Ap. 15. [15 April 1914] They gave me a gorgeous dinner, in the
garden at my special request, and the rest of the night was not a
success. Any excuse serves for keeping me awake these hot nights,
and the chatter of the two watchmen - whom the shaikh set over us
was enough. At last I rose up in wrath and packed them off, saying I
preferred a thousand thieves, who at least would try not to wake me,
to watchmen who did not mind whether I slept or not. We were off
today before sunrise; it was bitter hot - the temperature was 91? in the
shade at 3 PM, I call that hot, don't you? - and a weary dull desert and
a wearily sleepy person riding through it. Those who sit at home and
think what fun it must be to explore waste places, they do not know, do
they, the price for it which has to be reckoned in such days as these.
Tut, tut! what a fuss I am making about a bad night, a warm day and a
dull road! Our destination was Abu Jir [Abu el Jir], the great pitch
springs to which I came 5 years ago when I was looking for Ukhaidir
[Ukhaydir]. I kept thinking and thinking in my tired mind of what you
said once about the long hot march and the hope of rest and shade at
the end of it. Fortunately I did not need to bother much about
bearings, for an obliging person at Abu Jir set fire to one of the pitch
springs, for fun - they are always doing it - and a monstrous black
cloud of smoke rose up in front of us while we were still 6 hours and
more away, onto which I could set my compass and troubled no
more. So we camped and there came a dust storm which did not
make things better and here am I grumbling to you as if I were really
undergoing hardships. Please forget, my dear confessor, and try to
think of me as a hero regardless of all discomforts. No, that would not
be human; take it as it is. Anyhow I feel better when I have grumbled
to you.