THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS 269 



the others were feeble and overworked. They should 

 all have been rested and fed up at Kufara for at least 

 another fortnight. We knew this at Taj, but the com- 

 pHcated politics of the place necessitated our precipitate 

 departure. Yusuf told us that generally when a caravan 

 travels the Kufara-Jaghabub route it spends a month 

 at least in preparation. Forty or fifty camels are taken 

 and these are all fed up for weeks beforehand, till they 

 are very fat and strong. During that time they do no 

 work, but are gradually trained to last thirteen days 

 without drinking by ever-increasing waterless periods. 

 When our camels arrived at Kufara they had done a 

 hard 800 miles of journey, including one stretch of ten 

 days without water and twelve without sufficient food, 

 during the last three of which they were practically 

 starving. After nine days' rest they had to start to 

 cross one of the hardest routes in North Africa, over- 

 loaded and at a bad period of the year, when the climate 

 is at its worst. We had, therefore, reason for our fears, 

 and when the animals turned awaj^ from the plentiful 

 fodder of the Mehemsa our little party lost something 

 of its high spirits. 



