OLD KHAN IN ASSIUT.
The cardinal principle of the Mashishia is to abstain entirely from politics—a most useful character to have in a servant when going into the country of the Senussi. The same principle was adopted by the Shadhlia order and nearly all its numerous branches, and also by a set of dervishes which split from the Mashishia, that is known as the Madania—the old Madania, not the new Madania, which is of a very different character.
Ibrahim’s brother, Abd er Rahman, used to invoke Abd el Qader el Jilany, the founder of the great Qadria order of dervishes, the followers of which, as a rule, are about the least fanatical of Moslems.
Qway, though he made great protestations of keenness, I soon found to be obstructing my preparations, and he developed signs of dishonesty that I had not noticed in him before. What was worse, I found him secretly communicating with a member of the Senussi zawia in Qasr Dakhla, who, for some unexplained reason, had come to Assiut, and who seemed to be in frequent communication with him. This all pointed to some underhand dealing with the Senussi, who, until they were brought to their senses by being well beaten in the great war, always opposed any attempt to enter their country—usually by tampering with a traveller’s guides.
I concluded that I had better keep a closer watch upon the conduct of my guide than I had done before.
Having finished all arrangements in Assiut and dispatched the caravan by road to Kharga, I set out myself by train.
At Qara Station on the Western Oasis line, I found Nimr, Sheykh Suleyman’s brother. He brought up to me a jet black Sudani, about six feet three in height, who was so excessively lightly built that he could hardly have weighed more than eight stone. He answered to the name of “Abdullah abu Reesha”—“Abdulla the father of feathers,” a nickname given to him on account of his extreme thinness. He had, however, the reputation of being one of the best guides in the desert, and was always in request whenever a caravan went down to collect natron from Bir Natrun, where there was always a very fair chance of a scrap with the Bedayat. Nimr suggested that I should take him as a guide, and appeared to be greatly disappointed when I told him I had already engaged Qway. I promised, however, to bear him in mind, and, if I wanted another guide at any time, to write and ask Sheykh Suleyman to send him.
Nimr told me the rather unwelcome news that the bedawin, who had been pasturing their camels in Dakhla Oasis, were all scuttling back again with their beasts to the safety of the Nile Valley, as there was a report that a famous hashish runner and brigand, known as ’Abdul ’Ati, was coming in to raid the oasis. As I had counted on being able to hire some camels off these Arabs in the oasis, to supplement my own caravan when starting off on our fifteen days’ journey, this threatened raid was rather a nuisance and seemed likely somewhat to upset my plans.
This ’Abdul ’Ati was a well-known character in the desert, and if half the reports concerning him were true, he must have been a most formidable personage. He was rather badly wanted by the Frontier Guard (Camel Corps), as one of his principal occupations was that of smuggling hashish (Indian hemp), at which he had proved himself most successful. When business of this kind was slack, he occasionally indulged in a little brigandage, presumably just to keep his hand in.
Ibrahim, had the usual admiration for an outlaw common to youths of his age all over the world, and ’Abdul ’Ati was his idol, and he was a born hero-worshipper. He declared that he was a dead shot, and owned a rifle that carried two hours’ journey of a caravan, i.e. about five miles, and that he had no fear of anyone—not even of the Camel Corps.