To The South Of Dahab The Camel Road Along The
Shore Is Shut Up By Cliffs Which Form A Promontory
Called El Shedjeir
[Arabic]; we were therefore obliged to take a circuitous route through
the mountains, and directed our road
By that way straight towards Sherm,
the most southern harbour on this coast. We ascended a broad sandy
valley in the direction S.W.; this is the same Wady Sal in which we had
already travelled in our way from the convent, and which empties itself
into the sea. In the rocky sides of this valley I observed several small
grottos, apparently receptacles for the dead, which were just large
enough to receive one corpse; I at first supposed them to have been
natural erosions of the sand-stone rock; but as there were at least a
dozen of them, and as I had not seen any thing similar in other sand-
rocks, I concluded that they had been originally formed by man, and that
time had worn them away to the appearance of natural cavities.
We left the valley and continued to ascend slightly through windings of
the Wady Beney [Arabic] and Wady Ghayb [Arabic], two broad barren sandy
valleys, till, at the end of four hours, we reached the well of Moayen
el Kelab [Arabic], at the extremity of Wady Ghayb, where it is shut up
by a cliff. Here is a small pond of water under the shade of an
impending rock, and a large wild fig-tree. On the top of a neighbouring
part of the granite cliff, is a similar pond with reeds growing in it.
The water, which is never known to dry up, is excellent, and acquires
still greater value from being in the vicinity of a spacious cavern,
which affords shade to the traveller. This well is much visited by the
Mezeine tribe; on several trees in the valley leading to it, we found
suspended different articles of Bedouin tent furniture, and also entire
tent coverings. My guides told me that the owners left them here during
their absence, in order not to have the
MOFASSEL EL KORFA
[p.526] trouble of carrying them about; and such is the confidence which
these people have in one another, that no instance is known of any of
the articles so left having ever been stolen: the same practice prevails
in other parts of the peninsula. The cavern is formed by nature in a
beautiful granite rock; its interior is covered on all sides with
figures of mountain goats drawn with charcoal in the rudest manner; they
are done by the shepherd boys and girls of the Towaras.
The heat being intense we reposed in the cavern till the evening, when,
after retracing our road for a short distance, we turned into the Wady
Kenney [Arabic], which we ascended; at its extremity we began to descend
in a Wady called Molahdje [Arabic], a narrow, steep, and rocky valley of
difficult passage. Ayd’s dog started a mountain goat, but was unable to
come up with it.
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