Page:The Burton Holmes lectures; (IA burtonholmeslect04holm).pdf/177

 regalia enter the gaming rooms, take the bank at the baccarat table for a thousand francs and proceed to deal the cards. Too much, alas, has been done to continentalize this beautiful oasis, but many years must elapse before the charm of Biskra shall have entirely evaporated in this atmosphere of superficial civilization. With relief we turn from the green tables and come out into a sunny square where the gaunt, ugly camels are reposing after a journey in the desert. Here every day arrive the caravans from the far south; here is the terminus of the desert routes from the Sudan and Timbuctu. Some of those caravans began their journeys six long months ago. Yes, as we turn into the road which leads southward from the oasis, we realize that we are indeed upon the very edge of civilization.

SHIPS OF THE DESERT IN PORT

THE SAHARA LIMITED Photograph by Emile Fréchon