EEDHJEAD 



211 



it passes. There is, even at Suez, an oasis in the desert, in the 

 P. and 0. hotel, of whose hospitality we were glad to avail our- 

 selves, as, owing to the wandering propensity of our camels, our 

 tents did not arrive until night. 



The following day we crossed the Red Sea by boat, and were 

 landed on the shores of Asia by being carried on men's backs 

 through the shallows of the gulf opposite to ' Ayun Musa, pleased, 

 as M^e landed, to observe the various species of Murece^ Tridaenaj 

 Pteroceras^ Nerita^ and Fusus which abundantly strewed the 

 shore. The sand here is quite oolitic in character. 



Our tents were pitched near the springs of 'Ayun Musa, around 

 which are growing thickets of Tamarix^ dwarf date-palms, and 

 Arundo donaxy under whose shade some culinary vegetables are 

 with difficulty raised. Being the only spot with any claim to ver- 

 dure for many miles around Suez, its limited vegetation is highly 

 prized by the European inhabitants of that dreary town. The ver- 

 dure, meagre as it is, is confined exclusively to the immediate 

 vicinity of the muddy pools which give name to the spot, and 

 which are soon absorbed by the sandy soil. 



Leaving our encampment, we crossed wastes resembling the 



sandhills of the Lancashire coast, but without the " Star '^ 



{Psamma, Elymus) which there flourishes ; and the interest of the 

 journey was confined to the varying but exquisite colours of the Eed 



Sea, at some parts of the deepest blue, whilst at other places it was of 



the loveliest emerald-green : beyond it was the fine outline of Gebel 



'Atakah (the Mountain of Deliverance) and the Libyan hills. 



The temperature this day, Pebruary 29, was 105° in the open 

 air, and the heat radiated from the shining talcose gravel was 

 intense. 



When we encamped in Wady Sudr, I found a strong torrent 

 had recently poured down towards the sea, leaving the ground 

 caked over with fine white clay, which crackled like egg-shells under 

 the feet ; and here were growing Alyssum wianVmwTw, a half-shrubby 

 Far^etia (_F. cheiranthoides)^ and abundance of the Spartium, Zilla^ 

 and Santolinay all more advanced than in the Suez desert. 



We were glad the following afternoon to leave the monotonous 

 plain and enter a wady winding amid sandy, flint-sprinkled hil- 

 locks, and towards evening reached the mound of sand and tufa* 

 like rock on which is the single pool of bitter water, called " Ain 

 el Hawira," no doubt the " Marah " of Scripture. Here were 

 growing a few dwarf palms, and thick tufts of a prickly shrub, 

 bej^ring thinly scattered, glaucous, fleshy leaves, JSTitraria trident ata^ 



