124 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



remedies from massage to soap ! When we left at 5 p.m. 

 she was obviously dying and we prepared to face the 

 problem of the seven days' waterless jom-ney with one 

 camel the fewer. We argued about what luggage we 

 could best dispense with until Yusuf calmly announced 

 that, as we had waited an extra day at Buttafal, there 

 would not now be sufficient dates to last a week. 

 Mohammed said that we must announce the death of the 

 Sayed's camel to the kaimakaan at Jalo, which meant 

 an extra two days' wait. 



We held depressed councils, at which I insisted on 

 an immediate start, but apparently the camel shared the 

 sacredness of its master, and even its body could not be 

 left at Buttafal. "Very well," said I. ''We will send 

 someone back with the news, but we must leave here at 

 dawn. We will give all our eating dates for the camels 

 and that will make up for to-day's rations." 



Then the real difficulty appeared. The friction be- 

 tween blacks and Beduins was so strong that both parties 

 feared that it would eventually come to a fight, and 

 neither ^vished to decrease their number. When I 

 suggested a Sudanese going, Abdullah showed his hand. 

 "Yes, yes, send back four or five," he said eagerly. "The 

 journey will be easier without them," but Abdul Rahim 

 refused point-blank to dispense with one of his soldiers. 

 "The night we thought we were going to be attacked, on 

 the way from Jedabia, Abdullah left us and slept with 

 some kinsman near by," he remarked shrewdly. The 

 whole part}' was sunken in the deepest gloom, we because 

 the camels were already overloaded, the retinue because 

 each side feared to endanger its power by the loss of 

 a fighting man, when a black form appeared on the 

 faint rise bej^ond which we had left the dying camel. 

 "Mashallah!" exclaimed Mohammed. "It is the in- 

 fluence of Sidi Idris! A miracle! A miracle!" And 



