There Were Eight Or Ten
Donkey-Men, And A Boy; The Latter Generally Contrived To Ride, But The
Others Walked By The Side Of The Equipages.
In first striking into the desert, we all enjoyed a most delightful
feeling of repose; every thing around appeared
To be so calm
and tranquil, that, especially after encountering the noises and
multitudes of a large and crowded city, it was soothing to the mind
thus to emerge from the haunts of men and wander through the vast
solitudes that spread their wastes before us. To me there was nothing
dismal in the aspect of the desert, nor was the view so boundless as I
had expected.
In these wide plains, the fall of a few inches is sufficient to
diversify the prospect; there is always some gentle acclivity to be
surmounted, which cheats the sense with the expectation of finding
a novel scene beyond: the sand-hills in the distance also range
themselves in wild and fantastic forms, many appearing like
promontories jutting out into some noble harbour, to which the
traveller seems to be approaching. Nor were there wanting living
objects to animate the scene; our own little kafila was sufficiently
large and cheerful to banish every idea of dreariness, and we
encountered others much more picturesque.
Soon after losing sight of the tombs, we came upon a party who
had bivouac'd for the night; the camels, unladen, were, with their
burthens, placed in a circle, and the people busily employed in
preparing their evening meal. Other evidences there were, however, to
show that the toils of the desert were but too frequently fatal to the
wretched beasts of burthen employed in traversing these barren wastes;
the whitened bones of camels and donkeys occurred so frequently, as to
serve to indicate the road.
Our first stage was the shortest of the whole, and we came to the
rest-house, or travellers' bungalow, just as night closed in, and long
before I entertained any idea that we should have been able to reach
it, travelling as we did at an easy walk. The bungalow was not yet
completed, which we found rather an advantage, since it seems to
be exceedingly questionable whether the buildings erected for the
accommodation of travellers on the track to Suez will be habitable
even for a few hours in the course of another year. The funds of the
Steam-committee have been lamentably mismanaged in this instance.
However, there being no windows, we were enabled to enjoy the fresh
air, and the room we occupied, not having been long whitewashed, was
perfectly clean.
Nothing can have been worse planned than the construction of these
houses. The only entrance is in front, down a narrow passage, open at
the top, and having apartments on either side, the two in front
being sleeping-rooms for travellers, with a kitchen and other offices
beyond, and at the back of all a stable, which occupies the whole
width of the building. The consequence is, that all the animals, biped
and quadruped, inhabiting the stable, must pass the traveller's
door, who is regaled with the smell proceeding from the said stable,
cook-rooms, &c.; all the insects they collect, and all the feathers
from the fowls slaughtered upon the spot; the plan being, when parties
arrive, to drive the unhappy creatures into the house, kill and pluck
them immediately.
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