^0 DAHLAK 



Florence straw, plaiting it into baskets and multi-coloured 

 trays with all the taste of the primitive craftsman. 



On Nocra and Dahlak four or five natives a year die from 

 the bite of asps which arc as thick as ants ; there is an asp 

 under every stone at Nocra, say the locals. We did not see 

 one, but then it was the 'cold' season, and the serpents were 

 lying in coma, inert. One cannot help wondering why the 

 inhabitants of Nocra do not leave that island of asps. Every 

 year one of them is killed. This year it might be the turn of 

 that gorgeous girl, bitten by an asp inside her own house. 

 *Allah only calls us once,' they say, 'and Allah is great.' 



Men and children alike, once we had reassured them, held 

 out their hands in friendship, clutched ours tightly and 

 grinning, pumped them vigorously up and down. Then they 

 touched their hearts lightly and made a slight bow. From that 

 moment we were friends, and they showed us off with great 

 pride. 



This same first day at Dahlak Kebir was one of triumph 

 for our fishing companions. When we, the desert survivors, 

 boarded the Formica again, our feet swollen, our tongues 

 roasted by thirst, we found the bridge covered with fish, 

 among them a four foot shark, a twenty-pound moray, and a 

 monstrous grouper. We took little notice of them, for at that 

 moment the desire to drink was the most impelling factor. 

 When we had excitedly thrust down bottle after bottle of 

 mineral water and felt human once more, we listened with 

 growing enthusiasm to the stories of our companions. The 

 grouper, in particular, a massive brown bit of bulk with a 

 colossal head, aroused our interest. Unfortunately we had no 

 scales capable of weighing anything so huge, and estimates 

 and arguments only served to prove that even the most skilful 

 underwater fisherman finds himself in difficulties when 

 judging by eye any fish exceeding sixty pounds. It was pretty 



