necessary fluid; this well I was told was called Birr. The remainder of the journey, being upon a descent, was passed rapidly over, and we entered the walled town of Suez.

By the time we had reached the end of our desert journey, we were all of us thickly dusted with fine sand; no visitors to Epsom or Ascot in dry weather could be in such a plight, it had permeated our clothes to the skin, a quantity of sand and small gravel was in our pockets, and all who had not taken the precaution to wear a veil, not merely over the face, but also the head and shoulders, had their eyes, nose, ears, and neck filled with it, to their no small discomfort.

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CHAPTER VIII.

SUEZ TO ADEN.

SUEZ is a small, desolate-looking walled town, situated in lat. 30° 2′ N., and long. 32° 28' E. Standing at the edge of the Red Sea, it has no suburbs, and no vegetation about it, and the desert reaches to its walls. The shore is flat, and so extends for a long way, the desert in fact extending to the margin of the water. The distant mountains have a fine effect, particularly that called "Gebel* Ataka," or the mount of deliverance, opposite the shore of the peninsula of Sinai. It was within this range that the Israelites, when fleeing from the land of Goshen, were hemmed in, with the sea before them, and the army of Pharoah in pursuit behind them, and here was the spot, according to Arab tradition, where the

* Gebel, or Ghibel, an Arabic word so often used as 8 prefix, that the progress of the Moors in the course of their conquests in Europe and elsewhere, can be easily traced, its meaning is mountain, and it is found very commonly in Spain, in Italy, and even, though sparingly, in Switzerland. Gibraltar is a specimen, and a very remarkable one, of its use. See "Words and Places," 6th edition, Rev. Isaac Taylor. Macmillan and Co.

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miraculous passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites took place, and where Pharoah and his army perished.* (Exodus chap. xiii, &c.)

At the wharf or landing-place there were a good many native boats and sailing craft of small dimensions lying close by, chiefly employed in taking passengers and goods to and from the shipping, which, from the shallowness of the

* This has been many times disputed, and the position of the crossing assigned elsewhere (see pp. 103–4); a more recent theory is that an arm of the Red Sea at one time communicated with the Bitter Lakes, which are much below its level, and supplied them with water, dependent for its depth not only upon the tide but also upon the state of the wind, so that whilst at times dry, at other times they became very deep; these lakes the Israelites, quitting Egypt, are said to have crossed at low water, whilst a return of the tide, increased in force and amount by a change of wind, overwhelmed their enemies, following hard upon them in pursuit. This, if true, would be in itself a miraculous coincidence to say the least; but I am not aware that the other conditions of the Scriptural narrative mentioned in this book exist near these lakes, and so the story must be passed over in favour of the one always received. The rise of water in the northern portions of the Red Sea is always most marked in the winter months, when southerly winds prevail; also the fact that high tides prevail with certain winds is well known in this country, and it is very probable that the double tides occasionally seen in the upper reaches of the Thames are due to sudden shifts of wind, but no "wall of waters on the right hand and on the left" has ever been seen or known to be due to these causes.

water, necessarily lay several miles distant down the Red Sea. Very little business of any kind appeared to be doing, either on the wharf or in the town, judging from the almost total absence of bustle and noise, which in the East is mostly called into requisition upon very trifling occasions. The Red Sea is under tidal influence, of which some of our party were not previously aware, aud a difference of level in the water, amounting to four or five feet, occurred during our stay, but we could not learn the whole range of its rise and fall. In the Mediterranean Sea there are no tides, consequently the water surface is always at the same level.*

We obtained apartments in the upper floor of what was at that time the hotel; the approach to our quarters was by a steep ladder on the outside of the building, and upon the whole we were pretty comfortable, or so it appeared to us after the manner in which we had recently been roughing it. This place was at that time the only public accommodation Suez afforded, for the large barrack-looking building, intended for a hotel, was not yet occupied, but was in full activity on my subsequent visit five years afterwards.

* A difference of eighteen inches or more is often noticed at Malta and elsewhere, but this seems to be due to changes of wind or storms, and in no way to tides.

Between three and four in the afternoon we sat down to dinner; it was a general dinner for such of the passengers as chose to partake, and there were a goodly number of us; but, behold, a swarm of flies, such as I never witnessed before or since, were waiting like ourselves for the covers to be removed, that they might contest with us the possession of the victuals; the table cloth was literally black with them, and in vain we attempted to buffet them away, for they returned to the charge again and again, until being weary we desisted. At length the dishes were uncovered, and we attempted to dine, and so did the flies; the sight was sickening, and we very soon beat a retreat in disgust, leaving the victory to the insects; fortunately our appetites were not very keen, for the heat was great, and the fatigue we had undergone so exhausting, that we had but little desire for animal food, and contented ourselves with biscuits.

The flies in Egypt were numerous beyond conception, and in many cases of sore eyes, the afflicted organ was closely covered with them to some thickness, and thus, I suspect, they frequently carry the disease from person to person. We also noticed and learned the reason why there were so many totally blind men in the country, and a still greater number with the left eye only; in the