The simoom blew over this horrible
wilderness, and drifted the hot sand into the crevices of the
rocks, and the camels drooped their heads before the suffocating
wind; but still the caravan noiselessly crept along over the
rocky undulations, until the stormy sea was passed: once more we
were upon a boundless plain of sand and pebbles.
Here every now and then we discovered withered melons (Cucumis
colocynthis); the leaves had long since disappeared, and the
shrivelled stalks were brittle as glass. They proved that even
the desert had a season of life, however short; but the desert
fruits were bitter. So intensely bitter was the dry white
interior of these melons, that it exactly resembled quinine in
taste; when rubbed between the fingers, it became a fine white
powder. The Arabs use this medicinally; a small piece placed in
a cup of milk, and allowed to stand for a few hours, renders the
draught a strong aperient. The sun--that relentless persecutor of
the desert traveller--sank behind the western hills, and the long
wished for night arrived; cool, delicious night! the thermometer
78 degrees Fahr. a difference of 36 degrees between the shade of
day.
The guide commanded the caravan,--he was the desert pilot, and no
one dared question his directions; he ordered a halt for TWO
HOURS' rest. This was the usual stage and halting-place by the
side of a perpendicular rock, the base of which was strewn thick
with camel's dung; this excellent fuel soon produced a blazing
fire, the coffee began to boil, and fowls were roasting for a
hasty dinner. A short snatch of sleep upon the sand, and the
voice of the guide again disturbed us. The camels had not been
unloaded, but had lain down to rest with their packs, and had
thus eaten their feed of dhurra (Sorghum vulgare) from a mat. In
a few minutes we started, once more the silent and monotonous
desert march.
In the cool night I preferred walking to the uneasy motion of the
camel; the air was most invigorating after the intense heat of
the day and the prostration caused by the simoom. The desert had
a charm by night, as the horizon of its nakedness was limited;
the rocks assumed fantastic shapes in the bright moonlight, and
the profound stillness produced an effect of the supernatural in
that wild and mysterious solitude; the Arab belief in the genii
and afreet, and all the demon enemies of man, was a natural
consequence of a wandering life in this desert wilderness, where
nature is hostile to all living beings.
In forty-six hours and forty-five minutes' actual marching from
Korosko we reached Moorahd, "the bitter well."
This is a mournful spot, well known to the tired and thirsty
camel, the hope of reaching which has urged him fainting on his
weary way to drink one draught before he dies:
