The wonder of the desert! Yesterday there was a barren sheet of glaring sand, with a fringe of withered bushes and trees upon its borders, that cut the yellow expanse of desert.

For days we had journeyed along the exhausted bed; all Nature, even in Nature's poverty, was most poor: no bush could boast a leaf, no tree could throw a shade, crisp gums crackled upon the stems of the mimosas, the sap dried upon the burst bark, sprung with the withering heat of the simoom.

In one night there was a mysterious change.

Wonders of the mighty Nile! An army of water was hastening to the wasted river.

There was no drop of rain, no thunder-cloud on the horizon to give hope.