In Order To Take The Nearest Road To The
Convent, We Ascended In A N. Direction, The High Mountain Of
Mohala
[Arabic], the top of which we reached at the end of eleven hours and
three quarters; from hence the
Convent was pointed out to me N. b. E. On
the other side we descended N.E. into a narrow valley on the declivity
of the mountain, where we alighted, after a long day’s march of twelve
hours and a quarter. This mountain is entirely of granite; but at
Tabakat beautiful porphyry is seen with large slabs of feldspath,
traversed by layers of white and rose-coloured quartz.
May 17th.—The night was so cold that we all lay down round the fire, and
kept it lighted the whole night. Early in the morning we continued to
descend the mountain, by a road called Nakb[A steep declivity is called
by the Bedouins Nakb, the plural of which (Ankaba [Arabic]) is often
used by them synonymously with Djebal [Arabic], mountains.]
HASZFET EL RAS
[p.538] Abou el Far [Arabic], and in half an hour reached the Wady Ahmar
[Arabic], which, below, joins the Wady Kyd. Ascending again in this
Wady, we came in an hour to the springs of Abou Tereyfa [Arabic],
oozing, like that of Tabakat, from below a rock which shuts up the
narrow valley. On the declivity of the mountains, farther on, I saw many
ruins of walls, and was informed by my guides, that fifty years ago this
was one of the most fertile valleys of their country, full of date and
other fruit trees; but that a violent flood tore up all the trees, and
laid it waste in a few days, and that since that period it has been
deserted. At the end of two hours and a half, we descended into a broad
valley, or rather plain, called Haszfet el Ras [Arabic], and perceived
at its extremity an encampment, which we reached at three hours and a
quarter, and alighted under the tent of the chief; he happened to be the
same Bedouin who had conducted me last year from Tor to Cairo, and who
had also brought the from Cairo to the convent. I knew that he was angry
with me for having discharged him on my arrival at the latter place, and
for having hired Hamd to conduct me to Akaba; he was already acquainted
with my return, and that I had gone to Sherm, but little expected to see
me here. He, however, gave me a good reception, killed a lamb for my
dinner, and would not let me depart in the afternoon, another Arab
having prepared a goat for our supper. We remained therefore the whole
day with him, and, in the evening, joined in the dance and songs of the
Mesámer, which were protracted till long after-midnight, and brought
several other young men from the neighbouring encampments. The stranger
not accustomed to Bedouin life can seldom hope to enjoy quiet sleep in
these encampments. After the songs and dances are ended he must lie down
in the tent of his host with a number of men, who think to honour him by
keeping him company; but who, if the tent is not very large,
WADY SEBAYE
[p.539] lie so close as to impart to him a share of the vermin with
which they are sure to be infested. To sleep in the open air before the
tent is difficult, on account of the fierce dogs of the encampment, who
have as great an aversion for townsmen as their masters have; the
Bedouins too dislike this practice, because a sight of the female
apartment may thus be obtained. I found the women here much more
reserved than among other Bedouins; I could not induce any of them to
converse with me, and soon perceived that both themselves and their
husbands disliked their being noticed; a fastidiousness of manners for
which they are no doubt indebted to the frequent visits of their
husbands to the capital of Egypt.
We had another shower in the night; flying showers are frequent during
the summer, but they are never sufficiently copious in that season to
produce torrents.
May 18th left the tent before dawn, and proceeded along a Wady and then
N.W. up an ascent, whose summit we reached in two hours. From thence a
fine view opened upon a broad Wady called Sebaye [Arabic], and towards
the mountain of Tyh. We crossed Wady Sebaye, and then ascended the
mountain which commands the convent on the south side, and descending
again, reached the convent at the end of three hours and a half. Our
march during the whole of this journey had been slow, except on the day
of our flight from the robbers; for our camels were weak and tired, and
one of us usually walked. There is a more northern road from Sherm to
the convent, which branches off from that by which we came, at Wady
Orta; it passes by the two watering places of Naszeb [Arabic], and Ara-
yne [Arabic]; the former, which is in a fruitful valley, where date-
trees grow, must not be confounded with the western Naszeb, already
mentioned.
Hamd, afraid of being liable to pay the fine of blood, if it should
become known that the robber had fallen by his hand, had
CONVENT OF MOUNT SINAI
[p.540] made us all give him our solemn promise not to mention any thing
of the affair. When I discharged him and Ayd at the convent, I made them
both some presents, which they had well deserved, particularly Hamd;
this he was so imprudent as to mention to his uncle Szaleh, who was so
vexed at not receiving a present, that he immediately divulged all the
circumstances of our rencounter. Hamd in consequence was under the
greatest apprehensions from the relations of the robber, and having
accompanied me on my return to Cairo, he remained with me some time
there, in anxious expectation of hearing whether the robber’s blood was
likely to be revenged.
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