pyramids.

Animal life also exists in profusion; every tuft of scrub supports a
variety of insects upon which the hunting spider and desert lizard
feed; the tracks of giant beetles or timid jerboa scour the sand in
all directions, and many wild-birds make these wastes their home.
Prowling wolves and foxes hunt the tiny gazelle, while the rocky
hills, in which the wild goats make their home, also give shelter to
the hyenas and jackals, which haunt the caravan routes to feast upon
the dying animals which fall abandoned to their fate.

The life of the desert is not confined to the beasts, however, for
many Bedawīn tribes roam about them in search of water or fodder
for their animals, and of all the Eastern races I have met none are
more interesting than these desert nomads.

[Illustration: DESERT ARABS.]

The wandering life of the Bedawīn makes it difficult for anyone to
become acquainted with them, while their reputation for lawlessness is
such that travellers on desert routes usually endeavour to avoid them.
In several parts of the desert near Egypt, however, important families
of them have settled so as to be near the farm-lands granted to them
by Ismail Pasha many years ago (nominally in return for military
services, but in reality to keep them quiet), and I have often visited
their camps at Beni Ayoub and Tel Bedawi, to find them courteous,
hospitable, and in the best sense of the word, gentlemen.

These camps are large, and the long lines of tents, pitched with
military precision, shelter probably more than 1,000 people, for