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smallest article, if urged to add it to a load which they deem already sufficient for the strength of the animal. Some of the noisiest altercations in a desert route are occasioned in this way.

It

It was in the afternoon of the tenth of May, when, according to the arrangements with Sheikh Suleiman, our baggage, provisions, and all things needful for the journey were made ready for loading. Our Arabs arrived from their bivouac on the borders of the Desert; and the busy stir of preparation was soon sounding in our ears. Whatever dangers or privations we might be called on to meet or endure in our passage through the wilderness, I felt that then the die was cast. was, to me, a most exciting scene, when camels and their wild attendants crowded the quadrangular court of our habitation, and the plaintive cries and moanings of the poor beasts while receiving their various allotments of burthen, were mingled with the harsh, voluble, guttural squabblings of the Bedaween. It was a picture of strife and confusion not easy to be realized, except by those who are acquainted with oriental manners and habits. At length, however, all was fairly adjusted; good humor was as easily restored as broken; and the loaded camels and their swarthy guardians, with Sheikh Suleiman at their head, wound their way through the narrow streets of Cairo (which is more like a rabbit warren than any thing else), to await our arrival, at a little before sunset, on the borders of the Desert, just to the left of the tombs of the Sultans; from whence our caravan was to move with the early light of the morning.

CHAPTER III.

THE ARABIAN DESERT.

FROM CAIRO TO MOUNT SINAI.

Departure from Cairo-Night scene in the Desert-Desert of Suez-Mirage-Encampment in the Desert-Bedaween Characteristics-Incidents-Red Sea-Suez -Fountain-Superstitious Practice-Suez-Passage of the Red Sea-Ayun Mousa, the Springs of Moses-Route to Mount Sinai-Wadey Werdan-ThirstPrecaution-Waters of Marah-Wadey Ghurundel-Wilderness of Sin-Children of Israel-Wadey Usseit-Wadey Thal-Wadey Homrr-Wadey Nassb-Arab Families-Ramel Morekh-Wadey Berah-Arab Burial-Ground-Wadey Sheikh -Sinaite Group-Gebel Serbal-Wadey Hawy-Plain of El Raha-Horeb-Sinai -Convent of Santa Katarina-Chapel of the Burning Bush-Convent LibraryCatacomb-Shrine of Santa Katarina-Ascer.t of Mount Sinai-Mount SinaiPreparations for Departure.

"AND Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the Lord as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also. And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, we be all dead men. And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, besides children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. *. And it

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came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, lest peradventure the people repent, when they see war, and they return unto Egypt. But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.

And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people."

With a record such as this for the mind to dwell on; with the history of God's ancient people in our memories; with the land of their cruel bondage stretching around us; and with their desert route awaiting us, it may be easily imagined that the commencement of our journey occasioned many a deep emotion. History became reality indeed, as we prepared to follow in the track of the six hundred thousand rescued Israelites, and the mixed multitude which went up with them. The pillar of the cloud indeed was no longer visible by day, nor the pillar of fire by night; but yet the God of Israel was with us in the gospel of his dear Son—a better manifestation than ever Israel had witnessed in the days of their wanderings. And this was enough to bear us up, in the prospect of any thing that might await us in the unopened future-either of danger, difficulty, or privation. It was a solemn time indeed, when, bidding farewell to human habitations, we prepared to go forth upon the scene of Israel's pilgrimage—the homeless waste-the houseless abode of men of the wandering spirit and the untiring foot. How far -how very far distant did home, and the scenes and pursuits and dear objects of home, appear, while the mind grasped at the fact, that there was the marvellous exo* Exodus xii. 30-34, 37, 38; xiii. 17, 18, 20-22.

DEPARTURE FROM CAIRO.

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dus of Israel commenced; and that there Jehovah interposed on their behalf to break the shackles of heartless ty

ranny.

The sun was getting low in the horizon, and casting lengthened shadows, as we wound slowly along the crowded streets of Cairo, towards the gate called Bab-en-Nasr, which opened upon the skirts of the desert. We passed on in silence, having on our right the crumbling remains of the tombs of the Sultans-dome and tower all yielding to the touch of time, and powdered with the sand-drifts of the wilderness. The sun was bathing in his last gorgeous rays the mosques and minarets of the ancient city, and illuminating the land of Goshen,* which stretched out, with its flat and still green and productive surface, yet further on our left; while the cloudless sky overhung us like a canopy of richly tinted velvet. We soon descried our little encampment in the distance; and in about half an hour were in the midst of our Bedaween party, who had already begun to light their evening fires, and freed their camels from their burthens. There, in the midst, stood the tent which was to be our deserthome, already pitched for our reception; and as we advanced, Sheikh Suleiman, arrayed in his smartest attire, came forth to receive us with every indication of respectful bearing. How new-how strange was all this scene; and these were to be our companions-these wild and houseless men-for many a long day, and for many a weary league. They had provided no tents--they needed none. The sand was their bed-the midnight sky their canopy. Our caravan consisted

A greater variety of conjectures than the simplicity of the subject requires has been offered, as to the precise locality of the land of Goshen. One of the clearest proofs that it lay along the east side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, which is the most easterly branch of the river, arises out of the fact that the Israelites on their departure from Egypt, did not pass over the Nile; and we therefore readily assume that it must have included the district of Heliopolis, which lay on the eastern border of the Delta. The land of Goshen was certainly the best pasture ground of Lower Egypt, and well adapted for pastoral pursuits; for Joseph recommended it to his family, as "the best of the land;" (Gen. xlvii. 11) and Pharaoh promised to give them "the good of the land of Egypt," and the "fat of the land." Gen. xlv. 18, 20.

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NIGHT-SCENE IN THE DESERT.

of fourteen camels altogether, including those destined to bear our baggage, and those provided for us and our servants to ride. It was a noble beast which owned Sheikh Suleiman as its master.

We spent a few minutes amidst the party-received and exchanged salutations, and then, walking up upon an elevated ridge of rocky soil over against our encampment, took a parting glance at the ancient city of Cairo. The evening was closing charmingly, and soon the picture became sha dowy and distant; for in the east there is but a short-scarcely any-interval of twilight between sunset and darkness.* Turning from the city, we looked down from the other side of the hill upon our little encampment. How wild and gipsey-like it appeared; and the loud laugh, and the break of hearty voices, mingling with the moaning of camels, fell with a sense of strange novelty on our ears, while we counted the blazing fires kindled for the evening meal, illuminating the picturesque persons of our Bedaween, and their animals. gathered around them. We turned to our tent, which we found comfortably arranged for us, by servants who knew the nature of desert wants and how to supply them. In the middle was suspended an Arab lamp, above a camp table. Matting and carpets were spread upon the sand. Our mattresses and slight bedding were placed on either side; and such of our baggage as we might want for the night, placed within our reach. It was a snug, cheerful little home.

Having arranged with Sheikh Suleiman to commence the march at an early hour in the morning, we betook ourselves to our repose; but though I felt every assurance of safety, from the known fidelity of Arabs when acting as an escort, yet the novelty of position, and the multitude of thoughts crowding continually upon my mind, kept me restless and wakeful; while the sound of camels, and the fitful talk of the

*"The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out,
At one stride comes the dark."

Coleridge's Ancient Mariner.

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