68 



DAHLAK 



mildly it meant that something was about to happen. 



*What's the time?' asked Gigi. 



Tive.' 



'We've been walking eight hours. Is the bottle absolutely 

 stone dry?' 



*It was some time ago.' 



*This sun's enough to make one burst.' 



The desert sent out yellow rays of light that hurt the eyes. 

 In the indeterminate distance could be seen the outline of 

 thin strips of shrubs which appeared reflected in the blue 

 lagoons that shimmered suspended above the sand. 



'I'm still convinced that I saw that village,' I repeated. 



'Let's toss,' said Cecco. Fatigue was getting us down. Our 

 clothes were soaked. 



'Toss for what ?' 



'Who wins chooses the way.' 



'Toss.' 



'Heads . . . it's me.' 



Cecco guessed right. We reached the Formica after dark. 

 We had made the acquaintance of Dahlak Kebir's desert 

 once and for all. As a reminder of the day we carried back the 

 skull of a dromedary. 



Dahlak Kebir {kebir means large) is the biggest island in an 

 archipelago of islands, islets and rocks. With an area of five 

 hundred square miles, it is three and a half times the size of 

 Elba. It has in all nine widely scattered, extremely small 

 villages with a few dozen inhabitants to each. Mostly of Arab 

 origin, the inhabitants, especially the women, are very shy. 

 There are no springs, only a few rain-water wells (when it 

 rains that is, which is two or three times a year) that straight 

 away become pools of disgusting greenish mud. There are 



