160 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



had Arab blood mixed with his Sudanese and the figure 

 in blurred reds and fawns was of his kin. "Why did 

 you bring these Egyptians here?" she asked angrily. 

 "We do not want strangers. Make them go, or they 

 will suffer!" The morning of January 7, therefore, 

 everyone had a new panic. It was in vain that we asked 

 them if they were afraid of a mere handful or of shadows. 

 They resurrected all the old stories and, with frantic 

 glances at the deserted dunes, they implored us to de- 

 part at once. 



The pitiful thing was that Mohammed's^ spirit was 

 utterly broken by the last three days of thirst. "Allah 

 has given me a new life," he said. "I dare not risk it 

 again." We were quite used to the cowardice of Yusuf 

 and Abdul Rahim, a pathetic little wisp of a man who 

 had no physique and no fighting spirit, but I was very 

 sorry for Mohammed. He had been my greatest ally, 

 always ready for work or for risk. Now his mind seemed 

 to have suffered as well as his body. I wondered whether 

 he would be of much use to us in the future. As I 

 poached eggs on a sweet-smelling fire and made coffee 

 in the "Nasrani water," which tasted so sweet but which 

 made one's mouth terribly dry, I wished the retinue 

 could absorb a little of the scene. The only things that 

 moved in the purple and gold of rock and dune were 

 the httle grey and black birds, like water-wagtails — ^the 

 "abu fasada" of Egypt. I suppose one should make 

 an exception for the insects, for there were several kinds 

 of beetles, as well as long, sandy locusts and actually 

 mosquitoes, though the latter were either particularly 

 merciful or abhorred the European as much as did the 

 other inhabitants of Buseima. 



After breakfast we climbed to the top of one of the 

 rocky chffs. Mora j a assured us that it would take the 

 whole day. We completed the ascent in three-quarters 



