THE END OF THE JOURNEY 305 



The sun set without showing any signs of the 

 promised hatia. The camels were obviously incapable 

 of going much farther. Yusuf said pathetically, "I 

 have walked seventeen days from Kufara on these legs 

 and now they are very tired." But Hassanein said 

 nothing. Only when I climbed a huge mound of stones 

 beside the track and saw the hope in his face as I 

 looked across a great expanse of broken country I could 

 not resist the impulse. "I see the hatia," I lied. "It 

 is quite near." Darkness came as we jolted down into 

 the wadi and every rolling stone, every sudden drop 

 made me realise that two more days of this would be 

 impossible. The swift appearance of the hatia almost 

 justified my impulsive speech, but it was very dark as 

 we barraked behind a convenient mound. I insisted 

 that food should be eaten quickly and that we should 

 then walk till the moon went down. The retinue 

 expostulated violently. *'You must leave some of the 

 loads," said Yusuf; and Abu Bekr so firmly ensconced 

 himself in his blankets that I thought a concerted 

 mutiny was probable. However, after a forlorn meal, 

 for even my companion's unfaltering courage could not 

 hide his pain, I literally pushed the retinue on to their 

 feet and, by dint of doing half the loading myself, 

 forced them to prepare for another march. 



Hassanein dragged himself mutely on to the grey 

 Tebu, still far the strongest of the hamla, but when I 

 saw the party crawl away from our camping ground I 

 knew that I could not force the pace any longer. On 

 the morrow I would put up the tent and leave my com- 

 panion there with Yusuf and Amar. I would take the 

 Kufara camel and Abu Bekr who, for love of heavy 

 mejidies, would guide me in one long march to Siwa, 

 from where I could bring back help. "This is the end," 

 I said to Yusuf. "Pull up your energy V' And then. 



