Complex sentence: Hassanein's first journey was to the Kufra, the Senussi's oasis capital, but it nearly came to grief owing to the inability of his companion, Rosita Forbes, to read a compass correctly.
Split into simpler sentences: Hassanein's first journey was to the Kufra, the Senussi's oasis capital. The journey nearly came to grief owing to the inability of his companion, Rosita Forbes, to read a compass correctly.