he point at which the Israelites
passed the Red Sea. One is that they traversed only the very small creek
at the northern extremity of the inlet, and that they entered the bed of
the water at the spot on which Suez now stands. The other is that they
crossed the sea from a point eighteen miles down the coast.

From Suez I crossed the desert once more to Gaza, and thence to Nablous
and Safet--beautiful on its craggy height. Thereafter, for a part of two
days, I wound under the base of the snow-crowned Djibel El Sheik, and
then entered upon a vast plain. Before evening came there were straining
eyes that saw, and joyful voices that announced, the sight of the holy,
blessed Damascus. This earthly paradise of the Prophet is a city of
hidden palaces, of copses and gardens, fountains and bubbling streams.

The path by which I crossed the Lebanon is like that of the Foorca in
the Bernese Oberland, and from the white shoulder of the mountain I saw
the breadth of all Syria west of the range. I descended, passing the
group of cedars which is held sacred by the Greek Church. They occupy
three or four acres on the mountain-side, and many of them are gnarled
in a way that implies great age; but I saw nothing in their appearance
that tended to prove them contemporaries of the cedars employed in
Solomon's temple. Beyrout was reached without further adventure, and my
eastern travel practically ended.

AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD

Nineveh and Its Remains

_I.--Mosul and its Hidden Mysteries_

Sir Austen Henry Layard, the most famous of all Oriental
archaeological explorers and discoverers, was born in
Paris, on March 5, 1817, and died on July 5, 1894.
Intended for the English legal profession, but contracting
a dislike to the prospect, he determined to make himself
familiar with the romantic regions of the Near East, and
travelled in all parts of the Turkish and Persian Empires,
and through several districts of Arabia. The desire came
upon him to investigate the mysterious mounds on the great
plains of the Tigris and the Euphrates, and he began that
series of excavations which resulted in the most
sensational discoveries of modern times, for he unearthed
the remains of the long-buried city of Nineveh. With the
marvellous, massive, and sublime sculptures of winged,
human-headed bulls and lions, and eagle-headed deities, he
enriched the galleries of the British Museum, England thus
becoming posses