of pilgrims were compelled to halt in their march till the danger of contagion was passed. This cordon sanitaire was still rigidly maintained even when there seemed to be no necessity for it. The alarm was over, and yet more than a dozen great steamships were still lying off the harbor, detained in quarantine a week before they could land their passengers, lest they should bring cholera from India or some other part of Asia. As this was no longer necessary, it seemed a cruel hardship that Europeans, returning from the East, when their voyage was over and they were in sight of land, should be detained a whole week before they could set foot on shore. Even we, poor innocents, although we did not come from Mecca, but were rather going towards it, yet had to stop at the quarantine to be inspected, lest we should carry infection among the beggarly Arabs. However, they did not detain us long, and taking on board a black soldier, who had some badge of office round his neck, and whose presence gave us permission to land on the other side, we bore away. Never did a fairer morning shine on land or sea. As we receded from Suez, we had a fuller view of the mountains of Attaka, which form a background behind it; and very grand they were, with their sharp peaks rising against the sky, and their sides seamed and scarred with the storms of thousands of years. As they are of a dark-brown-red color, one can hardly resist the impression that they gave name to the Red Sea, although it is more commonly supposed to be derived from the red coral which is so abundant in its waters. This bold and rugged coast of Africa is in striking contrast with that of Asia, which is all sand and desert. As we sailed across from one to the other, it seemed as if here was the natural place for the passage of the Israelites; as if they must have been "shut in" by the mountains behind us, and crossed here at the narrowest part of the
