252 TRAVELS IN AFRICA, 
which, fparingly given, ferves them during the greater part of 
the voyage. Thofe with whom I travelled were not fo pro- 
vided, thefe articles being then very dear in Egypt ; and in 
confequence numbers of camels perifhed. In coming from 
Dar-Fur, they ufe for the fame purpofe the dokn^ and coarfe 
hay of the country, but not altogether with the fame falu-- 
tary efFefti ^'-^ ■ 
The water, in leaving Egypt, is commonly conveyed in goat 
fkins artificially prepared ; but no fkill can entirely prevent 
evaporation. On their march from Soudan to Egypt, the Je- 
labs oftener ufe ox-hides, formed into capacious facks and pro- 
perly feafoned with tar or oil. A pair of thefe is a camel's load. 
They keep the water in a better Hate for drinking than the 
fmaller ; and thefe facks are fold to great advantage throughout 
Egypt, a pair ofLthe beft kind being fometimes worth thirty 
piafters. They are the common inftruments for conveying 
water from the river to different parts of each town. The ca- 
mels are not allowed to partake of this ftore, which, after all 
the care that can be taken of it, is often very naufeous, from 
the tar, the mud which accompanies the wa^er in drawing, heat, 
&c. Six of the fmaller fkins, or two of the larger, are gene- 
rally efteemed fufficient for four perfons for as many days. 
The Cubha-Betjh^ and the Bedeidt, the latter of whom feem 
to me not of Arab origin, when tliey make any attempt on the 
caravans, commonly fhew themfelves between Leghea and the 
Bir-el-Malha. But this road is fo ill provided with any thing 
that is neeeffary for the fuflenance of man or beaft, that neither 
the 
