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three days. But there is still another difficulty. After the turning from Etham, there must have been time for the information to reach Pharaoh before he could pursue the Israelites; for it was in consequence of this information that he resolved on pursuit.-Exod., xiv., 351. The Egyptians were involved in the burial ceremonies for the multitude of children slain on the fatal night of the 14th (Exod., xxxiii., 4); and yet, according to the theory referred to, there was time enough for all this, and for Pharaoh's host to be gathered and to come up with the Israelites on their arrival at Pi-ha-hiroth! When we add to all these considerations the embarrassments attached to the theory that Israel crossed the Red Sea at Suez, which have been before stated, we shall probably be well satisfied that there are at least plausible grounds for doubting the views of Dr. Robinson and Hengstenberg. At the same time, these gentlemen are authorities of the very highest order, and I differ from them with great reluctance. I have aimed only to get at the truth, and at present I must, of course, believe that my own views approach nearer to it than any others with which I am acquainted. I am yet very well aware that difficulties may be started in regard to them. Some present themselves to my own mind; there may be others that do not. I leave the subject, repeating again, that the most we can reach in regard to it is a balancing of probabilities.

SHORE OF THE RED SEA.-APPROACH TO SUEZ. 109

CHAPTER XI.

Shore of the Red Sea.-Approach to Suez.-Appearance of the Town.Bedouin Tent. Crossing the Red Sea.-Land in Asia. -Wells of Moses.-An Arab Mansion. - Miriam's Song. - Wilderness of Shur.-Encampment. Our Company.-Arabs Sleeping.-Our Tent.-George's skilful Catering.-Life in the Desert.-Good Nature of the Arabs.

We had entered the plain by the sea late in the afternoon, and immediately encamped. Next morning, after breakfast, I set out on foot, keeping my eye steadily on the waves, resplendent with the reflection of the sun. I was deceived in the distance, and after walking three hours, entered among the low gravel-hills which run parallel with the coast from the foot of Gebel Atakah southward to within two or three miles of Gebel Dereg. Between their southern extremity and Dereg the floods in the rainy season pass to the sea, cutting deep and broad channels through the plain. Our camels bore south to some wells of water, while my course was northeast. In the afternoon we crossed the naked gravel-hills, and descending to the beach, encamped on the seashore under the lofty promontory of Atakah, which seems to have projected into the sea, as the fallen ruins lay scattered on the beach even into the water's edge.

Next day our course lay north along the beach, the mountains crowding us on the left, and the waves occasionally laving our feet. A little after nine o'clock Suez appeared as a dark speck on the beach before us. As we advanced, the country opened out; and when we came up directly west of Suez, the whole range of vision northwest, north, and northeast, took not in a single mountain. How could the Jews have been "entangled in the land," and "the wilderness have shut them in," VOL. I.-K

110

APPEARANCE OF THE TOWN.

advancing upon Suez from this direction? It was impossible.

About one o'clock we arrived at the town, and pitched our tents on the sand outside of the walls, between the northern gate and the ruins of the ancient Kolzum. Six days' experience of Bedouin life inclined us to take dinner at the English hotel in the town. As we entered the gate, half a dozen lazy Arab soldiers lay on some mats keeping guard. They looked at us, but asked no questions. Close on the left, as we passed, a lad lay prostrate on his face, held down, with his feet turned up so as to expose the soles, on which an Arab inflicted violent and rapid blows with a stick. I supposed he was a servant of some boat-builder, as the matter occurred in a boatyard. It attracted no particular attention. While dinner was preparing we surveyed the town, and found it badly walled on three sides, the fourth being open to the water. The houses are irregular, of unequal size, and built of coarse stone: population perhaps 2000. The bazar was moderately furnished with very common European goods. The market afforded a sheep, which we had promised our Bedouins for a feast; but an hour or so after Tualeb had purchased it, he came to us for more money, saying that he had found a larger one. We said no, and refused all parley. About four o'clock we dined, and two of my companions resolved to sleep in the hotel, but Mr. C. and myself repaired to

our tent.

After an early breakfast next morning I strolled over the high mounds of rubbish which mark the site of the ancient Kolzum, and found them similar to those near Alexandria and Cairo. Amid them I stumbled upon a Bedouin tent, of coarse black cloth, in which were a man, his wife and children, a sheep, and a goat or

CROSSING THE RED SEA.

111

two. They seemed tenants in common. At nine o'clock our tents were struck, and our caravan set off around the head of the gulf, which extends northward three miles. We agreed to meet them at the Wells of Moses, some eight or ten miles below on the eastern side, whither we were to go in a boat, in the afternoon.

At one o'clock we embarked for Asia on board of a small boat. We now learned that Tualeb had remained in town to procure a few pounds of coffee, a pocket full of tobacco, and some other little matters. Being urgently demanded, he came forth, and, to our surprise, had with him the sheep which we supposed had been devoured the night before. It was no use to object; sheikh and sheep were taken on board, and our sail was shaken out, but there was no wind to fill it. Our bark was poled all the way down, a distance of at least eight miles. There was rarely five feet depth of water, and, indeed, we often grazed the bottom. We looked forward with eagerness, and yet with reverence, to the shores of Asia, the cradle of the human family and the birthplace of our holy religion. The peninsula which we were approaching was the scene of God's immediate presence. Each of us sat silently meditating the first leap on shore, when suddenly we grounded about fifty yards from it, and the Arabs, jumping into the water, backed up to the gunwale, and offered their brawny backs to convey us to land. Each of us selected his man, and in a few minutes we slid down from the backs of our Arabs upon the consecrated soil of Asia.

Buksheesh rendered to our boatmen, we departed on foot for Ain Mousa, half an hour distant. The sun scorched us, and our feet were burned through our boots as they sunk three or four inches at every step into the incrusted sand. It was the first of February.

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Arriving at the wells, we found our camels browsing on some shrubs which are nourished by the brackish waters afforded from six or eight shallow pools, which appear to be scooped out in the dark, hard earth deposited from the water itself, and which, in the course of three or four thousand years, has acquired considerable elevation, so that the waters are above the level of the grounds around. Some of these shallow wells are evidently recent, others are more ancient; from none of them was water running freely, but the immediate vicinity was moist, and a few stunted palms and shrubs somewhat relieved the surrounding desolation. A native merchant of Suez has a mud hut here, where he spends part of the summer. The mistress of the mansion, a dark Arab woman, appeared, with a child on her shoulder, and the corner of her shawl drawn over her face. A hundred turkeys and geese flocked around her, demanding their daily food. It reminded me of some of our Western scenes.

Did Moses dig these wells? Did the hosts of Israel assemble around them after their passage through the sea, or have they merely attracted the great lawgiver's name, which tradition has connected with almost every prominent point between Egypt and Sinai? It is not probable that Moses dug the present pits, but, from the nature of the ground in which they are suņk, it is likely they mark an important watering station for the Bedouins from time immemorial. It is also evident that they once occupied a lower level, which has been raised by constant deposition from the waters. This gradual elevation has diminished the quantity of water, thus rendering it more brackish. It is reasonable, therefore, to conclude, that anciently the waters were abundant and sweet. And when we remember that Israel

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