298 LIFE WITH THE HAMRAN ARABS. 



having fallen off his camel, has so injured his foot that 

 he can scarcely walk, and one horse has a large swelling 

 on each side and is unfit for further use. Ibrahim is 

 now the only man we have to do everything for us. He 

 certainly does his best to get through his multifarious 

 duties, but we have almost come to a dead-lock. 



April 22. At 5 P.M. yesterday our invalids were 

 much refreshed by their long rest, and were quite ready 

 for a start, and the sight of the Kassala mountains, 

 though very distant, gave them a fresh stimulus. To 

 my surprise Albert only halted once to lie down before 

 we terminated the night's march at 2 A.M. On arriving 

 at the village near Kassala, where we spent the first 

 night after our departure from that town, my wish was 

 to remain there until the afternoon, but both Ranfurly 

 and Albert begged to be allowed to push on at sunrise. 

 Ranfurly, after three hours' rest, was the first to be up 

 and ready to proceed, and at 6 A.M. we were again 

 mounted and off. When within one hour of Kassala, 

 Albert utterly collapsed, and, stretched at full-length on 

 the ground, declared that he must die to-day, and then 

 crying like a child implored me to let him stay there. 

 The sun, however, was rapidly rising, and it being there- 

 fore of importance that not a moment should be wasted, 

 it became necessary to remount him and to use a little 

 force to overcome his feeble powers of resistance, to 

 which he added the free use of his koorbatch ; and at 



