the road we were now following, to the head of Wady Taiyibeh; for no other road exists, or can exist, in this direction.

Wady Thâl or Athâl followed at 10 o'clock; running from E. to W. with shrubs and acacias and a few palm-trees; and also some holes with brackish water, like Wady Useit; the ground being likewise covered with a nitrous crust. The mountain at the head of this valley takes the name of Râs Wâdy Thâl; and is strictly not a part of Jebel et-Tîh, being divided from it by the Wady Wutâh above mentioned. Wady Thâl finds its way down through Jebel Hummâm to the sea by a deep and narrow ravine; but on the South of it there is still no road along the shore. Proceeding now on a course nearly South, and passing round the end of a spur running S. E. from Jebel Hŭmmâm, we came after a few rods to a small heap of stones under a bank by the roadside, with a few rags scattered around, which the Arabs regard as the tomb of a female saint, 'Öreis Themmân, or Bride of Themmân. Burckhardt says, the Arabs are in the habit of saying a short prayer here; but ours did not. Crossing a low hill we came at 11 o'clock to Wady Shubeikeh, running here nearly South, the bed of which we followed. This valley has several branches, which unite further down; and from this junction of the many, comes the name Shubeikeh, "net." While passing down this Wady, our sharp-eyed Arabs discovered two gazelles upon the high ridge on the right; and it was amusing to see with what eagerness both old and young immediately set off in pursuit. They always try to approach the game by a circuit on the side opposite the wind; and having only guns with match-locks they must get within shot without disturbing the animal. This time they came back unsuccessful. The beautiful animals had seen them before they started, and

bounding gracefully over the hills, had not suffered them to come near. But it made quite an incident in the usual monotony of the way. Here too, as in very many other instances, we could not but be struck with the likeness which the Bedawîn bear to the American Indians in many of their habits; especially in the unerring sagacity with which they trace and recognise the shadowy footsteps of persons, and even of camels, upon the surface of the deserts.

Passing the junction of the several branches of Wady Shubeikeh, we soon came, at 12 o'clock, to an open place, where Wady Humr comes down from the E. S. E., and joining the Shubeikeh, the two then form Wady et-Taiyibeh, which passes down S. W. through the mountains to the sea-shore, two hours distant from this spot. Here the two roads to Mount Sinai separate; the upper and shorter one, which we took, turning to the left up Wady Humr; while the lower and easier one goes down Wady Taiyibeh to the sea. This latter Wady is described as a fine valley inclosed by abrupt rocks, with many trees, and a little brackish water like the preceding Wadys. Where it reaches the sea there is a high promontory on the North; while on the South the mountains retire, leaving a sandy plain with many shrubs, extending southwards for an hour and a half along the shore. Then the mountains come down again to the sea for about the same distance, admitting a passage around them only at low water, while at other times travellers must cross over them; as was the case when Burckhardt passed. Beyond the mountains, towards the South, a large plain opens along the shore, in which at an hour's distance is the bitter fountain el-Murkhâh. Burckhardt describes it as a small pond in the sandstone

1) Burckhardt, p. 625.

rock, near the foot

of the mountains which skirt the plain on the East. The taste of the water is bad; owing partly to the weeds, moss, and dirt, with which the pond is filled; but chiefly, no doubt, to the saline nature of the soil around it. Our Arabs however said it was better than the water of Hawârah. Next to Ghŭrundel, it is the principal watering-place of the Arabs on this road. Burckhardt also mentions a reservoir of rain-water in Wady edh-Dhafary, half an hour S. E. by S. from el-Murkhâh. An hour or more S. of this latter fountain (el-Murkhâh), the road to Sinai separates from that to Tûr; the latter keeping along the coast; while the former enters the mountains through Wady Shellâl, and so continues through Wady Mukatteb to Wady Feirân, where there is water and also cultivation.'

It has been already remarked, that the Israelites must have passed from Ghurundel inside of Jebel Hummâm to the head of Wady et-Taiyibeh; and it must also have been on the plain at the mouth of this valley, that they again encamped by the Red Sea. The nature of the country shows conclusively, that if they passed through this region at all, they must necessarily have taken this course, and had their encampment at this place. From Ghŭrundel to the head of Taiyibeh we found the distance to be six hours, making eight hours or sixteen geogr. milest o its mouth; a long day's journey for such a multitude. This is the objection which might be urged against the identity of Ghŭrundel and Elim; and might lead us to place Elim perhaps in Wady Useit. Still, as Ghŭrundel is one of the most noted Arab watering-places, and the Israelites very probably would have rested there several days; it would not be difficult for them for once to make a longer march and 2) Num. xxxiii. 10.

1) See in general Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, etc. p. 623, seq.

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thus reach the plain near the sea. Besides, in a host like that of the Israelites, consisting of more than two millions of people, with many flocks, it can hardly be supposed that they all marched in one body. More probably the stations as enumerated refer rather to the head-quarters of Moses and the elders, with a portion of the people who kept near them; while other portions preceded or followed them at various distances, as the convenience of water and pasturage might dictate. Water, such as it is, they would find in small quantities throughout this tract; and they probably continued to practise the method of sweetening it which they had been taught at Marah; for we hear no more complaint of bad water. But how they could have obtained a sufficiency of water during their whole stay in the peninsula and their subsequent wanderings in the desert, even where no want of water is mentioned, is a mystery which I am unable to solve; unless we admit the supposition, that water was anciently far more abundant in these regions, than at present. As we saw the peninsula, a body of two millions of men could not subsist there a week, without drawing their supplies of water, as well as of provisions, from a great distance.

From their encampment at the mouth of Wady etTaiyibeh, the Israelites would necessarily advance into the great plain, which, beginning near el-Murkhâh, extends with a greater or less breadth almost to the extremity of the peninsula. In its broadest part, northward of Tûr, it is called el-Kâ'a. This desert plain, to which they would thus necessarily come, I take to be the desert of Sin, the next station mentioned in Scripture. From this plain they could enter the mountains at various points, either by the present

1) Ex. xvi. 1. Num. xxxiii. 11.

nearer route through the Wadys Shellâl and Mukatteb, or perhaps by the mouth of Wady Feirân itself. Their approach to Sinai was probably along the upper part of this latter valley and Wady esh-Sheikh; but the two subsequent stations, Dophkah and Alush, are mentioned so indefinitely, that no hope remains of their ever being identified.' The same is perhaps true of Rephidim, to which we shall recur again in the sequel.

As

We were for a time quite at a loss, which of the roads to take from the head of Wady et-Taiyibeh to Sinai. We wished much to see the celebrated inscriptions in Wady Mukatteb on the lower road; and we wished just as much to visit the mysterious monuments of Surâbît el-Khâdim near the upper one. we knew, however, that similar inscriptions existed along this latter route, though not in such multitudes, we decided to take it; and turning into Wady Humr at a quarter past noon, we proceeded up that valley on a course E. S. E.2 The mountains around the head of Wady et-Taiyibeh, where we now were, abound in salt; and our Arabs brought us several pieces of it, beautifully white. Wady Humr is broad, with precipitous sides of limestone, from one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet high. We here found the heat very oppressive, occasioned by the reflection of the sun from the chalky cliffs; although the thermometer in the shade rose only to 80° F. Water had evidently been running here not long before; and the herbs and shrubs were fresher than usual.

1) Num. xxxiii. 12, 13.

2) Burckhardt gives the name of Taiyibeh to our Wady Shubeikeh; and that of Shubeikeh to the lower part of Wady Humr. We had his book with us, and were aware of this difference on the spot; but all our guides knew no other application of these names

I

than that given in the text. would not fail, however, here and elsewhere, to bear testimony to the extreme general accuracy of this lamented traveller, in his topographical details and descriptions. His orthography of Arabic names is not always so exact; yet it is all we have hitherto had.