e appropriate name of the
"Mysterious City of the Nile."

* * * * *

PORT SAID, _November 26th_: The return to Port Said in the afternoon was
followed by our departure on another P. & O. steamer, the _Arabia_, for
Bombay, India.

One enters the Suez Canal with peculiar sensations, as it is a waterway
of vast importance, connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and so
narrow that the shores on both sides are distinctly visible. It extends
from Port Said to Suez, and is nearly one hundred miles in length; it is
artificial, with the exception of a channel through Bitter Lakes and
Lake Tinsuh. All along the way, we were virtually traversing the desert,
Isma'iliya presenting a small oasis, fifty miles from Port Said. From
the deck we watched the monotonous scene, hour after hour, the landscape
being old and colorless, with great billows of sand in the foreground,
and here and there occasional hillocks. Once we saw mountains of sand,
called the Gebel Abu Batah range. Sometimes a few native huts would
appear (the mere semblance of a village), then a stray camel or two, or
a group of natives with their pigskins, intent on securing water. The
Great Bitter Lake is a fine body of water, and it afforded us a
temporary relief from the monotony of the Canal. There was a short stay
at Suez, which has all the stir of a noisy modern port. We were now for
a time in the Gulf of Suez, but saw nothing except a yellow beach and
low outlying mountains; we longed for even a patch of grass, but, alas!
this was the season of drought, and vegetation was slumbering.

But if Nature was dull and lifeless, there was no lack of jollity on
board the steamer; for the passengers were mostly English, and there
were constant games or other devices for "killing time," in which the
English as a nation are so proficient.

We sailed out of the Gulf of Suez into the Red Sea, which afforded some
variety of scene, as there were occasional islands, that of Perim being
the most important and a possession of Great Britain. It stands
prominently out of the sea in its length of two miles, and seems almost
destitute of vegetation, although there was a little settlement close to
the shore.

Thus far, contrary to all expectation, we had had comfortable weather;
but Aden, a few hours later, gave us a heated welcome. This small city
of Arabia is picturesquely situated on the Arabian Sea, high up on rocky
cliffs; we had anticipated a