DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0252
THE ROUTE OF THE ISRAELITES. 241
sen people of God, after walking over the dry bed
of the sea, stopped to behold the divided waters re-
turning to their place and swallowing up the host
of the pursuers. The mountains on the other side
looked dark and portentous, as if proud and con-
scious witnesses of the mighty miracle, while the
sun, descending slowly behind, them, long after it
had disappeared, left a reflected, brightness, which
illumined with an almost supernatural light the
dark surface of the water.
But to return to the fountains of Moses. I am
aware that there is some dispute as to the precise
spot where Moses crossed ; but having no time for
skepticism on such matters, I began by making up
my mind that this was the place, and then looked
around to see whether, according to the account
given in the Bible, the face of the country and the
natural landmarks did not sustain my opinion.
I remember I looked up to the head of the gulf,
where Suez or Kolsum now stands, and saw that
almost to the very head of the gulf there was a
high range of mountains which it would be neces-
sary to cross, an undertaking which it would have
been physically impossible for 600,000 people,
men, women, and children, to accomplish, with a
hostile army pursuing them. At Suez, Moses
could not have been hemmed in as he was; he
could go off into the Syrian desert, or, unless the
.sea has greatly changed since that time, round the
head of the gulf. But here, directly opposite
where I sat, was an opening in the mountain?,
making a clear passage from the desert to the
VOL. I.—X
sen people of God, after walking over the dry bed
of the sea, stopped to behold the divided waters re-
turning to their place and swallowing up the host
of the pursuers. The mountains on the other side
looked dark and portentous, as if proud and con-
scious witnesses of the mighty miracle, while the
sun, descending slowly behind, them, long after it
had disappeared, left a reflected, brightness, which
illumined with an almost supernatural light the
dark surface of the water.
But to return to the fountains of Moses. I am
aware that there is some dispute as to the precise
spot where Moses crossed ; but having no time for
skepticism on such matters, I began by making up
my mind that this was the place, and then looked
around to see whether, according to the account
given in the Bible, the face of the country and the
natural landmarks did not sustain my opinion.
I remember I looked up to the head of the gulf,
where Suez or Kolsum now stands, and saw that
almost to the very head of the gulf there was a
high range of mountains which it would be neces-
sary to cross, an undertaking which it would have
been physically impossible for 600,000 people,
men, women, and children, to accomplish, with a
hostile army pursuing them. At Suez, Moses
could not have been hemmed in as he was; he
could go off into the Syrian desert, or, unless the
.sea has greatly changed since that time, round the
head of the gulf. But here, directly opposite
where I sat, was an opening in the mountain?,
making a clear passage from the desert to the
VOL. I.—X