2-979-038 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Village on the Borders of the Desert, 1857. 'The outskirt of the Desert has just been reached: this is the last permanent village or shelter of any kind to be met with for many a day's journey...The camels, after devouring their scanty morning bolus of flour and oats, are slaking their thirst at a small lake not many hundred yards from the outer walls of the village - whose domes, and minarets, and beehive-looking buildings are becoming perceptible in the grey light of morning; they drink long and deep, these "ships of the desert", laying in store for many a hot hour's travel; for Providence has pointed out a means by which these hardy desert creatures should guard against that bitterer foe than famine - thirst.... The man who conducts the camels to the waterside is making use of all kinds of strange gesticulations and indescribable croaking sounds, threatening or encouraging the camels to drink'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.