Whilst we thus give ourselves up to the enjoyment of the climate and the scenery, our tents are being pitched and furnished, for, after much wise counsel, we have, in order to protect ourselves from the dampness of the grounds brought with us several sets of frame work called angareb, on four legs, and covered with a sort of lattice, made of thongs of bullock's hide; a mat placed on this frame serves as a mattress. You see, my dear fellow, that we have all our little comforts round us, and that we have no reason whatever to hanker after those pretty little boudoirs which it is your wont to frequent.
"We are at Singate, the summer residence of the inhabitants of Souakim, and an encampment of the Bedouins, of the tribe of Bischaris, commonly called Bishareen, situate in a large valley, shut in by the loftiest links in the mountain chain. Singate is considered as being one of the healthiest places in the country. The Governor of Souakim, when he came to say good-bye to us, told us that he would order his own residence to be placed at our disposal, and consequently we have in attendance upon us the commandant of the little Egyptian garrison which protects the district, and the greatest respect is paid to us.
"Our dinner is served under a sammor, an immense specimen of the acacia genus, whose branches extend far out and droop downwards in the shape of a parasol. The Commandant, during the evening, thought fit to present to us two Abyssinian ladies, whom a love of travel had brought to the Soudan. They belong to the upper ten. I was on the point of saying that they were women of the world. Their features are delicate, and approach the European type, their lips thick, without, however, reminding one of those of a negress, their teeth brilliantly white, their noses long and thin, and their complexion a golden yellow. Delange will persist in saying that they have lovely figures, but that impressionable young man was so smitten with the bayaderes that he is always thinking he sees replicas, so to speak, of those wonderful beings, who appear to have been an epoch in his life. I am quite content with giving you their portraits, and so I will complete them. They walk bare-footed, according to the custom of their country, where a Princess here and there alone allows herself such a luxury as red leather slippers, and their black hair shines so in the sun that I asked the Commandant to explain the phenomenon to me. He made no scruple about telling me that in order to obtain this sheen, which is quite the fashion, they put a small piece of butter on their heads, and this, melting quickly, anoints their hair from its roots to their shoulders inclusive.
"The Doctor who, I thought, would be interested in this little detail, did not seem in the least degree affected by it, and, in spite of the melted butter, to which, in his admiration, he shuts both his eyes and his nose, flirts desperately with both the fair strangers, to the great disgust of Miss Beatrice Poles.
* * * * * *
"This morning, when we wanted to start from the Wady Kokreb, near which we had passed the night, it was impossible to find Miss Poles. We shouted, we searched, we sent the interpreters out in all directions, but in vain—no one could give us any tidings of her. A camel driver said that he had been awake nearly all night, and that he had not seen her go into her tent.
"Has she been carried off by some too inflammable Bedouins?
"That would indeed be a misfortune—for them."
CHAPTER XXXIII.
"We waited one hour more for Miss Beatrice Poles, and then we gave the order to start.