18 
TEAVELS IN CENTEAL AFEICA. 
attempt to draw it. Harness for tlie purpose had been manu- 
factured at Cairo according to tbe directions of my husband. A 
crowd collected to see the strange vehicle. A push was given at 
the hack of the cart^ a loud shout raised;, and away went the camel 
as if he had drawn one all his life. The arrangements were perfect ; 
hut great doubts were expressed as to the possibility of ever getting 
the cart through the ravine_, the entrance to the desert. His High- 
ness the Viceroy had performed the journey in his carriage^ but 
then his gold and soldiers turned the stones into dust. In an hour 
back came the camel with the cart : all were satisfied with the 
experiment. 
The weather was fearfully hot_, the thermometer daily at 100° in 
the shade ; and on the 20th I was almost inclined to give in. But 
towards sunset I observed the faint indication of a rainbow^ and 
then my spirits rosC;, for I felt 'sure rain was near. I ran to Pethe- 
rick^ who was at some distance (working at the abominable boxes), 
to point out to him the promise; but it had disappeared : no one 
had remarked it. I believe all thought me mad, and I was assured 
over and over that it had not rained in those parts for nine years. 
Did I think we were to be so favoured ? 
Disappointed, but still firm in my belief, I hastened back to the 
tent, to gather from around it the many articles scattered about, 
and to place them in safety. I had as an attendant a very intelli- 
gent boy, Achmed, the son of an old Kordofanese servant of Pethe- 
riclPs : he went willingly to work with me, and in a short time we 
had stowed away in a waterproof tent a considerable number of 
things ; and all that we could cram into the cart we did, covering 
them over with a sheet of India-rubber cloth. Every now and 
then my husband would laugh — as he only can laugh — at my self- 
imposed task. However, the work was hardly finished when a 
