At a distance, their round moving
summits looked like the umbrageous tops of trees, and we might fancy
as they approached, the lower portion being hidden by ridges of sand,
that "Birnam Wood was coming to Dunsinane."
The monotony usually complained of in desert travelling cannot be very
strongly felt between Cairo and Suez, for though there is little else
but sand to be seen, yet it is so much broken and undulated, that
there is always some diversity of objects. The sand-hills now gave
place to rock, and it appeared as if many ranges of hills stretched
out both to the right and left of the plains we traversed; their crags
and peaks, piled one upon the other, and showing various colours, rich
browns and purples, as they stood in shade or sunshine. Greenish tints
assured us that vegetation was not quite so seamy upon these hills
as in the desert they skirted, which only showed at intervals a few
coarse plants, scarcely deserving the name. It has been said, that
there is only one tree between Cairo and Suez; but we certainly
saw several, though none of any size; that which is called, _par
excellence_, "the tree," affording a very poor idea of timber.
We made a short rest, in the middle of the day, at a travellers'
bungalow; and just as we were leaving it, one of Mr.
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