Poole, Reginald S.: The cities of Egypt (London, 1882)

CITIES OF EGYPT.

CHAPTER XL

SIN.

The approaches to Egypt give no promise of the beauty
of the land within, which, like such an oasis as the plain
of Damascus, fills the eye with fresh delight. From
the south you thread the narrow passage between the
tumbled rocks of the Cataract, while all around rise
masses of sterile granite, the more forbidding because
the restful charm of Phike is fresh in your memory;
from the west you cross the monotonous Libyan desert
by the dreary coast; from the east you only leave the
quicksands of Lake Serbonis behind to enter a wide-
extending morass of dark-brown mud. Should you
come by sea, the stretch of low sandy shore is only less
uninviting than the desert routes. But the long and
weary way of which Homer speaks is now most true of
the journey from the east, which despite its historical
interest few care to undertake. On this side the Delta