Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-06-03
IsRAEL's GUIDES.
The Pillar oil Cloud by Day
and Fire BY Night.
THE PHENOMENA EXPLAINED.


Is pillar OF cloud by Gay anu tIiS piliaT u
fire by night was 6 special miracle
which, having served its purpose as
gnide to the weary and anxious children
Of, Israel, when they fed from Egypt
through the Valley Of the Wanderings to
the head Of the Gulf Of Suez and the
{ Wilderness Of Sin and OF Sinai. on their
way to the promised land, had accom-
.plished its work and disappeared forever.
Others with less faith in the miraculous
intervention OF Providence have believed
/, that the story had no foundation, save In
the wish OF y priestl tier to fastefi mere
4. firmly the grip OF his craft upon his ignor-
Z ant followers, unrnindful that man at
best has but small faculty for invention,
and that II we were wise enough. but few
81. the SPECIALIZED myths Of antiquity would
Z be found without at least a substratum
K Of truth. After making allowances for
THE difficulties OF rendering into modern
4 language the fgurative speech Of the
early Hebrew, and allowing for mistakes,
4 and perhaps distortions, by many tran
scribers during the long period Of 5000
y years, the narrative OF the journey OF the
Hebrews from the Nile, to Mount Sinai
may still be verified in many of its details.
/. The cloud by day and the fire by
night showing the line Of march from
the Nile to the head OF the Gulf OF
Suez and the distance OF the cloud and
fire when first secn, hanging low down
on the eastern horizon, Combine TO pro-
duce the illusion that the clond and the
fire recede as the traveller advances The
..ssweary land" the rise and fall of the
tide, in the Red Soc, tho wells of Moses,
the bitter waters Of Marah, the eoventy
palm trees Of Elm, the Wilderness Of
Sin, the quail, the mama ga small
round thing, as small as the hosr frosto on
the grotnd, and when the sun
.waxed hot il meitsdp), the waters gush-
ing from the short and narrow assure In
the granite at the base OF Mount Sinai,
u the. cloud, the lightning and the thunder
.t;of Mount Sinai, may all be SO clearly
seen and verified by the traveller that he
!. cannot fail to be convinced Of the care
fulness with which the original narrative
WAS written.
To the majority Of thinking readers it
. may be a. surprise when they are assured
that. even as of old, the 'pillar of cloud
by day and the pillar Of fire by night
arc at their post keeping watch and
ward, that they are now produced by the
same Causes and are now liable to the
same interruptions from changes OF
will naturally be asked: How is it pos
Hible that SO many intelligent travellers
should have followed in the footsteps Of
Moses from Egypt to Mount Sinai and
none of them have seen the
wonderful sight? The answer is that
it has been seen, but that to trav-
elers unacquainted with the perma-
lnanency with which clouds cling TO the
tops OF mountains and the constancy with
which the lightning flashes play through
these clouds by night within and near
the tropics, 1t was impossible to associate
what appeared to them 80 evanescent as
cloud and q lightning flash with the
& language used in Exodus. The traveller
and the navigator who have had the
privilege Of sailing along the shores Of the
high islands and mountain ranges of the
( Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans will
3 not need even to be reminded how often
the cloud by day and fire by night have
fixed their attention. As few have had
( this privilege, / will give the following
quotations:
Tyndall's "Forms OF Waters. I'm con-
nection with the formation OF clouds by
y mountains, one particularly instructive
I effect may be noticed You frequently
see a streamer Of cloud many hundred
yards in length, drawn out from an Al
pine peak. Its steadiness appears per-
feet, though strong wind may be blow
ing at the time over the mountain head.
Why is the cloud not blown away? 1t is
blown away. Its permanently is only APP
y parent. AT one end it is necessarily dis
solved at the other end it is necessarily
renewed. Supply and consumption be-
ing thus equalised, the cloud appears as
= changeless as the mountain To which it
seems to cling.
American Cyclopmdia-The formation
Of cloud by cold and its dispersion by
heat Is beautifully exhibited at the Table
Mountain, Cape Of Good Hope. As the
wind from the southern ocean strikes
the rocky slopes Of the mountains, and
Is diverted upward into the collier regions
OF the atmosphere, dense white cloud
is evolved, which, reaching but little
above the mountain, spreads over its
summit aid is carried down on the other
side but as it reaches the warmer re-
giunB below the moisture soon resumes
Its invisible state, and is only seen COW
ering the mountain and hanging down
its sides, suggesting the name by which
1t lie known-'sThe Table Cloth"
This curious phenomenon has attract
ID the attention Of many of the most
eminent men Of science that have lived
during. this. century Humboldt at
Teneriffe and in South America, OAR
wins during the voyage of the Beagle,
and Sir John Herschel's at Cape Town.
Professor Tyndall has placed this matter
90 clearly within the reach of every
reader that Il is difficult to realize that
nearly all the knowledge we now have
on this very interesting subject has been
gained within the last fifty years--that
even Alexander. Won Humboldt, at the
time of his journey to South America,
could give no better explanation than
that he supposed the mountain at
tracted the Clouds or that the mountain
gathered up the clouds by impeding
them in their course"
4 More than quarter Of century has
elapsed since the writer made the Jour
ney from Cairo to Suez and Mount Sinai,
and was ut the time very strongly i'm
pressed by this phenomenon OF the cloud
and the fire crcwning the brow of "Ga-
bel Atakah, !" which rises abruptly from
: the southwest shore Of the bay OF Suez
= to a height Of about 5000 feet. During
allthis time have failed to learn that
any traveller or writer has called atten-
ton to the handicapped mountain by
day and the lightning flashes through
4 that cloud by night, as probable 9x-
plantation Of this portion Of the MARCEL
Gus story Of Exodus. Yet the travklcr
I, who sets out from Cairo by thefold
method Of travel---the caravan--mor1ited
upon his "ship Of the DESERT will see
before him,toward the end Of the first
n tday, directly in his line Of march, the
] stationary cloud, and after nightfnll,
WHOM darkness has obscured the
cloud, looking in the same direction,
he will zee the lightning flashes with
almost the regularity Of the revolving
nsated I'M more v v IN tba naxt asv ' and nd
fha mart until la has rcachad tla Con