ll, or from one
on the sea-coast four miles below Suez. In the first case the water
is brought on camels, horses, or asses; in the second it is
transported by sea in boats or small ships.

The Red Sea is here rather narrow, and surrounded by sand of a
yellowish-brown hue; immediately beyond the isthmus is the
continuation of the great Libyan Desert. The mountain-range of
Mokattam skirts the plain on the right, from Cairo to the Red Sea.
We quite lose sight of this range until within the last ten or
twelve hours before reaching Suez. The mountains are of moderate
elevation and perfectly bare; but still the eye rests with pleasure
on the varied forms of the rocks.

[Illustration 8. Isthmus of Suez. ill8.jpg]

After an hour's rest beside the well, we were still unable to
procure water for our poor beasts, and hastened, therefore, to reach
the town. At nine in the morning we were already within its walls.
Of the town and its environs I can say nothing, excepting that they
both present a very melancholy appearance, as there is nowhere a
garden or a cluster of trees to be seen.

I paid my respects to the consul, and introduced myself to him as an
Austrian subject. He was kind enough to assign me a room in his own
house, and would on no account permit me to take up my quarters in
an inn. It was a pity that I could only converse with this
gentleman by means of a dragoman; he was a Greek by birth, and only
knew the Arabic language and his own. He is the richest merchant in
Suez (his wealth is estimated at 150,000 collonati), and only
discharges the functions of French and Austrian consul as an
honorary duty.

In the little town itself there is nothing remarkable to be seen.
On the sea-coast they shewed me the place where Moses led the
children of Israel through the Red Sea. The sinking of the tide at
its ebb is here so remarkable that whole islands are left bare, and
large caravans are able to march through the sea, as the water only
reaches to the girths of the camels, and the Arabs and Bedouins even
walk through. As it happened to be ebb-tide when I arrived, I rode
through also, for the glory of the thing. On these shores I found
several pretty shells; but the real treasures of this kind are
fished out of the deep at Ton, a few days' journey higher up. I saw
whole cargoes of mother-of-pearl shells carried away.

I remained at Suez until four in the afternoon, and recruited my
energies perfectly with an ex