ACROSS THE DESERT WITH SHE-IB 85 



names for plants or flowers that they see each day. I 

 asked about a huge, feathery tree something like a coro- 

 mandel which first made its appearance at Sawami and 

 I was told, "It has no name. It is for making houses 

 and firewood." 



At 3.30 P.M. we were still more than a day's march 

 from Aujela and our water was running out owing to 

 the carelessness of the blacks. Grave colloquy followed. 

 We were relieved to see that even the lazy Yusuf grasped 

 the seriousness of the situation. We had two single-ration 

 tins left and about two pounds of flour and one pound of 

 macaroni. It was decided that we should camp for a 

 couple of hours, in order to rest after oui' three hours' 

 riding, and then push on by starlight. We gave half the 

 food to our retinue with the last morsels of sugar and 

 made ourselves coffee on a tiny fire in a hole scooped in 

 the ground. Earlier in the day we had collected wood 

 from the last patch of scrub that we passed and loaded 

 it on one of the camels. We hated opening the last tin, 

 but we knew that we must keep the cereals for the men's 

 breakfast next day. We had had nothing to eat all day 

 except a few dates and a small bowl of camel's milk 

 which the adorable She-ib gave me at sunrise. I shall 

 always remember the dear old man's twisted smile. 

 "When you are happy I am happy," he said. "For 

 the honour of the Sayed we would carry you on our 

 heads!" Luckily it was a glorious night. At 5 p.m. 

 we said our sunset prayers and to the usual formalities I 

 added a very passionate supplication that we might reach 

 Aujela on the morrow. I should never have believed it 

 possible for our indolent retinue to have collected so 

 much energy. As the evening star rose red above the 

 horizon the camels were loaded and at 5.30 we set off 

 under a crescent moon in a vivid starry sky. A caravan 

 always marches better at night. The camels cannot see 



