BERNARD.-The camels are with them, you know, mother.

MRS. A. Although their only dependence is placed on these useful creatures, yet they themselves are sometimes so thirsty as to be unable to proceed. Their condition must be distressing, for it admits of no resource. Many perish, the victims of insatiable thirst. It is in such a state that the value of a cup of cold water is really felt. EMILY.-And what a prize a single zemzabie must be !

MRS. A.-In these cases there is no distinction; if the master has none, the servant will not give it him; for very few are the instances in which a man will voluntarily lose his life to save that of another, particularly in a caravan in a desert, where the people are strangers to each other. What a situation for a man to be placed in! riches will avail nothing; he may perhaps be the owner of the caravan, and yet die on the desert for want of a cup of cold water! no one gives it to him; he offers all he possesses; no one hears him; they are all dying, though by walking a few miles farther they might be saved; the camels are lying down and will not attempt to rise; no one has strength to walk; only he who has so much as a glass of that liquid, which he would not part with for all the emeralds of

Zubara, has any chance of living: and if he is enabled to crawl a mile farther, perhaps

he dies too.

OWEN.-Oh, mother, how dreadful! what a situation to be placed in! exposed to the burning sun, without water and without shelter, in the midst of a burning desert!

MRS. A.-I believe the sufferings of those who have experienced what it is, are the greatest a human being can sustain. The eyes grow inflamed; the tongue and lips swell: a hollow sound is heard in the ears; a faintness or languor takes away the power to move; some wandering tears escape from the eyes; the poor sufferer drops on the earth and becomes insensible: all these feelings arise from the want of a little

water.

And now we will return to Belzoni. EMILY.-Yes, mother. We left him just entering the chain of mountains that leads to the Nile.

MRS. A.—The caravan proceeded very much as before until it arrived on the banks of that river, and the freshness of its water made them sensible of its superiority over that of almost any other.

They went on board their little boat the same night, and set off for Esne.

BERNARD.-HOW did the country look, mother? You know when they went up the

Nile, almost all the land around was under water, and the poor people were standing about on the little islands, holding out their hands and imploring assistance. What a scene it must have been!

MRS. A.-Although the water had only retired fifteen days, yet all the lands that were before overflowed were now not only dried up but actually planted; the muddy villages carried off by the current were all rebuilt; the fences opened; the Fellahs at work in the fields; the aspect was quite changed, and all presented a scene of industry and happiness.

They arrived at Esne in a day or two, and visited the Bey, who received them very politely, inquired about the mines, and was anxious to learn the result of their journey. They then set off again, and reached our well known Gournou after an absence of forty days.

CHAP. V.

"MAMMA!" exclaimed Bernard, running into the breakfast room where his mother was seated, and throwing his straw hat on the sofa, "Do you know what I have been thinking about?"

"Indeed, my dear," said Mrs. A., “your employments are so various, and your thoughts are generally dependent upon them, I suppose, that I feel at a loss to imagine."

nard.

Guess, mother, guess!" exclaimed Ber

The kind mother endeavoured to gratify her little boy, and mentioned his gardenhis donkey-his little telegraph-his favourite cherry-tree-but all in vain.

"I have been thinking," said he, "that when I am older I shall get Owen or papa to teach me how to swim, and that I shall fly my kite whilst I am in the water, as Dr. Franklin did when he was a boy. How do you approve of my plan ?"

MRS. A.-I own that I think some little danger would be attached to it, just at present however. Dr. Franklin was a native

of Boston, in America, and was taught the practice of swimming when very young, so that he was particularly expert and skilful ih this as in almost every other respect, But what led you to think of him now?

BERNARD.-Owen and I are just come from the park, where we have been flying our new kite; and Owen has been telling me how much pleased Dr. Franklin was with his new method of swimming. Do you remember it, mother? He one day wished to amuse himself with his kite and to enjoy at the same time the pleasure of swimming, so he got into the water, and lying on his back, held the end of the string in his hands and went along in such a delightful manner. I wish I had been Dr. Franklin! He engaged a boy to carry his clothes round the pond, to a place which he pointed out to him on the other side, whilst he in the mean time crossed the pond with his kite flying high in the air. Was it not a clever idea?

MRS. A. He managed to do two things at once, certainly. But I do not admire Dr. Franklin for his new mode of swimming only. He was clever whilst a boy, and when grown up became a very useful character, and rendered great services both to his own country and the world at large: