May 21st.—We Left Our Resting-Place Before Sign-Rise, And Climbed Up A
Steep Ascent, Where There Had Formerly Been Steps, Which Are Now
Entirely Destroyed.
This side of Djebel Katerin or Mount St. Catherine,
is noted for its excellent pasturage; herbs sprout up every where
between the rocks, and as many of them are odoriferous, the scent early
in the morning, when the dew falls, is delicious.
The Zattar [Arabic],
Ocimum Zatarhendi, was particularly conspicuous, and is esteemed here
the best possible food for sheep. In the month of June, when the herbs
are in blossom, the monks are in the habit of repairing to this and the
surrounding mountains, in order to collect various herbs, which they
dry, and send to the convent at Cairo, from whence they are dispatched
to the archbishop of Sinai at Constantinople, who distributes them to
his friends and dependents; they are supposed to possess many virtues
conducive to health. A botanist would find a rich harvest here, and it
is much to be regretted that two mountains so easy of access,
[p.571] and so rich in vegetation, as Sinai and Libanus, should be still
unexplored by men of science. The pretty red flower of the Noman plant
[Arabic], Euphorbia retusa of Forskal, abounds in al[l] the valleys of
Sinai, and is seen also amongst the most barren granite rocks of the
mountains.
As we approached the summit of the mountain we saw at a distance a small
flock of mountain goats feeding among the rocks.
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