MEDISA FALL, UPPER POOL.
I caught a spider as big as a mouse crawling up inside my tent, such a loathsome brute. He was consigned to a tin of boiling water. There are lots of ants in camp, some nearly an inch long; so far they have not bitten any of us. Two little waterwagtails live here, and they are as tame as dogs. They are getting quite fat on the hundreds of flies.
Medisa,
January 18th, 1891.
Spent the morning in skinning the ibex head, and in making an oven, as our bread is finished; but we have lots of flour. I dug a hole in the sand and lined it with the flattest stones hereabouts, putting a big one at the bottom and a similar one as a lid at the top. The oven when finished was like a hat box let into the ground. We then lit a big fire inside, and after about an hour, when the pit was hot, we raked out the ashes and put in the dough in “fids,” like penny buns. We put on the lid, covered the whole with sand, and waited patiently for two hours. The result was excellent, and we now have a ready method of making our own bread without difficulty. The sky has been overcast for the first time since we came. It was unlucky, as I had fixed upon to-day to photograph the Medisa ravine, and the cascade at the head of it. Faragh and I scrambled up, and I took eight views; we did not get back till dusk. I am sorry to find that nearly all my photographic plates got broken on the journey, so my pictures will be limited in number.
I have got a small magnetic machine with me. This evening I took it over to the two Bedawin who were sitting by their fire in the dark. I made one of them hold one wire in his hand; the other I put into his drinking vessel and told him to drink. The poor fellow tried his best; but as soon as the water touched his lips he dropped it like a red hot poker, declaring that a devil was in the water and he would not drink. Dined on fried ibex brain and home made bread to-night; and, being Sunday, a tin of greengage jam was broached.
Medisa,
January 19th, 1891.
Had a very long day in the mountains to the west of camp. We reached the water, marked on the War Office map, “Um Yessar,”[10] in about one hour from our camp. It is merely a hollow under an enormous boulder, but the water always keeps its level, and it is beautifully clear. One man only can reach down at a time, drawing the water in a wooden bowl. This well lies close to the Wadi, at the end of a magnificent cañon full of monster rocks. We scrambled up this ravine for about two hours finding great quantities of ibex droppings, but though we went as quickly as possible, we never came in sight of one. The wind now began to blow at our backs up the ravine, so we knew any beast ahead of us would merely get our wind. We therefore retraced our steps about halfway till we got to a very steep gorge leading up the mountain, out of our cañon. We set to work to climb this. It was very steep, but not difficult, as there were quantities of stones to use as steps. I was astonished to find about halfway up, growing out of a crack, one solitary little bunch of mignonette in flower. How sweet it smelt. I picked some and carried it back to camp. We saw no ibex. We now followed along the tops of the mountains till we got to the big one overlooking our camp. The tents looked like little white specks far below. After a difficult descent we reached home disappointed with our bad luck.
Medisa,