admire the gates. They are divided into square compartments, each pannel of which contains an enamel in the most beautiful preservation, and of the most perfect design. The monks then led us to the mosque, for the Greek convent in token of servitude has been compelled to erect a Turkish edifice within its sacred precincts. It is the seal of the firman which permits them to practise Christian rites in this Mohammedan land. The fathers made us remark, that it was mouldering and deserted, but such as it is, it suffices for Mohammedan pride, and grieves and humiliates the poor monks beyond all expression.

The library, to which they next conducted us, contains a vast number of manuscripts, which the ́ monks never open, and of which the value and importance will not be known, until some young and enterprising scholar from Europe will shut himself up for a year or two in the midst of these dusty volumes. Some of these are bound in wood, decorated with arabesques of silver. They showed us a New Testament, which, if we may believe tradition, was entirely written by the emperor Theodosius. It is adorned with figures of the four Evangelists, a portrait of our Saviour, and some paintings representing the principal scenes of the Gospel.

We then visited in succession twenty-five small chapels, which are in the different courts of the

convent. They are all remarkable for the richness of their ornaments, and the Byzantine character of the pictures with which they are decorated. Our guide then led us by a gentle descent into a subterraneous vault; when we reached the end, he opened an iron gate, and we entered the garden.

This garden is a marvel of patience and labour. It was necessary to bring a vegetable soil on the backs of dromedaries all the way from Egypt, from the banks of the Nile, and spread it on the granite side of the mountains sufficiently deep for the largest trees to strike their roots into it; then, directing the course of the upper waters, it was necessary to form a system of irrigation, which could resist the scorching influence of the sun; finally, it was necessary to devote every day, hour, and minute, to labour, in order to raise and preserve delicate plants in this fiery climate, where the sky resembles a red-hot sheet of iron. The finest trees, and the best fruits I have ever seen, are the reward of this labour; the grapes, especially, reminded me of those clusters, which the spies, sent to survey the Promised Land, cut down at the brook of Eshcol.

We continued our walk under fragrant orangetrees, whose perfume and shade seemed to us still more agreeable, after the burning halts and scorching journeys of the preceding days; through their branches, which formed a delicious dome of verdure

for travellers, who had so long no other shelter than the arid canvass of a tent, we saw a clear sky, tinged near the horizon, by the crimson rays of the setting sun; near us, we heard with strange emotions, as if we dreaded some deception, the murmur of a fountain, which was gushing from some rock. A man must have lived in the Desert to comprehend the delight which the eye and ear receive, from seeing trees and hearing the murmur of water; aspects and sounds so common in Europe, that persons, who have only inhabited that quarter of the globe, cannot understand how such ordinary enjoyments can gladden

the heart.

At the extremity of this Eden, we found Mohammed and Abdallah in animated conversation with the gardener. Scarcely had the latter perceived us, when he came up and saluted us in our own language, with "Good day, comrades!" This French phrase sounded in our ears like a sweet and distant echo of our country. We eagerly replied in the same language, but, alas! the gardener's knowledge was limited to these few words. He was a Cossac, who had assisted at the capture of Paris in 1814, and who, during the occupation had learned some French phrases, all of which he had since forgotten, except the form of salute. On his return to Russian-Tartary, his master, a very zealous Greek Christian, had sent him to the convent of

Sinai, where he had been now about a dozen years.

In the mean time, night rapidly descended; we came back through the iron-gate which protects the convent on this side against the attacks of the Arabs, and for the first time we enjoyed a comfortable sleep, undisturbed by the fear of serpents, or the ferocious concerts of jackals and hyenas.

The next day we rose with the sun; during this day we had engaged to ascend Sinai, and visit all the places consecrated by Moses. We began our journey, accompanied by one of the good fathers, who served us as guide, and made our exit, not through the gate, but the window. We mounted our stick as we had done on the preceding evening, the windlass slowly unwound, and in about five minutes, the four of us were at the foot of the wall. The rope was then drawn up, the window closed, and all communication between the Desert and the convent again broken.

Mount Horeb is one of the paps of Sinai, whose peak it conceals, so that it cannot be seen from the plain. Our road lay through a kind of ravine, which the monks had paved with flag-stones; formerly, these stones made a very convenient staircase, by the help of which pilgrims ascended to the summit of the holy mountain. At present, these stones are disjointed by the torrents of rain which

fall during storms, and broken by the masses of rock which occasionally fall from the mountain into the valley. At about a third of the road, towards the middle of the stairs, at the moment when travellers are about to leave Horeb for Sinai, there is a gate in an arch-way, that rises against the sky; and to the key-stone of the arch a cross is affixed, the subject of a tradition in great credit with the monks. According to them, a Jew who had set out from the convent to ascend Sinai, had been stopped at this spot by an iron cross, which obstinately barred his passage, presenting itself to him at every side by which he tried to advance. Affrighted by this prodigy, the Jew fell upon his knees, and requested baptism from the monk who accompanied him. The sacred ceremony was performed on the very spot, with water obtained from the ravine. This miracle had originated a custom now fallen into disuse. Formerly, one of the monks of the convent always stood in prayer near this gate; and the pilgrims before going further, and daring to tread the mountain which Moses only ventured to approach with naked feet, made a general confession of their sins, and received absolution.

Along the entire road we saw serpents, who, at our approach, sought shelter in the clefts of the rocks, and enormous green lizards, which raised themselves on their claws, propped by their tails,