But we were occupied chiefly with ourselves; for with our pleasure at seeing the Holy Land was mingled an apprehension that, after all, we should not be permitted to set foot on shore. At Alexandria we had dire accounts of earthquake and war; and, what alarmed us more, of the plague; for although not one of us but would have been willing to meet this disease in his own individual case for the sake of seeing Jerusalem, yet the risk of introducing it into the ship was not to be thought of, and we knew that if there was any danger of this, the commodore would at once decide to have no communication. With these anxieties we approached the coast; and as the ship speeds onward, it may be well to state to the reader what was the state of Palestine at this time. The ever-restless Pasha of Egypt had, about two years previous, without any warning to his master the Sultan, marched a large army into the country; and, on pretence of settling some difficulties among the natives, had seized on its strong places; after which he set the Turkish power at defiance. The Egyptian soldiers are almost universally men of light, but active and well-knit frames; and are capable of enduring fatigue, and fitted for any kind of warfare. The restlessness of their sovereign keeps them also in a state of constant activity; and many of them, though young, are already veterans in the field. The Turkish soldiers, on the other hand, are unused to motion--are mostly without experience, and lack confidence both in themselves and in their new system, which they but imperfectly understand. They have no particular attachment to their officers; while the Egyptians, though at first disliking military service, are said in a short time to become so fond of it, as to have and to desire no other home than their tent; they feel also, universally, a strong attachment both to Ibrahim Pasha and to Mahomet Ali. We may find in all this the secret of their success whenever brought into contact with the Turkish soldiery; and there can be little doubt, that if foreign powers had not interfered, Mahomet Ali, if he had chosen, might have seated himself on the throne of Constantinople. Some of the Turkish soldiers taken in the recent expedition toward the Turkish capital, were sent to Egypt as prisoners; and we were informed, excited universal ridicule in their passage through Syria by their sluggish and awkward movement. But I have wandered a little from my subject.