UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 279 



where some of Abraham's posterity were settled ; 

 it lay upon the further side of the Red Sea, to 

 the east of the wilderness of Sin. During his 

 long absence from Egypt, Moses never forgot 

 that he was separated from his family and his 

 nation ; and to mark his feelings he called his son 

 Gershom, a desolate stranger. While he was 

 thus an exile, he was trained in the school of 

 adversity; his faith was strengthened, so that it 

 prepared him for the arduous mission which he 

 was born to undertake ; and he became ( meek 

 above all the men which were on the face of the 

 earth.' No man, indeed, had greater trials 

 but about them and the important part he after- 

 wards performed, I will take some other oppor- 

 tunity of conversing with you." 



I&th. I had so many questions to ask about 

 papyrus, that I thought it better not to interrupt 

 my aunt yesterday, when Moses was more parti- 

 cularly the subject of our conversation. This 

 morning, however, I begged of her to tell me 

 some particulars about the paper made from 

 that plant, and I will now put down here the 

 substance of what she told me. 



" The papyrus, or Egyptian reed, as it is 

 called, grows in the marshy ground, caused by 

 the overflowing of the Nile, and rises to the 

 height of six or seven cubits above the water. 



2 B 2 



