THE WATERLESS WASTE 349

is our mother. Laud to the Lord, that we see it again,
coming from the empty world behind us. And to-morrow,
maybe, if God wills, we may look again on the faces of men.
Ay, and women too, for there may be damsels at Sulaiyil for
us to wed. His thoughts were ever of his little wife at Mecca
and of other women whom he might in due course introduce
to the bliss of his minute menage in the Ma'abida quarter.

We had taken things easily enough during the day and
settled down in camp for the night soon after 5 p.m. after a
total march of about 25 miles. To the southward at a
distance of some eight or ten miles the long ridge of Mushai-
mikh stood out prominently in the scene. Behind us the
Qaunis sands lined the horizon with its long coast. Else-"
where there was nothing but the dark steppe stretching back
to the rolling uplands, its broad bosom swelling up here and
there to little paps. The sun set, the storm-clouds rolled up
again from west and north, and we rested from our labours.
There was a surprise in store for me when they summoned
me to dinner, for Salih had cooked a dish of rice to celebrate
the occasion. Very good it was too after the long and meagre
monotony of dates and raw meat, for Salim's stock of the
latter seemed inexhaustible and he had given me some
during the day's march with the information that there was
still a little left for the morrow. Whether the meat rations
of the rest had held out in similar fashion I never inquired,
but it was surprising indeed that there should be anything
left to eat of the animal we had slain eleven days before.
After dinner I attended to my theodolite observations with
Sa'dan's assistance as usual, and then in privacy we shared
the contents of the second and last tin of peaches before com-
posing ourselves for the night's sleep.

A fresh east wind, with a little northing in it, blew through-
out the night, which was deliciously cool though the tem-
perature never fell below 72°. And the sky was heavily
clouded over at 11-30 p.m., when Zayid disturbed the peace
and slumbers of the camp with an ill-judged attempt to get
us on the move again ahead of our usual time. Fortunately
I looked at my watch when he roused me, and he retired dis-
gruntled and grumbling at my obstinacy. He would have