New York lady.

"You are likely to see a good many of them in the course of the next
month or two," suggested the captain, as the walk was continued in the
town. "The houses are about the same as they were in other parts of
Egypt, and they have the same ornamented lattices behind which the
ladies inside can see you without being seen."

The party looked into the quarters of the Arabian sailors, consisting
of low hovels, but did not enter. The population of the town is now
about 15,000. Before the time of the canal, it was an Arab village of
1,500, with low mud shanties. It was like the desert around it; for no
water was there to brighten the foliage, if there was any, for not a
tree or a plant was to be seen. The water used was of poor quality,
brought from the Springs of Moses by camels and donkeys. It was a
poverty-stricken place. But the opening of the fresh-water canal from
the Nile vivified everything, and vegetation has come into being since
this event.

The party examined this canal, to which the place is so much indebted
for its present appearance, as well as no little of its prosperity. It
is six and a half feet above the level of the Red Sea, and its flow into
the conduits for the supply of the city, as well as the waste into the
sea, is regulated by a large lock, with gates. Near this they found the
camel-camp, and not less than five hundred of these animals were there
at the time; and the pilot said he had seen as many as a thousand of
them there at once. They form the caravans to and from Arabia and Egypt,
as well as into Syria.

The tourists climbed a little hill near the chateau of the Khedive, from
which they obtained a fine view of the surroundings, which included
parts of Asia and of Africa. This elevation is said to be the site of
the ancient Clysma, a fortified place, built to protect the ancient
canal of Darius. The party, especially the "Cupids," were beginning to
be fatigued; and the guide conducted them to the pier, which is a
notable feature of the locality.

"This pier is a mile and three-quarters in length, and reaches over to
Port Ibrahim, conveying there a conduit from the fresh-water canal,"
said the pilot in a perfunctory manner, as though he had had
considerable experience as a guide. "It is forty-eight feet wide, and is
built of artificial stone, like the great piers at Fort Said. It is
erected on a sand-bank, which curves around in the shape you see the
pier. The land you observe