inscriptions. These coffins were stupendous, and it is a marvel how such a mass of granite could have been moved through this narrow channel and into these arches. We lit a magnesium wire and examined one or two very carefully. The tombs had all been violated by the early conquerors, Persians and Arabs, to find gold and silver. In most cases the cover had been shoved aside enough to allow a man to enter. In others the sides had been broken in. The inside was so large that four of our party climbed up a ladder and descended. There was room for three or four more. There were tombs enough to show that the bull had been worshipped for centuries. When we finished this study we rode back to our boat. The sun was going down as we set out on our return, and as we were passing through a fertile bit of Egypt-a part not affected by the bad Nile-the journey was unusually pleasant. After the parched fields and sandy stretches of the Upper Nile, it was grateful to bathe in the greenery of this Memphis plain, to see the minarets of Cairo in the distance, to feel that we were coming back to our old civilization. The sky, lit up with the rosiest tints, one mass of the softest rose and pink-a vast dome glowing with color. Starless, cloudless, sunless it was that brief twilight hour, which we have seen so often on the Nile and the memory of which becomes a dream. I have seen no sky so beautiful as that which came to us when we bade farewell to Memphis. We reached our boat and gave the night to preparations for landing. It is hard to do anything for the last time, and we all felt a little sad over this close of what had been a brief and joyous experience. We had seen the Nile much more rapidly than is the custom; as Sami Bey remarked, it had been the most rapid trip he had ever known. Now, when there was no help for it, we began to wish we had seen more of Denderah, and had not been content with so hurried a visit to Karnak. But, you see, we have letters, and we have come to feel the world again, and we can think with more content of our experiences, now that our hunger for news has been appeased. So we pack up and in the morning we steam down to Cairo. The General sent for the captain and made him a handsome present. He also distributed presents to all on the boat, including the crew. About twelve we passed the bridge and moored at the wharf. Our Vandalia friends hurried to Alexandria to join their ships; those who had homes found them, while the General and party returned to the palace of Kasr el Noussa. Leaving this point, the party set out for Palestine. CHAPTER XVII. THE HOLY LAND-ITS SACRED ASSOCIATIONS GENERAL GRANT'S VISIT-LANDING AT JAFFA-THROUGH THE HOLY LAND-VISIT TO THE HOUSE OF DORCAS-RIDE ENTRY INTO CEREMONIES AND HOSPITALITIES TO JERUSALEM GRANT'S TRIUMPHAL JERUSALEM A WALK OVER THE VIA DOLOROSA-A VISIT TO THE -TOUCHING REFLECTIONS. Any journey in the East would be incomplete should the traveler forget or neglect to visit Jerusalem and its adjoining villages. The City of David, emblem of the New Jerusalem, and the places made sacred by the feet of Him who "spake as never man spake," are surely worthy of a visit by one journeying either for pleasure or profit. What hallowed, sacred memories cluster around the spot where once the Redeemer trod. Surely, if there be such a thing as "Hallowed Ground" it is here. Writes Mr. Young:Of course, to feel Jerusalem, one must come with faith. And if there be heathen questionings in any of our company, for this day at least we give ourselves up to faith. When I was on the Nile I found how much easier it was to be in accord with the monuments and the tombs, to go from Memphis to Thebes, believing-humbly believing-in every stone. But Egypt was the house of bondage after all, and when I came to Suez and looked over the shallow water and the sandy stretches to the grove of palms where Moses rested after he had crossed the Red Sea, all my sympathies were with the Israelites who had escaped, and not with the hosts upon whom the waters rolled in a desolating flood. That is a question upon which one takes sides early in life; and although you come to see and hear many things on the other side, and to wonder at the many cruel necessities of the early dispensation, your feelings are set-they are a part of your life-and no amount of reason or historical research can do away with the impressions that came in the fresh young hours of your Sunday-school existence. Egypt was always the house of bondage, and you looked at the records of Rameses and Sesostris with a cold, curious feeling-as you would look at any extraordinary work of man. It was only history after all. But you come to the Holy Land with something of the feeling that you come to your home. Somehow you always belonged here-for every name is a memory, and every step awakens the long-forgotten dreams and prayers of childhood, and over all, in the very air you breathe, is that supreme, that gracious, that holy presence-enfolding you, as it were, with incense-the presence of Jesus Christ. This was the city of great kings, of dynasties of kings, of prophets and judgesfounded by Melchizedeck, governed by Solomon, conquered by Alexander-with annals surpassing in historic renown that of any city in the world. But all are forgotten in the presence of that one name which embodies the faith and the hope of Christendom. General Grant and his party had decided to visit the Holy Land. Their visit is described as follows:-We came to Jaffa an the morning of Sunday, the 10th of February. The Vandalia was waiting for us at Port Said, and as soon as we embarked she put out to sea. We had been absent just one month on Nile and other excursions, and it was something like coming home to find ourselves on the old deck among the familiar faces of our navy |