Before night we were surrounded by a horizon of water, and this being the first time since I had lived on the earth, that I had been unable to behold it, the situation was wholly novel, not only to me but to other passengers,--some of whom manifested the liveliest fears, lest we should no more behold the land. My mind was impressed by the sublimity and vastness of the view; and the majestic idea of eternity--boundless and infinite--filled my soul. It seemed as if, from our deck, I could survey the universe of space, for there was nothing terrestrial to arrest and confine the eye. "Who," I reflected, "as he surveys the illimitable sky, and the measureless ocean over which it extends, can withhold the confession that there is One God only, the Upholder of worlds and the Governor of His creation? Who, with such a scene before him, as day with its splendor and vastness of space, and night with its stars presented above the sea, could give the glory of the Almighty to another, and put his trust in such myths as are the gods of Egypt and the deities of Phœnicia?" I rejoice, O king, that you have listened to the truths it was my happiness to unfold to you, and that in your heart you acknowledge and secretly adore the Almighty. May the time soon come when you will have strength given you, from Himself, to establish His holy worship in your dominions! A king is God's representative on earth, and his power is great; and if he exercise it,--not like the Pharaohs, who reign as if they were gods, but--with judgment, and fear, and humble recognition of the Infinite source of all power, then He who is King of kings and Lord of lords, will bless him and cause him to prosper. When a king acknowledges that his power is delegated, and that he must be accountable for its use or abuse to his God, he has gained the highest wisdom that earth can give! Seek, O king, that wisdom! Pardon me, my dear Sesostris, for presuming to teach you. I am diffident in speech when present with you, but you perceive I am bold, perhaps too much so, when away from you. We continued, for three days and nights, sailing upon the sea, without a shore in view, and in a few hours more hoped to find the mouth of the Nile; when the wind, after a sudden lull, came round to the south, the air was darkened with clouds, and night came on, enveloping our ship in the profoundest gloom, amid which we drove, our pilot knew not whither! It was a night of painful suspense. The seas dashed over us; our banks of oars were broken or washed away; and not a cubit's breadth of sail could remain on the mast, while the air was filled with sharp sand, blown from the Arabian desert.