Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates Vol 2 - The Search For Mecca

CH. XVIII.] Hdnna falls Homesick. 53
most important bit of news, however, is
that a man
]\Iohammed sent some time ago to gather truffles in
the Hamad, has come back with the news of the
Sebaa being within three days' march, sixty or
seventy miles, of Tudmur, coming slowly north.
Tlie man states that he saw young Meshur ibn
Mershid, the Gomussa Sheykb, the same who is
said to have killed Ibn Shaalan, and who sent us
the message of invitation when we were at Aleppo.
It seems he is a friend of Mohammed's, who now is
quite as eager as w^e are to be off, for Mohammed
piques himself on his Bedouin connection, and his
friendship with the Anazeh sheykhs, though I Ijelieve
he does not know Jedaan. We have only the
]\Iudir now to settle with ; and, now that w^e have
the support of Mohammed's family, we need no
longer hesitate to speak plainly of our intentions.
This Wilfrid intends doino; to-morrow.
It is tremendously hot, and the desert to the
south looks like a simmering furnace ; but the truffle
hunter, who came from it with the news and who
was here just now, has pointed us out a little tell
on the far horizon, from which he says that you
can see another, and that from that one you can see
Ibn Mershid's camp, so that it no longer looks to us
the absolutely trackless waste it did this morning.
Ajyril 1.—This morning Hanna came to me in
tears, and announced his intention of leaving us.
He has been ailing for some days with home-sickness,
eats nothing, and I think feels the heat of the sun.