Khurmet el-Jurf, which runs down towards the right; and then came among low hills of crumbled granite. Beyond these there is again an open gravel slope in some parts, before reaching the higher granite cliffs. At 4 o'clock we encamped on the side of the mountain, in a narrow branch of the same water-course, called Wady edh-Dhaiyikah.

of

From this elevated spot we had a commanding view out over the Gulf, the plain of el-'Arabah, and the mountains beyond. The castle bore from this point S. E. by E. Behind it rose the high mountain el-Ashhab; and back of this, out of sight, is el-Hismeh, a sandy tract surrounded by mountains. But no one of our guides knew this latter name as a general appellation for these mountains. At the S. end of Ashhab, the small Wady Elteit comes down to the sea, having in it the ruin Kusr el-Bedawy, bearing from here S. 40° E. More to the S. the hills along the eastern coast are lower, having the appearance table-land; while further back are high mountains, and among them the long ridge en-Nukeirah. These extend far to the South, and there take the place of the lower hills along the coast. North of the castle the large Wady el-Ithm comes down steeply from the N. E. through the mountains; forming the main passage from 'Akabah to the eastern desert. By this way doubtless the Israelites ascended from the Red Sea in order to "compass Edom," and pass on to Moab and the Jordan. Wady el-Ithm now bore E. 1° S. while a mountain further North called Jebel el-Ithm bore E. 1° N. Then a smaller Wady comes down named es-Sidr. To the northward of this was Jebel esh-Sha'

1) See Burckhardt, pp. 433, 440. Yet the mountains adjacent to this tract may not improbably have

been spoken of as Tûr Hismeh; as appears also from Burckhardt, p. 444. Laborde, p. 63. (218.)

feh, N. 70° E.; and still further North our guides professed to point out Jebel esh-Sherâh, bearing N. 50° E. and separated from esh-Sha'feh by Wady Ghurŭndel. On this point, however, we had doubts.

Friday, April 6th. The bright morning presented a beautiful view of the sea, shut in among mountains like a lake of Switzerland. The eastern mountains too glittered in the sun; fine, lofty, jagged peaks, much higher than those we were to climb. We set off at 6 o'clock, ascending W. N. W. We soon reached the granite hills, and entering among them over a low ridge, descended a little to the small Wady er-Rizkah at 6h 25'. It flows to the left into the Musry, within sight a little below. Passing another slight ridge, we reached Wady el-Musry at 6 o'clock. This is a large Wady coming down from the North obliquely along the slope of the mountain, and running down by itself to the sea, which it was said to enter just N. of Râs elMusry. Our route now lay up along this valley, winding considerably, but on a general course about N. W. The ridge upon the left was of yellow sandstone resting on granite; while on the right was granite and porphyry. The scenery around was wild, desolate and gloomy; though less grand than we had seen already. At 7 o'clock limestone appeared on the left; and we turned short from the Musry towards the left, into a narrow chasm between walls of chalk with layers of flint. Ten minutes now brought us to the foot of the steep and difficult ascent; so that this last ravine might well be termed the Gate of the Pass. The ascent is called simply en-Nükb, or el-'Arkûb, both signifying "the Pass" up a mountain; and our guides knew no other name. The road rises by zigzags along the projecting point of a steep ridge, between two deep ravines. It is in part artificial; and in some places the thin layer of sandstone has been cut away twenty or VOL. I.

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thirty feet in width down to the limestone rock. Portions of this work have probably been done at the expense of pious Mussulmans, to facilitate the passage of the Haj. Two Arabic inscriptions on the rock, one of them at the top of the ascent, apparently record the author of the work. Near the top is something like a modern improvement; a new road having been cut lower down on the side of the ridge, rising by a more gradual ascent. The whole road is said by Makrizi to have been first made by Ibn Ahmed Ibn Tulûn, Sultan of Egypt in A. D. 868-84.1

We reached the top of the steep ascent at 8 o'clock; but continued to rise gradually for half an hour longer, when we came to Râs en-Nukb, the proper "Head of the Pass." Here however we had immediately to descend again by a short but steep declivity, and cross the head of Wady el-Kureikireh running off S. to Wady Tâba', of which it would seem to be a main branch. Ascending again along a ridge at the head of this valley, still on a course W. N. W., we had on our right a deep ravine called Wady er-Riddâdeh, running eastward, a tributary of the Musry. At 9 o'clock we finally reached the top of the whole ascent, and found ourselves on the high level of the desert above. During the whole way, we had many commanding views of the Gulf and of el-'Arabah; which latter as seen from this distance seemed covered in parts with a luxuriant vegetation. But we had viewed it too closely to be thus deceived. The point where we now were, afforded the last, and one of the finest of these views. The castle of 'Akabah still bore S. E. by E. and the mouth of Wady el-Ithm E. by S. At 9h 25'we came to the fork of the roads, called Mufârik et-Turk, where the Hajroute keeps straight forward, while the road to Gaza

1) Makrizi, as cited by Burckhardt, p. 511.

turns more to the right. The former, so far as we had now followed it, bears every mark of a great public route. This pass is especially famous for its difficulty, and for the destruction which it causes to animals of burden. Indeed the path is here almost literally strewed with camels' bones, and skirted with the graves of pilgrims.

Having thus reached the level of the great western desert, we left the Haj-road, and setting our faces towards Gaza and Hebron, on a course N. W. we launched forth into the "great and terrible wilderness." We entered immediately upon an immense plain, called Kâ'a en-Nukb, extending far to the West, and apparently on so dead a level, that water would hardly flow along its surface. It has, however, as we found, a slight declivity towards the W. and N. W.; for on our left was the commencement of a shallow Wady called el-Khureity, running off in that direction. The plain, where we entered upon it, was covered with black pebbles of flint; then came a tract of indurated earth; and afterwards again similar pebbles. The whole plain was utterly naked of vegetation. The desert however could not be said to be pathless; for the many camel-tracks showed that we were on a great road. One of the first objects which here struck our view, was the Mirage, presenting the appearance of a beautiful lake on our left. We had not seen this phenomenon in the whole peninsula, nor since the day we left Suez; and I do not remember that we ever again had an instance of it.

On this high plain, we now found ourselves above all the peaks and hills through which we had just before ascended. We could overlook them all, and saw beyond them the summits of the eastern mountains, which the level of the plain, on which we were, seemed to strike at about two thirds of their altitude. From this and other circumstances, we judged the

elevation of this plain to be about fifteen hundred feet above the level of the Gulf and el-'Arabah.1 Far in the South, ridges of high land were visible; and nearer at hand, at the distance of three or four hours, a range of high hills called Tawârif el-Belâd running from E. S. E. to W. N. W. the middle of which at 9 o'clock bore S. W. Further to the right lay a similar ridge, called Turf er-Rukn, running in a direction about from S. S. E. to N. N. W. and highest towards the northern end, which bore at the same time N. 70° W. The Haj-route passes along at the northern base of this range; and S. W. of it is the well eth-Themed, from which water is obtained for the caravan.2

The plain we were crossing was terminated in this part towards the N. by a ridge of low dark-coloured granite hills, running off W. S. W. which we reached at 11 o'clock. This ridge, a similar one beyond, and the tract between, all bear the name of el-Humeirâwât. Passing through these hills, our course became N. N. W. for the remainder of the day. We now crossed another open plain, having at some distance on our left Wady el-Khureity. In some of the smaller water-courses were a few herbs and some Seyâl-trees. We passed the next range of hills before noon; and from it descended to Wady el-Khumîleh at 12h 10, a broad shallow depression coming from the right from near the brow of el-'Arabah, and full of herbs and shrubs. Towards the left a wide open tract of the

1) According to the barometrical measurements of Russegger, who crossed the desert from the Convent to Hebron a few months after us, the elevation of the castle Núkhl above the sea is 1496 Paris feet. This point is probably somewhat lower than the plain in question. See Berghaus' Annalen der Erdkunde, etc. Feb. und März, 1839. p. 429.

2) Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, etc. p. 448. This mountain is the Dharf el-Rokob of that traveller; but although we inquired much after this name, we could not make it out in this form. His guides were from the desert E. of the 'Arabah, and had perhaps another name or a different pronunciation. Rüppell gives it very corruptly the form Darfureck.