48 John Hogg, Esq., on the Geography and 



the well there, called Bir Emshash, yields after rain good 

 drinking water. The hills around Ajroud consist of tertiary 

 limestone and marl. More to the south, Gebel Ataka divides 

 this formation, itself being a secondary limestone belonging 

 to the cretaceous series, and, according to Dr Robinson, is 

 strewed thickly with flint pebbles. It terminates in Bas 

 Ataka, or " Cape Deliverance," on the Gulf. The sandy and 

 gravelly plain. El Baidea, the Wadi Tawarik of others, has 

 been named by some, the " Valley of Moses," Wadi Mousa ; 

 it communicates on the west with Wadi-el- Tyh. 



Gebel Deraj (steps) is limestone of the same cretaceous 

 series as Mount Ataka; and this formation stretches out 

 southwards to a great distance, constituting a large portion 

 of the East Egyptian Desert. 



Then on the south of the former mountain, a band of 

 granite, which forms the northern ridge of Gebel Kallala, is 

 observed, wherein there exist remains of old copper mines. 

 Those called Beigatamerih, situate among low hills, " have 

 evidently been worked by the ancients, as well from the quan- 

 tity of pottery and scorice there, as from the remains of 

 miners' houses, and the regular manner in which the caverns 

 have been cut, following up the veins."* 



Near, on the SE., there is a well {bir) named Horreh, 

 whose water is bad, owing to the sulphur which it contains. 

 This is placed in Wadi Araba, an extensive valley, running in 

 a direction nearly due W. and E., and descending from Wadi 

 Chaderat very rapidly to the shore of the gulf, which is here 

 termed by the Arabs Mersa Zaf ranch, i. e., " Harbour of Saf- 

 fron." The coast itself is flat and marshy. The headlands 

 on the south are a conglomerate, or breccia rock, of the Ter- 

 tiary formation, composed of shells, stones, and other sub- 

 stances, held together by a calcareous cement. The Arabs 

 report, that a carriage-road anciently existed through the 

 Wadi Araba, and led to the Bay of Zafraneh. This, I con- 

 ceive, might have been the Toad of communication to the 



* Mr J. Wilkinson on the Eastern Desert of Upper Egypt, p. 32, vol. ii. 

 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. 



