This night we moved at comparatively a rapid pace—­nearly three miles an hour; for there was scarcely any temptation to the camels to linger for browsing purposes, and the drivers seemed desperately anxious to get over as much ground as possible at once.  At first all went well enough; and now and then even, the blacks, who were on foot, braved the Hamadah with a lively ditty—­celebrating some Lucy Long of Central Africa.  But by degrees these merry sounds ceased to be heard; and the hastily-moving crowd of the caravan insensibly stretched out into a longer line.  The poor women were beginning to knock up, and several fell at times from mere exhaustion.  We proceeded, however, without stopping, for eleven hours, and after a long, dreary night indeed, halted at five in the morning, having reached the encampment of our German friends.

The dawn soon lighted up the waste, and enabled us to see that it was a level plain of hard red earth, scattered over with pebbles and loose pieces of limestone mixed with flint.

The Hamadah was very cold in the night, the wind being from the north.  Dr. Overweg does not think that the plateau is more than fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea; but it may be two thousand, and a little more in some places.  By day it is hot enough; and as there is little to be observed on these vast, elevated stretches of stony desert, I thought it best to continue my original plan for three whole nights.

To spare one’s self is the great secret of Saharan travelling; and there is, after all, not much to observe in this desolate region.

I should mention, that the second night Ali came up in a penitent state along with a khafilah from Ghareeah, and so our poor black women had an opportunity of getting a lift on the spare camels.  We could, therefore, go on until morning without fear of losing any of our party in the night.  The position of a person who falls behind a caravan in the desert very much resembles that of a man overboard.  This khafilah preceded us to Shaty.

After the third night I found the weather so cool and temperate, that I continued on the whole of the day; and the Germans joining me in the evening, we did not again separate.  It was towards the close of the third night that we were assailed by an awful tempest of wind, rain, and lightning, which flashed upon us occasionally through the thick darkness.  The Germans, who were encamped, had their tents carried away, whilst we who were in motion found ourselves compelled to stop and crouch under the bellies of our camels until the morning broke, and the hurricane had spent its force.  The cold was intense, and our people complained bitterly.  More than once, indeed, the thermometer was down to freezing-point whilst we were traversing the plateau; and one morning the desert was covered with a shining frost.