CHAPTER VII 



A FAULTY GUIDE ON A WATERLESS WAY 



ON December 26 we made our actual start south. 

 The day's delay in the sandstorm and the further 

 delay with the sick camel had lost us four feeds. 

 We had allowed half a sack of dates night and morning, 

 so now we had only five sacks for the seven days. How- 

 ever, we bought the soldiers' ration for sugar, threw in 

 most of our own, and thus brought it up to nearly the 

 requisite amount of "alaf." As for girbas, the utmost 

 the camels could carry was eight large ones, containing 

 five gallons each, and eight smaller, containing four 

 gallons each. We warned our party of sixteen that they 

 must use only an eighth portion of the w^ater each day. 

 We then commended ourselves to Allah and started 

 south at 8.30 a.m.^ for the weighing and exact dis- 

 tribution of goods, to say nothing of the quarrels 

 between blacks and Arabs, had occupied a couple of 

 hours. 



There is no route to Taiserbo, as no one ever goes 

 there. In the whole of Jalo we came across only two 

 people who had visited the oasis. One said he had gone 

 due south and arrived at the palm trees on the evening 

 of the sixth day. The second was our own sergeant, 

 Mora j a, who had passed through Taiserbo on his way 

 north nine years ago and he had done the journey in 

 six very long marches. Abdullah, our keen-eyed guide, 

 with his dark wolf's face lighted by flashes of brilHant 

 white teeth, announced that if we headed straight for 



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