THE THERMOMETER 



Having completed this work I inspected the trophies, 

 both horns and skins, and found them in excellent 

 condition. All this took up the larger part of the 

 day, but after a cup of tea at four o'clock, I took my 

 pipe and a book of Oscar Wilde's poems and went 

 out in search of a shady bush. Having found one I 

 lay down on the soft, warm sand, and read and 

 smoked in luxurious comfort until dark. It was 

 delightfully refreshing to turn one's thoughts to some- 

 thing so essentially different, so totally unlike and 

 so far removed from the life which I had been leading, 

 and I thoroughly enjoyed reading " Humanitad," 

 "Panthea" and some of the charming short poems 

 over again. 



The heat had been very great, and all through 

 that day the mercury in my thermometer stood well 

 over 1 00°, and in the early afternoon reached its 

 maximum height of 116°. I should not like to say 

 what the temperature was in the sun, but at noon, 

 when I went out to take an observation for latitude, 

 the barrel of the telescope on my theodolite was so 

 hot that it was almost impossible to touch it. Just 

 before nightfall I went out in the bush and shot a 

 couple of doves, very luckily for me, since I had 

 nothing for supper, but what they were doing so far 

 from water I cannot imagine. 



The camels returned just before midnight with all 

 the tins full. The following morning was occupied 

 in getting everything in order. All that was not 

 absolutely necessary was thrown away, ropes, girths 

 and saddles were tested and overhauled, while the 

 loads were carefully tied up into bundles of approxi- 

 mately equal weight. During my stay at Jeldez the 

 camels had fed well and seemed rested and in good 



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