152 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



morning there had been another squabble as to who 

 should go to the village for the festal sheep. We now 

 learned that the Sudanese dared not approach the village 

 singly. They had spent most of the night on st.itry 

 duty of the most primitive kind. They had made a fire 

 and sat well within its light, so that no lurking marauder 

 would have had the slightest difficulty in shooting them 

 at all. They also talked at the top of their voices, which 

 disturbed our sleep and naturally after such unusual 

 energy they were feeling cross and tired. The arrival of 

 the black and white sheep, led by the undismayed Omar, 

 cheered them up somewhat, and we left them already 

 making plans for its division. 



It is generally impossible to buy food in the desert 

 oases. There are no regular customers and no suq. Each 

 family produces enough for its own consumption only. 

 Thus neither bread, eggs nor milk were forthcoming, 

 though we were reported rich. Dates are always an 

 exception to the rule. A mejidie buys a great sackful 

 and though Buseima and Ribiana do not pay taxes in 

 money, they feed the Sayed's camels free when they 

 happen to pass through. Thej^ also pay a percentage of 

 sacks of dates yearly to the Government. An official 

 comes from Kufara to collect them. Faqmn offered us 

 some of those that were stored ready for removal. "You 

 are the Sayed's guests. You have a right to them," he 

 said. Though there was no fodder or grass for our beasts, 

 there were plentiful date rations. We had bargained 

 endlessly over the sheep with a strong-minded female in 

 the attractive Buseima dress — white tobh with scarlet 

 girdle, a black cloth wound closely round the face like 

 a nun's coif and the barracan of rose and saffron just 

 doubled and flung over her head like a great shawl. 

 Finally, we bought it for fourteen mejidies, and a small 

 boy suddenly appearpd with ten eggs, for which he asked 



