DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3462#0077
48 THE DURBAR
of the procession passed I rushed back to the
Jumma Masjid, and, gazing far ahead, watched
this great pageant like a spangled serpent glimmer-
ing through zones of light and shadow into the
opalescent distance, scumbled with the eternal
dust.
The day was over. Every one was exhausted,
limp ; everything about us seemed squalid and sad.
Only then we remembered that we were starving.
Colour for the moment is all-satisfying; but the
effect wears off. The next thing to do was to go
home. Getting back to camp was always a serious
part of the day's work. For hours we wandered
about, vainly trying to find our little lemon-yellow
tonga. Luckily, we came across a learned professor
with a group of friends who had travelled with us
on the Arabia. We sat down on stones and held
counsel. The professor said we must treat the
situation from a purely military point of view: it
must be thought out systematically. A body of
scouts was formed, and I was given a very prominent
position. We started with very clear ideas as to
the carrying out of this manoeuvre. We had
brought it down to so fine a point that to miss the
tonga was a sheer impossibility. Had it not been
thought out scientifically and proved by algebra ?
of the procession passed I rushed back to the
Jumma Masjid, and, gazing far ahead, watched
this great pageant like a spangled serpent glimmer-
ing through zones of light and shadow into the
opalescent distance, scumbled with the eternal
dust.
The day was over. Every one was exhausted,
limp ; everything about us seemed squalid and sad.
Only then we remembered that we were starving.
Colour for the moment is all-satisfying; but the
effect wears off. The next thing to do was to go
home. Getting back to camp was always a serious
part of the day's work. For hours we wandered
about, vainly trying to find our little lemon-yellow
tonga. Luckily, we came across a learned professor
with a group of friends who had travelled with us
on the Arabia. We sat down on stones and held
counsel. The professor said we must treat the
situation from a purely military point of view: it
must be thought out systematically. A body of
scouts was formed, and I was given a very prominent
position. We started with very clear ideas as to
the carrying out of this manoeuvre. We had
brought it down to so fine a point that to miss the
tonga was a sheer impossibility. Had it not been
thought out scientifically and proved by algebra ?