1907.] TRIPOLI. ^ 213 



daily exercise. In the British consulate where our head- 

 quarters were located we were peculiarly fortunate. The 

 courtyard contained some large trees, which cast a beautiful 

 shade, enabling us to pass some pleasant hours there. From 

 the roof of the consulate the view at such times of the day 

 was often splendid. Upon one side was the blue Mediterranean 

 extending out many miles, as far as the eye could reach, and 

 on the other side was the sweep of the mighty desert, extend- 

 ing hundreds of miles into the interior of Africa. Speaking 

 of the desert as it impressed me at the time, it comes back 

 to me very vividly. The desert proper is a vast expanse of 

 wavy, sandy plains, over which the currents of air are constant- 

 ly shifting. The sand is very light in character, easily lifted 

 by the wind, and is therefore shifted about in the same capri- 

 cious fashion that the winds themselves blow. Wherever the 

 works of man have been established there, one can have no 

 assurance that they will endure, for the sand driven by the 

 winds covers up the remains even as a grave is covered with 

 earth. Of course, as I said before, the country immediately 

 south of Tripoli has changed somewhat in character with the 

 process of time. The probability is that the sand did not come 

 as near the city. One cannot contemplate that vast area of 

 waste country without a feeling of awe. It exceeds anything 

 I have ever seen. One can look off for an immense distance 

 and it has a sobering effect to think that there is not a human 

 being in that direction for perhaps a thousand miles, and you 

 can go down, down, down into the heart of that great expanse 

 and never meet a human being. 



But I must tell you something of our singular experience 

 just before the eclipse. In 1900 we had an absolutely clear 

 sky. This time we expected that it would be clear. The 

 weather had been fine up to the day before the eclipse. We 

 had had absolutely clear weather with fine blue skies. We 

 knew it was the dry season, and that there might be winds. 

 The day before the eclipse there was a wind started from the 

 south. That was disturbing because we had had a lovely 

 north wind right off the sea practically ever since we had been 

 there. The thermometer began to rise. The heat began to 

 be oppressive. The banners upon the flagstaffs hung down 

 in a listless way as if there was no more life in the air. As the 



