. Egypt painted and described . colour, and shaped like a con-volvulus, which springs from the junction of spine andstem, and among them grows the dingy atriplexor salt-bush, small and rather like a sponge in appear-ance. Remain still and look closer, and another interestappears in the life these shrubs harbour. Little fliesfeeding on the young shoots are being hunted by thespider or ant, who again fall victims to the stealthylizard, the smaller varieties of which would seem to bedevoured by their larger brothers, some of whom are ofconsiderable size and exceedingly quick in their
. Egypt painted and described . colour, and shaped like a con-volvulus, which springs from the junction of spine andstem, and among them grows the dingy atriplexor salt-bush, small and rather like a sponge in appear-ance. Remain still and look closer, and another interestappears in the life these shrubs harbour. Little fliesfeeding on the young shoots are being hunted by thespider or ant, who again fall victims to the stealthylizard, the smaller varieties of which would seem to bedevoured by their larger brothers, some of whom are ofconsiderable size and exceedingly quick in their beetles scavenge the desert, and with herculeanefforts carry away and bury in the sand pieces of offaland partially consumed prey many times larger thanthemselves. Their modus operandi is very interest-ing. The booty is deposited, and the beetle com-mences to excavate below it, shovelling the loose sandaway with head and shoulders. Gradually the mass offorage sinks, until it is entirely below the surface, and 198 MIRAGIC HEAT. The Desert and the Bedawin the sand, falling in upon it, covers it. Then a moreremarkable feat is performed ; for in sand too loose toretain a footprint the scarab succeeds in forming atunnel from the open air to his hidden treasure it is done is a mystery, for no artificial aid isemployed, and simply with head and shoulders as before,the passage is cleared, and the sand above remains tocrown the arch. Butterflies and other gaily-winged insects furnishfood for lark or starling, who in turn provide a dinnerfor the hawk. The surface sand is largely strewn with colouredpebbles, among which are agate, onyx, cornelian, andflint, while fossil shell-fish and other petrifactions proveit once an ocean-bed. More recent floods have broughttheir contribution of porphyry or gritstone ; volcanicclinker and conglomerate adding still another to themany pages of its history. Such in part is the physical desert, which for thegeologist, botanist, or student of it
Size: 1381px × 1808px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectegyptde, bookyear1902
