I 



A SIMOOM IX THE DESERT. 99 



sleeps ; the bark of the jackal or the howl of the hyaena alone 

 sounds dismally from time to time through the loud roaring of 

 the storm. 



A prolonged simoom causes more fatigue to man and beast 

 than all the other hardships of a desert journey, and brings new 

 and as yet unknown sufferings to the traveller. Under the desic- 

 cating influence of the dry air, his lips spring open and begin to 

 bleed, his parched tongue vainly longs for a refreshing draught ; 

 and, together with a raging thirst, an insupportable itching 

 and burning invade tJie whole body ;. for the skin bursts in a 

 hundred places, and the fine irritating dust penetrates into 

 every wound. 



Sometimes a raving madness, the symptoms of a fatal in- 

 flammation, is the result of these complicated tortures ; in other 

 cases theblood circulating with feverish, haste through the 

 veins, produces congestion of the brain ;. and, senseless and 

 motionless, the wretch sinks down upon the ground, never to 

 rise again. And the lot of him who still retains the full 

 consciousness of his misery is not more enviable^ for death by 

 thirst awaits him, with slower but more dreadful pangs. His 

 camel drops, his water-bag is nearly empty. He tries to walk ; 

 in a short time the- glowing sand produces gangrenous sores in 

 his feet, and every step is accompanied by the most excruciating 

 pain. His companions are all too busy with themselves to pay 

 the least attention to the unfortunate sufferer ; they have but 

 one thought — self; one aim — that of reaching the next well. 

 Abandoned to his fate, the deserted tra.veller stands alone, 

 waterless, helpless in the dreadful waste. He tears his beard, 

 he curses his destiny ; for him there is no hope. 



And now, when earth and heaven begin to reel around him, 

 the ' Sea of the Devil ' spreads out its delusive phantoms before 

 his weakened vision. He sees all his heart can wish for ; palm 

 groves waving over a broad expanse of lake ; winding rivers 

 covered with barges, their streamers gaily floating in the breeze ; 

 fairy gardens surrounded by rippling waters. The glorious 

 prospect stimulates him to one last exertion ; could he but 

 reach that blessed shore the joys of paradise were his, but his 

 paralysed limbs mock the vain effort which exhausts the last 

 remnant of his strength. 



The crows, wheeling with dismal cries over the dying wretch, 



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