8 26 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Before dismissing the subject of climate, I wish to testify to 

 the invigorating, delightful air in the desert ; it has a bracing 

 quality that enables one to expend much energy without fatigue. 

 From about 1 to 3 p. m. the glare of the sun is often great, and 

 shade is a comfort ; but the constant breeze, sometimes rather too 

 strong, tempers the heat. I suspect, too, that the air is very free 

 from disease-germs. 



In the journey from Suez to Sinai by the ordinary caravan 

 route, one crosses undulating plains, limestone and sandstone 

 hills, and eventually reaches bold granitic mountains, rising to 

 the height of eight thousand feet. Each of these regions is fur- 

 rowed by wadis, or dry water-courses, which present very differ- 

 ent aspects in the three divisions named. The first fifty-two miles 

 of the journey, occupying about two days and a half, as camels 

 travel, cover an arid, sterile plain about ten miles wide from the 

 low range of limestone hills on the east, Et Tih, to the gulf on the 

 west. This plain, like that of El Gaa, to the south, rises gradually 

 from the sea to the foot-hills, and is undulating toward its south- 

 ern end. It is crossed by broad, shallow wadis, running east and 

 west, which were perfectly dry at the time of my visit ; Wadi 

 Werdan, the largest, is depressed but a foot or two below the 

 level of the plain, and is approximately three miles in width at 

 about six miles from the point where it enters the sea. 



The most extensive plain on the western side of the peninsula 

 is that of El Gaa, which is about eighty miles long and fifteen 

 wide at its widest point. From the sea-coast to the mountains 

 bordering it on the east it rises nearly one thousand feet, but so 

 gradually as to deceive the eye and appear level. It is crossed by 

 many shallow wadis, and its northern half is separated from the 

 sea by a range of limestone hills (Jebel-el-Araba) reaching a 

 height of sixteen hundred feet. When the plain was covered 

 by the sea, this range was probably an island, or series of isl- 

 ands. The plain is rarely broken by hills, the sharp-pointed Kren 

 Utud, conspicuous from a distance, being an exception. I crossed 

 the monotonous desolate waste, from the mouth of the beautiful 

 Wadi Es-Sleh to Tor (or Tur), on the gulf, a distance of about 

 fifteen miles, and noted scarcely a dozen tufts of plants ; water is 

 absolutely wanting. North of Tor, however, and east of Jebel-el- 

 Araba, are palm-gardens that extend for several miles in a narrow 

 belt ; and these date-bearing trees owe their existence to several 

 saline springs occurring at intervals, some of which were quite 

 warm. On this sterile plain the characteristics of a desert are 

 seen in perfection : the level expanse is not too broad to conceal 

 the lofty mountains on the east, nor to prevent glimpses of the 

 blue sea on the western horizon ; the floor is a firm, hard surface, 

 made up of a compact mixture of gravel and coarse sand, so hard 



