308 



CURIOUS MOONLIGHT JOURNEY. Chap. XIV. 



whitened with a coating of salt, and had a most 

 wintery look about it ; indeed had it not been for 

 the soft and warm air which fanned us as we went 

 along, and reminded ns of summer, it would have 

 been no stretch of imagination to believe the 

 ground was covered with snow. 



The night was so beautifully clear, that we 

 could see our long train of coolies a great way off, 

 toiling along with our luggage towards the shores 

 of the bay. Now and then one would break down 

 and get left in the rear, and then he might be 

 heard shouting to his companions to wait until he 

 came up with them. Here and there we passed 

 rude-looking bullock carts or waggons which are 

 used to convey the salt-brine to the boiling-houses, 

 and sometimes to carry passengers' luggage, or 

 merchandize, from the junks to Ne-ka-loo. The 

 whole scene reminded me forcibly of a journey 

 across the isthmus of Suez, which I had made in a 

 clear moonlight night such as this was. 



As we neared the shore, the ground seemed 

 much broken up by deep water-courses, caused no 

 doubt by the rapid tides for which the bay is 

 famed. The atmosphere, too, became thick with a 

 kind of misty haze, so that we could see but a 

 very short distance either before or behind. Our 

 coolies were now heard shouting out to each other 

 in order that they might keep together, which was 

 a difficult matter in the circumstances in which we 

 were placed. To me there did not seem to be a 

 landmark of any kind to direct our course, al- 



