New-York tribune., 1905-11-25
4 Character and History as Eir-
pIained by the Desert.

.,.,. ~ Mr.. Phillipss volume but family
1ne ,,s scope. which includes not only his
nO travel in the Sahara, but keenly
rSS -, e1ueidation of Arab character and his
fnsp :. Arab art poetry and architecture, of
t''' ,o,onization in Africa, of the Mahom-
fleNNN-, lN..,o, and Of the Moslem sphere of In
s'sl Vet there is q perfectly logical fitness in
ta7p.o <- e was in the desert that the author
- study the wider fields to which it
e +be way: and Il is through the dessert
,,-+sirs that We must seek for an inter-
~ the rise and downfall of Arab and
- civilization. As an observer. Mr. Phll-
~ not only quick to note the signif1cant
9s ~ a landscape. of a man or of people,
IS as prompt to penetrate beneath the
- os what he sees and TO arrive at the
- sienifed He not only has vision, but
the mower ot correlation, of assigning
ss,.c,s of his investigation each TO its proper
With reference 10 all the others. Joined
..,s eo well ordered q mind is an appreciative
..,.+,on OF art values. while his literary style
,.,,d and graceful Not only is his meaning
- for an instant obscure, but II is expressed
..,,,sge that imparts TO his volume all the
,.dnation Of a romance
r.-,encs is indeed, tho soul OF the desert, and
a.l-sb is fits child. IAN that he has ever done
:. ,rnnregnated with the character OF his own
.~,,ns and peculiar birthplace that, to under
...,s him in any particular. it is always neces-
-, n realize the desert first writes Mr.. Phil
=, How well he has realized it his descrfp-
49,. =. II attest The first impression is that Of
psce-
., made conscious IN the desert, in degree
have felt elsewhere OF the grandeur OF tne
ss;hg Of mere space II Is the idea OF IaIerai @
sr--rsion as opposed 20 the vertical expansion We
srsi-a SO much in Alpine scenery; the idea, IN
--hitecture Of the old basilicas as opposed to the
Ss-hic minister, Nothing vertical counts
ss s9s'c Gifts and crags seem Of pygmy stature and
r E1s srpsnse Of level landscape rolled out fiat, it
y HnIv because nothing clothes its little ups and
downs with interest, and keeps you STUDYING me
W N the land fifty yards around your feet II is
-. as4 really Reefs tablelands and long rloses
n rocks protrude from its surface II IS seaiaeu
5,s rsvines sometimes hanked by preciplceS
With dry watercourses cut IN me me rock here
"a The makings here of much picturesque ana
xsrled scenery, if they were properly worked up
The next impression is that of light:
As the hours pass and the sandy slopes unTqll tPi
/. sssms 10 me that I made conscious Tor the
at sI time IN my life of the meaning Of the word
Eyt+ There is no possibility here OF any nlug4-
~. .ga- =, # of any shelter or refuge from it. the
non non. o. comes NJ down to the level earth all round; the
ss-th itself yellow and crystalline, Is foTrIl, II
..tRs % wera saturated with light and penetrated
nv H. as If I lived in and breathed II as Iish
ny. u n and breathes water. Nor is there anything
ne least oppressive in such intensity OF brlght-
y ~ .H' On the contrary. it seems as if what was
sssTv and Opaque IN ones self were burnt away
20 SSo5.y and mind were possessed by new en-
e-gr and aIertness. 1t even appears tnat snch
ggbt has physically nourishng and sustaining lg
n5eIit[ of tr own The Arabs, in the way OF 1000,
r1snnre on liz - more than mess OF rlce ana "a "a
few dates and own meals in the desert VII WI
ovrn little generator when one can draw suppheS
straight from the main power sti-uoh'
The third impression Of the desert and one
that comes only with experience and observa-
ton is its instability, its lack of cohesion with
every touch Of wind the shifting sand assumes
new forms. Il Yields TO every impulse, and every
movements is destructive. disintesrating Though
there Is much in the desert TO feed feeling and
10 stimulate the imagination, there Is little 10
feed thought The ordered succession or Inc
seasons with seedtime, blossonling and harvest
is lacking. The desert is ever the same, how
erer different in details; and these minor
changes. which fail TO affect the general aspect
are due to no apparent settled purpose in
nature but are seemingly the result of her
whinlsy and caprice. There is no perceptible
relation between cause and effect; "it would be
impossible to conceive land more destitute Of
anything that can suggest a connected train of
reasoning"
ot the Arab We're alike displayed in the desert All
the Influences that stimulated his nerves and
fuccesseshis frantic conquests and frantic art and
science-is the stored up force of the deserts
ton Of all his power and all his labor is
The deserts fatal incoherence- Drink in this
thin. scorching air. Can you not feel 1t refining all
your senses. stirring every faculty in pantherlike
Gus and ;er+ibie of forces Of which the world has
hG3 such memorable experience When the Saracen
hosts gathered for their rush and
.On the wings of mighty winds
49, Went nying all abroad"
This was the stuff they were full Of This was the
nettle Of their pasture
The author felt something of this same in
fuence when he first beheld the disordered,
abyrnthine. picturesque Moorish city of Old
Agiers. Elsewhere he defines the difference
between the Arab and the Moor as the "remem-
bsring or forgetting o. the desert; but the
desert never forgets the Moor. It has set its
seal forever on his character and on his his
tory, the details of which, However full of
romantic and exciting adventures, are to the
Western mind inevitably tedious Arab and
Moorish history conveys to Mr.. Phillips the i'm
Preston Of the wrong side of a tapestry. The
brilliant coiors are there in every stitch but
lhey are woven into no inteiligible design"
It's indeed in color, rather than in form, that
ehe Arab expresses himself aestheticany His
lnino does not reason and does not construct It
Il enouonal rather than intellectual and so finds
~ proper medium in color. And such color!
- Is not enough the author writes "to say
"a ooioring like this that it is deeper richer
stronger than ours. It is all this, of course
pui II is more than all this. It is different in
una He expresses this difference with singu-
.aF Felicity, when he adds: In the East color
: substantive in the West it is an adjective
We nave colored things: the East has color"
ne points out how well this is illustrated in
Afaa architecture and how well his architecture
'sp1esents the Arab. His finest buildings glow
~ien color, but are deficient in settled purpose.
-Ae very stones are insecurely laid in inferior
Ottar, the columns as likely as not, are old
payments stuck somehow together, ''the Roman