He Experienced Great Vexations From The
Inhabitants Of Siwah; And The Boat Was Of No Use To Him, Owing To
The
shallowness of the lake, so that after a residence of three days at the
Oasis, where he seems to
Have made no discoveries, he returned to Cairo
in the company of some Augila merchants. On his way he passed the wood
of petrified date trees discovered by Horneman; his route, I believe,
was to the south of that of Horneman, and nearer the lesser Oasis. I had
the pleasure of seeing him upon his return from Siwah, when I first
arrived at Cairo. He remained two years in Egypt, and then continued his
travels towards Syria, where he met with his death in 1816, in the
mountainous district of the Nosayris, west of Hamah, having imprudently
exposed himself with a great deal of baggage, in company only of his
interpreter and servant, and without any native guide, to the robbers of
that infamous tribe. He was a lover of truth, and a man of observation
and enterprize; the public, therefore, and his own government, have to
regret his death no less than his friends.] From this elevated peak a
very extensive view opened before us, and the direction of the different
surroundings chains of mountains could be distinctly traced. The upper
nucleus of the Sinai, composed almost entirely of granite, forms a rocky
wilderness of all irregular circular shape, intersected by many narrow
valleys, and from thirty to forty miles in diameter. It contains the
highest mountains of the peninsula, whose shaggy and pointed peaks and
steep and shattered sides, render it clearly distinguishable from all
the rest of the country in view. It is upon this highest region of the
peninsula that the fertile valleys are found, which produce fruit trees;
they are principally to the west and south-west of the convent at three
or four hours distant.
[p.574] Water too is always found in plenty in this district, on which
account it is the place of refuge of all the Bedouins when the low
country is parched up. I think it very probable that this upper country
or wilderness is, exclusively, the desert of Sinai so often mentioned in
the account of the wanderings of the Israelites. Mount St. Catherine
appears to stand nearly in the centre of it. To the northward of this
central region, and divided from it by the broad valley called Wady El
Sheikh, and by several minor Wadys, begins a lower range of mountains,
called Zebeir, which extends eastwards, having at one extremity the two
peaks called El Djoze [Arabic], above the plantations of Wady Feiran,
and losing itself to the east in the more open country towards Wady Sal.
Beyond the Zebeir northwards are sandy plains and valleys, which I
crossed, towards the west, at Raml el Moral, and towards the east, about
Hadhra.This part i[s] the most barren and destitute of water of the
whole country.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 380 of 453
Words from 198026 to 198525
of 236498
