Thence he afterwards removed southward a distance of about twenty miles, to the strong mountain country east of Bethel, or as it was then called Luz; one of the finest tracts of the land for pasturage, and here he erected his second altar unto the Lord. During his sojourn in this neighbourhood he learnt that, though the heir of mighty promises, he was not to be exempt from his share of trials and disappointments. The first that befell him was a grievous famine, caused probably by a failure of the usual rains; in consequence of which, finding himself unable to support his numerous dependents, he resolved, though without direct Divine suggestion, to go down into Egypt, then, as always, the fertile granary of the neighbouring nations. As he drew near the land of the mighty Pharaohs, he reflected that the beauty of his wife might expose her to danger from the sensual, voluptuous Egyptians, and under the influence of these apprehensions persuaded her to stoop to an unworthy equivocation, and give herself out as his sister. What he anticipated came to pass. The princes of Egypt _beheld the woman that she was fair_, and recommended her to their monarch, by whom she was taken into his palace, while numerous presents of cattle and sheep were sent to her supposed brother. But the monarch found that the coming of the stranger into his palace involved him in serious troubles, _the Lord plagued Pharaoh with great plagues_, till, having ascertained the true relation between her and Abram, he sent her back to her husband, with a strong rebuke to the latter for the deception he had practised.