The Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1822-1829, 1827-04-06
THE CARAVAN IN THE DE-
SEPT
4 Scene from on unpublished Journal
BY ]. s. BueKfNeu,N. ESQ.


During the recent expedition o Mo-
BANNED Ali Pasha, the Ncerov Of +
gypt, against the Wahihee> Off He'd
laz, his highuess was detained. in the
Holy Land Of Mahommedans lonenr
period than he anticipated on his flrsl
setting ont for the war. Neither the
tomb of the Prophet at Medina, nor the
temple of the Faithful al Mecca, could
console him for the loss of his barcm
which he had left behind him at the Z
gyptlan capitol, in tue hope of his spec
dV return TO the palace IN which they
were mmured. He had accordingly
sent of expresses by The aectest dronle-
darles, commanding the whole of his
wives and attendants to be brought To-
hun and large caravan being about IL
be formed, for the purpose OF accompa-
nYing and conveying them on theif
route | avallcd myself of this flyorablo
opportunity TO cross the Desert of Suez
nnder It's protection and after the nsu-
al preparations for such a Journey. en-
oamped with the rest, on the banks al
the Bnkelel-Iladjj, or the Lake Of the
Pilgrims, few miles from Caro-, which
iorlns the grand rcnG(,yon, Al which al
the scattered elelnents Of the caravans
arc finally nnitej, aRG trohl whence they
setlout IN the ordcr necessary for thcir
security. Atnoon the IS, aadal pun
tor loading was fired, when al vas b,Is-
Tie and confusion /; and thc breaEinr IN
OF the tents, halnessing the animals to
the clumsy carriages constructed for the
conveyance of the Pasha's wives and
principal slaves, loading the camels
which had all been watefed at the lake
IN the morning, arranging the stations Of
the Turkish cavalry as guards, &c. oc-
enpled all parties until nearly four o clock
III the afternoon.
AT ,engfh, on the firing Of second
gun, the whole caravan was put in mo-
ooli' ana commenced its march in the
following order An advanced guard
OF horsemen, Cat the head of whom was
III, III, L.nnel-lIadji, OF Prince of the
iI2fms, lido given TO The CHIEF con-
suctor OF cardvans,) kept their station
two or three miles a-head, so as 10 be
almost always within sight, except when
hidden from the view by hollow in
the sands, al which there are many, re-
semblng the space left between two
succeeding pillows in IA tempest and
as vessels sink between the risinowaves
81 az 20 bo LOST fOr moment from the
sight OF those around them, so even on
this desert PLAIN the same effect is pro.
dnced by many turroWs, which interce5
lis otherwise level surface. In front o.
the caravan, and Immediately preceding
1t, was slx-pound iron cannon, yer,
loosely fitted as feld-piece, on a hca.
Wy car, and drawn by four hos Or
each SIDE OF this were parties of abou
twenty horsemen in each, whose prov.
nee II appeared to be to keep an euua
line, by riding up and down the breadt
of the front, and checking those whf
were too tar advanced, as well as bring.
my up by quicker pace those VINO ap-
peared TO tarry behind. Following il
succession came separate trains Of cam.
els, some OF which contained more dian
fifty anlmais in line. In the centre
a large space was LEFT for the harem Of
The Pasha, the principal personages ol
which were conveyed each in a separate
vehicle, resembling an Indian paIan-
gum, closed on all sides round with hol-
low lattlcc-work, very gaudly painted
and glIdcd, and borne between two cam
els.
Al the attendant females, whether
companions, servants, or slaves, were
borne oil camels in kind oftented pam
nicr, one Of them suspended on each
slde OF the animal, so that the pair of
tents contained two persons, who faced
each other, and were sheltered from the
sun by the canvass, which at once COW
cred them and curtamed them from the
pryng eyes ofcgrious passengers. L.
trontofthe central group were pedestiN
anband ofmusicians, who walked between
the two principal palanquins as they
kant the'" pace Abreast Of each other .
and whenever their portion Of the cara
van hated for few minutes. which
happened frequently from the pressure
Of those before, or the intervention of
very ulhlng obstacles, they beguiled the
tcdiwn of the delay BY an Arabic song.
accompanying the voices with the com
mon instruments in use among them.
As II was considered more thau pro-
bable that the known passage Of the Pa
sha's harem across the desert might at
tract the Bedouins Of the surrounding
country, under the hopeo Of being able to
plunder them Of their Jewels, DC. lhey
were completely hcmmed in the GENRE
Of the caravan; and very strongly guar
ded also by two detachments of fifty
men each, under the separate commands
Of Ibrahim Pasha and Ismael Pasha. the
vice-roV's sons. whose mothers vero al