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THE MASCOT OF THE CARAVAN
The mascot of the caravan was Bibo,
an unimpressive-looking nondescript dog. He was one of the marvels of
the expedition. There were days when he must have traveled 60 or 75
miles while we were covering 25 or 30, for he had an insane propensity
for chasing birds over desert.
His vitality was amazing, but he also had a certain
canny instinct, for when weary he plainly indicated the fact and
appealed, in a manner almost akin to speech to one of the boys, who
would lift him aboard a camel. Here he would perch upon a sheepskin
water bag, the coolest spot in the desert. As the day progressed, he
would move around to the water bag slung on the other side; so that,
like the Kentucky colonel of whom I have heard, who with his mint-julep
glass "followed the shade around the house," Bibo followed his around
the hump.
Our shelter equipment consisted of four tents —
three bell tents and one A tent. The last frequently was
not erected as it required considerable effort. The bell tents, with
their sides raised to admit air, furnished quasi-shelter from sun, and
beneath one of these I usually rotated around the central pole, keeping
always just beyond the sunlight, so that my body formed a sort of
sundial, as it progressed in circular fashion.
Four cameras and a motion-picture outfit were
carried as part of the expedition's equipment, together with an enormous
supply of films.
It is the experience of most explorers in tropical
regions that, in order to preserve one's films, they must be developed
within a few hours of their exposure; but, with very few exceptions,
mine were not developed until after I had returned to civilization—that
is to say, after exposure they were kept in tin containers for from one
to eight months.
The chance of losing the pictures had to be taken
because of the impurity of the water along the route; in fact, from the
time we left Sollum until our arrival in El Obeid, we had not one glass
of clear water for drinking purposes. In cases where we were using new
sheepskin water bags, the water absorbed the tar with which the bags
were lined, and where we used old containers the liquid invariably
carried in suspension particles of the hair of the hide, as well as
other impurities.
On the long treks between water wells, our water
camels each carried four sheep- skins with an aggregate capacity of 24
gallons.
There is considerable misconception as to the
amount of water required by the desert traveler, in winter we found it
possible to subsist on an ordinary glassful in the morning and another
in the evening. Occasionally, on the daylight marches, a third glass was
taken at midday, but this was looked upon as more or less of an
effeminate weakness. When it became hot we tried to save water by
resting during the day and trekking by night (see text, page 273).
My horse required a third of a sheepskin of water
daily, or half a sheepskin every other day, when the supply was scant.
 
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