Sea eagles soaring above our heads;
old tanks, ruins, and desolation at our feet. The ancient Arsinoe
stood here; a few blocks of marble with the cross attest the
presence of Venetian Christians; but now - the desolation of
desolations. Mr. Liddell and I separated from the rest, and when
we had found a sure bay for the cable, had a tremendous lively
scramble back to the boat. These are the bits of our life which I
enjoy, which have some poetry, some grandeur in them.
'May 29 (?).
'Yesterday we ran round to the new harbour [of Alexandria], landed
the shore end of the cable close to Cleopatra's bath, and made a
very satisfactory start about one in the afternoon. We had
scarcely gone 200 yards when I noticed that the cable ceased to run
out, and I wondered why the ship had stopped. People ran aft to
tell me not to put such a strain on the cable; I answered
indignantly that there was no strain; and suddenly it broke on
every one in the ship at once that we were aground.
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