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82    Juvenile Letters.

That you and I may profit by such lessons as these, is the ardent wish of 

Your sincere friend,
HENRIETTA HARDING.
Miss Susan Sanderson.

LETTER XXX.

From Master ROBERT ROVER to Master AARON ADVENTURER.
Boston.

DEAR FRIEND,

NOTHWITHSTANDING the history of our own country ought fisft to claim our attention, yet I feel within me a strong propensity to wander into distant climes, and learn what they have done and are now doing in the old world. For this purpose, I obtained leave of papa to take the abridgement of Bruce's Travels from the library; and have accompanied him, in imagination, clear to the source of the Nile. And I expect you will value all the news I bring from thence, in proportion to the distance. 

With

Juvenile Letters.    83

With this traveller I have viewed the pyramids of Egypt, those stupendous monuments of folly! Here we traversed the land of the Pharaohs, of Joseph and of Moses. Thence we followed the track of the children of Israel to the Red Sea; saw the very spot where the waters were divided for the chosen people to pass over on dry ground, and where their pursuers were overwhelmed in the flood.

After navigating the Red Sea, Mr. Bruce proceeded to the land of Abyssinia, where he dwelt several years, among a people, who, according to his account, are abandoned to every species of vice. After this, he drank at the source of the Nile, a place for ages fought, but never before found by any of the civilized world.

On his return to Egypt, he and his companions suffered almost unparalleled hardships. In passing the sandy deserts, they were many days at a time with little or nothing to eat or drink, while scorching under the rays of an unclouded fun. Here even their camels, those useful animals, which are capable of enduring incredible

Transcription Notes:
---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-29 15:06:57 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-29 15:23:52 Replaced 'f' with 's', since the letter in these papers is a long s, not 'f'.