lead the laden camels to the gate. His mother came, with eyes red with weeping, from the apartment of the women. The sun was rising at that moment, and Elisama, approaching her, tried to console her with the words of the eighty-fourth psalm: The Lord God is a sun and shield, The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly; O Lord of Hosts, Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee! "Yes," she exclaimed, Turn thee unto me and have mercy upon me, For I am desolate and afflicted. The travellers were invited to take some food, but Elisama declared that only the servant in Israel took food early in the morning, and to others it was a disgrace. The mother, however, was not to be dissuaded, and compelled them to take dates, figs and honey. "Greet thy father's grave," said she to Helon. "Let thy first visit be to the valley of Jehoshaphat." Sallu led out the camels. He was full of joy, and every moment touched his ear-ring as a badge of honor. mother embraced her son, and weeping, said to him, The Lord bless thee and keep thee! The Lord make his face to shine upon thee And be gracious unto thee! The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee The "Go, then," she exclaimed; " God be with thee on the way, and his angel lead thee." Helon tore himself from her, and, accompanied by his uncle, descended the inner court. He had scarcely reached the outer, before the delightful expectation of visiting Jerusalem had already gained the ascendency in his thoughts over the sorrow of departure. And when from the end of the street he had cast back a look on the parental house, and blessed once more his mother and the Alijah, he proceeded with alacrity on his way, repeating to himself, Blessed is the man who puts his confidence in thee, And thinks of the way to Jerusalem. No farewell to home is ever less painful than the first. THE slaves halted before the gate with the camels and the horses. The camels bore the travelling equipage, provisions, clothes, and presents for the hosts. Sallu when weary was to find a seat upon the one which was most lightly loaded. Elisama and Helon mounted two stately Egyptian horses, which they designed to sell again at Gaza. Egypt abounds with beautiful horses, and supplies the neighboring country with them. They had arranged their journey so well, that, by joining a Tyrian caravan from Pelusium to Gaza, they would be able to arrive in Judea time enough to accompany the pilgrims from Hebron on their way to Jerusalem. From Alexandria to Pelusium, their road lay through Egypt, and they might venture to make it alone. Alexandria lies upon a tongue of land, between the Mediterranean sea on the north, and the lake Mareotis on the south. Their journey at first lay between these two, affording them views first of one and then of the other. The shore of the lake was covered with palm trees and papyrus, canals united it with the Nile, and splendid buildings rose on every side of it. Helon, in spite of his longing for the Holy Land, was compelled to confess that Alexander had chosen a spot to bear his name, not only pre-eminently convenient for trade, but delightfully situated. The places through which they passed, being well known to both our travellers, offered nothing to divert the course of their thoughts. They halted one day, because it was the Sabbath, on which the law does not permit them to travel more than a thousand paces.* The whole journey lasted nine days, in the course of which they ferried over several branches of the Nile, crossing both the great and the little Delta. They passed through Naucratis, celebrated for several centuries past, as the first emporium of Grecian commerce with Egypt; Sais, with its temple of Neitha; Busiris, with the ruins of the largest temple of Isis in Egypt; and Tanis, anciently the royal residence. This land of wonders, however, had little other effect upon Helon, than to make him often repeat – Blessed is the man who puts his confidence in thee, And thinks of the way to Jerusalem. His uncle sometimes smiled at him, and observed that it was well that they had left the elder behind at Alexandria. For the rest but little conversation passed. Elisama was wearied by the journey, and Helon and Sallu were silent, or repeated passages from the psalms. At length they came in sight of Pelusium, where they were to meet the Phœnician caravan; and Helon rejoiced that he should leave the country of the grave and gloomy Egyptians, to penetrate into the desert that conducted him to the land of his forefathers. As they made a circuit round the city, they saw outside one of the gates a promiscuous assemblage of men, goods, camels and horses. The neighing of the Egyptian and Arabian steeds pierced through the hoarser cry of the camels. Egyptians, Phoenicians, Syrians, Romans, and swarthy Ethiopians, were hurrying in every direction, between the piled up heaps of merchandise; Greek, Aramaic, and Latin were blended in one confused murmur. The main part of the * A Sabbath day's journey was about equal to an English mile. caravan consisted of Phoenicians from Tyre, who, according to the custom which then prevailed, had carried wine in earthen jars to Egypt, where little wine was produced. They had gone through Alexandria to Memphis, and as they passed Elisama had agreed with them to be conducted from Pelusium to Gaza. They had just arrived from Memphis, and this was the rendezvous for all who wished to accompany them in their journey through the desert. They had purchased to carry back with them, horses, cotton and embroidered cloths, and the fine and costly linen of Egypt. The leader of the caravan, busied with a variety of cares, briefly saluted Elisama and Helon, and informed them that he should depart on the following morning at daybreak, and that the camels should be arranged four and four. Half the inhabitants of Pelusium had come out, to traffic or to gaze, and the tumult and bustle were indescribable. While Elisama and Helon endeavored to find themselves a suitable lodging-place for the night, in the marshy land around this city, which borders on the vast sandy desert of Arabia, and Sallu was following them with the slaves, a well-known voice exclaimed, "Welcome, Elisama and Helon! Are ye also for Tyre?" It was Myron, the young and handsome Greek from Alexandria, Helon's early friend, who had introduced him to the knowledge of Platonism, and studied Plato with him in the Museum. Since his return to the law, Helon had purposely avoided him, and would willingly not have encountered him here, just as he was entering on his journey to Jerusalem. Myron was going to Damascus, and meant to accompany the caravan to Tyre; and although they told him that their intention was only to go as far as Gaza, this did not prevent his offering to join company with them to that place; and he made this proposal with so much of Greek urbanity, that they knew not how to refuse. The pleasure of their society, he said, would save him from dying of tedium; which, if he kept company any longer with the Phoenicians, who could talk of nothing but their merchandise, threatened to be more fatal than thirst to him in crossing the desert. "Your oriental gravity," said he, "will be enlivened by my Grecian levity, and together we shall form the most agreeable party in the whole caravan." He took the hand of Elisama with a smile, and the bargain was concluded. Long before sunrise on the following morning, the tumult of the caravan began again. Helon's camel was bound behind the three camels of Elisama; Sallu led them, the slaves urged them on, and the three travellers mounted their horses. The trumpet sounded a second time, as the signal of departure. The camels were arranged four together, and our party endeavored to place themselves as near as possible to the head of the line of march, to avoid the clouds of sand which were raised in the middle and near the end. Between every fifty parties, came a horse with a guide, and a man bearing a kettle of pitch, raised on a pole, which was to be kindled during the night. The principal guide, who had the superintendence of the whole caravan, rode usually in front, on a horse richly caparisoned, and accompanied by a camel which carried his treasure. He was the absolute master of the whole train; at his nod the blasts of the trumpet were given, and every one set forward or halted. A litter was borne behind him, in which he occasionally reposed. It was an hour after sunrise before all was arranged, and the third blast of the trumpet was given. The guide mounted his Arabian horse, and the march began. Thousands of persons from Pelusium and the neighborhood, stood by the road side, and saluted them as they departed. The slaves bégan to sing, and the bells on the necks and feet of the camels chimed between. Everything in the caravan was performed in measured time, the step of the camels, the jingling of the bells, and the song of the slaves. Both men and beasts were full of alacrity; and thus, even in the desert, one portion of the dreary way after another is performed without tediousness. Helon's heart beat high with the thought that he had entered on the road to Jerusalem: and he could not refrain from exclaiming, when the sigual for the march was given, “ Happy are the people that know the sound of the trumpet." To 66 |