‘A JOURNEY IN THE EAST, 263 
this midday sun our craft stank even worse than at night. 
An old man, too, blind of one eye, somewhat humpbacked, 
with a curling white beard and a turban, had planted himself 
close beside us. He was uncommonly repulsive in his general 
appearance, and did not row, but had only come out of 
curiosity, This unwelcome stranger was a great source 
of annoyance, and indeed a dangerous neighbour, for he 
hunted in his flowing garments incessantly and with much 
success. 
Happily we got to the rock in half an hour, where we 
found the other sportsmen, who had shot a good many Coots. 
All the spoils of the first half of the day were now put into 
a boat and despatched under the care of my jiger to the 
opposite side of the lake, where our new camp had meanwhile 
been pitched. 
We now determined to rest for an hour on the slope of the 
rocky headland near the shore, where we took a frugal lunch 
of cold meat, bread, flat lemonade, and various preserves more 
or less spoilt by the heat. Our men amused themselves by 
catching Geckos, those curious little grey lizards with high 
combs on their backs, and there were also lots of scorpions 
lying under the stones. The halt, however, did not refresh 
us, for the sun burnt fearfully on the steep rocky hillside, 
' where the ground was glowing and the air quivering in the 
scorching heat. It was the hottest day that we had hitherto 
endured on our journey, far hotter than the warmest day of a 
European summer. 
We soon started again, and walked along the bushes by the 
shore in a northerly direction, the tramp through the burning 
sands of the desert, which radiated a most terrific heat, being 
by no means pleasant. Once more we posted ourselves at 
intervals round the bushes, and again a merry hunt began; 
but this time the baited beast did not show itself so readily, 
and the chase went up and down several times. At last, 
