<A JOURNEY IN THE EAST: 263 



this midday sun our craft stank even worse than at night. 

 An old man, too, blind of one eye, somewhat humpbacked, 

 with a curling white beard and a turban, had planted himself 

 close beside us. He was uncommonly repulsive in his general 

 appearance, and did not row, but had only come out of 

 curiosity. This unwelcome stranger was a great source 

 of annoyance, and indeed a dangerous neighbour, for he 

 hunted in his flowing garments incessantly and with much 

 success. 



Happily we got to the rock in half an hour, where we 

 found the other sportsmen, who had shot a good many Coots. 



All the spoils of the first half of the day were now put into 

 a boat and despatched under the care of my jager to the 

 opposite side of the lake, where our new camp had meanwhile 

 been pitched. 



We now determined to rest for an hour on the slope of the 

 rocky headland near the shore, where we took a frugal lunch 

 of cold meat, bread, flat lemonade, and various preserves more 

 or less spoilt by the heat. Our men amused themselves by 

 catching Geckos, those curious little grey lizards with high 

 combs on their backs, and there were also lots of scorpions 

 lying under the stones. The halt, however, did not refresh 

 us, for the sun burnt fearfully on the steep rocky hillside, 

 where the ground was glowing and the air quivering in the 

 scorching heat. It was the hottest day that we had hitherto 

 endured on our journey, far hotter than the warmest day of a 

 European summer. 



We soon started again, and walked along the bushes by the 

 shore in a northerly direction, the tramp through the burning 

 sands of the desert, which radiated a most terrific heat, being 

 by no means pleasant. Once more we posted ourselves at 

 intervals round the bushes, and again a merry hunt began ; 

 but this time the baited beast did not show itself so readily, 

 and the chase went up and down several times. At last, 



