THE ELUSIVE DUNES 28T 



barracan which twisted itself reluctantly round everything 

 but me! 



February 9 was memorable, for on climbing the high 

 dune under which we had camped we saw a long, faint 

 ridge, blue on the north-east horizon. "Land at last!" 

 exclaimed Mohammed. "It must be the mountain 

 between Jaghabub and Siwa!" Even this reassuring 

 suggestion would not turn our guide from his northerly 

 course, but signs that we were leaving the great desert 

 abounded. So far the only living things had been large, 

 unpleasant beetles, mottled black and fawn creatures, 

 some nearly four inches long, which looked like scattered 

 stones till they suddenly raised themselves on long legs 

 and scuttled away. That morning, however, we saw 

 itiany black and grey birds and at last, when the green 

 patches of hattab had developed into large brown-like 

 shrubs and neat little dwarf trees, leafless and but two 

 or three feet high, we came across gazelle traces. We 

 also found two complete skulls with the tapering horns 

 in perfect condition. The country was changing notice- 

 ably. The previous day there had been a few patches of 

 the Jaghabub grey stone among the sand, the sight of 

 which filled the retinue with delight. On February 9 

 great blocks of it appeared in fantastic masses rising 

 suddenly from dune and hoUow. We noticed scattered 

 pieces of fossilised wood, some of which appeared to have 

 been part of the trunks of big trees. Stretches of what 

 looked like black pebbles shimmered dark beyond the 

 farthest ridge. 



Finally, Mohammed, mounting an immense curly 

 backed sand peak at noon, tore off his turban, tied it 

 round his staiF and, waving it bannerwise above his head, 

 shouted wildly, "I see my country! The land is near!" 

 The camels were the only indifferent beings in the 

 caravan. They were too tired to quicken the pace, 



