The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-06-08
NEW YORK HERALD SATURDAY JUNE 87z-rRIPLE SHEET


imagine; for later in the journey one saw abundan
deposits OF the finest stones and an astoundinl
variety OF Jasper cornellan and all the shades o
marble, agate and state. j hazard the prophec CT
that all the minerals whl yet be found In this region
inasmuch as 1t will cost an almost impossible enter
prise to prove this prediction ill-based.
AS the day advanced the carcasses of decayet
cameis became more frequent, and so often do the.
occur along the route, that there are now owe
frameworks crumbling into dust.
THE RUIN OF A CAMEL
Is almost the only relic OF travel that one meets
along the pathway, and In itself is the best illus
tration OF this painful, dangerous journey OF 40t
miles, Camels die less from age than they do from
age, and like all other species thus sacrificed they
die bitter deaths. AS soon as one becomes unfit fol
duty he fingers behind: the camel boy endeavors tC
whip him along to the nearest well, and, ii he Il
doomed, he drops by the path, and in twenty foul
hours is rich meal for the greedy African vulture
After his membrane and tissue are no more he lies
upon his slde the ribs forming rafters to all that
putrid within. Heat, in a few weeks bakes the
bones into an orange yellow, and thus these melan
choy remains litter the desert highway and through
deep sands, and among devious ways are HB~'s tc
the traveller that he may not lose his way; and
these carcasses, curiously enough, are the bases
OF all
STATISTICS
that you can gather on the desert. Let us suppose
that the visible remains represent the deaths
occurring during two years Of trade and travel and
this is a fair hypothesis. Where one camel dies on
the desert twenty live, the mortality being almost
of camels traversing the desert annually 100000
These figures do not, OF course, imply that there
are 100, 600 different camels but that 10000 loads
are transported across the desert on their backs.
estimate, also, that 10000 natives and 100 traders
cross annually The greater part of the freight is
ivory, and next In Importance Is gum. II 40, 000
camel loads OF ivory go down from the Soudan
every they represent the rise and fall OF 600
elephants Ss ,a and What
known SOudan during the many years it has been
the sporting ground of such men as Bruce, Burk-
hardt and Baker A few bold hardy Americans
with large bore rifles, will find more extended
fields Of profit in this prison house Of Lower Egypt
than in nlibustering away their lives in the tropics
of South America There Is much popular ignor-
ance concerning
THE DESERT CAMEL.
A good one is worth $50 and this is when he is
ten years OF age. He Is ready for riding at four
years or age, when his training must begin to make
him dromedary, though blood tells with the camel
as IL does with man. The camel generally expires
before forty The best of them can 90 eight DAYS
without water IN winter and four in summer,
though the Sheik of the Moorad Wells expected to
bait q credulous traveller by asserting that his
dromedares could live three months without water.
BY noon we began to emerge upon
THE SUBLIMEST SCENERY OF THE DESERT
The route lay through the centre of grand ellipt-
cal amphitheatres, which called to mind the Coli
scum at Rome and the exhumed arena at Pom
pei. These natural structures hoOred over by
hard, gravely sand, with lofty, semicircular Sides
and yaulted only by the blue sky are among the
grandest primitive formations | have ever seen.
From the maroon shade OF the sand to the dark,
craggy appearance OF the terraced rocks there is
much variety as can be found in landscape without
amphitheatres are linked together by narrow pas
sages, and often so perfect were the formations
that four doorways, breaking the brd's-eye view
into quadrants, were often seen. 1t requires no
vivid imagination to picture most any kind of q
structure from Sentinel's house to huge fortress
We were not long In making the acquaintance of
our guide a dark black, athletic Ababdah, forty
years of age, who preceded the caravan and was
always ready to give questionable information.
But strange to say, he ignored time, did not know
the points of the compass and only knew the drec-
ton by the sum- Still there was an unerring way by
which to always
REGULATE OUR WATCHES
The Arab when he prays kneels toward Mecca,
and always to the east. 1t Is said that even the
youngest never fails to bend, almost accurately. in
that direction. Thus in the form OF living flesh
we had the Arab, by whom to find the variation of
the compass, and with the corrected bearing could
find, when the bore due south or otherwise, the
true meridian, and consequently noon.
At five O'Clock on
THE SECOND DAY WE WENT INTO CAMP
thirty-fve miles from Korosko. The weather up to
this point had been very mild and during the night
Il cool breeze had necessitated generous covering
to keep out the cold. We slept with mating next
10 the sand ana were covered by the ordinary
blankets. The interior of our canvas house was
marvel OF comfort. Our blankets were spread
were at our heads, our "zamzimeahs water
pouches) within reach and our camp trunk served
as table, while mat supported our dinner on the
sand. Clouds OF tobacco smoke kept out the Vi
cious flea, and nothing invaded our household more
imposing than Shiny lizard. AS one might i'm
agine, the topics of the day were often handled
with emphatic candor, when we found 1t conve-
nient to deal with all the large measures OF poti-
Cal economy. On the particular evening OF which
am writing "the relations between the bushel of
wheat and the gold dOllar' were ampli1ed into the
late hours, and then the Consul General favored us
with commentaries on Bayard Taylor Petherick
and Baker, whose works were of his kit.
THIRD DAY IN THE DESERT
The next morning, the nth of January, we saw
the southern Cross for the first time and started
again on our southwark tour at ha-past six A. NJ
The view broadened and heightened throughout
the day and the sun grew fierce and intolerabe.
We began TO feel the effects OF the heat and fatigue
and yet not to any degree Of severity On the third
day, as on the second, we met several caravans
along the route bearing gum ivory and slaves to
the KorOskO markets.
THE TwO GENTLEMEN or KoRosKo
had, It appeared, In spirit Of measure for meas
urc," purchased of the merchant OF Shendy two
small negro boys of the densest opacity. They
were seated on Jaded camel, and the two gentle
up to the cavacade The dealers stopped.
who have you there ~
.'Slaves.v
"Where from 2'
'sShendy.r
Glow much is a man worth IN that country p"
FIFTY or hundred dollars that depends
(The Austrian dollar Is the current money of the
Soudan.)
.How much more is a woman worth than
CONSIDERABLE
"Whygn
Because she knows household AFFAIRS
How long are you from Bcrber ?"
''One month";
'GOod-byr' and with ''God be with yOur the
two gentlemen of Korosko turned their faces north
ward. They were commonly clad Arabs, and
thought nothing OF the traffic in which they were
engaged, which, need not say, Is unlawful and is
discountenanced by the government. Still, a Ger
tain form OF
INVOLUNTARY SERvITuDE
must exist for ages hence In Africa. The system
OF slavery is interviewer with the Mosem religion;
the precepts OF the Koran teach it and uphold it,
ana IT Is a part of the domestic organization Of
every household. That it has been notified and
that slavery can be much more ameliorated | think
is beyond dispute. There is not, in the average,
such vast difference between master ana slave as
there was In the United States and there is no
reason why the traffic should not be summarily re-
pressed in all its brutal aspects. To put absolute
freedom to the Egyptian as principle of human
liberty would be to state precept which he could
not understand; to endeavor to preach it among
the dealers OF the Soudan Is at the peril of your fe
The two boys were healthy ana fat-picturesuue
eXenplars of the genus homo, with a heavy i'm
mobility of face characteristic OF their stoIid pro-
genitors.
UNDER WAY
our caravan presented most interesting scene
Usually preceded by the guide, General Starring
Consul General Butler Mr. Morris and your cor
respondent led the march on four riding dromeda
RES, followed closely by HasSan. the ncha sseur