According To A Tradition Among The
Inhabitants, This Region Was Formerly Burnt Up With Drought And
Sterility, Till The Evangelist St Mark Procured This Fountain From God
By Miracle.
We came into the _sea of sand_ before our arrival at the
mountain of the Jews, formerly mentioned, and in it we journeyed three
days and nights.
This is a vast plain covered all over by white sand as
fine almost as flour; and if by evil chance any one travels south while
the wind blows to the north, they are overwhelmed by drifted sand. Even
with the wind favourable, or blowing in the direction of their journey,
the pilgrims are apt to scatter and disperse, as they cannot see each
other at ten paces distance. For this reason those who travel across the
sea of sand are enclosed in wooden cages on the backs of camels, and
are guided by experienced pilots by chart and compass, as mariners on
the ocean. In this journey many perish by thirst, and many by drinking
with too much avidity when they fall in with wells. Owing to this
_Momia_ is found in these sands, bring the flesh of such as have been
_drowned in the sea of sand_, which is there dried up by the heat of the
sun, and the excessive dryness of the sand preventing putrefaction. This
_Momia_ or dried flesh is esteemed medicinal; but there is another and
more precious kind of _Momia_, being the dried and embalmed bodies of
kings and princes, which have been preserved in all times from
corrupting.
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