“And we marched and we marched, and the land was barren, and we heard nothing. And on our right hand came a man, a Negro, on a donkey. The donkey was grey, with black ears, and one black foot, and on its shoulder was a brand like this” (a scrabble in the air), “and its tail moved and its legs: Auda saw it, and said, ‘By God, a donkey.’ And Mohammed said, ‘By the very God, a donkey and a slave.’ And we marched. And there was a ridge, not a great ridge, but a ridge as great as from the here to the what-do-you-call-it ( lil biliyeh el hok ) that is yonder: and we marched to the ridge and it was barren. That land is barren: barren: barren.”

“And we marched: and beyond the what-do-you-call-it there was a what-there-is as far as hereby from thence, and thereafter a ridge: and we came to that ridge, and went up that ridge: it was barren, all that land was barren: and as we came up that ridge, and were by the head of that ridge, and came to the end of the head of that ridge, by God, by my God, by very God, the sun rose upon us.”