They said that they believed themselves to be Egyptians, because
their fathers before them believed so, who must know much better
than themselves. They were fond of talking of Egypt and its former
greatness, though it was evident that they knew nothing farther of
the country and its history than what they derived from spurious
biblical legends current amongst the Spaniards; only from such
materials could they have composed the following account of the
manner of their expulsion from their native land.
'There was a great king in Egypt, and his name was Pharaoh. He had
numerous armies, with which he made war on all countries, and
conquered them all. And when he had conquered the entire world, he
became sad and sorrowful; for as he delighted in war, he no longer
knew on what to employ himself. At last he bethought him on making
war on God; so he sent a defiance to God, daring him to descend
from the sky with his angels, and contend with Pharaoh and his
armies; but God said, I will not measure my strength with that of a
man. But God was incensed against Pharaoh, and resolved to punish
him; and he opened a hole in the side of an enormous mountain, and
he raised a raging wind, and drove before it Pharaoh and his armies
to that hole, and the abyss received them, and the mountain closed
upon them; but whosoever goes to that mountain on the night of St.
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