198 WADY AROUKEEN END OF RAMADHAN. 
Aroukeen, one hour and a-lialf, to a place where 
we have better feeding for the camels ; but it was 
scarcely worth the trouble of loading and unloading, 
as the animals could have been led up here to this 
portion of the wady. 
Wady Aroukeen is in" every respect a desirable 
place for the resting-place of a caravan. It is full 
of trees and hasheesh, and lined with lofty preci- 
pitous rocks, which afford shelter in winter and in 
summer, and, as say the Scriptures, give " the sha- 
dow of a great rock in a weary land." The well 
dug by the Tanelkums supplies very palatable 
water. It lies about an hour and a-half from our 
encampment. 
I sent off my Soudanese servant this morning to 
the Tanelkums, to ask them to wait for us ; or at 
least leave the things behind which I require for our 
use. 
Yesterday evening the new moon (second even- 
ing) was seen by our people, telling them that the 
Ramadhan was finished. They saluted the pale 
crescent horn with some discharges of their guns. 
To-day is a great feast, but they have not the 
means of keeping it. 
I cannot say that at this portion of my journey 
my mind is visited by much cheerfulness. How- 
ever agreeable may be the valley of Aroukeen, with 
its grass patches, its clumps of trees, and the eternal 
shadow of its rocks, I find my strength begin, 
to a certain extent, to fail me. For several days I 
