Bir Arras,
February 10th, 1891.
Twenty miles to-day to Bir Arras. The wells here have been dry for nearly two years, and we found no scrub for firewood. This was against dinner, but we met the difficulty by felling a telegraph pole and chopping it up. This telegraph line used to go from Kenneh to the petroleum wells on the Red Sea. But it is not now used, so the poles were handy for cooking our dinner.
Kenneh,
February 11th, 1891.
Arrived here at midday, and pitched camp outside the town at a well in the Muhammadan cemetery, as I prefer that to the mosquitoes, fleas, &c., in the so-called hotel. Powney has decided to sleep at the latter place. We both dined at the hotel, and were delighted to get a bit of meat, as we had tasted none since Powney shot the two sand grouse at Medisa. We were lucky to-day in finding the owner of the camels, so we squared up our accounts with him. He is an old man, nearly blind now, poor old chap, but still has a keen eye for business. He was full of apologies for the behaviour of Salaama, and, for a wonder, did not haggle over his account, which was rather complicated and amounted to over £50.
