THE FLIGHT FROM TAJ 247 



the violet and amber and, in spite of dates and 

 cinnamon bread, wondered how soon we should 

 wake up ! 



Our desire for a swift and secret departure from the 

 palm grove near Hawari was frustrated by the non- 

 arrival of our new camel till the afternoon of the follow- 

 ing day. By this time, of course, most of the population 

 of the neighbouring village of Awardel was in our camp. 

 The Zouias were most friendly and terribly curious. 

 Their shrewd, suspicious eyes and pale, mean faces 

 encircled my tent all day, hoping to catch a glimpse 

 to satisfy their curiosity, but, out of sheer perversity, I 

 smothered my face in the barracan and then snapshotted 

 them when they were not looking! 



Unfortunately, I had left behind something of a 

 reputation as a doctor, nature presumably having taken 

 my patients in hand after my departure, so all day 

 long my tent was thronged, by women with the most 

 mysterious maladies. The poorer ones crouched outside, 

 their scarlet woollen barracans an effective contrast to 

 their black tobhs, the most picturesque combination I 

 had yet seen. The wives of important sheikhs were 

 ushered into my tent and the flaps closed after them 

 by jealous male relatives. If they were young they 

 would not uncover their faces even to me, but, mute, 

 huddled bundles of voluminous draperies, with at least 

 three barracans of rich dark weaving one over the other, 

 they sat on my camp bed while an ancient crony trans- 

 lated their needs. They wanted me to feel skin diseases 

 through layers of garments, prescribe for invisible eyes 

 and generally guess at their ailments from the descrip- 

 tions of their elderly relatives, who urged them at in- 

 tervals, entirely without effect, not to be afraid. Their 

 jewellery interested me, for they wore bracelets like 

 gauntlets of thin beaten silver, reaching half-way from 



