There
Was No Moon, But The Stars Gave Sufficient Light To Render The Scene
Distinctly Visible.
A lamp gleamed from the window of the apartment
which I had quitted, and the camels, donkeys, and people belonging
to the united parties, formed themselves into very picturesque groups
upon the sand, constituting altogether a picture which could not fail
to excite many agreeable sensations.
The whitened bones of animals
perishing from fatigue and thirst, while attempting to cross the arid
expanse, associated in our minds with privation, toil, and danger,
told too truly that these notions were not purely ideal; but here
was a scene of rest and repose which the desert had never before
presented; and mean and inconvenient as the building I contemplated
might be, its very existence in such a place seemed almost a marvel,
and the imagination, kindling at the sight, could scarcely set bounds
to its expectations for the future. In the present frame of my mind,
however, I was rather disturbed by the indications of change already
commenced, and still to increase. I had long desired to spend a night
alone upon the desert, and without wandering to a dangerous distance,
I placed a ridge of sand between my solitary station and the objects
which brought the busy world to view, and indulged in thoughts of
scenes and circumstances which happened long ago.
According to the best authorities, we were in the track of the
Israelites, and in meditations suggested by this interesting portion
of Bible history, the time passed so rapidly, that I was surprised
when I found the people astir and preparing for our departure. My
garments were rather damp with the night-dews, for, having left some
of my friends sleeping upon my fur cloak, I had gone out more lightly
attired than perhaps was prudent. I was not, therefore, sorry to find
myself warmly wrapped up, and in my chair, in which I should have
slept very comfortably, had Hot the man who guided the donkeys taken
it into his head to quarrel with one of his comrades, and to bawl out
his grievances close to my ear. My wakefulness was, however, amply
repaid by the most glorious sunrise I ever witnessed. The sky had been
for some time obscured by clouds, which had gathered themselves in a
bank upon the Eastern horizon. The sun's rays started up at once,
like an imperial crown, above this bank, and as they darted their
glittering spears, for such they seemed, along the heavens, the
clouds, dispersing, formed into a mighty arch, their edges becoming
golden; while below all was one flush of crimson light. Neither at sea
nor on land had I ever witnessed any thing so magnificent as this,
and those who desire to see the god of day rise in the fulness of his
majesty must make a pilgrimage to the desert.
We made no stay at the rest-house, which we reached about nine o'clock
in the morning; and here, for the last time, we saw the governor of
Jiddah and his party, winding along at some distance, and giving life
and character to the desert. The fantastic appearance of the hills
increased as we advanced; the slightest stretch of fancy was alone
necessary to transform many into fortresses and towers, and at length
a bright glitter at a distance revealed the Red Sea. The sun gleaming
upon its waters shewed them like a mirror, and soon afterwards the
appearance of some low buildings indicated the town of Suez.
I happened to be in advance of the party, under the conduct of one of
the gentlemen who had joined us on the preceding evening; I therefore
directed Mohammed to go forward, to announce our approach; and either
the sight of the Red Sea, or their eagerness to reach a well-known
spring of water, induced my donkeys to gallop along the road with me;
a fortunate circumstance, as the day was beginning to be very sultry,
and I felt that I should enjoy the shelter and repose of a habitation.
As we went along, indications of the new power, which had already
effected the easy transit of the desert, were visible in small patches
of coal, scattered upon the sand; presently we saw a dark nondescript
object, that did not look at all like the abode of men, civilized
or uncivilized; and yet, from the group hovering about an aperture,
seemed to be tenanted by human beings. This proved to be an old
boiler, formerly belonging to a steam-vessel, and appearing, indeed,
as if some black and shapeless hulk had been cast on shore. The well,
which had attracted my donkeys, was very picturesque; the water flowed
into a large stone trough, or rather basin, beneath the walls of a
castellated edifice, pierced with many small windows, and apparently
in a very dilapidated state. Those melancholy memento moris, which
had tracked our whole progress through the desert, were to be seen
in the immediate vicinity of this well. The skeletons of five or six
camels lay in a group within a few yards of the haven which they had
doubtless toiled anxiously, though so vainly, to reach. I never could
look upon the bones of these poor animals without a painful feeling,
and in the hope that European skill and science may yet bring forward
those hidden waters which would disarm the desert of its terrors.
It is said that the experiment of boring has been tried, and failed,
between Suez and Cairo, but that it succeeded in the great desert;
some other method, perhaps, may be found, if the project of bringing
water from the hills, by means of aqueducts, should be too expensive.
We heard this plan talked of at the bungalow, but I fear that, in the
present state of Egypt, it is very chimerical.
This was now our fourth day upon the desert, and we had not sustained
the smallest inconvenience; the heat, even at noon, being very
bearable, and the sand not in the least degree troublesome.
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