306 
UNCOMFORTABLE NIGHT. 
[chap. vm. 
we had brought from Latooka had been drowned by 
the rain ; thus my Mahommedan followers refused to 
eat them, as their throats had not been cut. Not being 
so scrupulous, and wonderfully hungry in the cold 
rain, Mrs. Baker and I converted them into a stew, 
and then took refuge, wet and miserable, under our 
untanned ox-hides until the following morning. Al¬ 
though an ox-hide is not waterproof, it will keep out a 
considerable amount of wet; but when thoroughly 
saturated, it is about as comfortable as any other wet 
leather, with the additional charm of an exceedingly 
disagreeable raw smell, very attractive to hyenas. The 
night being dark, several men thus lost their leather 
bags that they had left upon the rock. 
At 6 a.m., having passed a most uncomfortable night, 
we started, and after a march of about two miles I was 
made extremely anxious for the donkeys, by being as¬ 
sured that it was necessary to ascend a most precipitous 
granite hill, at least seven hundred feet high, that rose 
exactly before us, and upon the very summit of which 
was perched a large village. There was no help by 
means of porters ; we led our horses with difficulty up 
the steep face of the rock—fortunately they had never 
been shod, thus their firm hoofs obtained a hold where 
an iron shoe would have slipped; and after extreme 
difficulty and a most tedious struggle, we found our 
