It is 200 miles, a little east of north, from Mt. Sinai to the south end of the Dead Sea and to the lower limits of the land of Canaan, whither the Israelites were journeying. Mt. Sinai is about 35 miles from the western and about 25 from the eastern arm of the Red Sea. THE ISRAELITES IN THE DESERT. =3. The recent discovery of Succoth= and the treasure city Pithom fixes this place as that of the first encampment of the Israelites at the Exodus. One inscription calls the place Petum (the “abode” of Tum) in the city of Thuku, or “Pithom in the city of Succoth.” The great desert now begins, stretching eastward from Succoth for about 200 miles, a very desolate and barren region, to the country of Edom and the great valley of Arabah, which valley runs northward directly from the eastern arm of the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, a distance of 115 miles. The chief divine object in directing the course of the Israelites southeast from Egypt to the region of Horeb and then around by the Gulf of Akabah, rather than by the short course to Canaan by the coast, is expressed in the Scripture, and was one of discipline, Exod. 13:17, and preparation for the new life they were destined to live. =4. Many misapprehensions= of the real difficulty of this long travel have resulted from a failure to comprehend the largeness of the company. It must be remembered that so large a number as 2,000,000 people, with their herds and flocks, their tents, the Tabernacle, and other baggage, must have covered a much larger space than is sometimes allowed by some readers of this history. Thus in crossing the Red Sea and stopping at stations and fording the Jordan on their arrival at Canaan, and in settling upon plains, before and after, it must be always kept in mind that no narrow line or small surface less than several square miles would in any way represent that necessary area over which the moving body travelled, or rested when it came to a halt. In its course at evening the advanced officers would soon lay out upon the area to be occupied the plan for encampment, and in a short time that space of land, which an hour before was the prowling-ground for a few wild beasts of the desert, would become the site of a city of 2,000,000 inhabitants, with long streets and squares lighted with the magnificent and mysterious flame which accompanied them during all their wanderings. =5. The habits of eating and drinking= in that day were very different from anything now customary in our midst. The plainest food, and frequently only one meal a day and one draught of water in 24 hours, is sufficient for the Bedouin of the desert. We are therefore wrong in comparing the habits of the times of the Exodus with those of the present day.