little open boat, went on to Aîn Mûsa, where we were to sleep in our tents for the first time. Aîn Mûsa is the same as 'Fountains of Moses,' which you will see marked in your Bible maps. There it is supposed that Miriam took a timbrel in her hand and sang that exquisite song of joy and triumph which we have in Exod. xv.

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The next morning we were up at six, and after a hasty breakfast set off on our camels towards Marah, going through the wilderness just as the children of Israel did, and arriving on the third day was not that a curious coincidence? We had had a good deal of rain, which delayed us, otherwise we should have been there on Thursday. We did not stay long at Marah (I cut off a piece of the tree, which tradition says is the one Moses cast into the water to make the bitter water sweet); but went on to Elim for the night. It is only two hours' ride, and the men were anxious to get good water for the camels. The baggage-camels and our servants did not stop at Marah, but went on to pitch the tents and have all in readiness for us, and so pretty and comfortable all

Every morning Nizini, our dragoman, comes to my tent door with a tin of hot water: 'Fifteen min. to six, lady.' Before seven o'clock, breakfast is ready, and the moment we appear out of our tents two of the servants rush in, roll up the bedding, fold the bedstead, take up the carpet, and in twenty minutes all is packed and on a camel, and I see nothing more of my beautiful room till we arrive in the evening at our next encampment, when we find, as we did at Elim, all up and in perfect order! Batros, our cook, who was busy preparing dinner, is a never-ceasing wonder! He bakes all our bread, and cooks beautifully, never sending in less than four courses every night for dinner, omelettes and other good things for breakfast; and yet he only has a small kind of iron frame, about 1 yards long, for his charcoal fire, and a tiny oven, to cook everything with!

We have been very sorry to leave Elim, with its pleasant shade and cool water, and turn towards the Wilderness of Sin. It was so wonderful to think of the Israelites encamped in that grand plain, with the bare,

looked when we rode up! The camels, all unladen, were wandering about and resting under the trees. Turkeys, fowls, and pigeons, which we carry with us, had been let out of their coops, and were strutting up and down among the tents, crowing and pluming themselves as if it were early morning. Some of the men were filling their skins with water, the rest were sitting round two large camp fires they had made from dried leaves and sticks; the bright flames reflecting on their dusky skins and curious costumes adding much to the picturesque effect of our moving village, as we call our encampment. We are quite a large party altogether, for we have twenty Beduin Arabs with their twenty camels, the sheikh, a chief (he is a very grand-looking man, with a long green flowing garment, and a pink-and-yellow turban), a dragoman, and three Syrian servants: they all speak Arabic, and we have heard no English since we left Suez, and shall not until we reach Jerusalem.

Our tents are very pretty. We have a dining-room and a kitchen, beside the sleeping-tents; they are all white outside and beautifully worked with red, blue, and yellow inside. The rapidity with which they are put up and taken down is truly marvellous.

rugged hills close by; but, oh! it made one sad to remember the trial and disappointment which all the murmuring and discontent must have been to Moses, knowing as he did the punishment that must follow. There is no pain like that of seeing those we love do wrong-is there?

On Monday we rode into Debit-a-Ramble, in which was the encampment of Dophkah. Wednesday we reached Alush, a beautiful valley, among such wild rocks of granite; and on Thursday, soon after noon, we arrived at Rephidim, and pitched our luncheontent exactly opposite Meribah- Mirwah, the Arabs call it now. You know all that happened at Rephidim, and how Amalek came to fight with the children of Israel, and how in this their first battle the victory was gained by Moses standing on the top of a hill with the rod of God in his hand; and when, as the day went on, he became very weary, Aaron and Hur put a stone under him, and he sat down while they held up his hands. It was at Rephidim, too, that Jethro came to see Moses, one of the most beautiful of our Bible pictures. The old man, having heard of all that God had done for Moses, and that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt, determines to pay Moses a visit and see for him

self how he was getting on. Very different did he find his position and work, the head and leader of this great multitude, to what it was when, as a fugitive in Midian, 'he kept the flock of Jethro.'

While we were at luncheon we saw a monk riding in the distance with his servant. When he spied our tent he stopped his camel, made him go down on his knees, got off, and came and spoke to us the first person we had seen and spoken to since we left Suez. It was very easy after that for us to picture Moses seeing his fatherin-law at some distance, and going out to meet Jethro, doing him obeisance, kissing him, asking after his welfare, and bringing him to his tent. What a talk they must have had! I think that word 'obeisance' there is so beautiful. In spite of all the change of position Moses was not a bit set up, but was as respectful as ever.

From Rephidim we came straight here, arriving just at sunset, as I told you, having seen all the encampments of the children of Israel as given in Numb. xxxiii. 1–15, except the encampment of the Red Sea (verse 10). We did quite intend going there after Elim, but it is a rough, stony way, and the rain had made it very slippery for the camels, and as we are anxious to get to England as quickly as we can, we gave it up.

I must wait until I come home to tell you all about our ascent of Mount Sinai on Friday. It was very difficult owing to the snow, but we persevered, and went to the very top, which took us just six hours from our tents. On our way up we went into the cave where Elijah hid himself after slaying the priests of Baal (1 Kings, xxx. 10), and most solemn of all, when we reached the top of the mountain, we were shown a large stone with a hollow, which is believed by some to be the very rock where Moses stood when the glory of God passed by. You remember God said, 'I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand.'

I must not write on, for we are soon going out to give some dates to the Arabs, and perhaps say a little to them. These poor, poor Beduins! they are so wild and ignorant, knowing not even the Saviour's name. We have been trying to teach them an Arabic text, and now that some of them can say the words perfectly we have put it to a tune for them to sing, which delights them extremely. The text we chose was 1 Tim. ii. 5. I wish you could see them sitting round their fires, with the camels all lying among them. The Arabs wear generally a kind of loose shirt, with a curious leather belt round the waist, from which hang a large sword or knife and a bag of powder for the long gun which they sling over their heads; their legs and arms are bare, and they wear a sheepskin on their shoulders. You cannot think how wild and fierce this makes them look; but we feel very much interested in them, they are so honest and so quickly attached to us. We are to part with them next Saturday, and shall have another tribe to take us on to Hebron-a fiercer and more warlike tribe, we are told. We hope to reach Palestine in about twenty days, and then, if I can, I will write you a letter from Jerusalem. Your true friend and Associate,

CORDELIA J. HAWKSLEY.

RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE CORRE

SPONDENCE CLASS.

QUESTIONS (NEW TESTAMENT). --Acts, xxI.-XXIV. Answers must be sent, post-paid, by June 20th, to Miss E. COLERIDGE, Eldon Lodge, Torquay.

1. Relate briefly the circumstances which led to St. Paul's arrest at Jerusalem, and its immediate consequences.

2. Write notes on the following: (i.) 'We have four men which have a vow on them;' (ii.) 'This man is a Roman ;' (iii.) 'God shall smite thee, thou whited wall!' (iv.) 'Arise, and be baptized' (Acts, xxii. 16). Enumerate the instances of Christian baptism recorded in Acts.

3. Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings' (Acts, xxiv. 17.) Quote the allusions to this purpose of St. Paul which are to be found in three of his Epistles. What information, as to the date of these Epistles, do we derive from this passage?

4. Give some account of the religious opinions of the Sadducees, and explain the prominent part which they took as opponents of the Apostles' teaching, with illustrations from Acts.