The daily gazette., 1875-04-06
UP THE RED SEA.
size of the Passage of the Red Sea
by the IsraeIiteS

|
sixty miles of the town Suez. we came in
sight of hoary old Sinai. 1t is peak OF
a laouht tain range and scars to the height
of 5000 feet. We remained in sight OF
the solemn, grand old mountain during
the whole day, and during most OF the
time beautiful cloud rested impressi, G.
ly upon its side, not at all obscuring 1T,
but adding to its beauty, and reminding
us of thet awful time when ort OF that
sanep )untain came lig fnings, thunf =
ings and voices. Still nearer Suez we
came upon the spot where it is seid
Moses led the children of Israel through
the Red Sea. The locality is certainly
! well-defined, fo. there is a wide, open
place where the o rtains are parted,
causing a lofty N 4. Ge on each side and |
the tossing sea in front Directly oppo- |
site, on the other side OF the sea, are |
three largo groves of palm OF acacia trees |
surrounding these wells, called now the
| Wells of Moses. 1t is not little re-
markable that these are the only groves
of trees within thirty miles of the reput-
ed crossing place of the Israelites. AS l
gazed upon the sea shore on either
hand, | fancied that magnificent
scene, when by a miracleGod deliv-
cred his down-trodden people. Three
millions of the elect passed over
the bed OF the sea, on whose surface our
Steamer was plowing its way. Beneath
these very waters the proud Pharaoh
and his army were engulfed. On our
right hand, Aaron, Moses and Miriam
sang their song of triumph, on our left.
yonder shore was covered with the dead
bodies of Egypts armed hosts.
We made our way to the Oriental ho-
tel through part OF world-renowned
Suez canal. 1t is 100 miles long, and
!, differs greatly in its width, the channel
being very narrow. 1t is q grand high
way between Europe and far distant
Asia, and as rode in the cars alongside of
it'll countedin couple of hours nine large
ocean steamers sailing on its surface.
The. exact dimensions OF the canal by the
measurements of the British admiralty,
are 100 miles long, 1927 feet wide at the
surface of the water, 72 feet wide at the
bottom, and twenty-six feet deep
= Where the cuttings are hard and costly
the surface width is reduced to 1876 feet
Suez is a rusty, dead old place, witt
a dirty baZaars and narrow streets. Walk
u ing n little distance out of the town We
i. found ourselves walking oyer graves
broken in and exposing to sight the dis
honored remains of her former citizens
now aprey to famishing dogs. We were no
sorry to quit Suez and travel, not as o
old by canal, but by modern railwa.
train to Cairo. Most of the way wa
through a sandy, bleak desert until W
reached Goshen in the delta of the Nil
Il when we struck as verdant and fruitful
a land as our eyes ever rested upon. Is
be MALTA, which is in the desert on the sid
nv of the caual, is an essentially Frenc
town, and it was funny, quite anomalor
to see the crowd of French people at il
railway station surrounding new
married couple. The natives had no DIRE!
~, 10 epaaE nf hnt thnCa haau md hell,
h of France were dressed at the top of I'll
fashion, except that the ladies were NJ
8 | aware that expensive crinoline had gor
'hs out of style.
Cairo is essentially an oriental cit,
but English and French enterprise
. fast transforming it into modeI
town. Old houses are being pullt
wn down to make place for new and state
}; H., edifices. Handsome shops, suggesti'
i"" of Paris and London, are found faciI
the public square. Those who kne
the Cairo OF twenty years ago W
soon know her no more forever. A
tiuuarians may mourn but mode
ideas arc prevalent in the capital
Egypt. A drive through quaint |
the Zaars full of all sorts of curiositi
is tinss brought us to the splendid mosque
Mehemet Ali, the founder of Egyp
modern greatness and progress. ha
seen many fine mosques in India, |
for gorgeOusness of ornamcntati
h he and richness of guiding the mosque
,,, DC Mehemet Ali surpasses any l la
pur, seen. Lofty columns resting on a
need baster bases, noble arches springi
; 2lo gracefully along the gilded ceilil
TER heavy Turkish carpets covering
- floor, variegated marbles forming
beautiful wainscoting--thesc WI
s'' some of the attractions of this magn
cent mosque. In corner of it, at
right hand of the entrance, in spl
did mausoleum, lie the mortal rema
ARK of Mehemet Ali, the cOnquerer OF
ancient Mamelukes, and the creator
Egypt's present power. Near
mosque is summer palace of
Khediye which we visited. Pass
,e o. through the various rooms we fol
reat. modern French furniture in strong
any taposition with Turkish divans.
SUN walls were hung with satin of exc
Dis site colors and the floors of some
re for the rooms were of costly marbles.
soIe visit to the reputed Well of Jos
ehoid and to very ancient mosque concl
,ould ed pleasantly a morning in Cairo,
y ,i. tne MS our first experience OF donkey
% sale ing. Would that it had been our
A drive of couple of hours brou
us to the world-renowed pyramid
,ia. Ghizeh. To ascend and to enter
larger one was the feat which acc
s5.s plished to my complete satisfact
uter's The ascent was certainly toilsome,
buy by the aid of four men, two pul
!, have ave and two pushing, and all asserting
e ch to to re.asserting that | was very he
/ and subject, and doubtless that the
'75tf would be duly considered when
. bucksheesh, the thing was at las
complished. When | reached the
!, A. my four devotees gave three hip,
u u '1e hurrahs," which was rather thrll
sdsm than otherwise, until | heard L
- given for several other parties,
then the thing seemed slightly ste
j.. ~, typed Then somebody's name
= store. ore scratched out and mine was cut on
enehts top of the pyramids, doubtless !
soou served in the same manner. J