On The Ordnance Survey Of Sinai.

so near each other as Musa and Peiran ; for at th former there is no trace of any stone tombs , all the interments appear to have been made in the ground , and the bones afterwards collected and placed in the crypt now in use . At the back of

Serbal there are the remains of several monastic establishments in a valley ( Wady Sigillyeh ) Avhich in scenery and perfect seclusion might rival the " Happy Valley of Rasselas ; " shut in on each side by lofty precipices , it breaks through the

mountains by an almost inaccessible gorge , and the approach to its head is by a tremendous descent over loose stones from the shoulder of Serbal . Nowhere is the energy of the monks seen more fully than in the wonderful road which

they made over this pass , and the great staircase to the foot of the valley ; and though now in ruins they are specimens of engineering skill Avhich must strike every one with admiration . The convents at Tur are not so interesting , but

there numbers of cells and chapels in the rocks along the sea coast Avhich AY ell repaid the time given to their investigation .

The climate of the mountain district of Sinai is perhaps the most agreeable in the world ; the air is perfectly dry , and though the nights are cold in winter the day is always Avarm and 23 leasant ; in summer some portions of the clay are extremely

hot , but the nights are always cool , and the Khamsin , or hot wind , Avhich is so trying when met with on the plains , at that altitude , mere produces a feeling of great lassitude . The heat in summer on the plains , especially in the limestone districts ,

is very great , and when the Khamsin blows the mere act of existence becomes a labour , the air is filled with fine particles of sand , and there is a terrible feeling of depression ancl oppressiveness as if one were being weighed down to the ground

and could scarcely breathe . The rainfall appears to vary greatly in different years ; the Avinter spent in the Peninsula by the expedition was a remarkably dry one , Avhilst the preceding one had been very wet .

Snow falls every year in the higher mountains ; but it never lies for any length of time , and rarely reaches lower doAvn than 5 , 500 ft . above the sea . The country is subject to violent rain storms , Avhich fill the dry beds of the valleys Avith

roaringtorrents , and are sometimes attended with loss of life . The storms are very partial , and the first symptom of a storm in the mountains may be a stream rushing down the valley . Mr . Holland

was fortunate enough , though not without great personal risk to himself , to see one of these floods , or " seils , " in the Wady Peiran . The storm commenced at 4 . 30 , and a few minutes after six the dry bed of the Wady , over

300 yards Avide , was turned into a foaming torrent , 8 to 10 ft . deep . Next morning a gently-flowing stream , a few yards AA'ide , was all that remained ; . but the Avhole bed of the Wady was changed , nearly 1 , 000 palm trees were SAvept away , and

about thirty BedaAvin were lost ancl buried in the debris . While at Tur we found traces of the flood from this storm that had come doAvn Wady Sigillyeh , and * vhich , after passing over 16 or 17 miles of dry desert , the plain of El Gaah , had a

body of Avater between 4 and 5 ft . deep and about 150 yards wide . Wellsted mentions a similar flood in 1332 , which left an alluvial deposit one foot thick in the neighbourhood of Tur . Small Avhirlwinds are very frequent and rise up

in the dry valleys as if by magic ; on two occasions catching up instruments before they could be saved .

The colouring , especially at sunrise and sunset , is extremely brilliant , and in the evening there is often a most lovely atmospheric effect . About half an hour after the last trace of after-glow has died aAvay , and when the stars are shining brightly ,

the whole sky to 45 ° above the horizon is suffused Avith a delicate blush pink , the true auroral flush , " celestial rosy red ; " the effect of the dark mountain peaks against this background can hardly be described by Avords . Before leaving the

subject of climate , it may be remarked as strange that no mention is made in the Bible of cold or frost in connection with the sojourn at Sinai , though the Israelites , coming from the low

country of Egypt , must at first have suffered severely . The present capabilities of the Peninsula for supporting life may be divided into three—water , food for man , and food for animals .

The Avater supply it far larger in the granitic mountain districts than has been generally supposed . In the neighbourhood of Jebel Musa there are at least three perennial streams , besides a large number of springs . In Wady Peiran

there is the well-known stream , and at Jebel Benat and Wady Sigillyeh there are streams which swell out into large pools in which one can swim , about Avith comfort . The Avater is pure and limpid , A'ery different from the springs in the lime-