340 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



utensils assume strange shapes; and the camels, lying in a wide 

 circle outside the baggage, become ghostly figures when their eyes 

 gleam with the reflection of the firelight. It becomes quieter and 

 quieter in the camp. One driver after another leaves the camels, 

 with whom he has shared his frugal supper, wraps himself in his 

 long body-cloth, sinks to the ground, and becomes one with the 

 sand. The fire flares up for the last time, loses its glow, and goes 

 out. It is night in the camp. 



He who would describe a night in the desert should be, by the 

 grace of God, a poet. For how can its beauty be described, even by 

 one who has watched, revelled, and dreamed through it all ? After 

 the heat of the day it comes as the gentle, compensating, reconciling 

 bestower of unspeakable comfort and inspiration, bringing peace 

 and joy, for which a man longs as for his beloved who atones to him 

 for his long waiting. " Leila", the starry night of the desert, Leila 

 is with justice the Arab's image of all that is fair and joyous. 

 Le'ila he calls his daughter; with the words, "my starry night", he 

 embraces his beloved; " Leila, O Leila!" is the musical refrain of his 

 songs. And what a night it is, which here in the desert, after all 

 the burden and discomfort of the day, soothes every sense and feel- 

 ing! In undreamt-of purity and brightness the stars shine forth 

 from the dark dome of heaven: the light of the nearest is strong 

 enough to cast slight shadows on the pale ground. With full chest 

 one breathes the pure, fresh, cooling, and invigorating air; with 

 delight one gazes from star to star, and as their light seems to 

 come nearer and nearer, the soul breaks through the fetters which 

 bind it to the dust and holds converse with other worlds. Not a 

 sound, not a rustle, not even the chirping of a grasshopper inter- 

 rupts the current of thought and feeling. The majesty, the sub- 

 limity of the desert is now for the first time appreciated; its 

 unutterable peace steals into the traveller's heart. But what proud 

 self -consciousness also fills his breast: here, in the midst of the 

 infinite solitude, so alone, apart from all human society and help, 

 reliant on himself only, his confidence, courage, and hope are 

 strengthened. Dream-pictures full of infinite charm pass before his 

 wakeful eyes, and merge in ever fresh and fascinating combinations, 



