Mil. R. M. EEBREAB OIT THE FLOEA OP SINAI. 217 



tniraculously delivered the convent, if not from the genus Cimex^ 

 at all events from that of Pulex, Many of the unorthodox dis- 

 credit this alleged deliverance ; for myself, I had no cause to dis- 

 believe it, unless my own immunity from attack was owing to the 

 many powerful-smelling herbs I had brought with me. Another 

 most romantic rock staircase brought us to a small and verdant 

 plain, a comparatively level spot, nestling amid the wild granite 

 peaks, one of the highest of which, Gebel Musa, the traditional 

 Sinai, now rose in front of us : in this plain stands a solitary 

 cypress, the only tree I saw after leaving the convent. A spring 

 of fresh water (that of Elijali) is here (as elsewhere in the desert) 

 the cause of the verdure ; close by is the Cave of the Prophet, 

 where he is said to have heard the ^' still, small voice," Hence 

 the ascent is more steep, and we crossed some large patches 

 of snow, in places as much as three feet deep. The plants I 

 noted were, — a very fragrant Tanacctiim or Artemisia^ not in flower, 

 with pinnated, downy leaves ; Marrtibium pseudodictamntis^ not 

 m flower; Teucrium fruticoswn^ in bloom ; T,Jlavesce7}s^ also in 

 flower sparingly; an Origanum^ not in flower; Ajuga cliia\ Thy- 

 mus vulgaris J in flower, with two or three other species not yet 

 open, and two plants not in flower — I think Satureja montana and 

 S. Juliana^ which have an odour greatly resembling the incense 

 used by the Grreek Church, and which I was told are gathered by 

 the monks for some ecclesiastical purpose ; Salvia clandestina^ 

 with pale lilac flowers and woolly pinnatifid leaves ; and two 

 species of Silene^ one dwarf and white, the other pink-flowered 

 (>S'. orcliidea). On the very summit of Gebel Musa, at an elevation 

 of 7035 feet above the sea, was growing Herniaria glabra ; and 

 Peganum Jiarmala was just beginning to shoot up from the root. 



I must not pause to dilate upon the wondrous panorama of 

 blasted peaks, of surpassing interest, seen from this point, but 

 will only add that I was fortunate in seeing, amongst the huge 

 blocks of granite just under the summit, two specimens of a ru- 

 fous-coloured animal, with whitish belly, much like a Gruineapig, 

 which I believed to be the Uyracc syriacus^ or Coney : they were 

 here literally inhabiting the "stony rocks." 



In descending we diverged towards the road made by order of 

 Abbas Pasha, and there, as we had been informed, we found some 

 good specimens of dendritic stones, with the JOycopodium-liko 

 markings very distinct upon the reddish granite. We afterwards 

 traversed the central valleys of the Horeb range to the foot of 

 the Kas-es-Safsafeh, where there is a small spring and much grass, 



lilNN. PHOC. — BOTAKY, VOL. IX. Q . 



