deepest water was twenty-four to forty feet below the
Mediterranean, with a heavy crust of salt on the bottom, though the
smaller basin required a great deal of dredging. In the spring of 1869
the Prince and Princess of Wales were present in this locality, and took
part in the ceremonial of 'letting in the waters.'"

"'Wails for the multitude of Egypt,'" added Uncle Moses.

"Ezekiel, chapter and verse forgotten," replied the commander.

"Thirty-two, eighteen," said the bulky lawyer.

"Are there any whales in the lake?" asked Felix.

"You can fish for them, my lad; but the particular Waleses of whom I
spoke were not 'in it,'" continued the captain. "These Wales did not
spout, though they probably said something; but they let in the water
instead of blowing it out, as respectable whales do at sea. The waters
of the two seas came together, and notwithstanding the joyousness of the
occasion, the meeting was not altogether amiable and pleasant at first.
Each representative of the different bodies seemed to pitch into the
other, and the onslaught created a great commotion for a time. If they
were ever united before in the distant past, they appeared to have
forgotten all about it.

"The war was short and decisive, and the waters soon settled down into a
peaceful condition, as you will find them to-day. They have apparently
shaken hands, and accepted the task of promoting the commerce of the
world. But here we come to the great basin. The lake is about six miles
wide. Here is the lighthouse, and there is another at the other end of
it, each of them sixty-five feet high."

The shores of the lake are flat and sandy, and the water is of a bluish
green hue. There is a well-defined channel through it. As there is no
longer any danger of washing the banks of the canal, steamers increase
their speed, and the Guardian-Mother made the next twenty miles in less
than two hours. As the captain had promised, it was a change of scene,
and it was very agreeable to the party. In the distance could be seen
the Geneffeh range of hills, which were a relief in the landscape from
the desert. In them are rich quarries of marble and limestone which are
profitably worked.

The passage through the canal had become monotonous to the travellers
after they had passed through the lakes, for it was a desert on both
sides. Shortly after, the water-way was cut through sandstone, and after
that the soil was clay, or a mixture of it with lime; but the