144 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



heard of the sheikh, Sidi Mohammed. His brother was 

 with me at the Jaghabub zawia." 



I asked about the tribes in Taiserbo and was told that 

 it was the second largest oasis, but unimportant and 

 sparsely inhabited, that many of the date-trees belonged 

 to the people in Buseima, that there were a few Tebus 

 and some Zouias, of whom the larger part were Senussi. 

 "There are different parties there," said Mora j a, "but 

 they are all good people — nahs taibeen. Beyond Taiserbo 

 is a countrj^ of fighting. 'No stranger may go there. 

 There is much danger. If we escape the Buseima people 

 we shall fall into the hands of the Tebus of Ribiana or 

 of wandering Tuareg bands." 



In spite of these gloomy prognostications I pointed 

 out that the camels certainly could not go five days to 

 Kufara without food and that I had no intention whatso- 

 ever of trusting Abdullah's ideas as to the location of 

 Taiserbo. Instead, I made the guide and Moraja each 

 draw his idea of the famous gebel at Buseima. They 

 both outlined in the sand a long, low, square-topped ridge. 

 "Very well," said I firmly. "At sunset we will climb 

 to the top of the largest gherd here and see if we cannot 

 locate that mountain!" Having once and for all put our 

 decorative but useless inap out of our heads, we were 

 able to reason out that Taiserbo lay to the west, ran 

 north-east and south-west and could not be more than 

 25 to 40 kilometres in length, while I pinned my faith 

 to due south for Buseima. 



The desert had nearly killed us in her most ruthless 

 mood, but when we mounted the sandy gherd and saw 

 the red splendour fade into cold mauve and grey of the 

 sand, while the evening star blazed as if it were a drop of 

 liquid flame in a sapphire cup, we forgave her, especially 

 as due south, just exactly where "instinct" had sug- 

 gested to us, a faint black ridge rose, low and square, 



