THROUGH THE DESERT TO SUEZ. HERE were two points in which this desert differed from what I had in imagination been prepared to find. It was much more hilly than I had anticipated-indeed, from the time we left Cairo until we reached Suez, we saw no great extent of level ground at all, but hills, some of them of considerable height, all along the route. From what I could judge, it would seem that in laying down the rails the course had been determined a good deal by the lines of valleys, as I observed that during our journey our road was an exceedingly winding one. The second point that struck me was, there were no signs of those large sand-drifts which are represented as abounding in some of the larger African deserts, and which are so terribly destructive when raised by the wind. Nowhere did I see the sand more than a few inches in depth, and that too in the lower grounds, where one would naturally have expected to have met with it in much larger masses than on the more clevated grounds. The ground on which the rails were laid seemed to me to have been the old road which travellers had formerly used in crossing the desert before the introduction of railways. What a change from the old weary toilsome way in which for many a century people have crossed and suffered in that dreary wilderness! In a few hours, and in carriages almost as comfortable as any to be found on the railways in England, the passenger is whirled along these sandy wastes, and though suffering a good deal from the heat and flying sand which seems to penetrate everywhere, he knows almost within a few minutes when he will arrive at his destination. I was very much struck with one glimpse that I had of desert life. As we were rushing along we suddenly came upon a party of men and camels that were proceeding towards Cairo. They were travelling in single file, and had such a wild spectral appearance as they passed noislessly by, that it was with a kind of mute astonishment we gazed upon the strange uncouth figures of the men and watched the lounging awkward tread of the camels. Nowhere else does the camel appear to such advantage as in the desert. In the fruitful fields we had passed yesterday he appeared quite out of his element, but here, amid the sands of this wild region, he seemed to be evidently in his right place; and yet he still retained that unhappy injured-looking air, to which I have before referred, as though some great sorrow had been experienced and which had sunk so deeply into his nature that it was impossible to forget or forgive. No contrast could possibly have been found greater than that presented by the camel, with its slow unwieldy movements, and our train, which was dashing along at the rate of thirty or forty miles an hour. In the one we had a vivid picture of one phase of life such as might have been found in that region for many a bygone century. In that long string of men and camels we had a faithful portrait of generations long since passed away, and almost instinctively my mind travelled away into the remote past, and the men of these days seemed to live again in the figures that were gliding with such ghost-like quiet along this pathless road. In the other we had a forcible representation of the advance of civilization, of and enterprise of the men of the West, before whom the energy A JAMAICA FLOOD. T was by no means a threatening Sunday morning; but just as the forenoon Service was about to close, the rain began to fall. After remaining four hours in the chapel, there seemed to be no prospect of being released, so the greater part of the congregation prepared for a thorough drenching, and set out homewards, except those who had to cross the river; they were obliged to seek shelter in some friendly abode. The rain fell incessantly all that night, all next day, all the following day and night, and the day after. The rivers were down. The Estates buildings were flooded. The cattle trying to cross the river were carried away and drowned. A fine old cottontree of tremendous size, which had been for ages sacred to Jumba, and studded with nails, was dislodged, and moved majestically with the mighty stream. One good man stood petrified to see one after another of his richly loaded cocoa-nut-trees disappear out of his sight. There was to have been a grand wedding, and everything was ready; but no minister or friends could come. last, two days after the time fixed, the minister made his appearance; but the invited guests came not, to their sad disappointment, for the fine dresses were all ready; and also, to the sad annoyance of the mother of the bride, who had provided so handsomely for the expected friends. Houses near the river side were carried away, At and some of the inmates only managed to escape by breaking through the roofs. At length it cleared up, and people began to look about. One planter found a fine field of sugar-canes gone; another looked for his highlyprized "Guinea-grass" piece, but it was nowhere to be seen. The river had formed for itself new beds, the old fordings had disappeared. I went to visit some of the people where I had often been before, but I twice turned back, satisfied that I had missed my way. No, I had not, but the terrible torrent had completely changed the appearance of everything. There were landslips in all directions blocking up the roads, and in some instances the roads themselves had been carried away. If I had not seen it I could have had no idea of the devastation committed by a Jamaica flood. J. D. THE YOUNG INQUIRER. A HINDOO youth, when seeking | ning more and more. Then I read the Bible, and there I find something that catches me in a way that I cannot explain. I then feel that Christ is the only true Saviour. Last night I could not sleep, so I arose and lighted my lamp and read my Bible, and it caught me again, and now I am convinced that there is the only way of Salvation. What Tree is this in which I hide? For ages long upon the deep But now o'er Error's dismal night Let India's little ones become As blest as those in England's home; Oh! richly crown'd by God may be Bhowanipore, Calcutta. |