Tor, W.1.S. The usual road to Tor from the upper Sinai lies through the
valley of El Ghor [Arabic], not far distant to the N.W.
WADY RAHABA
[p.592] of Shomar; to the south of El Ghor extends the chain of Djed el
Aali [Arabic]; and another valley called El Shedek [Arabic], entered
from the Ghor, leads towards the lower plain
Djebel Serbal, N. 1/4 W.
The Djoze, over Feiran, N. 1/2 W.
Om Dhad, N.N.W.
Fera Soweyd [Arabic], a high mountain between Om Shomar and Mount St.
Catherine, N. b. E. It forms one range with the peak of Koly, which
branches of from hence, N.E. b. N.
Mountain of Masaoud, E.
Mountain over Wady Kyd, E. 1/4 S.
We took a breakfast after our return to Romhan, and then descended by
the same way we had come. In re-ascending Wady Zereigye we heard the
report of a gun, and were soon after gratified by seeing our huntsman
arrive at the place where we had left our camel, with a fine mountain
goat. Immediately on killing it he had skinned it, taken out the
entrails, and then put the carcase again into the skin, carrying it on
his back, with the skin of the legs tied across his breast. No butcher
in Europe can surpass a Bedouin in skinning an animal quickly; I have
seen them strip a camel in less than a quarter of an hour; the entrails
are very seldom thrown away; if water is at hand, they are washed, if
not, they are roasted over the fire without washing; the liver and lungs
of all animals are usually eaten raw, and many of the hungry bystanders
are seen swallowing raw pieces of flesh. After a hearty dinner we
descended, by a different path from that we had ascended, into the upper
part of Wady Rahaba, in which we continued N.E. b. E. for two or three
hours, when we halted at a well called Merdoud [Arabic], at a little
distance from several plantations of fruittrees.
My departure from the convent had roused the suspicions of the Bedouins;
they had learnt that I was going to Om Shomar, and
WADY OWASZ
[p.593] two of them set out this morning by different routes, in order
to intercept my return, intending no doubt to excite a quarrel with me
respecting my visits to their mountains, in the hope of extorting money
from me. We met one of them at this well, and he talked as loud and was
as boisterous as if I had killed some of his kindred, or robbed his
tent. After allowing him to vent his rage for half an hour, I began to
speak to him in a very lofty tone, of my own importance at Cairo, and of
my friendship with the Pasha; concluding by telling him, that the next
time he went to Cairo I would have his camel seized by the soldiers.
When he found that he could not intimidate me, he accepted of my
invitation to be our guest for the night, and went in search of a
neighbouring friend of his, who brought us an earthen pot, in which we
cooked the goat.
May 25th.—At one hour below Merdoud we again fell in with Wady Owasz,
and returned by the former road to the convent. The monks were in the
greatest anxiety about me, for the Bedouins who had gone in search of
me, had sworn that they would shoot me; and had even refused a small
present offered to them by the Ikonómos to pacify them, expecting, no
doubt, to obtain much more from myself; but they now returned, and
obliged him to give them what he had offered them, pretending that it
was for his sake only that they had spared my life; nor would the monks
believe me when I assured them that I had been in no danger on this
occasion.
I passed the following four days in the convent, and in several gardens
and settlements of Djebalye at a little distance from it. I took this
opportunity to look over some of the records of the convent which are
written in Arabic, and I extracted several interesting documents
relative to the state of the Bedouins in former times, and their affrays
with the monks. In one, of the last century, is a
CONVENT OF MOUNT SINAI
[p.594] list of the Ghafeyrs of the convent, not belonging to the
Towara. These are,
El Rebabein [Arabic], a small tribe belonging to the great Djeheyne
tribe of the Hedjaz; a few families of the Rebabein have settled at
Moeleh on the Arabian coast, and in the small villages in the vicinity
of Tor. They serve as pilots in that part of the Red sea, and protect
the convent’s property about Tor.
El Heywat [Arabic], El Syayhe [Arabic], are small tribes living east of
Akaba, among the dwelling-places of the Omran. El Reteymat [Arabic], a
tribe about Ghaza and Hebron. El Omarein, or Omran. El Hokouk [Arabic],
the principal tribe of he Tyaha. El Mesayd [Arabic], a small tribe of
the Sherkieh province of Egypt. El Alowein, a strong tribe north of
Akaba. El Sowareka [Arabic], in the desert between Sinai and Ghaza. El
Terabein. El Howeytat. Oulad el Fokora [Arabic], the principal branch of
the tribe of Wahydat near Ghaza. Individuals of all these tribes are
entitled to small yearly stipends and some clothing, and are bound to
recover the property of the monks, when seized by any persons of their
respective tribes. In one of the manuscripts I found the name of a
Ghafeyr called Shamoul (Samuel), a Hebrew name I had never before met
with among Arabs.
On the 29th, I was visited by Hassan Ibn Amer [Arabic], the Sheikh of
the Oulad Said, who is also one of the two principal Sheiks of the
Towara, and in whose tent I had slept one night in my way to the
convent.
