since been taken by De Tott for the remains of a canal cut by some
of the Ptolemies from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean; but, as you
perceive, was in reality no more than the track of my chariot, the car
of Queen Mab.

As the artists at present in that country are nothing wonderful, though
the ancient Egyptians, 'tis said, were most astonishing fellows, I could
not procure any new coach-springs, or have a possibility of setting my
machine to rights in the kingdom of Egypt; and as I could not presume
to attempt another journey overland, and the great mountains of marble
beyond the source of the Nile, I thought it most eligible to make the
best way I could, by sea, to the Cape of Good Hope, where I supposed
I should get some Dutch smiths and carpenters, or perhaps some English
artists; and my vehicle being properly repaired, it was my intention
thence to proceed, overland, through the heart of Africa. The surface
of the water, I well knew, afforded less resistance to the wheels of the
machine--it passed along the waves like the chariot of Neptune; and in
short, having gotten upon the Red Sea, we scudded away to admiration
through the pass of Babelmandeb to the great Western coast of Africa,
where Alexander had not the courage to venture.

And really, my friends, if Alexander had ventured toward the Cape of
Good Hope he most probably would have never returned. It is difficult to
determine whether there were then any inhabitants in the more southern
parts of Africa or not; yet, at any rate, this conqueror of the world
would have made but a nonsensical adventure; his miserable ships, not
contrived for a long voyage, would have become leaky, and foundered,
before he could have doubled the Cape, and left his Majesty fairly
beyond the limits of the then known world. Yet it would have been an
august exit for an Alexander, after having subdued Persia and India,