186 MOSES IN EXILE. 



Among the hills which crown the high plateau, 

 there is one which at that time was called the Mount 

 of God. It was holy ground to the Egyptians, and 

 also to the Arabs, who ascended it as pilgrims, and 

 drew off their sandals when they reached the top. 

 Nor is it strange that Sinai should have excited rever- 

 ence and dread ; it is indeed a weird and awful 

 land. Vast and stern stand the mountains, with their 

 five granite peaks pointing to the sky : avalanches, 

 like those of the Alps, but of sand, not of snow, rush 

 down their naked sides with a clear and tinkling 

 sound, resembling convent bells ; a peculiar property 

 resides in the air; the human voice can be heard at a 

 surprising distance, and swells out into a reverberating 

 roar ; and sometimes there rises from among the hills 

 a dull booming sound like the distant firing of heavy 

 guns. 



Let us attempt to realise what Moses must have 

 felt when he was driven out of Egypt into such a harsh 

 and rugged land. Imagine this man, the adopted son 

 of a royal personage, the initiated priest, sometimes 

 turning the astrolabe towards the sky, perusing the pa- 

 pyrus scroll, or watching the crucible and the alembic ; 

 sometimes at the great metropolis enjoying the busy 

 turmoil of the streets, the splendid pageants of the 

 court, reclining in a carpeted gondola, or staying with 

 a noble at his country house. In a moment all is 

 changed. He is alone on the mountain side, a shep- 

 herd's crook in his hand. He is a man dwelling in a 

 tent ; he is married to the daughter of a barbarian ; 

 his career is at an end. Never more will he enter 

 that palace where once he was received with honour, 

 where now his name is uttered only with contempt. 

 Never more will he discourse with grave and learned 



