The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-17
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! e6=ent of the rising sun. down leap the
! Arab guides and say their prayers, while
| We continue our journey. Our Soudanese
! soldiers, of course cannot dismount for
! prayers, and probably would not if they
could. Soon the guides oVertake US, and,
Z their prisons ended, take it in turns to
! favor US with song, and we all jog mer-
/ rily along, the men laughing and talk
| ing, the camels stepping out and every
| one feeling fresheued and invigorated by
| the cool morning breeze. One takes out a
| biscuit or two and feels happy. Even
| the desert tries to look beautiful in the
| rosy glow Of dawn; and beautiful IL Is
/ too, for about ten minutes-the hills ana
| sand suffused with the pink radiance Of
| the rising sun, and the extreme distance
| shadowy and blue, melting into the depths
| OF the brilliant sky But as the sun
climbs up, the pink fades and gives place
| to the ordinary yellowish white of the
| desert marked and streaked with black;
| the distance appears as definite and dis
| unct as the foreground, and everything
| shadowy or blue vanishes. All is glare
| Higher gets the sun and hotter the glare
| more intense; the mirage begins. culver
| ing over the surface of the ground. form
| ing vast lakes all around, lakes with clear
| ly defined edges, with rocks and shelving
! beach, and in the distance the rocks and
| hills appear as vast cities with domes ana
| towers rising, casting their reflection into
| the still waters. A man in the sanity OF
| a well-flled water bottle cannot unde..
! stand how any one could be such a fool
| as to follow this will-o -the-wisp mirage:
but these sparkling lakes must have cruel
! power to attract the poor wretch half-mad-
| dened with thirst. You know how little
| girls at the seaside tuck up their clothes
| and paddle? Well, camels. with their rid
| ders, at a distance have exactly the an
| pearance of gigantic ladies engaged in a
| IKE diversion, the mirage lending its all
| to highten this delusion. In the mean
/ time the sun has got very hot indeed. the
/ men begin to hang handkerchiefs over
their heads, British officers put on he'll
| NETS, and the scouts and guides put theil
| petticoats over their heads.
| AT last we arrive at our halting-place
whether at wells or in the desert The
| camels are unlOaded, and either tied down
or, if at wells where grazing is to be
found, hobbled and allowed to feed: tents
| are pitched, If we have them, and a sentry
| posted if necessary. Some of the men rig
| up little shelters for themselves with two
| saddles and blanket, sticking their heads
| under the blanket with their legs outside
| ''One is pretty sharp-set by the time ev-
! erything necessary is done, and tins of
| food are pulled out opened and eaten:
| there Is no lettering over lunch for after
| marching all night sleep seems quite the
| most important matter on the face of the
| earth. But sleep won't always come. If
! there is wind, it is a blazing hot one and
! the sand in flying; it is useless to block up
! the tent to windward with saddles and
! saddlebags the sand gets in all the same:
| into your mouth IL goes, into your eyes
| up your nose. down the neck of your shirt
| rafting on your face and sticking to YOUR
! perspiring skin. If there is no wind there
| is no sand, and then one lies and gasps
| for breath. Some prefer to put up with
| the sand for the benefit of the wind hot
| though it is; others prefer the blazing
heat provided the sand only stops in its
| proper place
I'VE had always been struck with the
| uncompromising dignity of our Arab
| guides seat upon a camel, enhanced by
| the black robe he wore: but on the occa-
| sion of sighting the new wells to which
| ne had so successfully guided US he be
| came seized with an access of excitement:
| he put his camel to speed, rode up behind
one of the other scouts, fired off a horrid
! yell into his ear and, levelling his stick
| threatened to shoot him. The surprised
scout, having pulled himself together.
! yelled back at the guide, and the two
dashed off at the other scouts; they all
| Joined in and with much shriH sauealing
| gave us a fine display Of Craftsmanship.
! In the midst of this our Arab dropped
! his shoes and recovered his dignity as
suddenly as he had lost 1t, and thence
! forward was prouder than ever.
THE watering of the cames is anus
ing; they come crowding down to the wa
| ter in a great state of excitement while
! the trough IS being filled, al have to be
! driven off again. This is done by picking
| up bit of dry grass, with which it would
be impossible to brain fly. and rushing
| violently at the camel. He is instantly
! seized with terror, and with his forelegs
hobbled, hops off in a most ludicrous man.
uer for about twenty yards: after wait
! ing a minute or two he comes again, to
! be again driven away He also cannot I'M
derstand why he should be prevented from
! drinking, when other camels are allowed
| to do So
you will see a great three-cornered
! beast siding down TO the water as
! though nothing was further from his
! thoughts than drink; then, when close
! to the trough, in among the other camele
! he rushes, greatly pleased with himself
! because he thinks nobody sees him, blum.
| dering, thrusting, showing. heaving. in his
! eagerness TO get at the water, ludicrouslN
| ike man carefully treading on the toes
| of brethren smaller than himself The big
! camel turns and looks at the Intruder in
well-bred surprise. The small camel moves
! hurriedly away and moralizes on the van
| ity of camel life he upbraids Providence
with making one camel bigger than an
other; he then looks round, with a tear
tuI eye Tor camel smaller than himself,
Ten days or a fortnight of life such
! as this in the desert in the hot weather.
with a temperature at about 10 degrees
TO 115 degrees in the shade. of which com.
modify there is none. make one look for.
ward to the sweet seductions of Wadp
Halfa, in the shape of a house. clean
water, a chance of a real bath and above
all, ice in your drink
Even the beasts know well when thew
are bound homeward, and the bagga 20
camels trot along in front of the remainder
no longer requiring to be dragged or bus-
led. And, at last, how delightful to see
the Nile once again and palm trees. grow.
ing and gunboat with steam up wait
ing to carry us across the river. PER-
haps some kind Samaritan has brought
over some iced beer as a welcome hack
Life is worth living, If only to drink iced
beer after a desert march with the camel
corps"
DIR. Hu King Eng and Miss Wang are
to be the Chinese delegates to the woman's
congress to be held in London in 1898 The