Page 173 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (3)_Neat

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As Seen by a Novice

Rev. Garrett E. De Jong
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P ERHAPS, the first thought most people associate with ArabiitL
is of the desert. It was a great moment for us when we fir# 1
saw it. There it was in all its immensity.. On all sides j|3
seemed to stretch on endlessly. Over it hung low the deen’iJ
blue sky. Horizons made no difference to the desert,—in her vast-^
ness she seemed to swallow them. Out in that huge gulf of space"*?
we met'no living person. The sun had made short work of the 1
vegetation that had sprung up after the winter rains. There were 4
no trees. No water was to be seen, although the tantalizing miragei/i
played about. At sunset we stopped for a cup of tea. What
silence there was. It was peaceful, quiet, and more than that— 3
it was appalling. Perhaps the desert accounts for the fearlessncu I
of the Arab, and also for his fear only of Allah.
The immensity of the desert may be said to be equalled only by"l
its barrenness. Only here and there, where there is sweet watcril
is life found. And this holds true of the desert even to the watcr'iJ
edge. “Surely there is water,” one would say, “Why cannot.the 1
desert be irrigated and bring forth?” Yes, water is there, but h-
is salt water, and salt water is more disastrous to plant life than!
is drought. '
Kuwait is located on just such a bit of shore. The desert eniOj
the sulty sea begins, and between the two Is Kuwait, a city o( thfjjj
sea and of the desert. We first approached the city two hours aftefS
sunset, and we could see in dim outline the picturesque city wall^3
Imagine a twentieth century city fortified with a mud and stoat1!
wall, fifteen feet- high and about three feet thick. [Through
beautiful Jahara gate, past the swarthy Arab guards we rode, anj^i
emerged upon a broad road, bordered by the irregular,, but contiim*J
ous walls of the houses. As we wound into narrower walled street! J
we noticed that all was dark and very quiet, a part of the desert j
itself, it seemed.
The next morning we saw Kuwait by daylight. To the right, % 1
little below us, lay the city, a city of tawny mud walls, with hett 2
and there a minaret and here and there a green tree.to break thti
monotony of color. And to the left was the bay, the water alwajn
changing in color. Some fourteen miles away, just on the other;?
side of the bay rose the hills, which like the sea, were never th|.*j
same. And as if that were not enough beauty, they were shroiu|(4-j
in a shimmering haze, similar to that which surrounds the be** J
tiful Lebanons of Syria. Since that day they have never cca*4j
to charm us. We treasure the sunsets also, the sky a profusion ^3
color, the bay filled full of the reflected lights, which the heavct$3
seem not able to hold. . rS
Of more interest than the place, however, are its people. We inJ
told that in Kuwait lives the purest and best type of. real Arab
be found in any of our Mission stations. Many of them are kia^i
friendly and cordial. Then there are others who would not deign *1