skin forms a seamless bag, open at botb ends. To
form a girba, the skin must be buried in the earth for
about twenty hours : it is then washed in water, and
the hair is easily detached. Thus rendered clean, it is
tanned by soaking for several days in a mixture of the
bark of a mimosa and water; from this it is daily
withdrawn, and stretched out with pegs upon the
ground; it is then well scrubbed with a rough stone,
and fresh mimosa bark well bruised, with water, is
rubbed in by the friction. About four days are sufficient
to tan the thin skin of a gazelle, which is much
valued for its toughness and durability; the aperture
at the hind quarters is sewn together, and the opening
of the neck is closed, when required, by tying. A
good water-skin should be porous, to allow the water
to exude sufficiently to moisten the exterior, thus
the action of the air upon the exposed surface causes
evaporation, and imparts to the water within the
skin a delicious coolness. The Arabs usually prepare
their tanned skins with an empyreumatical oil made
from a variety of substances, the best of which is that
from the sesame grain * this has a powerful smell, and
renders the water so disagreeable that few Europeans
could drink it. This oil is black, and much resembles
tar in appearance; it has the effect of preserving the
leather, and of rendering it perfectly water-tight. In
desert travelling each person should have his own
private water-skin slung upon his dromedary) for this
purpose none is so good as a small-sized gazelle skill
that will contain about two gallons.
On 23d June we were nearly suffocated by a
whirlwind that buried everything within the tents
several inches in dust; the -heat was intense; as usual
the sky was spotless, but the simoom was more overpowering
than I had yet experienced. I accordingly
took, my rifle and went down to the pool, as any
movement, even in the burning sun, was preferable
to inaction in that sultry heat and dust. The crocodiles
had dragged the skeletons of the hippopotami
into the water; several huge beads appeared and then
vanished from the surface, and the ribs of the carcase
that projected, trembled and jerked as the jaws of the
crocodiles were at work beneath. I shot one of'
very large size through the head, but it sank to the
bottom; I expected to find it on the following morning
floating upon the surface when the gas should
have distended the body.
I also shot a large single bull hippopotamus late in
the evening, which was alone at the extremity of the
pool; he sank at the forehead shot, and, as he never
rose again, I concluded that he was dead, and that
I should find him on the morrow with the crocodile.
Tired with the heat, I trudged homeward over the hot
and fatiguing sand of the river’s bed.
The cool night arrived, and at about half-past
eight I was lying half asleep upon my bed by the
margin of the river, when I fancied that I heard a
rumbling like distant thunder : I had not heard such
a sound for months, but a low uninterrupted roll appeared
to increase in volume, although far distant.
E 2