It was very hot, and the party had to take shelter from the sun
THE ROCK VALLEY WELLS FOUND AT OUENAT
They are full of rain-water every year, and as they are in small caves sheltered from the sun they keep the water during the greater part of the year.
In the afternoon the slave came to tell me that his master, Sayed El Abid, would like to see me. I had already intimated that he need not be in a hurry to give me an audience, as I knew he was suffering badly from his gout and it was very difficult for him to come down to the reception-room. But he was not willing to have me think that he had violated the rules of hospitality by delaying the audience, and so he very kindly allowed me to see him in spite of his suffering.
It was the first time that I had seen Sayed El Abid on this journey, and as I was ushered into his presence I thought that he might have come out of a gorgeous illustration of “The Thousand and One Nights.” He was dressed in a yellow silk kuftan embroidered with red braid, a rich white silk burnoos carelessly hung on his shoulders. On his head he wore a white turban with snow-white gauze flowing from the sides. This is the classical head-gear of the chiefs of the Senussi family. He carried in his hand a heavy ebony stick with a massive silver head. He was a picture of simple and benign dignity, and no one would have suspected him of being the redoubtable warrior that he really is. He was sitting on a big upholstered arm-chair, and as I entered he tried to get up. I hastened to him, grasping his hand, and begged him not to make an effort to rise. He was suffering badly from his gout, and the conversation started easily on the subject of his ailment. He has been suffering for many years. At times at night, he said, when the pain is at its worst, “I pray to God that He may shorten the number of my days in this world, for I cannot even perform my prayers as I should.”
We then discussed the question of my trip to the Sudan, and he too, I found, had been prevailed upon to urge me to take the safer route through Wadai. I pointed out to him that Sayed Idris was now in Egypt and that I had to hasten to my country to try to repay a little of the hospitality that had been lavished upon me by the Senussis. It was fortunate that the route to the Sudan through Ouenat is known to be shorter than that through Wadai.
“You are a dear friend of ours,” he said; “and the Sayed, I am sure, would rather have you arrive in Egypt late and safe than hear that any harm had befallen you.”
“Our fates are in the hands of God,” I replied; “our efforts are decreed by Him, and I carry with me the blessing of the Senussi masters.”
I spoke with an air of determination. Sayed El Abid was pensive for a few moments. Slowly he raised his head and lifted his two hands toward heaven.