HAPPY TEBUS AT KUFRA
A BIDIYAT FAMILY
We were fortunate in finding grazing for our camels almost every day until we reached Jalo. Sometimes, it is true, we had to go out of our way to reach the patches of green among the sand-dunes, but we always found them. Three kinds of vegetation grow sparsely and in infrequent spots in this part of the desert. Belbal is a grayish green bush, whose foliage is not good eating for the camels. It grows only in the vicinity of a well. Ordinarily the camels will not touch it, but if very hungry they will. Then unceasing vigilance is necessary to save oneself from the annoyance of having a sick camel on one’s hands.
Damran is a similar bush, but with darker foliage and with brown stems which make good fuel when dried. This is excellent food for the camels, and they eat it eagerly. The third variety of vegetation is nisha, which grows in tufts of thin leaves up to a foot high. This too makes good grazing. It is only in the winter months, however, when the scanty rains come, that these plants are available. No Bedouin would think of making a journey between Jalo and Jaghbub in summer without carrying a supply of fodder for his camels.
On the tenth day from Jaghbub we reached the well of Hesaila, the first water after Bu Salama. It was marked by a few trees and small green bushes, and after we had scooped out the drifted sand with our hands, the water seemed good. But the after-effects were not so pleasant.
Two days later we found ourselves on the outskirts of the Oasis of Jalo. Before we could enter, a messenger came rushing to meet us. He carried a letter from Sidi Mohammed El Zerwali, the ikhwan, who had been directed by Sayed Idris to accompany us to Kufra, asking me to camp outside until they could prepare to receive us properly. Sayed Idris, before he had left Jalo two months before, had told them that I was on the way and directed that I should be shown all possible courtesy. They had expected us long before this, and when we did not come they decided that I had changed my plans.
We withdrew a short distance from the town and camped. A few hours later an impressive group of a score or more of Bedouins came out and drew themselves up in a long line before the village of Lobba, one of the two villages that make up Jalo. Dressed in our cleanest and most ceremonial clothes, and my men provided with ammunition for the complimentary salute, we went forward. I approached and shook hands with Sidi Senussi Gader Bouh, the kaimakam or governor of the district, the members of the Council of Jalo, and other prominent citizens. The kaimakam made a speech of welcome, to which I replied. My men fired their guns in salute, and we passed into the town.
I went to the house which was put at my disposal, and received a visit of ceremony from the Council of Jalo and from Sidi El Fadeel, the uncle of Sayed Idris. After dinner with Senussi Gader Bouh, I spent the evening in discussing plans for the trip with Sidi Zerwali.