They were all splendid horsemen, and often as they entered the camp at full speed on their spirited chargers, it seemed as though the steed and its rider, like the fabled centaur, were but one animal.

Their bodies were painted and oiled so as to resemble highly polished mahogany.
The travellers found the information communicated to them by the friendly Indians to be true.

For four days they travelled over a dreary, sandy waste, where there were neither streams nor springs.

At the camping place each night there was given from the tanks, a small amount of water to each animal and man, but only enough to sustain life.

A guard was set over the rest, for should any accident befall it the destruction of the whole party would be the probable consequence.
As they were toiling along the fifth day, painfully through the sand, the mules began to manifest a strange excitement.