Part 12 (1/2)
As the railas not opened till the following year the mind was not disturbed, and could concentrate on the scenes before it with all the recollection it required I called our progress ”riding through the Bible” Many a local allusion in both Testaue or difficult to appreciate before, opened out, so to say, before one's happy vision, and gave a substance, a vitality to the Scripture narrative which produced a satisfaction delightful to experience
Perhaps the strongest longing in my childhood's mind had been to do this journey To do it as we did, just our two selves, and in the fresh spring weather, was a happy circumstance
As I look back to that time which we spent amidst the scenes of Our Lord's revealed life on earth, no portion of it produces such a sense of ht of our arrival on the shores of the Sea of Galilee _There_ there were no crowds, no distractions, not a thing to jar on the mind Before and around one, as one sat on the pebbly strand, appeared the very outlines of the hills His eyes had rested on, and far fro on one's sensitiveness, the cities that lined those sacred shores in His ti cloud shadohich thetheir ruined sites His words canant force, ”Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! and thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven” Where were they? And the high waves raced foah mild wind that came across from the dark cliffs of the country of the Gadarenes
One seemed to feel His approach where He had so often walked One can hardly speak of the ahich that feeling brought to the mind He was quite near!
Undoubtedly the effect of a journey through the Holy Land _does_ permanently impress itself upon one's life It is a treht thus face to face with the Gospel narrative We returned to the modern world on May 1st This time I left Alexandria in co at Venice we at once went on to Verona, where he was anxious to visit the battlefield of Arcole
CHAPTER XVIII
THE LAST OF EGYPT
Here at Verona was Italy in her richest dress, her abundant and varied crops filling the landscape, one ; not a space of soil left untilled, and, all the way along our road to San Bonifacio for Arcole, the snow-capped Alps were shi+reat tee plain stretched away to the horizon on the other
I noticed the fine physique of the peasantry, and their nice ways Every peasant man we met on the road raised his hat to us as we passed At San Bonifacio we got out of the carriage and, turning to the right, alked to Arcole, beco the famous marsh History says that a soldier saved Napoleon fro him out of the water in that marsh, ”by the hair!”
I pondered this _bald_ stateBonaparte in those early days wore his hair very long, and gathered up into a queue Had he been close-cropped, as his later experience in Egypt coht have been very different As I looked into the water fro conqueror slipped and plunged in The soldier rip it afforded hie and the spot where he sank Napoleon raised the obelisk which we see to-day Thus do I like to realise interesting events in history
Our driver on the way back beca on the box to chatter First he infor ), which we knew before Then, ithin sight of the battlefield of Custozza, where our dear Italians got such a ”dusting”
from the Austrians, he informed us that he had been in the battle, and that the Italians had _blasted_ the enemy ”_Li abbiamo fulminati_”
”Oh, shut up, do! _Basta, caro!_”
Our afternoon stroll all over Verona ht one which takes first rank inAlpine torrent (for such is the Adige at this season of h the heart of that ancient city, between embankments bordered with domed churches, with towers and palaces, I found quite unique Mysterious, too, it all felt in the lights and profound shades of theserrated outlines, croith fortresses
The rest of the suany I ypt for winter, makes a very pleasant coust 23rd, and I and a wee child followed in November I had half accomplished my next Acadeypt--”Halt on a Forced March: Retreat to Corunna” A study of an artillery tea the look of the spent horses, ”lean unto war” It was very well placed at the Academy in the fresh first room, and well received, but it was too sad a subject, perhaps, so I have it still There were no half-starved horses in all Wicklow, I am happy to say, look where I would for et tone and colour froypt I had plenty of choice, and had I not been able to put the finishi+ng touches to --an instance of my favourite definition when I am asked, ”What is the secret of success?” ”_Seize opportunities_”
So on Deceht out with rey Syrian pony had now a black donkey alongside for the desert rides, which were the chief pleasure of our life out there
But the winter grew sad On January 7th, 1892, the Khedive Tewfik died rather mysteriously, it was said, but his death was announced as the result of that plague we call the ”flu,” which reached even to the East
Just eight days later poor Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, fell a victi Also some of our own friends at Alexandria went down And yet never was there more brilliant weather, so softly brilliant that one could hardly realise the presence of danger All the balls and other festivities were stopped, of course I had a interval, so boring and depressing to Alexandrian society Soon things returned to pleasantly nor free fro my picture off, I went in whole-heartedly for the amenities of my official position The Private View at the far-away Royal Acade away the prizes at some athletic sports, for I kneas just then in full blast, April 29th, 1892 I knewof a stir, and I chaffedthat the ”three cheers and one cheer iving, which rent the sunset air in that dusty plain in ht to expect It would be a _little_ too lobe at the sa for difference of tiain: ”_May 18th_--We joined a picnic in the very palh which the Turks fled from the French pursuit under Bonaparte to find death in the surf of Aboukir Bay We were shaded by clu, rustling palms, and a cool wind blew round us ht us rested in groups, their drivers and the villagers squatting about theraceful attitudes I love to jot down inshadows of the palm branches on the sand always capture my observation; no other tree shadows produce that effect of ever-interlacing forion where the terrible naval battle took place later, to our credit Altogether our party was surrounded by frightful reminiscences, in the midst of which the picnic went its usual picnicky way We rode back to Alexandria by the light of the stars
”_May 23rd_--A wonderful day, full of colour,Abbas II, the new Khedive, was received here on his arrival froe wild Asiatics froh which he was to pass Will, of course, had to receive him at the station The crowd alone was a pleasure to look at The Khedive see man with a round pink and white painted face They say he loves not the English What I enjoyed above all was the drive we took soon after, all the length of the line of reception, to Ras-el-Tin Oh, those narrow streets of the old quarter, filled with numberless varieties of Oriental costumes Now and then the croas threaded by troops, soive the finishi+ng touch of variety, the native fire brigade went by, wearing the brass helear bonneting their black and brown faces”
I, with the little child, left for hoood stock of studies of camels and Camel Corps troopers These were for my 8-foot picture, destined for the next Academy Many a camel had I stalked about the Raot quite to revel in ca beast isin pictures, whereas if you know hiets to the end of hie to hts, with one exception I don't knohat old Naples was like--I knoas frightfully dirty--but I saw it liness on one of the ideal beauties of the world It gaveit as we entered the harbour, and so I leave the town itself severely alone, with its new, barrack-like buildings looking gaunt and gritty in the burning June sunshi+ne The cloisters of the Certosa at Sant' Elmo are very beautiful, and I much enjoyed the church and the splendid ”Descent fronoletto There was just ti at 12 noon As we stearaphed) view of Vesuvius across the whole extent of the bay from off Posilipo Certainly nowhere on earth can a fairer scene be beheld, and greater grace of coast and mountain outline Then the fair scene melted away into the tender haze of the June afternoon--blue and tender grey, the volcanic islands one by one disappeared and the day of ht of the Bay of Naples closed
June 12th was a most memorable day, a day of deepest, sweetest, and saddest impressions and memories for me In the afternoon I made ready for our approach to that part of the world where the brightest years of my childhood were spent--the Gulf of Genoa In order not to lose one , I packed up all our things before three o'clock, did all the _fin de voyage_ paying and tipping, and then, my mind free for concentration, I stationedlast I saw in the haze of the lovely afternoon a shadowy outline of rocky mountain which my heart, rather than my eyes, told me was Porto Fino, for never had I seen it before frole But I knehere to look for it, and while to the other passengers we seeht of land I saw the shadowy forrew out of the haze and I saw again, one after the other, the houses we lived in frolass I had I could see Villa de' Franchi and its sundial, and see how many ere open or shut at Villa Quartara as we passed Albaro, and see the old, well-loved pine tree and cypress avenue of the latter _palazzo_
”The sight of Genoa in the lurid sunset gloith its steep, conical mountains behind it, croith forts, half shrouded in dark grey clouds, was very impressive 'La Superba' looked her proudest thus seen full face from the sea, seated on her rocky throne By the by, when _will_ people give up translating 'superba' by 'superb'? It is rather trying 'Genoa the Superb'! Ugh!”
[Illustration: THE EGYPTIAN CAMEL-CORPS AND THE BERSAGLIERI]