118 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



he took it without comment, but gradually I realised that 

 they give and they receive with the same simplicity. 



Zeinab wore huge silver ear-rings and bracelets and 

 an embroidered leather belt carrying a dozen gay little 

 pouches for her toilet necessities, while Hauwa had tied 

 her barracan into a sort of hood, with a strip of crimson 

 leather bearing some "he jabs" (charms) in tiny wallets. 

 Both had broad sticks of scarlet coral stuck through 

 holes in their nostrils. When the storm abated, about 

 5.30 P.M., they emerged from the blanket and busied 

 themselves, briskly preparing the Beduin evening meal. 



By this time there were always two rival camps in 

 neighbouring zaribas. Behind one wall of heavy sacks 

 the soldiers cooked their savoury flour. Within another 

 semicircle Mohammed and Yusuf, with the guide and a 

 black camel-boy, brewed strong sweet tea, while the two 

 girls were provided with a little camp beside the Arabs' 

 shelter. Mohammed was always kind to them, providing 

 them with some of his own flour and dates, together with 

 the occasional loan of a blanket, but otherwise nobody 

 troubled about them except when it was a question of 

 cooking or washing clothes. True, when the length of 

 our stay permitted the pitching of tents, the Beduins 

 always contented themselves with the zariba, leaving to 

 Zeinab and Hauwa the use of their tent, but the girl? 

 accepted as a matter of course that, after riding all day, 

 they should cook and wash and clean and generally see 

 to the comfort of the Arab retinue. 



We wanted to break camp after the evening meal, but 

 though the sandstorm had abated the wind was still cold. 

 Abdullah pointed out that we should walk all night and 

 arrive too tired to work in the morning, which would be 

 waste of energy, as all the firewood for the journey had 

 to be collected in the vicinity of Buttafal. We therefore 

 crawled into our sleeping-bags under the shelter of the 



