Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1871-06-07

Aubrey, devoured by a dragOn-like
grief, left the land that reminded him
of his wretchedness.
was stricken, as if by lightning,
when heard of his departure re-his de-
sertion, as I called it then. Like an
other Medea, had allowed my idolatry
to outweigh every human and heavenly
consideration! Like another Jason, he
had left me, in the depths of darkness,
crucified of conscience, crimsOned with
crime.
PART ".
Autumn was approaching once more.
My father having been designated by
his Government to attend to some COM
plicated diplomatic affairs in Egypt,
we bad taken our departure for the
weird, silent land that lies beyond the
Mediterranean-land of sand-seas and
sphinxes, of pyramids and palms!
The voyage was tedious One-un-
broken by incident, save when some
vessel anchored alongside ours, or when
Fsome water-glassed isle, of vividest YER
dure, rose abruptly between US and the
horizon, and seemed, in its Unchanged
bIe lOveliness, like that haven of happi-
ness in the Occidental ocean, sung by
antique bards, and sought by an tique
heroes.
At last the hills and valleys Of Africa
outlined themselves upon our vision,
with here and there a magnificent city
stepped in feathery foliage, and sur
rounded by the crumbling ruins of
mighty walls, that once had been the
barriers to the enroachments of barbaric
hOrdes.
Discriminating, and obtaining a con-
voy, we quilted the OUtre, cosmopolitan
town where we had landed, and cross
ing the leagues on leagues of interven-
ing country, we'll cultivated and thickly
inhabited, we entered, through the
rocky defles of rugged mountain
chain, into the bronzed and breathless
desert-lands beyond.
JOurneying over the painless plains,
across the burning sands and under the
blinding skies, we met occasionally with
caravans of dove-eyed drOmedaries, in
scarlet and tinsel trappings, bearing
brown-faced men or closely-veiled wO-
men upon their backs. Sometimes we
were startled by clans of half-savage
warriors, sweeping by on whOlIy-savage
steeds, in a great whirl of sand, with
tossing, milk-white plumes, with flap
ping, gold-barred pennOns, with spear
heads sparkling, with red robes stream
ing, with shawms, and cymbals sound
ing clamOrously! We tented in emer-
ald-Iike oases, beneath the fTetted fronds
of dropping date-trees, while the white
lidded stars hung low in the bloOd-pur-
pie vaults of the sky. We stood by the
ruins of races whose very gods have
rOtted from the universe of matter and
of mind! We wended our way through
labyrinthian caverns where ghostly
mummies grinned in the gllastly light
of our flaming f1ambeaux. We expe-
rienced the smOthering sirOccO, and
were wrapped in its fiery, funeral
shroud. We saw the scorpion beneath
the feet of our camels-the ostrich, run
ming rapidly by, with uplifted head and
Outspread wings-the lion, glowering
and growing in his lair-the giraffes,
spotted and tawny, standing in startled
grOups-the vulture, curving and cry
ing above our heads.
At last we reached the rich Egyptian
metropolis where we were to make our
residence. We took a house in the sub
urbs, by a blue-waved river that rip
pied through its reedy banks, past
glimpses of Aiden-like Iandscapes-past
cities that shared the dust and the de-
cay of their builders-past shattered
temples, sacred once to Osiris and other
long-unworshipped idols.
Our home, like that of the wealthy
classes generally there, was plain and
unpretending without, but a perfect
palace in its interior appointments
The court was sodded with green, vel
vety turf, and paved with marble mo-
saics. It twas shadowed by the banian,
and the fig, and the lemon; while a
redoIent rose-laurel looked in at my
lattice, and filled my 6oUIOir with its
sweetness. A fountain shot up its sill
very jets, in the center of the court, and
its waters, fragrant with an infusion of
Cilician crocus, filed the air with an
Undine-like melody. A pearl-winged
pelican stood in the shower of spray
when the sun was overhead, while a
family of gazelles played hide and seek,
one with another, or lay cOntentedly on
the soft, spiry moss in the sun-Ghequer-
ed shadow of tangled vine. Statues
of dryads and naiads stood here and
there with purple-blooming parasites
clinging, coiling, clasping around their
pedestals. The portico that faced upon
the four sides of the court was paved
with the same material as the latter,
and its roof of gorgeous, grOtesqueIy-
carved ebony, rested upon futed col
umns of marble, with lotus-leaved cap
itals. IvOry-shafted windows reaching
from floor to ceiling led into the inte-
riOr, and were heavily curtained with
strange, fne-textured stUfs that swept
pthe sparkling floors, and reflected their
vivid, ever-varying hues upon all with