of the fertility of the soil. It is even stated in the Hebrew
traditions that they brought back as a sample of the crops, one bunch
of grapes so large that it had to be carried on a pole between two
men.

But with the exception of one of their leaders, a certain Caleb, all
the men reported that the cities were strongly fortified and the
inhabitants so warlike that an invasion was out of the question. The
people adopted this "majority report" in spite of the protests of
Moses. It is probable that the life in Egypt, with something of ease
and luxury for a time, and then so many years of slavery, had sapped
their courage and will power. At any rate, after a brief encounter
with some of the tribesmen nearby, they fled in panic into the desert
again.


THE WILDERNESS WANDERINGS

There followed, for a generation and more, a period of training
somewhat like that which Boy Scouts receive, or should receive, on
their "hikes" and camping trips. They learned to be independent and
resourceful. It was at times very difficult to find food for
themselves, or pasture for their sheep, and there was nothing to eat
but the "manna," which they believed their God provided for them, and
which was perhaps in the nature of an edible moss or lichen. At times
there was a terrible scarcity of water. Always there was the danger of
losing their way on those trackless wastes, and in this matter also
they learned to look to their God as their pillar of cloud by day and
their pillar of fire by night, guiding them from oasis to oasis in
their search for food and pasturage. Then there were wild beasts and