Evening star., 1925-10-18

it started to blow hard and as luck
| would have it the sand started to
move, and in a few minutes we were
right in the thick of a severe sand
storm. | tried to run past 1t, but some
soft going reduced me to second gear,
and in another 10 minutes it was
nearly as dark as London is in the
thick of a November fog, although the
sun was still high in the heavens.
In spite of protective glasses we
were soon semi-blind, and our eyes
ears. and nostrils were soon filled and
we were in bad way. Several times
tried to get through it, but without
avail, and the strength of this follow
ing wind may be imagined by the fact
that although my speedometer showed
that l was moving % miles an hour,
my flag was blowing directly away
from me.
Forty-three miles out. after watering
the radiator. once ! gave II up and
stopped. Sulieman, the guide whom
we had engaged at Damascus. squat
ted down and. wrapping his flowing
robe around him, put his head between
his knees. and remained motionless.
sheltered from that awful blast of hot
wind and sand every grain Of which
stung and burnt.
For an hour we waited thus, and 1t
abated a little. but even then our
vision was limited to range of 300
yards. After filing up. l was horri-
fed to find that we had used three gal
Ions of water in our efforts to pass
through the storm, or nearly a quarter
of our total supply, and that with only
fourteenth part of our journey
covered l then decided to remain
where we were until sunset. when the
wind would probably drop, so we set
tied down TO a meal of timed food.
SULIEMAN then gave us good dem
onstration of the resourcefulness of
the desert Arab. He wandered about
for a few minutes, collected about a
dozen small pieces of refuse, and put
them into a small hole that he dug
with q sharp stone
Sheltering the hole to the windward
side with his robe. he worked with
flint and steel: in 80 seconds he had a,
blaze going. and in five minutes he
boiled water and gave me a most de-
licious cup Of coffee. the like OF which
can only be associated with this part
of the East. 1t was a demonstration
of what can be done with apparently
nothing in the desert.
Just then Wroe started to shiver.
and on taking his temperature found
it to be 1924. This was a problem. To
turn round and make for Dana sous
would have taken hours. as it would
be impossible to drive for more
than A few minutes at time in the
face of the wind, so | decided to push
on to Bagdad.
/ gave him a good strong dose of
quinine and aspirin, wrapped him up
well and made him as comforta bic in
the back of the car as the heavy load
and cramped conditions would permit
and waited for the wind to drop. 1t
dropped gradually, and in the evening
1t turned into a gentle following
breeze, and / moved on.
The caravan track was barely per
ceptible. and after an hour | lost 1t
completely. We circled round and
round in widening circles and after
half an hour found it again and moved
on steadily.
The next day we arrived at Rutba,
the only we'll en- route, where tribe
of Arab nomads was camped, and in
minute we were surrounded by a
filthy, bowling mob of men, women
and children, all screaming for back
sheesh. Our guide kept them off with
no gentle hand while we filled our
tanks with filthy green water. I