It was now for the first time he told me his name, which was Mahomet Abdel Gin, "the Slave of the Devil, or the Spirit." There is a large tribe of that name, many of which come to Cairo from the kingdom of Sennaar; but he had been born among the Howadat, opposite to Metrahenny, where I found him.
Our road was all the way in an open plain, bounded by hillocks of sand, and fine gravel, perfectly hard, and not perceptibly above the level of the plain country of Egypt. About twelve miles distant there is a ridge of mountains of no considerable height, perhaps the most barren in the world. Between these our road lay through plains, never three miles broad, but without trees, shrubs, or herbs. There are not even the traces of any living creature, neither serpent nor lizard, antelope nor ostrich, the usual inhabitants of the most dreary deserts. There is no sort of water on the surface, brackish or sweet. Even the birds seem to avoid the place as pestilential, not having seen one of any kind so much as flying over. The sun was burning hot, and, upon rubbing two sticks together, in half a minute they both took fire, and flamed; a mark how near the country was reduced to a general conflagration!
At half past three, we pitched our tent near some draw-wells, which, upon tasting, we found bitterer than soot. We had, indeed, other water carried by the camels in skins. This well-water had only one needful quality, it was cold, and therefore very comfortable for refreshing us outwardly. This unpleasant station is called Legeta; here we were obliged to pass the night, and all next day, to wait the arrival
