rushing onward to overwhelm in a moment the God-defying Pharaoh and his host; then there arose in my ear the yells of the drowning. What a wet and white winding sheet these foaming surges would be to the cold clay corpse of Pharaoh and his host! What surfeits and dainty feeding the sharks of the whole gulf would have for a while on the carcases of the greasy and gouty beef-eaters of the Egyptian court! The screeches of so many in the agony of death, and the gurgling screams of such a drowning multitude swelling across the waters, would be sweet music to the Hebrew shepherds; now that they were high and dry on the beach, and safe from the pursuing foe with all the jewels of the Egyptians on their back.

Then on the shores of Arabia there arose from the whole assembled host under Moses one unbounded and unbroken chorus of gladness and of gratitude, of wonder, love, and praise, as expressed in the Psalm of Moses, in the dance of Miriam, and in the sounding of the timbrels. "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea: his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them: they sank into the bottom as a stone: thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee:

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thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the flood stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil: my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?"

Careful observation convinced me, that the whole Desert above Suez has at one period been under the bottom of the sea. The surface is not fine sand like the Nubian and other deserts; but it is gravel consisting of rolled pebbles and portions of the adjoining rocks. It is everywhere mingled with sea-shells, and even at the centre station where the elevation between Suez and Cairo is reached. Shells are said to be found both on the African and Nubian side at an elevation of two thousand feet. It is not impossible therefore that the sea may at one time have extended from Suez to the Mediterranean; and that Africa may have been an island.

My next object, as a mere matter of amusement, without reference to the important question of the Exodus, was to find out the exact spot where Napoleon was overtaken by the waves near Suez. Actuated by latent rationalism, and desirous to contradict the miracle, or at any rate to render it easier of belief to unbelievers, by proving that it was conformable to the ordinary laws of nature, he one day waited for the ebb of the tide, and made an attempt to follow what he supposed were the footsteps of Moses in passing the creek.

132

HIS WARRIOR-LIKE SAGACITY.

According to the French

In regard to his effort in this way, it has been smartly remarked by the author of Eothen, that he and his horsemen managed the matter in a manner more resembling the failure. of the Egyptians, than the success of the Israelites. The tide came up regardless of him and his staff, and it was with great difficulty that any of them reached the land. Some of the people at Suez told me, that Napoleon fell from his horse into the sea, and was only dragged out by the assistance of the natives on shore. Others said that he spurred his horse through the waters, breast-high, back to the beach in front of the English hotel; and that his faithful steed manifested more firmness and sagacity than its rider, by speeling up the stairs like a cat. account, Napoleon got out of the difficulty when the waters began to accumulate around him, by his warrior-like presence of mind, which often served him so well when the fate of a battle and of nations depended on the decision of a moment. He ordered his officers around him to disperse like a fan, in order thus to multiply the chances of finding shallow water, and in one way only was he enabled to make his escape from instant death. He well deserved all this, and he might probably have fared worse had it not been that the Devil had more work for him afterwards. When the water was still dripping from Napoleon, he smartly remarked, that had he been drowned, the circumstance would have furnished texts for all the preachers in Europe.

Infidels argue that the sea and tide at Suez are like those of the Solway Firth, between Scotland and England; and that from the level beach and great flow, the water retires very far seaward, and then comes rapidly back towards the land far past Suez. It is said that Moses, from having

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herded his father-in-law's sheep so long in the neighbourhood, knew accurately both the times and the tides of the Red Sea; and that he waited the exact moment, and succeeded in carrying over the host of Israel before the flood. It is also said that Pharaoh and his followers, more ignorant of the localities, came up too late for the tide, and were destroyed merely by physical and natural causes, without there having been any miracle in the matter. It was in trying to accomplish this feat that Napoleon and his staff were nearly all drowned. But on this as on many other occasions, "God makes the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of that wrath he restrains." Napoleon's object in making the attempt to perform again the miracle of Moses, was to disprove it, but the Almighty turned the event so as to settle its authenticity beyond doubt: simply because, if half a dozen well mounted warriors had not time to cross the head of the gulf in broad daylight, between the ebb and the flow, how could two millions of men, women, and children have done it, during the dark, all on foot, and heavily encumbered with baggage?

CHAPTER VI.

THE NILE BOAT.

I LEFT Egypt with regret, a country I had felt so interested in: the cradle of philosophers, astronomers, and artists, before other nations were born to science. Many monuments of her grandeur I had seen still remaining in the land, and I knew that the rest had been carried off, and shown as wonders in every country under heaven. I felt that a temple might be the pride of Athens, and an amphitheatre the boast of ancient Rome, but Egypt, from end to end, and from side to side, in rapid succession, had presented to me, a solitary traveller, one delightful museum after another of the most ancient wonders. But what rendered this country most dear to my heart, was the frequent mention which was made of it in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and the degraded state to which this, the richest district and finest climate in the world, has been reduced according to fulfilment of prophecy.

Having seen everything about Suez, and satisfied myself on the point of the passage of the children of Israel across the Red Sea, I consulted Mr. Lerwick as to how I should best advance on Palestine. I expressed I expressed a desire to go by Mount Sinai and Horeb, and to enter the Holy Land east