A DESERT SUNSET. 453 



description. Nor is the change less remarkable when 

 the sun has actually set. We shall never forget, for 

 instance, the effects produced by a sunset upon the 

 Nubian Desert. The sun was at the time just sinking 

 below the horizon : the whole landscape appeared a mass 

 of fiery red but just then some incident occurred to call 

 away our attention for a few moments. We can 

 hardly think even five minutes had elapsed before we 

 again returned to admire its splendours. But it was 

 gone! During that brief interval the sun had set 

 and a cold grey stony hue had replaced the deep 

 warm tints of rose just as if the hand of death had 

 been suddenly stretched forth over the fairy scene. 



But the majesty and beauty of the desert nights, 

 matchless in their untroubled serenity are, if possible, 

 most striking of all. The works of travellers in such 

 regions are filled with pictures descriptive of these de- 

 licious periods of beneficent rest and peace. Even 

 by day, as the late Dr. Junker has observed, when 

 speaking of the scenery of the Libyan Desert, 



"At the solemn majesty of the wilderness every sound is 

 hushed more vividly even than the sea the solitude produces 

 the impression of limitless space, its very grandeur stimulating 

 to reverie, and awakening feelings of awe and devotion. 

 But the predominant sentiment produced by a journey in 

 the desert is one of quiet serenity. The desert air, as re- 

 marked by Bayard Taylor, is an elixir of life, pure and 

 refreshing. The swarthy nomads love their desert home: 

 their dark eye sparkles as they sing its praises, and for hours 

 together their song is poured forth, animating the monotony 

 of the camels' step, as it rises and falls in uniform cadence. 

 The night song is specially impressive, when the wilderness 

 glitters in the white moonlight as if mantled in snow: when 

 distances seem vaster, the camel's shadow larger, and the 



