240 Miscellaneous Intelligence. 



III. Natural History. 



1. Subterraneous Noises heard at Nakous. — Nakous is situated 

 three leagues from Tor, on the Red Sea. This place is celebrated 

 because of certain sounds produced there at all hours of the day 

 and nii^ht. When Mr. Gray, of Oxford, visited Nakous, he heard 

 from beneath his feet a continued dull noise, which soon changed 

 into pulsations, more and more intense, similar to the beats of a 

 time-piece. The next day, Mr. Gray heard the sounds during a 

 whole hour, the weather being clear and serene ; and he concluded 

 that the effect could not be produced by the passage of air through 

 certain crevices in the soil and rock, every examination for such 

 fissures in the soil or rock having failed. 



The following account of the same place is by M. Seetzen, and 

 was published in 1812: — There is near Tor, a mountain, not only 

 the most remarkable in certain respects of any in Arabia Petraea, 

 but in the whole world. It is called el Nakous^ and is three leagues 

 north of Tor : two years ago I had heard it spoken of by the 

 Greeks, first, of the convent of Sinai, afterwards, at Suez ; but 

 the description being accompanied with fabulous recitals, induced 

 me to suppose the whole a monkish invention. When I gained 

 more information at Wady el Nachel, not only were these first 

 accounts confirmed, but new prodigies added. 



M. Seetzen then goes on to state, that, " accompanied by a 

 Christian Greek and some Bedouins, I departed for the mountain 

 on the 17th of June, at five o'clock in the morning : after a 

 quarter of an hour's progress, we arrived at the foot of a ma- 

 jestic rock of sandstone ; the mountain, perfectly naked, was en- 

 tirely composed of it. I found many Greek and Arabic names 

 on the rock, and some even in Coptic characters, proving that 

 the place had been visited for ages. At mid-day we arrived at the 

 part of the mountain called Nakous : here, at the foot of the 

 chain, we found an insulated rock. On two sides the moun- 

 tain presented two surfaces, so highly inclined that the white 

 and slightly-adhering sand which covered them was scarcely sup- 

 ported, and slided at the slightest vibration, or when the burning 

 rays of the sun destroyed their slight adherence. These two sandy 

 surfaces were about 150 feet in height ; they re-united behind the 

 insulated rock, forming a sharp angle, and, as well as the adjacent 

 surfaces, were mingled with steep rocks, most frequently formed of 

 a friable white sandstone. 



*' The first sound was heard at one hour and a quarter after mid- 

 day. We climbed with difficulty up the sand-bank, a height of 

 70 or 80 feet, and stopped under certain rocks, at which it is 

 the custom to listen. Whilst creeping, I heard the sound from 

 under my knees, which induced me to suppose that the slipping of 

 the sand was the cause, and not the eff'ect of the sonorous vibra- 

 tion. At three o'clock, the sound was again heard more strongly, 

 and continued for six minutes ; then ceasing for about ten minutes, 



