Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1860-06-02
@Ountain Democrat.
CROSSING THE ARABIAN DESERT.


Mr.. Russell, the well known war corrcspon.
dent from the Crimcn, from India, and from
Italy, Of the London Times, in his lIiary Of
India, gives his impressions Of the Dc>,rt as
follows
"The desert on which we Il, bouchcd from
the rich oasis Of Cairo, even now glorious
mass Of green, resembles the bed of some deep
sea not level and smooth, but corrugated ;
tossed into mountains and reefs Of sand seam
ed with shallow ravincS, and nco>inE in the
sweep of the >and.hills immense plains, cover.
cd with g>trning, even coat Of circular and
oval stones, varying in size from nine pound
shot to grape, How they shine in the sun :.
flashing back is rays from tie polished sides,
so that, at tunes, where the plain stretches far
away TO the tumuli ON the horizon, it Is scarce
possible to believe that it is not dancing,
sparkling sea, which is bounding 10y the side
of the railway. This effect Is increased by the
waving lines Of the rariticd air, which give to
the verge Of the great circle of dc>nation the
appearance Of rough and rapid tilcwav No
pen can describe, no pencil convey the real
sentiment Of the desert We watch, with the
nrufOundrst interest, n string Ut calnclS, mere
spccks in the distance, which. under the care
of two Arabs, are blowing their way over the
sand hills toward the horizon, on which stands
a solitary date tree. The ScuSc Of indefinite
space is first impressed Oh one 10y that which
is, we know definite enough in actuaiitv.
But, somehow or other, the sea Is bounded in
our notions We see it marked out in MAPS
and rounded oil in the terrestrial globes, 50
that its vaStncSS is DESTROYED; but none Of us
can tell where this great desert ends, where are
its bounds, how far it pushes its sandy waycs
into the sandy heart of the continent. SIR
Rndvrick Murchi>on may know; Burton NAV
hc able to tell us all about it; but is not profit
able to remove the feeling of inHcn,itv, Of
VagucneS<, aud of barren grandeur aud prime
val antiquity, which is produced by the sight
of the desert whcrron the lSrartrS wandered,
aud where the lcgon> OF CamhyScS found
namcrsS cemeteries. To me there is no >cu>r
of ba:rrunlSS produced blythe sea--tlIc de-
Crt'S first effect is productive of the sensation
of world dr>tloyrd-Ui harrcnnc>>, waste,
and lilclc>Snr>>.
-tianrhoIt homes II TamCiS iic in duh Whit
ness on the sands. Not a bird fans the hot.
silent air. Stones and sand, sand and STONES
are all and everything and everywhere, stretch
eel ont dead aud hard under the blue sky aud
the relentless sun. The rail which conveys us
through this dcsolation is single and the line
is said, 10y English engineers, to be very badly
ulauc, aS Inc fTCll'H engineers, WHO Hll II
out, took it over ridge ! loo feet high. in
stead of following low level near the river,
which would have greatly diminished expense
and cost of working. ThuwHtrr and coal for
the engines has to bc carried 10y the trains out
to the various stations So they are like com
m>>arat animals in a barren country, which
have to carry their own fodder and diminish
their public burthcnS. These stations are help
less, hot. ovcn.likc crcction>, generally ckcd
out by old Crimean wooden huts, within the
shade Of which may be seen an undoubtcd
EnGli>hman, smoking his pipe. At the twelfth
station we cOalcd; the train ended in the dcS
crt here; but at long intervals, for miles in adj
vance, we could see the cncampinentS Of Arabs
who, for the time, had become nayyics, and
were engaged in picking and burrowinS and
blasting through the rocks a way for the iron.
horse. In u long wooden Shcd-the center Of
group of tents-wcre laid out long tables.
covered with hot joints Of reconcile animals,
papcr.mnchc chickens, and Ignite vegetables
This was our dinncr--it had come all the way
from Cairo--So had the winc and beer, and
spirits. If mamma and quails were at all cata-
bic, We had cnvcd the food Of the lsraeitcS."