The lips of all three were cracked and bleeding from the heat of this
awful _sirocco_, and their tongues were dry and rattling in their
parched mouths. They had drunk and lost by the rapid evaporation from
their canvas water bottles every drop of water that they had brought
from their last camp, and their unmoistened lips could hardly
articulate. When they did speak their voices were so harsh and hoarse
and changed as scarcely to be intelligible. Their speed was greatly
lessened from each of them having to lead one of the spare horses, for,
although these three horses were much less exhausted than those which
were ridden, they were in a much greater state of alarm, and much more
restive.