Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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Beyond
This Boundary There Was An Extensive Sandy Plain, With Here And There
Tufts Of Grass.
In the afternoon, their track was on the same plain; and near sunset
they began ascending high sand-hills, one appearing as if heaped upon
the other.
The guide ran before, to endeavour to find out the easiest
track, with all the agility of a boy. The presence of nothing but
deep sandy valleys and high sand-hills strikes the mind most
forcibly. There is something of the sublime mixed with the
melancholy; who can contemplate without admiration masses of loose
sand, fully four hundred feet high, ready to be tossed about by every
breeze, and not shudder with horror at the idea of the unfortunate
traveller being entombed in a moment by one of those fatal blasts,
which sometimes occur. They halted for the night on the top of one of
these sand-hills.
For three or four days their course still lay among the sand-hills;
their guide, whom they now styled Mahomet Ben Kami, or son of the
sand, was almost always on before, endeavouring to find out the best
way. They could detect in the sand numerous footmarks of the jackal
and the fox, and here and there a solitary antelope. In some of the
wadeys there were a great many fragments of the ostrich egg. About
mid-day, they halted in a valley, and remained under the shade of
some date trees for a few hours. The heat was oppressive, and their
travelling was difficult They next came to an extensive level plain,
which was some refreshment, for they were completely tired of
ascending and descending sand-hills. The servants strayed, proceeding
on a track, which was pointed out to them as the right one, and,
before they were aware of their error, they went so far that they
were not able to send after them. They, as well as themselves,
thought the town was near, and they went forwards, with the intention
of getting in before the remainder of the party could come up. They
felt exceedingly uneasy respecting them, as they might so easily lose
themselves in such intricate travelling. They halted in low spirits,
and, after a little refreshment, went to sleep with heavy hearts.
During the night, some strong breezes sprang up, by which their
trunks and bed-clothes were all covered with sand in the morning.
They heard nothing of their servants, and consoled themselves that
they had perhaps found some place of shelter or rest. They commenced
their journey early, and in a short time the hills of Wadey Shiati
were seen stretching east and west, and the date-palms in several
groves; but some high sand-hills were seen between them. They wished
their old guide to take them a more direct course, but
notwithstanding their desire, and even threats, he persevered in
having his way; and, to do the old man justice, they afterwards found
it would almost have been impossible for the camels to have gone the
way they wished.
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