114 



THE DESEKT 



and look at the valley beyond it, the distance 

 across might seem very slight. You can easily 

 see to where another mountain range begins 

 and trails away into the distance. Perhaps you 

 fancy a few hours' ride will take you over that 

 valley-plain to where the distant foot-hills are 

 lying soft and warm at the bases of the moun- 

 tains. You may be right and then again you 

 may be wrong. You may spend two days get- 

 ting to those foot-hills. 



This deception of distance is not infrequently 

 accompanied by fatal consequences. The inex- 

 perienced traveller thinks the distance short, he 

 can easily get over the ground in a few hours. 

 But how the long leagues drag out, spin out, 

 reach out ! The day is gone and he is not 

 there, the slight supply of water is gone and 

 he is not there, his horse is gone and he himself 

 is going, but he is not there. The story and its 

 ending are familiar to those who live near the 

 desert, for every year some mining or explor- 

 ing party is lost. If there are any survivors 

 they usually make the one report : " The dis- 

 tance seemed so short/' But there are no short 

 distances on the desert. Every valley-plain is 

 an immense wilderness of space. 



There is another illusion a harmless one 



