ABSTRACT
ON the second day, after leaving the wells of AI-Asyah, the water in our qirbahs achieved a colour; on the third it had a taste; on the fourth it smelt; and on the fifth there were shreds in the bowl which Baddah brought me to drink. These shreds, which looked like gelatinous matter, as well as the colour, the taste, and the smell, are not inherent, but acquired, qualities of the H 20 of' AI-Asyah ;-acquired from the new skins which were bought in Buraidah. For a new skin, no matter how well seasoned, will continue to flavour and colour the water and shed in it of its inner substance, until it has had a practical seasoning of at least a year's use. Even when I boiled the water, as I have always done, it retained all of its acquired qualities; and filtering through a silk handkerchief robbed it only of its colour. Science, however, gave me the assurance that in boiling alone, despite taste and smell, is perfect safety. To which I added the belief of the Muslem, repeating as I filled in the morning my thermos-bottles for the day, 'To the pure all things are pure.' But neither my belief nor my science had any effect upon Dame Malaria, who continued to honour me with her visits. I was surprised, however, that on the last two days before we reached AI-Hafar, when the water was like a cold broth with vermicelli in it, she did not come. The joys of the Dahna and the expectations, which were soon to be realized at the famous wells, must have crowded her out.
