Travels in Arabia Deserta

Abstract

MR. DOUGHTY'S book takes us back to the age of the old travellers. His wanderings were in countries where not only no European had preceded him, but where he had to travel with his life continually in his hand. He travelled alone, and without any of the equipment which the modern explorer considers a necessity of existence, living with the Beduin of the desert, and sharing with them their wretched subsistence. Even the style in which he writes is a style in which it is safe to say no Englishman has written for the last two hundred years, and while it attracts us by its quaintness it makes us not unfrequently wonder what is exactly the author's meaning. Indeed, were it not for the very excellent index, it would often be almost impossible to find one's way through the labyrinth of Mr. Doughty's sentences or to ascertain the exact chronology of his route.

Travels in Arabia Deserta.

By C. M. Doughty. 2 Vols. (Cambridge: University Press, 1888.)