The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1910-08-28
By r. Ellis Wales

I'm the desert one forgets every
thing. one remembers nothing
any more" say the Arabs.
Everything but God. who looks
down at you from the heavens
from among the stars whose glorious
brilliancy illumines your very soul"
says Mrs. Hugo Mansfield, lately re-
turned from that territory of vast soli-
tuoe, the all devouring Sahara desert.
But while this great Silent Place
longer than the earth, and broader
than the sea" has claimed the bones of
countless generations, making itself the
"sepulchre Of the world" it has certain
life giving elements accessible to those
fortunate enough to possess the tenn
permanent of Mrs. Mansfield. The little
lady herself has this advantage over
her musician husband, while he can
draw sweet chords from numerous in
struments and compose rhapsodies that
charm, she can find music in every
thing mother nature has set forth for
her en5oyment-even in the drifting
sands, the ragged children OF Mo-
manned and the unkempt streets of a
homely village In Funfs. She loves
the desert. She loves the Arab. She
has learned the poetry of the East.
To her credit be II said she has
desert than a great African burden" f:
a dismal stretch OF worthless land
which 'forbids the expansion of Afri-
can civilization by free intercourse
with the rest of mankind" She has
found the Sahara a detached place; a
place out OF civilization yet in it: a
place to anslyze your soul, pick out
your own mental and physical defects
and In silence enter ecstatically into
communion with the Creator.
Mrs. Mansfield left America two
years ago, worn out physically, with
nerves unstrung and desperately eager
for some decided change that might
lend relief and effect cure. Seeking
the quiet places, her nerves crying out
against the life in European capitals,
she found her hearts desire in Tunis.
When she arrived in Algiers she got
a taste Of the pleasant things to come
She did things practically, surrounding
herself with the best educators in the
Arabic languages, so that when she
took up her abode in Tunis she rapidly
made friends with the natives, from the
hey himself to the little naked street
urchins that followed the "detested
Christians about, grimacing for a
coin. She found amusement and re-
gained her health in entering into the
life of the Arab and so ingratiated her
self into the hearts Of the brouzeo
desert jewellers that they soon found an
affectionate name for her. Gazette
Americana" which title has followed
her from Algiers to Biskra and far
down into the Souf region. even to a
district where no white woman had
been seen before.
Yes, found wonderful things in
Tunis and the desert" said Mrs.
Mansfield. q must admit 1 was no,
In the least afraid to ride out into that
great waste Those dreadful camels'
as they are dubbed by the English
woman tourist. 1 found quite conven-
tent vehicles Of transportation. They
are so well trained that they are per-
fectly dear. and in that impelling soil
tude as they carry you along swish
ing tho sanS with their awkward feet
you learn to love them. In that vague
mystery which you find lurking about
the great desert the camel lends ar
artistic touch. the very lines of his
body conforming to the shadows of the
night and the weird shapes Of the
dunes
You can not imagine my feelings a.
] rode at the head Of my specially char
tered caravan down the broad avenues
of Biskra and out upon the desert
You do not approach the WILDERNESS OF
sand. gradually. At the edge of the
lows ou are in magnificent grove OF