ASPECTS OF NATURE IN THE SAHARA. 



587 



other meteorological phenomena which pertain more properly to the 

 land surface than to the air, the winter climate of this spot is proba- 

 bly all that need be desired; but the oasis, and with it the town, 

 lacks those attributes of pleasurable comfort which are needed to 

 sustain and insure periodic change to the resting body. The kaleido- 

 scopic sublimity of the Atlas Mountains, receiving that indescrib- 

 able glow of coloring which even the painter's hand can hardly 

 touch, entrances by its polychrome effect; the passing caravans are 

 an interest for some days or perhaps even weeks; but the utter 



The Leader of a Caravan. 



sameness of the desert beyond, its vast monotonous solitudes of rest- 

 ing or driving sands, begins to pall upon the mind, which seeks for 

 change, for some relief whether of climate, life, or scene, but finds 

 it not. It is true that in their customary way as colonizers and 

 as seekers of the humble pleasures, the French are striving to 

 make tenable those amusements which are a part of the habit 

 and life of the mother country; the polo field, tennis court, and 

 racecourse are all here, but they are not sufficient to wear away 

 the wearisome sameness of Biskra life. Even the clamor or 

 glamour of an Arab or Ethiopian market, especially where the 



