38 
TRAVELS IN CENTRAL AFRICA. 
night. By this time the camels had consumed all the grain pro- 
vided for the journey,, and they now had to eat of the herbage. 
Near us there was a great deal of it^ and in the mountains to our 
right there were reservoirs of rain-water, so our detention here was 
solely on account of the camels. 
Tuesday, \7th , — OfP at six a.m. ; passed the highest point of the 
desert. The weak state of the camels now became painfully appa- 
rent. We had already three stalking with the caravan, unable to 
carry their loads, and many were dropping behind. On both sides 
of the route lay hundreds of skeletons of these .animals, and very 
many whose carcases, only partially eaten by hysenas, tainted the air. 
At noon bivouacked at Adar Ahmar, the Bed Mountain at three 
p.m., broke up, but not before collecting pretty grasses, and many 
butterflies too — none, however, rare ones. At seven o^ clock the 
halt for supper ; at that time the lamps were lighted, as the moon 
had not yet risen, and we caught a number of handsome moths, 
principally the Sphinx, attracted by the glare of the candles. In 
less than two hours the well-known cry of the guide. Sheikh Abd 
il Gader, protector of the camels, told us the camels were being 
laden ; and, reluctantly enough, we had to shake off the forty 
winks we had promised ourselves. At midnight arrived at the 
mountain Gereibat, and remained near it for the night. 
In- 
September 18/^. — March at sunrise through a mountain range. 
The guide drew our attention to a mountain to the west called 
The Lofty.^^ A story was connected with it, and at the noonday 
halt he promised to tell it. Bivouacked at twelve o^ clock in a 
delightful valley — hills surrounding it — the herbage luxuriant — 
caterpillars and butterflies abounding. 
