The Sand-Hills Now Gave
Place To Rock, And It Appeared As If Many Ranges Of Hills Stretched
Out Both
To the right and left of the plains we traversed; their crags
and peaks, piled one upon the other, and
Showing various colours, rich
browns and purples, as they stood in shade or sunshine. Greenish tints
assured us that vegetation was not quite so seamy upon these hills
as in the desert they skirted, which only showed at intervals a few
coarse plants, scarcely deserving the name. It has been said, that
there is only one tree between Cairo and Suez; but we certainly
saw several, though none of any size; that which is called, par
excellence, "the tree," affording a very poor idea of timber.
We made a short rest, in the middle of the day, at a travellers'
bungalow; and just as we were leaving it, one of Mr. Hill's caravans
arrived - a tilted cart upon springs, and drawn by a pair of horses;
it contained a family, passengers by the Berenice, consisting of a
gentleman and his wife, two children and a servant. We conversed with
them for a few minutes, and learned that they had not found the
road very rough, and that where it was heavy they added a camel as a
leader.
At this place we found some difficulty in purchasing, water for
the donkeys; competition in the desert is not, as in other places,
beneficial to the traveller. By some understanding with the Steam
Committee, Mr. Hill has put his people into the bungalows; and they,
it appears, have orders not to sell water to persons who travel under
Mr. Waghorn's agency.
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