undulations, stretches away. There was one cheering thought, however. My
companions had by this time set up their tent for the night; and
although, creeping along at the camel's slow pace, we could not expect
to come up to that temporary home until it was about to be deserted,
still the knowledge of its existence took away much of the mysterious
terror with which I entered upon this desolate region in the hour of
coming shadows. An additional solemnity was imparted to the commencement
of this arduous journey by the fact that we now passed the last pillar
erected by the Romans. Their mighty power seems to have recoiled, as
well it might, before the horrid aspect of the Hamadah.

We pushed on at a steady pace over the rough ground; and as I surveyed
the scene from my elevated position on the camel's back, I could not
help contrasting this primitive style of travelling with that with which
I had been conversant a few months before. Instead of whirling along the
summit of an embankment, or through a horizontal well miles deep, in a
machine that always reminded me of a disjointed dragon, at the rate of
some fifty miles an hour, here I was leisurely swaying to and fro on the
back of the slowest beast that man has ever tamed, in the midst of a
crowd loosely scattered over the country, some on foot, some in the
saddle--not seeking to keep any determinate track, but following a
general direction by the light of the stars, which shine with warm
beneficence overhead. There is no sound to attract the ear, save the
measured tread of the caravan, the occasional "_Isa! Isa!_" of the
drivers, the hasty wrench with which our camels snatch a mouthful of
some ligneous plant that clings to the stony soil, the creaking of the
baggage, or the whistling of the wind that comes moaning over the
desert. These are truly moments in a man's life to remember; and I shall
ever look back to that solemn night-march over the desert, which my pen
fails to describe, with sentiments of pleasurable awe.