Page 291 - The Tigris Expedition

• I

The Tigris Expedition
to jump on to the reed-bundles before any of our visitors realised
we w ere half up on land. Caught by surprise and drenched by surf,
the experienced crew of the dhow performed a brilliant manoeuvre,
throwing their vessel about and steering at full speed out again until
their lights and the sound of them were lost in the darkness.
Once again we were eleven men to share the fate of Tigris.
Norman and Rashad told us they had walked a couple of miles
across the low sandy isthmus until they reached a village by the sea
on the other side of Ras Ormara. Rashad explained enthusiastically
that the scattered houses along the trail were built from mats with
* arched roofs, following the very same design as that of the Marsh
Arabs. In the village some of the houses were built of stone, and
I these had been the houses of the school master and the police. There
was a real storm out in the ocean and the friendly villagers feared for
I 9 our lives on the west side of Ras Ormara. They had finally decided
to send a rescue-vessel around the cape to come to our assistance. It
had been a terrible trip around the cape. What happened to the
; a rescue-vessel after it had brought us our two companions we shall
I never learn; once it was swallowed up by the night it never came
back. Norman and Rashad assured us that the rescue-party, in
passing Ras Ormara, had been in greater danger than us, and the
friendly fishermen would certainly have their work cut out to
round the cape once more and get back to the more sheltered village
\ bay before the sto rm
. 80t worse. After all, they had found us alive,
riding our large bundles close to land, unhurt and cheerful. And the
ow captain had shouted to Rashad that this anchorage was safe
for us but not for them.
It began to seem as if he was right, although never had we heard
o anyone using an anchorage like ours, in the midst of high surf,
wi t e stern almost ashore. There was no longer any visible
c angc in our position, however, nor any sign of an immediate
i storm> so we could only relax and console
'^kJnowledge that three of us had been ashore in
raKistan. We divided the night-watch and crept to bed in the two
n.e,S aC ,S ™ cre we were rocked brusquely asleep on our reed
cradle to the d.abolic lullaby of the Makran surf.

246

5
,