306 THE EMPTY QUARTER

for the dawn prayer and a light breakfast. The rain had been
with us intermittently throughout this march, and towards
dawn there was a good deal of thunder and lightning in the
south.

On resuming the march after an hour's halt we passed

almost immediately into the district of Hadh Bani Zainan, an

immense gently-undulating drought-stricken plain in which

practically all the vegetation except a few Abal bushes was

dead. The stumps and long-exposed roots of the larger

thickets were black as if they had been burned with fire. It

was indeed a desolate scene through which we rode, mostly in

silence. It was pleasant to ride bareheaded in the tempered

sunlight. The wind had dropped to nothing, and the sky

was trying to clear. Again there was no sign of life anywhere

though in two spots we observed Oryx dung. We were in the

very midst of the Oryx country, but our hunters had lost all

inclination for the chase. It was indeed amazing that during

all these weeks not one of us had ever had a glimpse of the

animal, which we had hoped so confidently to meet in large

numbers. 'All Jahman had even spoken of the possibility

of eking out our water-supply in emergency by squeezing out

the liquid contained in the tripe of the animals we should shoot.

Supposing one was very thirsty, I asked Salim as we rode

along ahead of our companions as usual, and had no water,

could one make shift with the urine of camels ? You use it

to wash your hair and as medicine for your stomach. Could

you also use it for ordinary drinking purposes if hard

pressed ? No, he replied, it would but make you more

thirsty, but we do sometimes get a deal of drinkable liquid

in another way. We take the undigested food'from a camel's

cud and squeeze the water out of it. Have you ever gone

thirsting for a long period, Salim ? I asked. Perhaps two

days, but not more, he replied, and praise be to God ! I have

heard of men who have been longer without water; perhaps

four days, but scarcely more, God knows.

As the morning wore on, patches of beautiful blue sky
began to chequer the wide-spread pattern of clouds and the
sun grew quite hot behind a thin film of haze. The atmo-
sphere was rather stifling, and the surface of the sand seemed