We cleared out the little trickle of water which we found in the river
bed, and digging a hollow in the sandy bed, we planted in it our india
rubber bath, and diverted the trickle so that it ran into this, and so
gave us a standing supply of clear water for our camp.
It was quite a triumph of engineering, though we got pretty wet and
muddy in carrying it out.
Then we went exploring among the hills, following up our gorge. We
soon found that it became a narrow fissure between the mountains, so
narrow that the overhanging rocks often nearly touched each other high
above our heads. It was a most weird place--exactly the sort of spot
where one might expect a dragon to dwell.
* * * * *
ARAB POLITENESS.
A thing that strikes one about the Arabs is their politeness and
readiness to do good turns.
Every Arab we met as we tramped across the plains greeted us with
"good morning" in Arabic or French, and, though it must be a strange
sight to them to see a white lady walking, and a man in shorts and
shirt-sleeves (for I always wear the Scout kit for camping), they
never showed undue curiosity, and never thought of jeering at us as I
fear would be the case in many places in England.
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