From Sphinx to Oracle; Through the Libyan Desert to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon  (English, Paperback, White Arthur Silva)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: 33 CHAPTER IV ON THE MARCH 1 Left the Pyramids on March 16th, 1898, the third anniversary of the arrival of Siatin Pasha at Aswan after his escape from Omdurman. Our march that day, owing to the late hour of departure, was for four hours only, along the margin of the cultivated land and through the pass in the Libyan hills, from which our last view of the verdant valley of the Nile was obtained. The men were in high spirits. With the exception of the dragoman, they were ignorant of their destination. Said, Abd-el-Gade, and Abdurrahman had, of necessity, been told that Siwa was our goal; and it was not my intention to speak of more ambitious plans until that place had been reached. Had the camel- men known that we were going even to Siwa, of evil omen, they would not have started, save, perhaps, on very exceptional terms. Abdul rode ahead on a showy Arab mare of his own, which he left at a village near which we passed; and Abu strode forward manfully, carrying a gun, with thestock reversed, over his shoulder: each in his way enjoying this little fantasia, proper to the occasion. Their purpose became evident when, at a considerable distance ahead, I observed a formal parting between them and their respective wives, as I judged the bedraped females to be. When Abu returned to the caravan, he cast a deprecating look at the overladen camels, and held on to the pack of one of them, since he could not be mounted. Our first night in the open desert had all the charm of novelty for me. The men knew their duties, and took a childish delight in showing off: the tents were pitched with military precision, and all the baggage was disposed laager-fashion, the long Arab guns being placed on the top, directed towards the cardinal points of the compass, as if in an enemy's cou...