"And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to
him."--EXODUS 2:4.
Princess Thermutis, daughter of Pharaoh, looking out through the
lattice of her bathing-house, on the banks of the Nile, saw a curious
boat on the river. It had neither oar nor helm, and they would have
been useless anyhow. There was only one passenger, and that a baby
boy. But the Mayflower that brought the Pilgrim Fathers to America
carried not so precious a load. The boat was made of the broad leaves
of papyrus tightened together by bitumen. Boats were sometimes made of
that material, as we learn from Pliny, and Herodotus, and
Theophrastus.