o.\ TllK IM.M n|- ■rill^: l)|-;>KiiT 125 



ji»iii lis till icii (lavs later, hut I had a second very cllicicut 

 striiiu' ill Aiidifas. a hlacksinit li and diainnis hunter. 



Our tirsi |Miiiit. rrachcd after t\vi> (hi\',s spent in the 

 train, was El Kaiilara, soniclinics callid ■" llic (Jalc ol the 

 Desert." TLm'c a riiln'c of I'imI I'ock. ucarlv tlic last outwork 

 of the iii(iu!iiaiii>. list's Jor ciLilit hiiiidrecl I'eet al)o\t' the 

 i)hiin. ThroiiLih this rido-c tlir lit i Ic river, al tinirs a rock- 

 shakiiiu- torrent, has opened a. gap, admitting tlie passage, 

 for niaiiN' ao-es past, of the converoiiif'' caravan routes from 

 the south, ami for llie hist few years the railway fiMiii the 

 north, which m>w terminates at Biskra, iliirl\- iniles 

 farther. 



As we took our evening stroll ihroiigh the ga]). its con- 

 torted red rocks were lighted on the east side into a tiery 

 olow liv the settinof sun. .\t the far end of the o-ui) one 

 comes suddenly on the first oasis, a wealth of gray-green 

 foliage, and tlu' wa\iiig plumes of sixty ihousaml palms, 

 liiieh eontrastiiig with the thirsty rocks. A few of these 

 have estaMished iheiiisel\-es in the very gorge itself, as 

 thouiih struooliuo- for the lirst drink. Some of the ])alms 

 are tall and ii])right as a shijt's mast, others heiiding o\-ei- 

 tiie stream whi(di has undermined their roots. Amonu' the 

 black columns and shaded aisles while-rohed ligures Hit 

 about — for you never liear an .\ral) walk- m- iir exiled 

 under mini walls. A mnnth later the greenery was \aried 

 by [link clouds of a])ricot l)lossom. but this was not yet. 

 'Idiat which strikes one must is not the sighl of the palms, 

 but tlie sound of them. The waving plumes respond to 

 the breeze by a low monotonous jiiss, as distinct as possible 

 from the latlle ami (juiver made by the (dashing of 

 deciduous leaves. Seen from an elevation, these oases look 



