128 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



stantly in tint as they rangingly receive the rays of 

 the rising or the setting sun. Or sometimes one has 

 to pass through vast plains, where neglect and desola- 

 tion have, in the exuberance of nature, assumed the 

 appearance of luxuriant cultivation. Few artificial 

 pastures could equal the natural beds of oleander that 

 are sometimes found here stretching far away till lost 

 behind the crags of a ravine, and which, in their 

 unconstrained vegetation, show colours that the hot- 

 house might envy. And particularly are the wilder- 

 nesses of myrtle remarkable, which for miles grow 

 in thick jungle, through which it is difficult to 

 preserve the narrow track kept for passage. It is 

 curious to pass through these odorous thickets, where 

 you can never see around you, and seldom many feet 

 before you, on account of the windings of the way. 

 Long are heard the tinklings of the camels' bells, and 

 the heavy plod of their feet, before the train comes 

 into sight, and many are the manoeuvrings to effect 

 a passage in peace. The camels, however many, are 

 all linked together, and to the preceding donkey ; 

 and as they cannot be always persuaded to observe 

 due distance, so as to keep the line taut, nor to 

 follow each other on the same side of the road, it 

 may be conceived that to pass them is sometimes a 

 work of difficulty. It is a comfort that they never 

 bite at least never in ordinary cases ; but still, till 

 one is used to their near contact, it does seem for- 

 midable to be involved and hampered among these 



