30 SICKNESS AND DEATH IN CAMP.

admit of our pitching the tents : the tempest, if possible, increased during the night.

Except that it was not so hot, it reminded me of my experience once in travelHng by rail from Suez to Cairo. Then a violent rhamseen wind got up after we had started ; and, although all the windows were kept closed, the sand on the floor was over a quarter of an inch deep. Some of the carriages ran off the rails, owing to the driving sand ; and in some places men had to go on ahead to sweep it off the rails, before it was possible to proceed. The heat, too, was terrific, the thermometer in the wind marking 113° F. The sun was, of course, obscured by the sand which rattled against the carriagewindows like hail. It is no joke to be living in tents in such a tempest, and it must be undergone to be thoroughly understood and appreciated.

There were a great many dhoum-'2\m near our encampment : previously we had only found them in ones and twos. There were, too, plenty of tamarisk-trees, which were here met with for the first time, and which we were glad to see, as they are a very favourite food of the camel.

We had to remain where we were the next day, as Jules was not well enough to go on. George, too, was unwell, and lay down all day in the tent ; and Suleiman, who was never ill, complained that "his stomach bite him plenty." The storm rather increased than decreased, as the day wore on ; and we had considerable difficulty in securing the tents. To add to the general cheerfulness, a death took place in camp.

A day or two previously a small band of Takroori pilgrims, returning from Mecca, had attached themselves to our caravan. The Takrooris came originally from Darfour. They have now, however, settled in the neighbourhood of Gallabat, on the Abyssinian frontier ; and the Egyptian Government has given them