96 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



herds into our longed-for caravan that when Yusuf, 

 standing on the rise above us, said, "There is a caravan 

 coming," we took no notice. We had eaten our first 

 good meal for eleven days. Our souls were full of 

 gi'atitude to Omar and our only worry was how we could 

 reward him for his generosity. (In parenthesis it may 

 be said that the only thing he coveted was some imaginary 

 scent he had smelled on me. We traced it eventually 

 to some Coti face powder which I was carefully treasuring 

 against my arrival in Cairo and he departed happily 

 with a quarter of the box.) When, however, Yusuf 

 raced down the hill screaming, "Our caravan, Ham- 

 dulillah! Our caravan at last!" lethargy departed and 

 we all rushed up the rise with more speed than dignity. 

 It was quite true. Twelve camels and a dozen men 

 were within a hundred yards of us. First came a stately 

 figure in white burnus, Abdullah, a famous guide, who 

 knew all the Libyan routes, of whom the Beduins said, 

 "He has a great heart," and next the neat, brisk httle 

 commandant, with his thin, humorous face and quiet, dry 

 manner, the ebony Abdul Rahim. He was followed by 

 a sergeant. Mora j a, whose home was in Kufara, and six 

 men. Somewhere in the background lurked a cook, 

 but we did not see him that evening, for he was imme- 

 diately sent to prepare a banquet for our friends the 

 She-ibs. After the first rush of joy, in which every- 

 one shook everyone else's hand a score of times, and 

 "Mabsut" and "Taiyib" and "HamduliUah!" filled 

 the air, we watched the barraking of the camels with 

 blank amazement. Used to the indolence of the two 

 Farrajes, we could hardly believe our eyes when, literally 

 in five minutes, under the shrewd eyes of Abdul Rahim, 

 the camels were freed, the luggage and rifles stacked, 

 and the men rapidly putting up the tents. We could 

 only rub our eyes and gasp, while my eyes wandered 



