The stillness was appalling.
We saw great numbers of lizards darting about like lightning; they were nearly as white as the sand itself, and sat up on their hind legs and looked at us with their pretty, beady black eyes.

It seemed very far off from everywhere and everybody, this desert--but I knew there was a camp somewhere awaiting us, and our mules trotted patiently on.

Towards noon they began to raise their heads and sniff the air; they knew that water was near.

They quickened their pace, and we soon drew up before a large wooden structure.

There were no trees nor grass around it.