. The gateway to the Sahara; observations and experiences in Tripoli. he Desert, and it is said they willfind a hidden well within a day or twos journeyfrom any point in the Sahara. Wells play an im-portant part in Desert warfare, and the control ofa well has more than once been the determiningfactor in a Desert fray, the besiegers being forcedto retire for water. To wash with water in theDesert would be wilful waste to the Arab, whoperforms his ablutions there with sand, as hislaw prescribes. Since, in all lands, riches consistof the possession of that which is the greatestuniversal need and
. The gateway to the Sahara; observations and experiences in Tripoli. he Desert, and it is said they willfind a hidden well within a day or twos journeyfrom any point in the Sahara. Wells play an im-portant part in Desert warfare, and the control ofa well has more than once been the determiningfactor in a Desert fray, the besiegers being forcedto retire for water. To wash with water in theDesert would be wilful waste to the Arab, whoperforms his ablutions there with sand, as hislaw prescribes. Since, in all lands, riches consistof the possession of that which is the greatestuniversal need and desire, it is not strange that,in some parts of those arid wastes, a manswealth is reckoned by the number of wells thathe controls. Fatiguing travel and little sleep, with the re-lentless sun beating down from above and theeverlasting, vibrating heat waves wriggling upfrom beneath, will, in the end, try the soul. Thevery watching of men and animals as, step afterstep, they sink ankle deep into the sand, is weary-ing. Sometimes it is over naked plains contain- [288]. THE DESERT ing nothing upon which the strained and roam-ing eye can rest; then, day after day, over rolHngdunes of sand, unfolding, ever unfolding, phan-tomlike, away from one. Some take on shapesweird and picturesque: here, like fossilizedwaves of the sea; there, crossing and recrossingeach other in endless monotony. Even itsgrandeur oppresses, and one feels as though aheavy curse had settled over this land, fromwhich marvellous fables have arisen from theloneliness of its inhabitants. Watch a light zephyr from the south-east asit playfully picks up* and twirls the whiffs ofsand dust swirling about legs of men and ani-mals and stinging against their faces. Perhapsit dies down as quietly as it came; perhaps thewind increases and brings the terrific suffocatingsand storm in its wake. Then after a week, per-haps, of the yellow, suffocating gloom, the sur-viving remnant of the caravan emerges, per-chance to struggle on
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