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    64 Visit to the Great Oasiss of the Liby...

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    Visit To The Great Oasis Of The Libyan D...

    xnia , and especially when , as I have seen them , burnt up by the sun , is delighted if he meets with a small plantation and a little verdure . The voyager in the ocean thinks every island which he passes , that is

    green and contains a few trees , a little paradise . But if the plantation surrounded by fruitful , though naked plains , and the island of the ocean which enchanted the voyager , could be transported into the midst of fairer regions of the earth , the

    enchantment would be broken , and he _would probably think them even drawbacks to the superior beauty of the scenery around them . The fair appearance then of this Oasis is in a great measure fictitious ; and has chiefly its origin in the relief afforded to the mind , wearied

    by the monotony and dreariness of the surrounding wastes . It seems to me , therefore , that the only rational way of accounting for the exaggerated epithets which the ancient writers and some modern

    travellers have applied to this district , is to attribute them to their surprise , at finding in such a fearful region any verdure , any habitable spot , and to the exhilarating effect on the spirits of this agreeable contrast to the dreary deserts

    which they have just crossed . But comfortless as was my journey through the wilderness , and beauti- ful as the woods of palm-trees , doums , and acacias m the Oasis cer- tainly are , still the vivid recoliec- tion of the superior loveliness of the banks of the Nile prevents my _consenting to call these regions ' the Gardens of the Hesperides ; '

    and sadly must the Oasis have diminished in beauty , if it ever merited the praise which Herodotus bestowed upon the place , in calling it * the Island of the Blessed / " Now , we are very happy to

    Visit To The Great Oasis Of The Libyan D...

    j < ( s feel , in spite of this attempt to destroy our impressions of an oasis , and banish a very expressive word from the language , that J tne literal account before

    us does by no means succeed in producing any such results We see too clearly how the matter stands between the character of the country and that of the author ' s mind . He

    himself , indeed , stumbles upon the truth unawares , for he says in the course of his remarks , that this proverbial beauty and freshness in the Oasis " chiefly arises from the effect of contrast" with

    the vast expanse of burning sands which surround it . Exactly so , —and how few great effects are ever produced except

    by the force of contrast . Those places and circumstances which make you feel " blessed" are surely the very places to be called the " blessed . "

    With such exceptions , however , as naturally arise from a mind constructed like that of our author , we have been much interested in the work , which

    contains many novel features _, The drawings of Mr Hoskins appear accurate , and are _de-^ T _^ fine st le of art _f are mogt inter _4 ti proa J mi * v d _™*™ - The greater portion of them _, , admirably lithographed by Mr Picker , who we

    have no doubt will soon become eminent in this line . They nearly all combine strong effect with delicate workmanship , and are very clear , both in their tones and outlines , without the least hardness _.

    64 Visit To The Great Oasiss Of The Liby...

    64 Visit to the Great Oasiss of the Libyan Desert .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 1, 1837, page 64, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_01071837/page/62/