AREIVE AT SUEZ. 247 



rical associations. The Bed Sea! The children of 

 Israel Pharoah and his fated host and the grand, 

 inspired deeds of Moses when will your interest fade ? 

 The waters of the sea had a yellowish red hue, which 

 gives it the famous name of the Red Sea. The shore 

 was low and sandy, for on each side stretched away the 

 lands of the desert. 



On reaching Suez, a busy scene presented itself. This 

 city is rapidly rising under the influence of British com- 

 merce, to an importance which it never before possessed. 

 It is now one of the grand depots of the shortest route to 

 India, and a flourishing place in every respect. Suez is 

 well fortified. The mass of the houses resembled in style 

 those which I afterwards saw at Cairo, being small and 

 gloomy, while the streets were narrow and dirty. The 

 buildings erected for the use of the Company are decidedly 

 the best in the town. Here we saw numerous Englishmen, 

 and Mr. Barrill informed me that British influence is now 

 even more dominant in Egypt, than it has been for many 

 years in Portugal. John Bull has an eye for commercial 

 advantages about as keen as the restless Brother Jona- 

 than, and in the land of Pharoah, the results of his 

 shrewd enterprise are extensively manifest. The Gulf of 

 Suez, which is now shallow as to be fordable at low water, 

 is said to be the scene of the submersion of Pharoah and 

 his host. 



