knew the Arabic language and his own. He is the richest merchant in
Suez (his wealth is estimated at 150,000 collonati), and only
discharges the functions of French and Austrian consul as an
honorary duty.

In the little town itself there is nothing remarkable to be seen.
On the sea-coast they shewed me the place where Moses led the
children of Israel through the Red Sea. The sinking of the tide at
its ebb is here so remarkable that whole islands are left bare, and
large caravans are able to march through the sea, as the water only
reaches to the girths of the camels, and the Arabs and Bedouins even
walk through. As it happened to be ebb-tide when I arrived, I rode
through also, for the glory of the thing. On these shores I found
several pretty shells; but the real treasures of this kind are
fished out of the deep at Ton, a few days' journey higher up. I saw
whole cargoes of mother-of-pearl shells carried away.

I remained at Suez until four in the afternoon, and recruited my
energies perfectly with an excellent dinner, at which tolerably good
water was not wanting. The consul kindly gave me a bottle, as
provision for my journey. He has it fetched from a distance of
twelve miles, as all the water that can be procured in the
neighbourhood tastes brackish and salt. In the inn a bottle of
water costs two piastres.

The first night of my homeward journey was passed partly in a
Bedouin encampment and partly on the road, in the company of
different caravans. I found the Bedouins to be very good, obliging
people, among whom I might wander as I pleased, without being
exposed to injury. On the contrary, while I was in their encampment