A Desert Dies by Asher Michael

Author:Asher, Michael [Michael Asher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-9966-05-200-1
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: 2012-10-08T04:00:00+00:00

_____8._____

Bringing Back the Salt

A desolation of desolations. An infernal

region. I have passed through it and

now have no fear of the hereafter.

Ewart Grogan, quoted in The Sudan Today, 1970

IT TOOK UNTIL SUNSET THE next day to reach Bir Milani. Wad at Tafashan collapsed twice in the afternoon. Both times, we managed to pound him into life again, and though he staggered to his feet, there was a glazed look in his eyes that told me death was not far away. I knew that a camel would continue until the point of utter exhaustion, then just sit down and die. Wad at Tafashan had already gone beyond his physical limit, and would survive now only on the power of the will. Ironically, I thought, the same applied to myself; this harsh land had no mercy on man or beast.

We moved slowly, drooping from hunger and fatigue. The plain seemed to go on and on. To the east was the massive hogsback of Jabal Bint Umm Bahr (‘Daughter of the Sea’). It seemed a ludicrous name for a hill in this arid place. We were moving towards what looked like a white cliff, under which was a seam of black rocks. As the hours passed, the rocks took on a soft and fuzzy aspect, but it was not until we were almost upon them that I realised they were trees. They were growing out of a mass of steep dunes. As the sun cast long, grey shadows across the sand beside us, we stalked in amongst them. Here in the midst of nothing was an island of life.

We found a place between the dunes and began to unload. Before it was quite dark, Mohammid and Ballal found us. We made porridge and afterwards, I flopped down on my sheepskin. I knew that there was a chance now for my camel to survive, and at least I had reached El ’Atrun, which had been my goal for so long. I had never dreamt that the way here would require so much in tears, toil, and sweat.

The next morning, we crossed the plain towards the limestone ridge that hid the salt pan from our view. As we moved closer, I noticed two palm trees to the east, and to the west, a small grove of palms that marked the wells. At the same time, a great caravan emerged from the misty sheen of the valley, coming directly towards us. The camels were dark spectres on the dust flats, striding on unswervingly like robots. Each animal carried two bloated leather bags of salt and was strapped to the beast in front by a leather rope. Four men walked with the caravan. They were Arabs of Darfur with dark and hooded faces. They passed without waving or turning aside, stalking on south as if mesmerised by some great power.

Under the palm trees, there were no permanent wells. Instead, there was a wet area, where the surface was covered with a growth of spiky hallif grass, where pits had been dug out for generations.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.