Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1894-05-18
BY CARAVA
TRAVELLING ON THE DESERT
PLATEAUS OF PERSIA.
An Early Breakfast, Followed by a
Long Ride Over the Desert
The Halt for the Night
on Plowcd Field.
YHIS caravan life has subtle
charm of ito r,,u,, ,rhn,, QUO 10
in perfect health and things


i in perfect health and things
6 so smoothly; and even when
they do not, tho minor dlsoomforts of
n nomad existence do not weigh heavily
on nerves blunted by the open air and
certain amount of healthy. fatigue.
When one journeys by vestibule train
or Wagner sleeping-car the short
space of time between two cities is
like an interim, nu entr'acte, during
which ones daily routine is suspend
ed, to DO resumed again only when he
leaves tho train Mt his destination. But
here, where tho distances are so vast,
the real existence is on the road, and
tho brief stay IN each city, full of few
erish, agitated movement and unrest,
becomes tho interim, and the traveller
looks forward to the calm and pure mir
OF the desert plateau beyond and tho
comfort of his tent Tho routine of
daily life is n littlo trying Mt first, but
easily learned. Each twenty-four
hours is divided into four parts-tho
period of hurry and activity in tho
early morning, n longer ono of COM
paratlvo tranquility on tho march, tho
brief hour of hustle on arriving at our
destination, and then "nirvana, the
dreamless sleep of the night At
hnlf-past or Mt II. III. it is
time to got up and dress by camille
light, to call for the 'snmovar" and hot
tea, to SEQ that the men in tho kitchen
tent are astir, and TINT the ohavadnrs
nre feeding their horses. Then tho
small articles are packed, Abdullah
brings in breakfast, and whilo we arc
cating tho chavadars como in to take
out tho baggage, tho first red light
from the rising sun shines through the
transparent walls, and then the tent
itself is pulled down, and wo nre shiy-
ering i'll tho frosty and bracing morn
ing air. Sometimes! breakfast finished
on ono of tho cnmp-chests while tho
table is packed away. When the Inst
load has been secured, and the ground,
now strcwn with egg shells and loose
straw, has been searched for lost mr.
ticles, we mount our horses or walk
on nhend. Then comes the long day
of comparative rest, md when tho
brief morning chill has passed away,
made drowsy by the growing heat of
tho sun, we nod and sway in our sad
dies, lulled by tho monotony of tho
slow march and the ccnseless tinkling
of tho bells. Over desserts of white
salt, like ncw-fallen snow or frozen
slect, where tho horizon swims and
quivers in tho mirage, and over plains
tioorcd with black volcanic deposit, wo
ride on and on, over passes, across
rivers and marshy plains, until it is
time to hurry on ahead of the caravan
mil H. nt.,l, l.
sheltcrless hillside, or deep in
gully if the wind blows,
and where there il brook in
which TO cool n bottle of wine This
caravan, unlike tho former one, never
halts Mt noon, but keeps on nj the same
unvarying pace until it's allotted tnsk
is done AT last tho lengthening shad-
ows and the sight of the distant mud
walls of the village where We aro to
halt warn us that it is time to spur on
with the chavndor to select our camp
ing ground before the baggage animals
como up. 1t was usually our fnte to
cncnmp on plowed field, and il was
no small piece of work to clear the
ground of stones aud briers; often in
high wind it required tho combined
Eti VI hll vi lb W IlOlu lnC HAD
ping canvas while the pegs were being
driven in, and we were fortunate in
deed if there were no wet sketches
lying about when the dust drove in
clouds under the tent. When tho cords
are well secured the baggage ig
brought in, carpets nre spread ont,
beds ARC unfolded, and the ebonite fill
tiers nre put in working order, so thnt
ten or tho refreshing "peg" may be
Forthcoming, There is often n leisure
hour in which TO iot down impressions
of color before Abdullnh comes in to
set the table, and after dinner we sit
under the canvas awning which pro-
jccts above the tent door, md smoke,
in tho crimson after-glow, grand aud
solemn, in this land of vast horizons.
-Harper's Magazine.