outh, not so well adapted to caravans on
account of the marshy country it traverses.

"The German savant believed they departed by the northern road. In the
British Museum is a letter written on papyrus over three thousand years
ago, in which an Egyptian writer describes his journey from Ramses in
pursuit of two runaway servants. The days of the month are given; and
his stopping-places were the same as those of the Israelites. (Exodus
xii. 37): 'The children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth;' and
this is the region east of Goshen. (Exodus xiii. 20): 'And they
journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the
wilderness,' or the desert.

"This was also the route of the Egyptian letter writer. Then the
pilgrims were commanded to turn, and encamp at a point between Migdol
and the sea, (Exodus xiv. 2.) He found the fugitives had gone towards
the wall, meaning the forts by which Egypt was defended from Asiatic
enemies. Following the same route, the Israelites came to the Sarbonian
Lake. This is a long sheet of water on the isthmus," said the commander,
as he pointed it out on the map. "It was, for it no longer exists,
separated from the Mediterranean by such a strip as that which you see
here by Lake Menzaleh.

"Diodorus Siculus informs us that the Sarbonian Lake was filled with a
rank growth of reeds and papyrus bushes, which made it very dangerous to
travellers. Strong winds blew the sands of the desert over the surface,
studded with leaves, so as to hide the water; and the traveller might
walk upon it and sink to his death. The same ancient writer says that an
army with which Artaxerxes, King of Persia, intended to invade Egypt,
being unacquainted with this treacherous lake, got into it, and was
lost.

"Brugsch believes this was the lake through which the Israelites passed,
and that Pharaoh's army encountered a storm, were lost, and perished as
did the Persian forces. But we must drop the subject here, though it may
come up again when we arrive at Suez, where others believe the six
hundred thousand Israelites went over dry shod, while Pharaoh and his
hosts perished in the closing waters."

The company had certainly been deeply interested in the subject, and the
commander retired from the rostrum with a volley of applause.

CHAPTER XX

THE LAST OF CAPTAIN MAZAGAN

Captain Ringgold was very much delighted with the success which had
attended his efforts to interest his passengers;