32 EXrEDITION INTO 



straining' eye but an ostricli sometimes striding* in the blank 

 horizon^ or a solitary vulture soaring* in the sk}^ Over the 

 wide desolation of the stony waste not a tree could be dis- 

 cerned^ and the only impression on the mind was — that of 

 utter and hopeless sterility. Occasionally^ however^ as we 

 advanced^ the sameness of the scene Avas varied by a wide- 

 stretching* surg-e-like undulation. Our caravan was then the 

 only object in the landscape upon which the eye could 

 repose. Wag*g*on after wag'g*on slowly rising* to view, the 

 van was to be seen advancing* over the swell^ w^hilst the 

 cattle and sheep were yet hidden fi'om the sig'ht. The world 

 before us was still noug'ht but barren earth and burning* 

 sky — hill following* hill^ and hollow succeeding* hollow, with 

 the same unvarying* reg'ularity as the billows of the ocean. 

 Not a g'reen herb enticed the vision^ not a bird wing-ed 

 throug*h the air: the loud cracking* of a whip rolling* in 

 suppressed echo along* the sun-baked g*round alone disturbed 

 the silence of the sultry atmosphere, which gave to the 

 azure vault of heaven the semblance of an unnatural eleva- 

 tion from the g'lobe. 



Whilst the days were oppressively hot, and the sky 

 unveiled by a cloud, the nig*hts were piercing*ly cold— our 

 feeling-s during* the latter indicating* as well as the thermome- 

 ter, that the temperature was near the ft^eezing* point : and 

 to add to our discomfort, fuel Avas rarely procurable. In 

 the morning", the g*round was sometimes covered Avith hoar 

 frost : but the absence either of vapour or cloud to diminish 

 the heat of the sun, soon dispelled the appearance, and ren- 

 dered visible the nakedness of the land. Mirag*e in these 

 reg*ions, flickering- in the distance, presents to the thirsty 

 traveller an illusion as tempting* as tantalizing*. Blue and 

 delusive lakes, of Avhich the surface seems ag*itated by a 

 ripple, recede as he advances— and ultimately disappearing*, 

 " leave not a wreck behind." 



