sent manna. And even could it be shown to be the same, still a supply of it in sufficient abundance for the daily consumption of two millions of people, would have been no less a miracle.

The Superior also procured for me a pair of the sandals usually worn by the Bedawîn of the peninsula, made of the thick skin of a fish which is caught in the Red Sea. The Arabs around the convent called it Tûn; but could give no further account of it, than that it is a large fish, and is eaten. It is a species of Halicore, named by Ehrenberg Halicora Hemprichii.' The skin is clumsy and coarse, and might answer very well for the external covering of the tabernacle, which was constructed at Sinai;2 but would seem hardly a fitting material for the ornamental sandals belonging to the costly attire of high-born dames in Palestine, described by the prophet Ezekiel.3

It will not be supposed that all these things were presented to us without the hope of a recompense. Indeed, some of them, as the manna and sandals, were a matter of purchase on our part; and as to the rest, we knew very well that a present of money was expected to an amount greater than the value of the articles.

Thursday, March 29th, Forenoon. This being the day appointed for our setting off, we held ourselves ready at an early hour; but it was nearly eleven. o'clock before Tuweileb arrived with the camels. After a long talk in the garden in presence of the Superior, it was agreed, that as Beshârah had now no camel, Tuweileb should take his place in the contract,

1) See Ehrenberg's Symbola Phys. Mammalia, Decas II. Text fol. K. Also ibid. Zootomica, Dec. I. Tab. 3, 4, 5. According to this writer, the Arabs on the coast call this fish Naka and Lottûm.

2) Ex. xxv. 5. xxvi. 14. al. The Hebrew word is in, usually translated badger; though, as it would seem, without sufficient reason in this case.

3) Ezek. xvi. 10.

and conduct us to 'Akabah. Three of the men also, who had come with us from Cairo, concluded to go no further; and we found that we were to have an entirely new set of camels, which proved to be better than the former ones. The 190 Piastres to be paid for each camel from Cairo to 'Akabah, the Arabs divided among themselves as follows: 40 from Cairo to Suez; 80 from Suez to the convent; and 70 from the convent to 'Akabah. Yet there would seem to be no regular price for any of these routes; for an English traveller the year before had paid at the rate of 40 Piastres to Suez; 100 thence to the convent; and 60 from the convent to 'Akabah.

We parted from Beshârah with regret. He had served us faithfully and well; was ever active and vigilant; and had always manifested some independence and self-respect. We made him a small additional present on account of the camel he had lost in our service; and promised to put him into our book, if we made one. As he said he should return immediately to Cairo, we entrusted letters to his care, with a promise of reward on their being delivered; but it was many months ere they reached the places of their destination.

Tuweileb was an older man than Beshârah; he had travelled more, was better acquainted with the routes and with the country in general, and knew more of the habits and usual wants of Frank travellers. He was, however, less active; was apparently growing old; and had seen his best days. Yet we found him throughout faithful, trust-worthy, and kind; although for a great part of the time he was with us, he was labouring under ill-health. We cheerfully add our testimony in his favour, to that of former travellers.

Our residence of five and a half days in the convent turned out to be rather an expensive one. The com

munity provided us with various articles which we needed on our further journey; as bread, dried fruits, almonds, candles, and the like; but would set no price upon them. These we could estimate; but to do the proper thing' as to our lodgings and entertainment, and a fit 'remembrance' to all the inmates, from the Superior down to the servants, was a matter requiring more nicety and tact. With the aid of our Komeh, who was skilled in these matters, we made out to get through the business to the apparent satisfaction of all parties, except the good Superior. He had exerted himself perhaps unusually to pay us friendly attentions; and possibly he expected from us too much in return. His manner was still and resigned; but his countenance was fallen and beclouded. A civil speech, however, with the dextrous application of a couple of dollars in addition, wrought a sudden change; the cloud cleared away, his eyes lighted up, and his whole countenance assumed an expression of more than wonted benignity.

During our journey to the convent, it had been a part of our plan, or rather our wish, to make an excursion to Jebel Serbâl, in order to examine for ourselves, whether this mountain has any claim to be regarded as the Sinai of Scripture; as Burckhardt suggests was perhaps anciently the case.' But after we reached the convent, and perceived the adaptedness of that region to the circumstances of the historical narrative, this wish became less strong; and afterwards the want of time, and the information given us by Sheikh Husein and Tuweileb respecting the district of Serbâl, led us to abandon the idea of visiting it. Tuweileb had spent several weeks around the mountain the preceding season; and both assured us, that nowhere in the vicinity of it, is there any valley or open spot like the plain er

1) Travels, etc. page 609.

Râhah, or even like Wady esh-Sheikh. From the N. E. side of Serbâl the Wadys run down to Wady Feirân; but they are comparatively narrow and rocky. On its S. W. side, still narrower Wadys run out to the great plain el-Kâ'a, at the distance of an hour or more. There is water in plenty on both sides of the mountain; and a path, laid in part with steps, leads along the eastern and southern sides to the summit. The route from the convent to Serbâl goes down Wady Sheikh; or else by the Nukb Hâwy and down Wady Solâf. The distance from the convent to Feirân near the foot of Serbâl by this latter route, is nine or ten hours. The mountain itself is a long ridge with five principal peaks. Burckhardt ascended the easternmost, which with the one adjacent he supposed to be the highest. Rüppell in 1831 ascended the second from the West, by a path along the northern side of the mountain; he regards this as the highest, and took observations upon it to ascertain its elevation. From these its height was found to be 6342 Paris feet above the sea; or 976 feet higher than the convent el-Arba'în.' Hence it turns out that Serbâl is more than 1700 feet lower than St. Catharine; although as it rises alone and magnificently from the midst of far inferior ridges, its apparent elevation is not much less than that of the former mountain.

On both the summits ascended by Burckhardt and Rüppell, these travellers found inscriptions in the usual unknown character; and also in the vallies leading to the mountain. In a Wady on the S. W. side of the ridge, near its eastern end, are the remains of a large and well-built convent, from which a path is said to lead up the mountain. These circumstances would seem to indicate, that Serbâl was anciently a place of

1) Rüppell's Reise in Abyssinien, I. pp. 128, 124.

pilgrimage; but whether because it was perhaps regarded as the Sinai of Scripture, or more probably only in connection with this convent and the episcopal see of Faran, it is now difficult to determine.'

The weather during our residence at the convent, as indeed during all our journey through the peninsula, was very fine; with the slight exception already mentioned on Jebel Mûsa. At the convent, the thermometer ranged only between 47° and 67° F. But the winter nights are said here to be cold; water freezes as late as February; and snow often falls upon the mountains. But the air is exceedingly pure, and the climate healthy; as is testified by the great age and vigour of many of the monks. And if in general few of the Arabs attain to so great an age, the cause is doubtless to be sought in the scantiness of their fare and their exposure to privations; and not in any injurious influence of the climate.

In closing this Section of our Journal, I throw together here all that remains to be said upon the Sinai of the Old Testament, Sinai in the early Christian ages, the present Convent, and also upon the Arab inhabitants of the Peninsula.

SINAI OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

We came to Sinai with some incredulity, wishing to investigate the point, whether there was any probable ground beyond monkish tradition, for fixing upon the present supposed site. The details of the preceding pages will have made the reader acquainted with

1) See generally, Burckhardt's pell's Reise in Abyssinien, I. p. Travels, etc. p. 606, seq. Rüp- 125, seq.