His skin was almost as dark as an Arab's, and he wore a brown beard which had reddened in streaks under the African sun.

He was as lean as a half-starved greyhound, but did not look ill, and his eyes were fiery and deeper set than formerly.

His head had been shaved when he had worn a turban, but the hair was now more than half an inch long, and was as thick as a beaver's fur.

He was dressed in a suit of thin grey clothes which he had picked up in Massowah, and which did not fit him, and his canvas shoes were in a bad way.

When he spoke, it was with a slight accent, unlike any that Ugo had heard, and he occasionally hesitated as if trying to find a word.
After the first greetings, he sat down and told the main facts of his story.