. Greatest wonders of the world . know; wefeel that it does not end there and that it is, so to speak,only the entrance to the high sea. Then add to all these reveries the fame of the names wehave seen upon the map, of places that we know to be there,in such or such direction, at five, ten, twenty, fifty daysmarch, some known, others only indicated and yet othersmore and more obscure. . Then the negro country,the edge of which we only know; two or three names oftowns with a capital for a kingdom ; lakes, forests, a greatsea on the left, perhaps great rivers, extraordinary inclemen-cies under t
. Greatest wonders of the world . know; wefeel that it does not end there and that it is, so to speak,only the entrance to the high sea. Then add to all these reveries the fame of the names wehave seen upon the map, of places that we know to be there,in such or such direction, at five, ten, twenty, fifty daysmarch, some known, others only indicated and yet othersmore and more obscure. . Then the negro country,the edge of which we only know; two or three names oftowns with a capital for a kingdom ; lakes, forests, a greatsea on the left, perhaps great rivers, extraordinary inclemen-cies under the equator, strange products, monstrous animals,hairy sheep, elephants, and what then ? Nothing moredistinct; unknown distances, an uncertainty, an me I have the beginning of this enigma and thespectacle is strange beneath this clear noonday sun. Hereis where I should like to see the Egyptian Sphinx. It is vain to gaze around, far or near; no moving thingcan be distinguished. Sometimes by chance, a little convoy. \ THE DESERT OF SAHARA 61 of laden camels appears, like a row of blackish points, slowlymounting the sandy slopes ; we only perceive them whenthey reach the foot of the hills. They are travellers ; whoare they ? whence come they ? Without our perceivingthem, they have crossed the whole horizon beneath oureyes. Or perhaps it is a spout of sand which suddenly de-taches itself from the surface like a fine smoke, rises into aspiral, traverses a certain space bending under the wind andthen evaporates after a few seconds. The day passes slowly ; it ends as it began with half red-nesses, an amber sky, depths assuming colour, long obliqueflames which will empurple the mountains, the sands and theeastern rocks in their turn ; shadows take possession of thatside of the land that has been fatigued by the heat during thefirst half of the day ; everything seems to be somewhat com-forted. The sparrows and turtle-doves begin to sing amongthe palms: there is a movement a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectcuriositiesandwonder
