This Summit Was
Formerly Inhabited By The Monks, But, At Present They Visit It Only In
Time Of Festivals.
BIR SHONNAR
[P.569] We returned to the convent of St. Elias, and then descended on
the western side of the mountain for half an hour by another decayed
flight of steps, into a valley where is a small convent called El
Erbayn, or the forty; it is in good repair, and is at present inhabited
by a family of Djebalye, who take care of the garden annexed to it,
which affords a pleasing place of rest to those who descend from the
barren mountains above. In its neighbourhood are extensive olive
plantations, but I was told that for the last five summers the locusts
had devoured both the fruit and foliage of these trees, upon which they
alight in preference to all others. This insect is not less dreaded here
than in Arabia, Syria, and Egypt, but the Bedouins of Mount Sinai,
unlike those of Arabia, instead of eating them, hold them in great
abhorrence.
We passed the mid-day hours at St. Elias, and towards evening ascended
the mountain opposite to that of Mousa, which forms the western cliff of
this narrow valley. After proceeding about an hour we stopped near a
small well, where we found several huts of Djebalye, and cleared a place
among the rocks, where our party encamped for the night. The well is
called Bir Shonnar [Arabic], from the circumstance of a monk who was
wandering in these mountains, and nearly dying of thirst, having
miraculously discovered it by seeing the bird Shonnar fly up from the
spot; it is closely surrounded by rocks, and is not more than a foot in
diameter and as much in depth.
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