did not give us much nourishment, our limbs were so stiff that
we could scarcely move, and our wounds proved most irritating. Under
such circumstances it can well be understood how welcome sleep would
have been; but the appearance of these three camels, the alarm of the
guides, and our anxiety about crossing the river, drove away all idea of
rest, and all we could do was to await with what patience we knew the
return of the two Arabs.

At length, just as the sun was setting, Ahmed and Awad returned, much
rejoiced. They had made inquiries about the three camelmen, and had
found out that they had nothing to do with us, and that nothing was
known yet of our flight. They had arranged with a boatman to ferry us
across, under the pretext that they were conducting a small party of
slaves whom they were going to hand over to the emir of Abu Hamed. This
most satisfactory news quite dissipated our fatigue, and we ate our
wretched biscuit and dates with an excellent appetite. As soon as it was
dark we moved towards the river, and dismounted close to the water's
edge. As yet there was no sign of the boatman, but we saw two boys
rowing towards us.

Meanwhile Ahmed had gone to a house close by to get some dhurra. Then
the boatman came and announced that he could not take us across that
night, but we must wait till the morning. This would never have done;
not only should we have lost a whole night, but we should undoubtedly
have been recognised in daylight. However, it was no use talking, and
the man went off to his hut; but we did not get discouraged, for if the
worst came to the worst, we could row ourselves across.

By this time the two boys had reached the bank, and they now came
forward and offered to take us across; of course we accepted, and in an
incredibly short space of time our guides had got the camels on board.
It was a large boat, so we all crossed together, and on reaching the
opposite bank Ahmed gave the boys two dollars, with which they seemed
highly pleased, kissed our hands, wished us a pleasant journey, and then
returned to the west bank. We watered the animals, filled our skins,
mounted, and again set our faces northwards.

It was now past midnight. The camels, refreshed by their rest and good
feed, pushed on quickly, and during that night and the whole of the next
day we rode on without any interruption or mishap. Not a soul was to be
seen in this lonely desert, but we often came across herds of antelopes,
r