^ ireat Siorm 



-^η^ Thyjicai Ohfervations &c. 



The Atmof- But to be more particular : When I travelled in this Coun- 



phere ujually . i -» * i 



jcreve. tTj , Quring the Months oi September and October, the ^i- 

 mofihere was perfedly clear and ferene all the Way from Kiiiro 

 to Corondel\ but from thence to Mount Sinai ^ the Tops of 

 the Mountains would be now and then capped with Clouds, 

 , and fometimes continue fo for the whole Day. This Difpofition 



^ζΜοιαη of the Air was fucceeded, foon after, by a violent Tempeft, 

 when the whole Heavens were loaded with Clouds , which 

 difcharged themfelves, during nearly the Space of a whole 

 Night, in extraordinary Thunderings, Lightnings, and Rain. 

 But thefe Thienomena are not frequent, rarely falhng out, as 

 the Monks informed me, above once in two or three Years. 



Johimil Except at fuch extraordinary Conjundures as thefe, there is 

 the fame uniform Courfe of Weather throughout the whole 

 Year ; the Sky being ufually clear, and the Winds blowing 

 briskly in the Day and ceafing in the Night. Of Thefe, the 

 Southerly ones are the gentleft ; though Thofe in other Direoli- 

 ons are the moil frequent ; and, by blowing over a vaft Traol 

 of this fandy Defert and bearing away the fandy Surface along 

 with them, make continual Encroachments upon the Sea, and 



The Mo: n- frcqucut Changes upon the Continent. For to thefe we may 



w. "^ attribute the many Billows and Mountains of Sand, which lye 

 fcattered all over thefe Deferts. For the fame Caufe likewife, 

 not only the Harbour of Suez, is, at prefent, intirely filled 

 up, but the very Channel of the Sea, which extendeth itfelf 

 two or three Miles further to the Northward, nay once per- 

 haps reached as far as ^djeroute, (the Heroopolis as it is fup- 

 pofed to be,) is now dry at half Ebb, though fometimes the 

 Sea floweth here near the Height of a Fathom. 



ThephmF.»t whcre anv Part of thefe Deferts is fandy and level, the 



nf the Dejcrt ^ ■' J " 



appears to i>e Ηοήζοη is as fit for aftronomical Obfervations as the Sea, and 



a Collection oj . γτττ 



watiT. appears, at a fmall Diftance, to be no lefs a Collection or Water '. 

 It was likewife equally furprizing, to obferve, in what an extra- 

 ordinary Manner every ObjeCl appeared to be magnifyed with- 

 in it •, infomuch that a Shrub feemed as big as a Tree, and a 

 Flock of yichbohbas might be miftaken for a Cara'van of 



I The like Obicrvation is taken Notice of by Diodorus S'lculus in his Account oi Africa. 

 1. J. p. 128. Η JV (;^psi) vari? 75 νί-πον μίρ®" \ί^τώνσϋ^ χβθ' 'if η t'ovjy φύίθ^ ημζίίγίΛίν, aam^f ΙαΛ w 



Camels. 



