110 MEMOIR OF BURCKHARDT, 



to sweeten tlie waters, Burckhardfc frequently in- 

 qaired among the Bedouins whether they possessed 

 any means of effecting such a change, by throwing 

 wood into if, or by any other process ; but he could 

 never learn that such an art was known. He sug- 

 gests, however, that the effect might have been 

 produced by the rod being of the Gharkad, which 

 grows in this neighbourhood, in the same manner as 

 is done by the juice of pomegranate grains. This 

 supposition is not inconsistent with the miracle as 

 related by Moses (Exod. xv. 25), " and the Lord 

 showed him a tree, which when he had cast into 

 the waters, the waters Avere made sweet." The 

 Gharkad berry is juicy and refreshing, resembling 

 a ripe gooseberry in taste; and when the crop is 

 abundant, the Arabs make them into a conserve. 



On the 1st of May they approached the central 

 elevation of Mount Sinai, which had been visible 

 for several days. This group forms an irregular 

 circle of thirty or forty miles in diameter ; and it is 

 difficult to imagine a scene more wild and desolate. 

 " Abrupt cliffs of granite (says Burckhardt), from 

 six to eight hundred feet in height, whose surface 

 is blackened by the sun, surround the avenues lead- 

 ing to the elevated platform to which the name of 

 Sinai is specifically applied. These cliffs enclose 

 the holy mountain on three sides, leaving the east- 

 ward only more open to the view. The narrow 

 defile, by which the ascent is gained, is bounded 

 on cither hand with perpendicular rocks, and strewn 

 with sand and pebbles, brought down by the tor- 



