BIDIYAT WOMEN
ZAGHAWA GIRL AND HER INFANT
I asked who made the pictures, and the only answer I got came from Malkenni, the Tebu, who declared his belief that they were the work of the djinn.
“What man,” he demanded, “can do these things now?”
I did not find any traditions about the origin of these interesting rock-markings, but I was struck by two things. There are no giraffes in this part of the country now; nor do they live in any similar desert country anywhere. Also there are no camels among the carvings on the rocks, and one cannot penetrate to this oasis now except with camels. Did the men who made these pictures know the giraffe and not the camel? I reflected that the camel came to Africa from Asia some five hundred years B.C.
At 5:30 we started for the home camp. We wound our way up a steep mountain path, hardly wide enough in places for a single man and exceedingly dangerous going for the camels. We reached the highest point of the path and then picked our way down to the desert level south of the mountains. At the highest point we reached there were a few peaks around, some two or three hundred meters higher than we were. The camels went up and down the steep path wonderfully well in spite of the darkness, and at 10:30 we were at the foot of the mountains.
It seemed best to give the camels a rest, and we halted at eleven for two hours. We had tea, and a Tebu family whose camp was near came to visit us. We snatched a brief sleep and awoke refreshed. There was a cool wind blowing, and the ride home over the level desert was a pleasant relief after the hot work of climbing about among the rocks.
We reached camp at 10 A.M. of the second and were met with firing of rifles and an agreeable welcome.
Wednesday, May 2. On reaching camp we found Sheikh Herri, the Goran chief who is called King of Ouenat and its one hundred and fifty inhabitants. He came the day before to visit me and waited for my return. He was a very nice old man with a calm, dignified face. He brought two sheep, milk, and abra for diafa. He was keeping Ramadan, and I insisted on his staying the night with us. Otherwise I could not offer him hospitality, since he might not eat or drink until sunset.