asleep, with nothing but the starry sky above us, and with the soft sand for our beds. It was a lovely night, warm and windless and still, so that we experienced little or no discomfort, and awoke refreshed, just as the rising sun was tipping the distant hills with gold. Not one drop of water, not the slightest sign of moisture had we discovered, and the night had been dry and dewless. Not a blade of vegetation, or a trace of any living thing, could yet be seen---all was desert and barren. With no fire to warm or cook anything, our morning meal was not quite so savoury as it might have been, but we were hungry, and hungry men are rarely fastidious. Meat essence dissolved in a little water, with biscuits and a draught of watered wine, formed our repast, and as soon as it was done we picked up our belongings and made an early start. We were anxious to get as much ground covered as possible before the sun became so oppressively powerful; besides, death stared us in the face on every side in this terrible wilderness, and delay might prove fatal to us all. Slowly, terribly slowly, mile after mile was passed, and the mountains before us began to show out in more detail. They were barren and sterile enough. Everything seemed withered and blasted, and the sun in fierce splendour travelled across the waterless heavens, and burnt into the bare rocks and sands, wasting his life-nourishing heat on a region of eternal desolation. By mid-day we were so fatigued that we sank down beside a big stone to rest our weary limbs and throbbing heads. Eat we could not; our mouths were dry and parched, and we craved for water.