THE ORIGIN OF THE SUEZ CANAL. 207 



for us to mount them. To get astride a dromedary is 

 a task requiring no little adroitness, for as soon as you 

 have thrown the right leg over their backs they rise, 

 and those who rise the quickest are the best. The 

 best way is to bring the body slightly forward and 

 make just the opposite motion when the beast stretches 

 out its hind legs. The dromedaries provided for 

 Linant and myself are two very fine animals, and I 

 soon get accustomed to the motion, and other drome- 

 daries are bestridden by M. Aivas, an Arab effendi, 

 and an assistant-engineer. The Bedouin sheik Jaoude 

 acts as guide, and has been made responsible for 

 our safety at the price of his life. Our little troop 

 is made up of five messengers, who will carry letters 

 to Cairo, and Linant's ' dusky ' maitre d'hotel. 



" For three hours we follow the bed of the ancient 

 canal, the two banks of which are still in a perfect 

 state of preservation, and before sunset we pitch our 

 tents in the desert at a spot called Makfar (the Hol- 

 lowed Place), where there is a little vegetation of a 

 meagre kind. 



" Opening my Bible, which is always of special 

 interest to read when in Egypt, I am more than ever 

 impressed by it now, for I am drawing near to the 

 region where Jacob and his family established them- 

 selves, and from which, four centuries later, Moses led 

 the Hebrew people out of servitude. 



" After reading some passages in the Pentateuch, 

 I went out to admire the beautiful sunset, and was 



