Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/76

 that heavenly hour, and how soft was the light on the African mountains! As the sunset shone across the sea, it lighted up also the Arabian hills, above which there was a soft violet tint in the sky, which gradually faded away, and was succeeded by an intense blue, while high up in the heavens hung the moon, only two days to the full. Again we mounted our camels, and rode on for a mile or two, till rounding a point we discovered our tents in a little cove or inlet in the sandy hills, but a few rods from the shore. The spot seemed made for a camp, as it was sheltered from the winds, and the sand was firm and hard, so that the tent floor was smooth and clean. Here Moses camped by the Red Sea, and following the illustrious example, we camped, as it were, on the very shore, where in our waking moments all night long we heard the waters as they came rippling up the beach.

As our camp was by the sea, the temptation was irresistible, as we rose the next morning, to take a bath. One must have been three days on the desert to taste the sweetness of such a dip, as he lies down and lets the cool waters ripple over him. So keen was the pleasure of this new experience, that when we set out for our morning's tramp, as our way led along the beach (indeed in one or two places the rocks were so close that the camels had to step in the water, and in storms caravans are sometimes detained two or three days), I could not resist the impulse to walk for some distance in the edge of the sea, now and then dashing out to catch the foam of the breakers as they came rolling in. Of course it was not a very prudent thing to do. But nature will out. Boys will be boys, and I suppose an old boy may have the same privilege as a young one. At the moment I felt "glorious," although the Doctor thought me a little daft. Looking at me with his keen medical eye, he warned me that I was running a great