662 THE UNIVERSE. 



A desert of sand possesses a tranquil beauty; a desert of 

 stone is horrible. In the former the horizon develops itself 

 before our eyes ; it is accessible, and on the confines of it are 

 liberty and repose. In the other the horizon seems impas- 

 sable ; death separates us from it ; it is a disordered mass of 

 rocks, burned by the sun, irregular and rugged ; there is no 

 practicable road, and it is easy to imagine that a few hours' 

 stay in such a frightful place would prove fatal to the most 

 robust traveller. The frightful aspect of such a desert can 

 be well compared to that which the old engravers gave of 

 the sea in a tempest. It was thus that the desert of As- 

 souan, on the borders of Nubia, looked to us. 1 



And yet, in arid deserts, an oasis here and there, rich 

 in shade and coolness, rejoices the heart of the Arab, for 

 it is here that he quenches his thirst and rests his caravan. 

 Poetry, usurping the place of truth, has generally promul- 

 gated the belief that these spots only consist of a group of 

 palm-trees, protecting with their foliage some limpid desert 

 spring, where the camels slake their thirst on their halt. 



1 About 100 miles south of Assouan occurs the remarkable desert of Korosko. 

 For the space of two days' journey southwards from the town of Korosko (lat. 22 

 35' N.) the desert is covered with remarkable conical hills, among which winds the 

 path of the traveller. On the slopes of these hills lie moving sands, liable to be 

 displaced by every storm; the winds disperse them generally on the slopes op- 

 posed to their course. These hills are formed of a quartzose sandstone. They 

 are not due to upheavals or convulsions of the earth's crust, but are formed by 

 horizontal irregular strata of different density; some only slightly knit, but others 

 united by argillaceous- ferrugineous cement, and more capable of resisting the de- 

 structive effects of the atmosphere. The upper layers are those that seem less 

 hard, but none of them are very homogeneous. From this geological formation 

 there result the most picturesque effects: the sands are driven along the bottom 

 of the valleys, which they fill up horizontally to a certain height, leaving exposed 

 only the tops of the hills. Imperial Gazetteer. TR. 



