TRIUMPHANT ARRIVAL AT JALO 95 



We went through the narrow winding paths bordered 

 by high mud walls, with here and there a palm drooping 

 over a grey feathery bush, till we came to the biggest 

 mosque, with its square roof covered with clay cupolas. 

 Here we met some of the ekhwan, who greeted us kindly 

 and took us to the zawia to see the qubba of Abdullahi 

 Sahabi, the supposed clerk of Mohammed, who is buried 

 there. B}^ a narrow passage one passes into a square 

 sandy court, with a narrow roof running along three sides, 

 under which the ekhwan sit on mats. A door leads into 

 a further smaller court, and from there one passes through 

 a carpeted antechamber into the mosque. The tomb 

 stands in the centre, covered with gaudy cotton stuff, and 

 the walls are hung with cheap mirrors and ostrich eggs, 

 the latter the gift of pilgrims from Wadai. We walked 

 round the tomb, chanting the Koran, after which we 

 kissed it and solemnly repeated the "Fatha." The 

 ekhwan spend whole days reading and studying the 

 Koran round this tomb. 



We asked them about Rohlfs' caravan, but they knew 

 nothing except that Mannismann had been there before 

 he started on his doomed journey west, having already 

 signed his death-warrant by writing that he did so at his 

 own risk. They told us the zawia had been founded by 

 Mohanmied el Mahdi in 1872. Near by is the old Turkish 

 Kasr, residence of the Ottoman "kaimakaan," now used 

 as an office by the clerks of the Senussi Government. 



We had just finished a mighty lunch suddenly pro- 

 vided by the generous Omar, masses of hot flat "hubz," 

 eggs and a chicken cooked in a bowl of savoury juice 

 and red pepper, and were trying to cool our smarting 

 mouths and watering eyes after burning "fil-fil," when 

 the great event of many days happened simply and 

 unexpectedly. We had searched the far horizon for so 

 many weary hours. We had magnified so many grazing 



