200. John Hogg, Esq., on the Geography and 
In fact, both here and in the adjoining Wadi Maghara, there 
existed colonies of Egyptian miners from the earliest period. 
South of this most interesting spot,and especially on the south- 
east, in Wadi-el-Seih, the sandstone ceases, and porphyry with 
greenstone (griinsfein) prevails. The mountains become more 
lofty and grand ; and in Wadi Barak, at about 3000 feet in ele- 
vation from the sea, the formation is granitic, principally, in- 
deed, porphyry with a belt of greenstone. Farther to the south- 
east, in Wadi Berah of Robinson, the rocks are porphyry and 
red granite, occasionally veined with grey granite. But in 
the adjoining east Wadi-el-Ush (4/ush), gneiss, mixed with 
granite, is seen; then the central region of the remaining 
southern division of the country, being nearly one-third of 
the entire peninsula, strictly so considered, presents a mag- 
nificent rugged and alpine mass of hypogene schists, granite, 
and porphyry. 
Returning again to the coast at the bottom of Wadi Sche- 
bekeh, and passing round the low sandy projecting point at 
Ras Zelime (Zlim), where there is a harbour for small ships, 
a large dreary plain of marine formation, sand, and stones, 
is entered upon, which somewhat ascends to the bitter spring 
El-Morkha, the Marcha of Dr Lepsius, and Murkhah of 
others. This Bir, or “ well,” Burckhardt describes as being 
in the sandstone rock, near the foot of the mountains on the 
east ; but since its water is very bad, it most probably issues 
either from the chalk, wherein sw/phur may be present, as at 
Gebel Hamam, or through the plain itself, which is of marine 
formation, and very likely impregnated with sa/¢, Moreover, 
the Wadi-el-Dhafary, or Dhaph’ri (Daphka), which is from 
Burckhardt’s description distant about one and a quarter mile 
to the south-east by south from Morkha, near Wadi Naszb, 
which is clearly in the sandstone formation, “ furnishes the 
only sweet water between Tor and Suez ;’’* and this fact, I 
think, would prove that the latter spring rises in the sand- 
stone strata, unmixed with sulphur or salt, and not in those 
chalky or marine beds of the plain of Morkha. 
* Travels in Syria, p. 623. 
