CHAPTER XXII.

Abu Haifa The camp Looking for water Habits of Soudanese cattle Robbers on the road.

As it happened, our journey was put off for another twenty-four hours, and we did not start till the morning of the 2ist (February).

A short cut had been discovered over the hills towards Abu Haifa, and by taking this and making a bee-line towards a peculiarly-shaped hill on the horizon we soon arrived in the neighbourhood of the wells. The next thing to do was to discover the wells themselves, and this we did with the help of a very miserable, but polite, native we discovered in the grass, who, poor devil, would have done anything for a handful of dhurra. We looked in vain for the pools Mr. Fowler had promised, but did not see them ; the only water being two or three little puddles about four feet square. One dilapidated palm was seen in Q 2