JELDEZ 



just before two o'clock we were on our way once 

 more. As I stepped out from my little patch of 

 shade the sun almost seemed to strike me a physical 

 blow, and the ground was so hot that it was really 

 painful to the feet even through thick boots ; more- 

 over, the sand rose in little clouds as we walked, 

 hanging above us like a copper-coloured mist, stirred 

 now and again by gusts of wind which, instead of 

 bringing freshness to the burning air, only seemed 

 to intensify the dreadful heat. The bush clutched at 

 my clothes as though it had a thousand hands, or 

 tripped me up as I walked, for the trail was so 

 obstructed that it was impossible to ride. Faintly 

 behind me I heard the chop, chop of the axes, as the 

 men cleared the worst places for the camels, or the 

 swish and breaking of the branches as the poor 

 brutes forced their way through. We walked on in 

 silence, save once, when I saw some guinea-fowl, and 

 brought one down as they rose above the bush. 



A little later, very unexpectedly, we came upon a 

 little pool of rain-water — very stagnant and green, it 

 is true, but still water. While I was waiting here 

 for the camels to overtake us, the clouds gathered, 

 and there was a short shower, followed later by two 

 more. This only served to accentuate our dis- 

 comforts, and, rather depressed and in silence, we went 

 on again still to the north, towards Jeldez ; the men 

 were exhausted by the hard work, and cursed the 

 climate and the country to which I had brought them. 

 At last, when I had almost given up hope of reaching 

 our destination before dark, we arrived at a clearing 

 in the bush in which Jeldez lay, but to our dismay 

 found it dry. I had plenty of water with me for 

 a couple of days, but I decided to camp here tem- 



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