1897] Finding Water in the Sand 261 



end of the lake (which is a salt lake and quite undrinkable) is cleanly a 

 paradise of wild beasts. The tracks of the ariel gazelle were like those 

 of a flock of sheep, and of the hares, like those of rabbits at Newbuild- 

 ings in the snow, round every bush. And there were jackal tracks, and 

 the track of a wolf and of a wild boar quite fresh. I was surprised to 

 find the jackal tracks, as I had never seen them before far from in- 

 habited places. But their being here was later explained by the dates, 

 which they doubtless feed on. Of bushes I found ghnrkhud and aghur, 

 the latter always a sign of former cultivation, tamarisks on a mound or 

 two, and a single palm bush. I should have liked to encamp here on 

 the chance of seeing an ariel ; but it was necessary to find the water 

 first. Osman could not recollect where the spring was, except that it 

 was under palms, and about two miles farther on palms were visible. 

 So I once more cantered on. The first palms stood in a swamp near the 

 lake, just opposite the pyramidal hill, with blue water beyond them for 

 quite a mile. The swamp, too, was a main home of the wild beasts, 

 but as yet I saw no birds. I was driven out of it by the midges and 

 mosquitoes, which assailed me in battalions from the reeds, and I was 

 glad to get back to the desert and wait there for the camels. When 

 they arrived we all dispersed in search of the spring, which Osman 

 could not find, examining palm clump after palm clump. At the west- 

 ern edge of the lake there is no marsh, and the nefuds come down tio 

 the water's edge with only a fringe of reeds and tufts of palms, which 

 we found covered with good fruit. Of these we plucked and ate. The 

 first hopeful sign of water was when with a rush and a scream out of a 

 palm clump flew a blackbird, a real English blackbird. I had never 

 seen one in the desert, or in Egypt, except in my own garden of Sheykh 

 Obeyd. This was a proof there must be good water, and soon after 

 Suliman discovered good water by digging in the sand to his elbow 

 at a place which seemed frequented, and Osman found more under the 

 very last palm of the Oasis westwards. The springs had been choked 

 with sand drift, but were easily dug out. 



" Minshawi, meanwhile, had got another supply from the shore of 

 the lake. The lake itself is salt, like all desert lakes, but by digging a 

 few yards away from the edge, drinkable, though brackish, water can 

 be had ; and of this Yemama drank her fill. She was very thirsty, as 

 yesterday she had been on half rations. We all felt very happy, and 

 agreed to spend two nights and enjoy the water. There is all here a 

 man with a few she-camels can require to live on, good pasture, good 

 water, and good dates. The lake is covered with flamingos, and I saw 

 a heron and heard wild geese. I think I saw pelicans. I also saw one 

 chrysippus butterfly, but no land bird except the one blackbird. It 

 would be a paradise for a hermit, but for the gnats. These came out 

 in swarms at sunset, and drove me out of camp, and a mile away into the 



