Lift me, guide me till I find That spot which seems so to thy mind! 2. I have walked through wildernesses dreary, And to-day my heart is weary; 3. Had I now the wings of Faery, There's madness about thee, and joy divine Up with me, up with me, high and high, Joyous as morning, Thou art laughing and scorning; Thou hast a nest for thy love and thy rest; Happy, happy Liver! With a soul as strong as a mountain river, 4. Alas! my journey, rugged and uneven, Through prickly moors or dusty ways must wind; But hearing thee, or others of thy kind, THE OVERLAND ROUTE. pre-fer-red, that which one likes most. route, the way or direction. em-bark-a-tion, going on 1. When we talk of the " Overland Route" we mean the short way to India and the East by the Mediterranean sea, the Suez canal, and the Red sea. In former times people used to go to the East Indies round the Cape of Good Hope; but as that journey is a very long one, lasting about four months, the shorter route overland is preferred. 2. The port of departure from England is Southampton. As, however, the journey to the shores of the Mediterranean can also be made by railway across France to Marseilles, some prefer to save five days by making that the port of embarkation. The journey is made still shorter by embarking either at Trieste or Brindisi on the Adriatic. In all cases Port Said is the port of destination at this side of the Isthmus. 3. Now that ships can sail through the Suez canal, passengers can go all the way to India from Southampton in the same vessel. By this shorter route, the journey can be performed in about a month, and as "time is money," the advantage of such a shortening is obvious, not only as regards commerce, but also the speedy government of the greatest of the British possessions, namely India. 4. From Suez, passengers for Bombay proceed in one ship, and those for Ceylon, Madras, Calcutta, Australia, and China, in another. The latter become again separated at Point de Galle, in Ceylon-according to their various destinations. 5. The wonderful Suez canal made by M. de Lesseps, a Frenchman, and opened for navigation on the 17th November 1869, will prove a great comfort to eastern travellers; for they need no longer change ships, or be fatigued by the railway journey across the desert, as before. Besides, the owners of trading or cargo vessels of all kinds will, to a large extent, find this route the more profitable of the two: so that sailing ships will become fewer and fewer, just as the old-fashioned coal ships of Newcastle have now given way to steam ones. 6. "As we went along the canal," says a traveller, describing a recent visit to Egypt, "we passed between mounds or banks, higher than the ordinary level. These banks were composed of material which had been excavated from the canal, and thrown up on either side. As we steamed along very slowly, I mounted the 'bridge' of the steamer, so as to be able to look over these banks; and there I saw the interminable barren waste on the Egyptian side covered with water, and on the eastern side a sandy desert extending to Palestine. 7. "One of the first features of interest was a 'floating bridge,' thrown across the canal by steam, at a point which, I was told, was in the track of the caravans. Now here was a most curious conjuncture of modern and ancient civilisation. 8. This caravan track is one of the most ancient of all roads, leading from Egypt into Palestine and Syria, on the very line along which Jacob's sons may have gone down into Egypt to buy corn; and there we found one of the appliances of modern civilisation, in the shape of this 'floating bridge,' consisting of a large flatbottomed boat which crosses and recrosses the canal by means of chains wound and unwound upon large drums by a steam engine. This contact of ancient and modern civilisation is one of the most remarkable features in Egypt. 9. "But there was another noticeable feature. There are stations all along the canal, at which the officers reside, as well as the men who keep watch over the canal, and who are ready to give help if any vessel should run aground. At most of these stations I noticed that there was a garden, generally with a gay show of flowers, and great cultivation of edible vegetables. Now what was the meaning of this? How could these gardens be made out of this sand and mud? The secret is, that every one of these places is supplied with fresh water. 10. "That fresh water is brought all the way from the Nile; for there is no fresh water to be got between Port Said and Suez-no |