CHAPTER IV
BITTER WATERS
This is Al Bamla, but the Rub* al Khali—the Rub' al Khali is
away yonder till you come to the mountains, the black mountains!
we were yet to spend many days among the wells and
parched pastures of Al Rimal, but the above was 'Ali's de-
scription of the situation as we rode away from Wabar on
the morning of February 6th. Two of the specific objectives
of the expedition had been disposed of and our thoughts
now centred on the third—the crossing of the waterless
desert. But first we must go down to Shanna_3 visiting the
frontier wells of the pasture lands.
The previous morning at Wabar I had found a heavy dew
on the ground—the first recorded by me for some days—but
there was none this morning, and the atmosphere was
pleasantly mild in spite of a raw, fairly strong north wind
as we made an early start on the longish waterless stage to
'Am Sala.
It is strange that my companions had no idea of the
potential pecuniary value of the great iron which we had
not found. Doubtless the home tribe—the Jarraba—had
kept this knowledge to itself lest others might prospect the
locality and deprive it of possible future windfalls. And the
piece we had found had doubtless lain unseen since its dis-
covery by the wind owing to the long drought which had
kept the nomads at a safe distance. The rewards I had pro-
mised were not claimed and, satisfied as I was, I deemed it
impolitic to pay them at the moment. A more suitable
occasion would present itself later on.
My party was thus somewhat depressed by the failure of
the guides to make good their early boasting and, to cheer
them up, I suggested to Humaid, who had hitherto been
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