DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0143
CHAP. XVI.]
MEMPHIS.
113
destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them
that dwell therein ; and Noph shall be desolate."
The next day I was sitting at the cloor of my tent towards
sun-set, enjoying, under the rose-coloring influence of the chi-
bouque, the mood of mind that my situation naturally superin-
duced. At my feet flowed the Nile, reflecting the lofty spars cf
our gaily-painted boat ; beyond the river was a narrow strip of
vegetation, some palm and acacia trees; then a tract of desert,
bounded by the Arabian hills, all purple with the setting sun-
light. Far away on the horizon the minarets and citadel of
Cairo were faintly sketched against the sky ; around me lay
fields of corn, beneath which Memphis, with all its wonders, lay
buried ; and, farther on, a long succession of pyramids towered
over the dark belt of forest that led along the river. Suddenly
the sleeping sailors started to their feet; a shout was heard from
the wood ; and I saw my friend slowly emerging from its shade,
accompanied by some India-bound friends of his, who were es-
corting him so far upon his desert way. We passed the evening
together and something more, for morning blushed at finding the
party only then separating—our friends for India, we for Ethio-
pia—allons !
MEMPHIS.
113
destitute of that whereof it was full, when I shall smite all them
that dwell therein ; and Noph shall be desolate."
The next day I was sitting at the cloor of my tent towards
sun-set, enjoying, under the rose-coloring influence of the chi-
bouque, the mood of mind that my situation naturally superin-
duced. At my feet flowed the Nile, reflecting the lofty spars cf
our gaily-painted boat ; beyond the river was a narrow strip of
vegetation, some palm and acacia trees; then a tract of desert,
bounded by the Arabian hills, all purple with the setting sun-
light. Far away on the horizon the minarets and citadel of
Cairo were faintly sketched against the sky ; around me lay
fields of corn, beneath which Memphis, with all its wonders, lay
buried ; and, farther on, a long succession of pyramids towered
over the dark belt of forest that led along the river. Suddenly
the sleeping sailors started to their feet; a shout was heard from
the wood ; and I saw my friend slowly emerging from its shade,
accompanied by some India-bound friends of his, who were es-
corting him so far upon his desert way. We passed the evening
together and something more, for morning blushed at finding the
party only then separating—our friends for India, we for Ethio-
pia—allons !