The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-06-30

reaches Cairo, sending in advance an off,
GER, accompanied by two Arabs, on feet
to announce its speedy arrival,
and TO carry packets Of letters to the rela.
tives of pilgrims, for which he is handsome.
~ rewarded. Some then advance with |
provisions and even music to meet their a. |
ded FRIENDS. Ii is very affecting to see, at
the approach of the caravan, the numerous
parties who 60 out with drums and pipes,
to welcome and escort to the city their
friends arrived from the holy places; and
how many who went forth in hope, return
with lamentation instead Of music and re-
ioicing for the arduous journey through
the desert is fatal to a great number oil Pill
grims who cannot afford themselves neces-
sary conyeniences. Many Of the women
who 90 forth to meet their husbands or sons.
receive the melancholy tidings Of their hav-
ing fallen victims TO privation and fatigue.
The piercing shrieks with which they rend
the air as they retraoe their steps to the city,
are often heard predominant over the noise
of the drum and the shrill notes Of The
hautboy which proclaim the Joy Of others. "
We had now seen the best OF the aPPa-
rently interminable procession, for other
bodies continued to advance at a distance
alter the main track. having fallen behind
for want of proper and ready organization,
which may we'll account for the manner in
which the clouds Of Saracens lowered OF
oIl oh,,,, H. ,,r,,uala,s Oprroundinu and
cutting off separate detachments from the
main body, as the hostile Bedouins of the
great desert are also at times accustomed TO
do; and wo be to the luckless wretches
who fall victims to these remorseless enc
mics of civilised man, with whom success
full robbery is an honorable trade Of such
ancient standing. All was evidently hurry
and alarm in their minor detachments.
Reaching now bold hillock Of sand,
occupied by party Of well-dressed Turks,
who politely invited me TO take coffee with
them, | assembled il to take a farewell
view of the caravan. had been delighted
with every detail of the singular process
sion, and would not have missed seeing ii
Ola any account. 1t is truly oriental spec
tacle, the most characteristic that exists,
transporting the beholder back TO the very
earliest historic times, and even into the
clouds of tradition and fable that precede
lit, for there can be no doubt that this mode
Of travel was practised from period long
lost in obscurity, that il would NATURAL v be
resorted TO in these regions in the very in.
fancy Of the world, and that the organise.
ton Of these migratory hosts must, besides,
ever have been nearly the same. Ny
thoughts went back TO the time of Joseph
and the Pslriarchs, 10 the days Of wealthy
Tyre and Petra, and the later magnifcence
of Palmyra, all connected with this print
tive unchanged mode Of travel across the
vast interior Of Asia, all indebted for theil
splendor to the patient camel, the ship o.
the desert, so wonderfully adapted by ar
omniscient Providence for ministering tC
the wants Of the Eastern world, both in ID
earliest and advanced stages, equally need
+ ful to the migratory camp Of Bedouin wan
, derers, and for the requirements Of the lux
, uricus trading cities of Egypt and Syria
which have for ages dispensed the riches o
, the East throughout the western world
Those cities and their commerce have pass
, ed away, but the same mode Of travel still
) subsists, and ever must, throughout thes'
, extensive regions OF the world, to which i
is exclusively suitable. The long process
sion, with its face set towards distant Mecca
5 defiled slowly away, the most advanced por
3 ton disappearing over the sandy swell
where we had first encountered il. | coul,
not but follow il in imagination to its des
4 tined bourne, through the many perils whicI
: lowered about its painful track, the Bedouin
{ Of the great desert, the fearful Simeon, tn
, terrible desti,ution of water. and often Q
: necessary food, under which many, at leas
OF the more poorly provided and infrm
must sink. | thought, too, Of the fate whic
: even now, might be lowering over the gay
, est and best furnished Of these splendid pa
} viiions, whose delicate tenants, unequal t
the struggle with protracted fatigue, mus
then be committed to their last homes il
the wilderness, TO form fellowship in tn
grave with the broken-down straggleI
whom the departing host has heartlessl
left behind to perish, to dig with his expil
, ing strength his own shallow grave in III
sand, and await the passing of the angel c
eath.-Forty Days in the Desert.