166 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



high pointed dune measuring nearly 100 metres high at 

 the farther side. We clambered up this and had a 

 wonderful view over the turbulent sea of sand. Behind 

 us the great chffs of Buseima appeared just sunk among 

 the dunes. On the western horizon rose another long, 

 square-topped formation, dark as the gara we had left. 

 This was the mountain of Ribiana. It appeared to me 

 at least 60 kilometres away. To the east were clearly 

 visible the Fadil hills and the Hawaish between Zieghen 

 and Kufara, mere httle blots of indigo among the curly 

 sand ridges. At 5 p.m. we were forced to camp because 

 one of the nagas was foaling. She walked up to the last 

 moment and an hour later she appeared to have recovered, 

 but, alas! the foal was reported dying, which depressed 

 the Arabs intensely, for camels are gold in their eyes, 

 and gold to them is Alpha and Omega and a great deal 

 else in between! 



The Sudanese amused me greatly that evening. 

 "Don't be afraid! We will defend your life," said 

 Farraj cheerfully. With memories of their various panics 

 in Buseima, I replied, "Don't you worry about defend- 

 ing my life. I can do that all right. Keep your minds 

 fixed on defending your own!" This was a new point 

 of view and elicited the doleful answer, "But I don't 

 want to fight without a reason. There is a little girl 

 I want to marry when I go back !" 



January 9 was a very cold morning, so the retinue 

 dawdled hopelessly over their meal. The Sudanese prefer 

 the fiercest sun to a touch of cold, which literally freezes 

 them. We started at 8 a.m., and made better progress 

 than the previous day, in spite of the fact that the foal, 

 having completely recovered, had to be carried in a sort 

 of pannier on the mother's back. The dunes were very 

 uneven in size. Sometimes for a kilometre or two there 

 was a stretch of mildly undulating sands and then we 



