236 THE SECRET OF SAHARA: KUFARA 



degrees, for we had not dared to bring even a compass, 

 which for once was later decided in my favour by the 

 setting sun. Then we turned to the scattered gardens 

 of Tolab, where I saw roses, verbena and tiny lemon 

 trees, all neatly tied up in fibre matting after the fashion 

 of English gardeners. There is absolutely nothing to 

 see in this last oasis of Kufara, whose sand-brick houses 

 are scattered round the cultivated plots without regular 

 order. We noticed a number of shadouks worked by 

 small, grey donkeys and were hurried away by our host 

 to get a glimpse of the far-distant Gebel Neri, as he had 

 become quite interested in our exploration. These moun- 

 tains are wonderful landmarks for at least two days south 

 and north, but when we passed them on the way from 

 Buseima we had no means of judging their height. We 

 thought they might rise 150 to 200 metres above the 

 surrounding country, which would make them 750 to 

 800 above sea level, but this was only a guess. 



Two and a half days' journey north-west of Tolab 

 lies Ribiana, behind a gara twice as big as that of 

 Buseima. We were told that the population consists of 

 about a hundred Zouias and Tebus. There is an old 

 zawia founded by the four original ekhwan sent by Sidi 

 Ben Ali. The sheikh is Abu Bakr. There is a salt 

 marsh between the mountain and the strip of palms some 

 18 kilometres long, at the southern end of which is the 

 zawia, while at the northern end is a village of about 

 ten houses. This information we gathered from Sheikh 

 Suleiman as we rode round the western end of Tolab 

 and turned homewards through the waste of low hattab 

 towards Tolelib. Thereafter the hours seemed inter- 

 minable. Nothing ever got any nearer, while the saddle 

 bars felt like knife blades. The only break was when we 

 dismounted for the Asr prayers. Eventually we entered 

 the northern edge of Tolelib's palms and were only too 



