I had a long talk with him and with Mohammed. The old chief was still fond of his own country north of Wadai and sighed when it was spoken of. He belonged to the Hezzi family, which is a ruling family of Goran in northern Wadai. He came to Kufra as a voluntary exile, when the French entered Wadai, and later he settled in Ouenat.
I found myself tired after our twenty-eight hours of trekking with only nine hours of rest, but a bath, a meal, and a short sleep made life worth living again in the evening.
Bukara had organized a chorus among the men, and the evening was spent with Bedouin, Tebu, and Sudanese songs.
Thursday, May 3. Herri came to my tent with a bowl of milk when I got up. When I thanked him, he shook his head sadly.
“This is all I have to offer,” he said. “It is not worthy of you. But you will forgive us for not being able to give you the hospitality that you should have.”
I assured him that it is the spirit that counts in these matters and not the intrinsic value of the offering. The day was spent in preparations for the start south, which I hoped would be made on the morrow.
Friday, May 4. I made an arrangement with Herri to go with us to Erdi, as an additional guide. Mohammed had not been through this country for a number of years, and I felt that Herri should know it better.
In the afternoon I went for a long walk and took photographs of the mountains. By this time all the Tebu and Goran settlements, which are scattered about the oasis wherever there is grazing for their beasts, had heard of our presence, and the people came to visit us. There were many guests for dinner, and it was a very gay camp. It was one of the pleasantest evenings of the trip.
Before we leave Ouenat I must say something about Bukara, who is one of the most interesting people in the caravan and a romantic figure. He is tall, slim, and wiry, a typical Bedouin, always cheerful and with a song at his lips at those critical moments in the day, early in the morning or late at night, when the men are tired with the night march and need encouragement.
I did not know that he smoked until one day, as I was saddling my horse, I caught him collecting the cigarette-ends from the spot where my tent had stood. After this I shared my cigarettes with him. It was great fun to hand him a packet of the precious articles and see him break into a song and dance of joy.