“We are getting near the end of our journey,” said Zerwali. “The men are always quarrelsome then.”
By the time this dangerous incident was over, the sun was very hot, and we camped in the valley in the shade of some fine trees. The camels had good grazing while we ate and rested. Before we started in the afternoon Mohammed, Senussi Bu Hassan, Bukara, and Hamid, the camelman, came to ask me to forgive Hamid for having let his anger get the better of him with Ahmed. I pardoned him readily, and he went to Ahmed and kissed his head. Ahmed returned the compliment, and then the quarrel was ended in the best Bedouin tradition.
We made our way down the big valley for three hours and camped near its mouth at 7:15. Shortly before halting we saw ahead of us the distant hills of Agah, where the next well lay. The ground before us was flat serira, and it was a relief to see it. On this morning when we were going down into the valley it looked as if all our baggage would be in bits if there were more of these precipices. In places the descent was so rough that for safety we had to unload the camels. The men had to carry the baggage down the steep rocks, often a drop of three feet from boulder to boulder.
The new moon had risen as we camped. The next day was Bairam, the feast marking the end of Ramadan, and Zerwali came to say that the men would like to feast according to our Moslem custom. I willingly agreed, since the Agah Hills were in sight before us and the water-supply was ample. Besides, the excellent grazing in this valley would do the camels good.
We all rose early the next day (Friday, May 18) and put on clean clothes for the feast-day. We exchanged good wishes and followed them with the prayers appointed for Bairam. There was a look on every face as of men who are thinking of those left behind at home.
I produced a few Medjidies and Egyptian notes and distributed them. The coins went to Mohammed, Herri, Hassan, and Arami, who were to leave us before we reached territory where Egyptian notes are current. The rest got the notes, which they would be able to use at El Fasher. To Zerwali I gave twenty rounds of revolver ammunition and a bottle of scent. Another bottle of scent was divided among the men; Bukara received one of my pipes and tobacco to go with it, and he declared that he did not know what to do to return all the kindness I had shown him.
“I have only my camel and the clothes on my back,” he said. “He has given me the value of my camel in tobacco.”
It was a cheerful camp at breakfast; the men were pleased with their gifts, and I enjoyed their satisfaction. After breakfast we all lay down for a siesta, but got up again promptly, our bodies itching furiously from the assaults of white ants.
At 5:45 P.M. we made our start and half an hour later emerged from the valley upon the serira. In front of us lay a chain of hills running east and west, in the middle of which was Jebel Islingah, and to the right of it Jebel Agah, to which we were going. Herri said that there was a well also in Jebel Islingah, but that it was difficult to get at. The valley where we had camped was marked by trees on the east side of the entrance to it.
It was a hot day, and we moved slowly for six hours, when we reached a belt of sand-dunes, which stopped our progress for the night.