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August 25, 1909. THE THROUGH THE DESERT OF THE EXODUS. By Rev. F. C. Hoskins, D.D. During my absence of eighty-five days, I traveled 1,900 miles; 109 hours of the journey were accomplished on camels, the slowest mode of locomotion in the Orient, less than three miles an hour, cuiu uuomer loz mues on horses at a little more than four miles an hour. Through the desert we had as many as twenty-one camels and sixteen cameleers, while on our way from Akaba to Petra we had a guard of nineteen soldiers, which, with our muleteers and camp servants, made thirty-three persons, while the horses, mules, camels and donkeys numbered thirty eight, or seventy-one thirsty mouths to be provided for in a land where water was more precious than gold. Out of twenty camps between Suez and Akaba ten were absolutely waterless. Twice the camels went three days' journey without a drop of water, and once they were forced to iro four rl?va' Inii'nov trv next watering place. The life in the desert was simply fascinating, and our camp life delightful beyond all telling. On our second day out of Spez we had one of the experiences of our life in a desert sandstorm, which raged for twenty-four hours, and impressed itself on our memories in sensations never to be forgotten. Baggage outside the. tents was almost buried, while everything we possessed Inside was saturated with the fine yellow particles of the desert sand. But we would not have missed it if we could have done so. Our first Sabbath out was spent at Elim, and it certainly is a lovely vale, with its purling streams and grouus of palm trees. It is now entirely uninhabited, except at the time of the date harvest, when the Arab owners of the trees come and gather the fruit and then steal away to the desert again for another year. . Our second Sabbath was .at Sinat, Inside the garden of tho old convent, and was a never-to-be forgotten privilege. This monastery fortress is a venerable group of old buildings dating back more than 1,300 years, and is the most lonely spot, as well as the most sublime, that I have ever visited. It Is owned and occupied by Greek orthodox monks from the Ionian Islands, and their life here through the centuries has been a picturesque struggle for existence. Their monastic rule is one of the most rigid known, and they have been veritable knights of the cross. Within the wall of the monastery is the well where Moses helped water Jethro's flocks and won his daughter for his wife. The Chapel of the Burning Bush, another to Hlijah, and the stairway up the Mountain of Moses?the Mountain of the Law?are the pilgrim shrines of Sinai. llKeeeu 4W- * * mo 11 mi ui y in ma muunniary columns one of the most interesting collections of manuscripts In existence. In it the celebrated Codex Slnalctlcus was found, In 18B9, by Tlschendorf. But greater than all the legends and shrines are the PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUTI *9tS9GaSfG9&a&S&GS* t LUZIANNI High Quality, Low Price?E IH I lb ^! THE ROLY-TAYLOR C i 0^aEdtifi2JtfS^E5?^9fcS?^aE2^a indescribable beauties and grandeur of those granite mountains' connected with the giving of the Ten Commandments. There is a magnificent correspondence between the granite cliffs of Sinai and the unchangeable walls of moral truth. Between Egypt and Sinai the route of the Children of Israel is easily located, as also from Sinai to the shore of the Red Sea again, but between Hazeroth and the Plains of Madeba are many miles of desert, where they wandered for so many years, and here lie the most interesting problems of the exodus. Between Sinai and the Gulf of Akaba was a journey of three and one-half days, in which we saw water only twice, and once only at our camping place. Then we had two delightful days along the seashore, where we bathed in its clear waters aiul picked thousands of shells from the millions that lay at our feet. At a place called Nuweiba there is a well, a little bay and an Egyptian fort, which was occupied by many Egyptian soldiers until the boundary dispute was settled throe years ago, when Great Britain told Turkey to get back behind the Akaba line or she would know the reason why. Since then the fort at Nuweiba has been occupied by a garrison of three soldiers, who remain to guard the building, hoist the Egyptian ting and look after the one cannon left In the fort. The well of good water is the most important possession of the whole location. Two days later we came in sight of the famous Boundary Pillars, which extend from this point near Akaba across the peninsula northwest to the Mediterranean Sea at Arish. The pillar nearest the sea stands on a rocky eminence one hundred feet above the water, and with Its well-built base of masonry, is fully thirty feet high. Then back some thousand yards, on a high peak, is tho * second one, thus giving the line or direction of the whole boundary. Akaba, at the head of the gulf of the same name, is a beautiful spot?seen from a distance?because of its oasis* like clusters of palm trees and the shimmering sea at their base. But the town Itself is wretchedness and fllth personl4 * * \ '4- 4 I. 21 l corriLL I )ouble Strength, Fine Flavor /IRGINIA TESTIMONY do not hesitate to say that 8 ;ve Luzianne to be the best Wt >n the market, and we doubt M in equal/' B luff, Andrews & Thomas, Wholesale Grocers, Roanoke, Va. ?. can ' ' 25 Cts. X O., New Orleans, U. S. A. fled. Rain seldom falls here, and the dirty inhabitants drink from brackish and almost putrid wells. The old castle, or caravansary, is half in ruins, and the other houses are mouldering mud heaps. If one heavy rain ever came, these houses would crumble into ruin in a few hours. The people are despicable, poor in their persons and characteristics, having lived like leeches on the Egyptian caravans to Mecca for centuries. Among the surprises within the Sinai Peninsula was the matter of the heights. The three days to Elim were practically along the sea, but in the following six days we climbed through wiuding valleys and over steep passes, until at Sinai our tents were pitched at a height of 5,100 feet above the level of the sea. Here it was cold enough for overcoats sua sweaters. The winter of 1907 08 was one of much snow, when as much as half a meter fell. Up to February 27 of the present' year not a drop of rain had fallen about the Monastery at Sinai, but they were still hoping to %ave either rain or snow, or both. Then it was a surprise to wind through the gently sloping valleys for day after day, where the rise or fall was only a few feet in the mile. Another delightful surprise was a visit to a real oasis, that of Faram, rightly called "The Pearl of Sinai." The water which makes the oasis is a lovely stream, large enough to turn many millstones. It winds among the granite cliffs for more than ten miles, giving life to 20,000 or 30,000 palm trees, with some other fruits and patches of grain. All the tribes of the peninsula have a share in these trees and water, and at the time of the date harvest come for scores of miles to get their share. The more 1 study the problems of the exodus, the more I am Inclined to believe that it was here in this oasis that the Children of Israel remained for eleven months, while they were being organised as a nation, and nence It was at Serbal, and not at the present Sinai, that the law was given to Moses. It waa certainly a beautiful camping place, 'and contained everything that waa necessary for the people.?Prom the Presbyterian.