210 ME. B. M. BEDHEAD 



our eyes were gratified by the appearance of a few plants, 



nz. 



Zilla myagroides (Arabice Sill eh), glaucous and prickly, with a 

 lilac flower much resembling our Cakile maritima ; a dwarf, shrubby 

 Composite, not yet in flower, SantoUna fragrantissima (Arab. Ahei 

 fAird«), which our camels snatched at most greedily; an Astra- 

 galus {A. ttimidus) of the Tragacanth group, with very long 

 grey spines, small yellowish flowers, and downy, bladder-like 

 calyx. I also remarked a dead Arenaria, much like our A. ruhra, 

 and the dry remains of an umbelliferous plant. 



Not far from the track, on our right we espied a solitary tree, 

 of which the leafless branches were hung with rags ; indeed its 

 Arabic name is " Om e sharameet " — " the mother of rags :" it is 

 said to have sprung from Mahomet's staff*, which took root on his 

 striking it into the ground. It is an Acacia (A, nilotica). 



The great paucity of vegetation is amply accounted for by the 

 extreme aridity of the sandy gravelly soil, which has at Bir el 

 Butr been pierced to the depth of 85 feet without finding any 

 water; the ground is thickly strewn with coarse jaspers, chalce- 

 donies, and variously coloured flints. 



On the third day we crossed numerous sandy wadies — slight 

 depressions which, in rainy seasons, are watercourses ; in these 

 we found many plants of a Broom, Spartium monospermwn (Arab. 

 Hetem), now coming into flower, its pretty white corolla just 

 showing through the purple calyx ; this is said to be the tree 

 translated "juniper " in our English version (1 Kings, xix. 4, 5). 

 This shrub, with the SantoUna before named, from this time was 

 of constant occurrence throughout our route until we approached 

 the frontier of Palestine ; and when at a later part of our journey 

 it was in full bloom, we found it very fragrant. 



We encamped in the Wady Bahram, or Valley of Waters, in 

 which were traces of a recent torrent ; and here were numerous 

 thick tufts of Sjpartiwn, Zilla, and SantoUna : our camels were | 



tempted by this unwonted feast to wander away from the encamp- 

 ment ; and some even were not forthcoming when we should have 

 started the next morning, having wandered far towards Gebel 

 'Atakah. I found here a pretty little Crucifer, Bicotia ^gyptiaca, 

 with silicles hanging on most delicate filiform stalks. 



Suez we reached on the fourth day. Its vicinity is unutterably 

 barren, dry, and scorched, without so much as a blade of grass ; 

 doubtless the freshwater canal only just completed will work 

 wonders in fertilizing this and the other districts through which 



