On the 22d of May, at nine in the morning, the caravan halted; we were all exhausted by thirst; the east wind was hotter than ever, and our water was rapidly diminishing, for the wind caused a great evaporation by drying the skins; and a great deal of water filtered through the pores. As I lay on the sand, I ruminated on the possibility of alleviating the horrors of our condition; I desired Sidi-Aly to buy two or three more skins if any could be found, and I gave him for this purpose some goods which I had received from the Moors of Timbuctoo. He replied that nobody would sell them at any price; which I believed, but I suffered too much not to insist upon making the experiment. He then proposed to send one of the men belonging to the caravans to the nearest wells which he said was the best way of getting water to make sangleh to recruit our exhausted strength. I thought this a good plan, and agreed to it with pleasure; but Sidi-Aly, who was not the most scrupulous of Musulmans, never made the least inquiry for such a person; he took into his own possession what I had given him to pay the messenger, and sent his son to the well. This he would have done whether I had paid or not, for as I afterwards found it was the custom to do so, and I saw the Moors set off from all parts of the caravan for the same purpose. My thirst was so intense that I determined, in order to appease it, to go into the neighbouring tents, and see if I could obtain a few drops of water out of charity. With my rosary in my hand, I went from tent to tent, to beg a little water “for the love of God;” I did not find many charitable souls, but it was not a favourable moment for the experiment, for we were all suffering alike. My useless fatigue, and the impatience it occasioned, augmented my torments, and when I got back to my tent, I fell on the ground senseless. The Moors who are themselves the most importunate beggars in the world, do not like to be asked for any thing. Sidi-Aly told me that I ought not to ask other people for water, that it was troublesome; I found out also that he boasted amongst his friends of the kindness he showed me, and said that he was grieved at the privation I endured. A lying hypocrite! he took no better care of me for that. Many of the Moors thought that he had brought me with him out of pure compassion, and, far from undeceiving them, he took care to confirm them in this error; but when they questioned me on the subject, I told them the state of the case, and they then assured me that I had paid too much to my guide. I knew that full well; but what could I do? only resign myself to my fate. About five o’clock in the afternoon, after having quenched our thirst, we continued our course to the north, and traversed a district interspersed with grey quartz rocks streaked with white: at midnight we ascended some sand-hills.