Towards The Evening We Met
Him, So Much Exhausted With Thirst, That His Eyes Had Become Dim, And He
Could Scarcely Recognise Us; Had He Not Fallen In With Us He Would
Probably Have Perished.
My companions laughed at the effeminate
Egyptian, as they called him, and his presumption in travelling alone in
districts with which he was unacquainted.
At the end of eight hours and
three quarters, in a general direction of. E. by S. we passed a small
inlet in the northern chain, where, at a short distance from the road,
is said to be a well of tolerable water, called El Maleha [Arabic], or
the saltish. We then ascended with difficulty a steep mountain, composed
to the top of moving sands, with a very few rocks appearing above the
surface. We reached the summit after a day’s march of nine hours and
three quarters, and rested upon a high plain, called Raml el Morak
[Arabic]. From hence we had an extensive view to the north, bounded by
the chain of mountains called El Tyh [Arabic]; this range begins near
the abovementioned mountain of Sarbout el Djemel, and extends in a curve
eastwards twenty or twenty-five miles, from the termination of the Wady
Hommar. At the eastern extremity lies a high mountain called Djebel
Odjme [Arabic], to the north of which begins another chain, likewise
running eastwards towards the gulf of
WADY KHAMYLE
[p.481] Akaba. The name of El Tyh is applied to this ridge as well as to
the former, but it is specifically called El Dhelel [Arabic]. These
chains form the northern boundaries of the Sinai mountains, and are the
pasturing places of the Sinai Bedouins. They are the most regular ranges
of the peninsula, being almost throughout of equal height, without any
prominent peaks, and extending in an uninterrupted line eastwards. They
are inhabited by the tribes of Terabein and Tyaha, the latter of whom
are richer in camels and flocks than any other of the Towara tribes. The
valleys of these mountains are said to afford excellent pasturage, and
fine springs, though not in great numbers. The Terabein frequently visit
Cairo and Suez; but the Tyaha have more intercourse with Ghaza, and
Khalyl, and are a very bold, independent people, often at war with their
neighbours, and, even now, caring little for the authority of the Pasha
of Egypt. At the southern foot of the mountain Tyh extends a broad sandy
plain, called El Seyh, which begins at the Debbe, and continues for two
days journey eastwards. It affords good pasturage in spring, but has no
water, and is therefore little frequented by Bedouins.
April 29th.—We crossed the plain of Raml Morak in a S. by E. direction.
From hence the high peak of Serbal bore S. In an hour and a quarter we
reached the upper chain of the mountains of Sinai, where grünstein
begins, mixed in places with layers of granite, and we entered the
valley called Wady Khamyle [Arabic]. At the end of two hours we passed
in the valley a projecting rock, like that of Naszeb, serving for a
resting-place to travellers: here I observed several inscriptions
similar to those of Naszeb, but much effaced, together with rude
drawings of mountain goats. As I did not wish to betray too much
curiosity, until I could ascertain what conduct I ought to pursue in
order to attain my chief object of penetrating to Akaba, I did not stop
to copy
WADY BARAK
[p.482] these monuments. At the end of two hours and a half in the Wady
Khamyle we came to the first Bedouin encampment which I had seen since
leaving Suez. It belonged to the tribe of Szowaleha [Arabic]. On the
approach of summer all the Bedouins leave the lower country, where the
herbage is dried up, and retire towards the higher parts of the
peninsula, where, owing to the comparatively cooler climate, the pasture
preserves its freshness much longer. Ascending gently through the
valley, we passed at three hours a place of burial called Mokbera
[Arabic], one of the places of interment of the tribe of Szowaleha. It
seems to be a custom prevalent with the Arabs in every part of the
desert, to have regular burial-grounds, whither they carry their dead,
sometimes from the distance of several days journey. The burying ground
seen by Niebuhr[Voyage, vol. i. p. 189] near Naszeb, which, as I have
already mentioned, I passed without visiting, and missed in my way back,
by taking a more southern road, appears to have been an ancient cemetery
of the same kind, formed at a time when hieroglyphical characters were
in use among all the nations under Egyptian influence. As there are no
countries where ancient manners are so permanent as in the desert, it is
probable that the same customs of sepulture then prevailed which still
exist, and that the burying ground described by Niebuhr by no means
proves the former existence of a city. Among the rude tombs of Mokbera,
which consist, for the most part, of mere heaps of earth covered with
loose stones, the tomb of Sheikh Hamyd, a Bedouin saint, is
distinguished; the Szowaleha keep it always carefully covered with fresh
herbs.
At the end of three hours and a half we entered another valley, called
Wady Barak [Arabic], where the ascent becomes more steep. Here the rock
changes to porphyry, with strata of grünstein; the surface of the former
is in most places completely
WADY GENNE
[p.483] black. The mountains on both sides of the valley are much
shattered: detached blocks and loose stones covered their sides, and the
bottom of the valley was filled, in many places to the depth of ten
feet, with a layer of stones that had fallen down. The Wady becomes
narrower towards the upper end, and the camels ascended with difficulty.
At the end of six hours and a quarter we reached the extremity, to which
the Bedouins apply the name of Djebel Leboua [Arabic], the mountain of
the lioness, a name indicating, perhaps, that lions existed at one
period in the peninsula of Mount Sinai, though no longer to be found
here.
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