THE ELUSIVE DUNES 275 



apparently had gone wildly mad, for in spite of their agals 

 they were all hobbling and hopping wildly round making 

 immense noise, which the retinue were exceeding in their 

 anxiety to drive the beasts away from our neatly arranged 

 girbas, protected, as usual at night, by a hedge of baggage 

 saddles. 



Februarj^ 4 saw us away by 6.15, a good effort, 

 chiefly due to a loading race between Amar and Yusuf 

 against the guide and Mohammed. I think the former 

 couple won, but all the loads were a little wobbly that day. 

 A black duck flew low across our path, heading north. 

 "It has gone into the upside-down country," said Sulei- 

 man, pointing ahead; and there, on the far horizon, we 

 saw pale dunes and ridges, clear-cut, with violet shadows 

 below peak and cliff. They looked but a few hours' 

 march away and we were all immensely happy, though 

 we knew they were more than a day's journey away. 



Again it was very hot, but Yusuf, who always enjoyed 

 a burning sun, took it upon himself to cheer up the whole 

 party. When a camel lay down and groaned, he carefully 

 made a row of toy "asidas" in the sand, modelling the 

 little hole at the top for a sauce with infinite trouble. 

 "These are for him to eat, then he will be strong again," 

 he said smiling. When Suleiman complained of his 

 eyesight the plump one cried: "I will ride ahead and 

 see the way." And, mounting his stick, he gambolled 

 round, imitating every trick and gesture of horsemanship 

 with perfect art. Finally, when the rest of us were so 

 oppressed by the heat that we only wondered what we 

 could take off next, we saw Yusuf solemnly fill the skirt 

 of his shirt with sand and begin sowing it like grain right 

 and left. "What on earth are you doing, you man?" 

 exclaimed Mohammed. "The next traveller will find a 

 patch of green grain and will be happy," he said placidly. 

 Nevertheless, that night, when the elusive dunes had 



