314 LIFE WITH THE H AMR AN ARABS. 



men till they wake up, in which performance our solitary 

 soldier gives a willing hand, and sometimes foot, if I 

 can only find him out first ; but they coil themselves up 

 so much amongst the baggage that it is difficult very 

 often to distinguish sacks from human beings. Arrived 

 at a well at 7.30 A.M., where we were able to enjoy the 

 luxury of washing hands and faces. Soon afterwards 

 we met some Arabs with unladen camels returning from 

 Souakim, and they agreed to let us have seven of them 

 at the six-dollar rate we paid at Kassala. 



Vivian then remained behind with them to wait for 

 the arrival of our baggage party to complete the 

 arrangements, and Ranfurly and myself pushed on. 

 Thanks to a fresh breeze every morning from the 

 south-east, the heat before n A.M. is far from being 

 oppressive, and it is therefore very favourable for 

 Ranfurly, who begins to show signs of some improve- 

 ment in strength, and quite enjoys his morning rides. 

 Towards evening the wind generally goes round to the 

 north-west, and becomes so light that the heat is felt 

 proportionately greater. At n A.M. we halted at the 

 dry bed of a river, and found excellent shade under a 

 clump of dome-palms. Here a general halt took 

 place later, as there were good wells, and green trees for 

 the camels to feed upon, and we did not move on 

 again till 6 P.M. The time was not altogether lost upon 

 us, for we were able to indulge in a bath, to the 



