Unfortunately, in these climates, fertility of soil is
generally combined with unhealthiness, and the commencement of
the rainy season is the signal for fevers and other maladies. No
sooner had we arrived in the flooded country than my wife was
seized with a sudden and severe attack, which necessitated a halt
upon the march, as she could no longer sit upon her camel. In the
evening, several hundreds of Arabs arrived, and encamped around
our fire. It was shortly after sunset, and it was interesting to
watch the extreme rapidity with which these swarthy sons of the
desert pitched their camp--a hundred fires were quickly blazing;
the women prepared the food, children sat in clusters round the
blaze, as all were wet from paddling through the puddled ground,
from which they were retreating.
No sooner was the bustle of arrangement completed, than a grey
old man stepped forward, and, responding to his call, every man
of the hundreds present formed in line, three or four deep. At
once there was total silence, disturbed only by the crackling of
the fires, or by the cry of a child; and with faces turned to the
east, in attitudes of profound devotion, the wild but fervent
followers of Mahomet repeated their evening prayer.
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