EDGE OF THE DESERT 219 



day " would, perhaps, be a more correct 

 expression ; for a cloudy late autumn day 

 had more than half passed before my tonga 

 came to the door. (A tonga, I should 

 perhaps explain. Is a low two-wheeled dog- 

 cart drawn by a pair of ponies, and capable of 

 traversing the roughest of ground.) My wife 

 took the ribbons, I sitting next her with the 

 twelve-bore between my knees, and off we 

 rolled. For about three miles we stuck to an 

 excellent road, and then turned off to bump 

 across the plain for two more. These plains 

 are mostly sandy and undulating, the higher 

 ground being rocky. The principal vegeta- 

 tion consists of thorn bushes, and cactus. 

 Here and there, surrounding a well from 

 which they are Irrigated, are clumps of cultiva- 

 tion, mostly cotton or maize. On our way 

 we passed several great flocks of blue rock- 



