Doubtless,
At A Less Favourable Period Of The Year, Both Would Prove Difficult
To Bear.
The wind, we were told, frequently raised the sand in clouds;
and though the danger of being buried beneath
The tombs thus made, we
had reason to believe, was greatly exaggerated, yet the plague of sand
is certainly an evil to be dreaded, and travellers will do well
to avoid the season in which it prevails. The speed of my donkeys
increasing, rather than diminishing, after we left the well, for they
seemed to know that Suez would terminate their journey, I crossed the
intervening three miles very quickly, and was soon at the walls of the
town.
Distance lends no enchantment to the view of Suez. It is difficult to
fancy that the few miserable buildings, appearing upon the margin
of the sea, actually constitute a town; and the heart sinks at the
approach to a place so barren and desolate. My donkeys carried me
through a gap in the wall, which answered all the purposes of
a gateway, and we passed along broken ground and among wretched
habitations, more fit for the abode of savage beasts than men. Even
the superior description of houses bore so forlorn and dilapidated
an appearance, that I actually trembled as I approached them, fearing
that my guide would stop, and tell me that, my journey was at an end.
Before I had time to make any observations upon the place to which I
was conducted, I found myself at the foot of a flight of steps, and
reaching a landing place, saw another above, and Mohammed descending
to meet me.
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