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Geology of Mount Sinai and adjacent Countries. 197 
tertiary formation of limestone and marl, called salk and 
mergelrethe by Russegger ; the range itself reaches to about 
300 English feet in altitude. According to the best autho- 
rities, the Israelites probably came out from Egypt a little 
south of the opposite shore to Suez. The distance being 
from three to four miles. 
Ain Mousa, or the Springs of Moses, number seven foun- 
tains; but the water is dark-coloured and brackish, being 
partly impregnated with lime and salt, and it deposits a hard 
substance, most likely a calcareous tufa. 
Directly south the road goes over sandhills, appropriately 
named by the Arabs El Kubeibat,—the little domes,—on ac- 
count of their form; then follows a gravelly level tract for 
several miles. The small valleys, called Wadi-el-Ahtha, 
Wadi Soddur, é&c., are mere depressions in the ground, whose 
level is only a few feet lower than the adjacent desert. Soon 
after passing near Ras (Cape) Soddur, rocks of the cretaceous 
series of the secondary formation are found, as also in the 
adjoining hills. Near the sea-shore, in some places are deep 
sands, which, with the wind, create small mounds, whereon ta- 
marisk trees grow. With the more violent winds these sands 
are blown over and driven about. After Wadi Wardan, 
there occurs a ridge of chalky limestone, exhibiting in many 
spots plenty of crystallized sulphate of lime (selenite.) At 
the head of this valley, the highest mountain of the range is 
named Gebel Wardan; it rises to 400 feet above the sea, and 
is of the same secondary formation. Before reaching Wadi- 
_el-Amarah, a hilly country is entered, which consists of chalk 
and flint disposed in very irregular strata. 
The fountain of Howara (Ain Howarah, i. e., Spring of 
Corruption), is bitter and saltish; it is placed on a large 
mound composed of calcareous tufa, or a whitish rocky sub- 
stance, formed by deposit from the water. This district is, 
according to Russegger, and also for some miles around, ex- 
cept on the east, which is secondary, of the same ‘ertiary beds 
of lime and marl as the north-western portion of Gebel-el- 
Rahah. The mountain at the eastern extreme of Wadi 
Gharandel is called Ras (Cape or Headland) Wadi Gharan- 
del. The Arabs told Burckhardt that the bed of a valley, or 
