138 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



bad on the Kufara route, had been found dead beside his 

 camels, one of which he had killed for its blood. The 

 blacks took an impersonal interest in these gruesome tales 

 while they walked on with stolid calm. I gave them our 

 last bag of dates, but warned them it would probably 

 make them very thirsty. They replied with extreme 

 cheerfulness that they did not want to drink in the least. 

 They were really splendid that afternoon. They sang 

 and laughed and cheered each other on. Little Abdul 

 Rahim stalked on ahead with a grim smile, his rifle over 

 his shoulder, his weakness forgotten. The only really 

 dispirited member of the party was Abdullah, who trailed 

 along at the heels of the caravan with downcast head. 

 Once, when a low rise appeared to the south, he walked 

 briskly towards it in hopes of a further view, but returned 

 an hour later more gloomy than ever. The hot midday 

 hours dragged along intolerably slowly. I did not feel 

 very thirsty myself, but we had all drunk so little lately 

 that our skins had become extraordinarily dry and parched. 

 Our lips and gums were cracked and sore. The camels 

 had had only a half -ration of dates the previous day and 

 nothing that morning, so they were ravenous. They 

 tried to eat the stuffing of the baggage saddles, and ran 

 to every dark patch of stones in search of grass. 



At 3 P.M. some faint dunes appeared on the south- 

 east horizon. We expected Abdullah to recognise them, 

 but his demoralisation must have been complete, for he 

 showed no interest in them. Yusuf and ]\Ioraja began 

 speculating as to whether they could be the "hatia" 

 which ran between Zieghen and Taiserbo. If so, there 

 might be vegetation on the farther side and the mystery 

 of our position be solved. Nearly everyone ran on ahead, 

 and only Abdul Hafiz and Omar were left to drive the 

 camels, who were stumbling badly. It was their ninth 

 day without water, but this mattered less than the 



