CHAPTER XIV 



THE ELUSIVE DUNES 



NEAR the feeding ground are two large cisterns 

 erected by order of Sajed el Mahdi. When 

 any of the Senussi family wished to travel by 

 this route, water was sent on ahead and stored in the 

 cisterns, near which there is a small shanty falling into 

 disrepair. As a matter of fact, there should undoubtedly 

 be water at the Mehemsa. It is the same sort of ground 

 as at Buttafal and Zakar and green bushes are plentiful 

 and healthy. There is no rainfall and no dew to account 

 for their existence otherwise. We also noticed a number 

 of birds, conspicuous among them a grey and black 

 variety larger than the "abu fasada." In the time of 

 Sidi el Mahdi slaves dug for water to a depth of 20 feet 

 at the Mehemsa without coming to wet sand, but since 

 then no one has tried. 



On February 2 we started north at 6.30 a.m. after 

 a violent argument as to the best way of saving the 

 camels. I wanted to follow the summer plan, start an 

 hour before sunset, walk all night and camp two hours 

 after dawn. One can do much longer marches this way, 

 but the Beduins were reluctant to face the cold of the 

 night. On the other hand, Mohammed was desperately 

 afraid of another sandstorm, which would inevitably 

 delay us. He therefore wanted to walk at least 15 hours 

 a day. It is an unfortunate fact that a camel does 

 13 hours, at a pace of 4 kilometres, infinitely easier than 

 10 hours at 5. He is capable of plodding along evenly 



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