^82 Phyfical Ohjervations &c.. 



together : which from the Likenefs they bear to a Compofition 

 of Mortar and Gravel, might occafion feveral ingenious Perfons 

 to imagine, that Tompe/s Pillar , th.Q Obelisks at Ro?ne and 

 Alexandria, with other the like extraordinary Lumps of this 

 Sort of Marble, were faditious, and produced by Fulion. That 

 Kind of it which I faw in the Neighbourhood of Mount Sifiai, and 

 in the Midland Road from thence to Corondel, is generally of a 

 light gray Colour, with little black Spots interfperfed ; though, 

 in fome Places, 1 have feen it much blacker, and, in others, of 

 a reddiili Complexion. Sometimes alio the conftituent Particles 

 were fo fmall and well compared , that the Contexture was 

 not inferiour either to Serpentine Marble or Torphyry. 

 '^Marhflf That Part of Mount Sinai, which lyeth to the Weltward of 

 M<. Sinai. t2^g Yh^m 0Ϊ Rephidim, and is called the Mountain of St. Catha- 

 rine, confifts of a hard reddiili Marble, like Torphyry, but is 

 diftinguiflied from it, by the Reprefentations, which every 

 Part of it gives us, of little Trees and Buflies. The Natura- 

 lifts call this Sort of Marble Embufcatum or Bupjy Marble ' ; 

 and, for the fame Reafon, Buxtorf^ deriveth the Word Sinai, 

 from the Bufli (or Riibiis) that was figured in the Stones of 

 it. It feems to have been hitherto left undecided to what 

 Species of Plants this Bufli is to be referred ; yet if thefe im- 

 preffed Figures are to inftru6l us, we may very juftly rank it 

 among the Tamarisks, the moil common and flouriihing Trees 

 of thefe Deferts. I have feen fome Branches of this Foffil 

 Tamarisk, as I fliall call it, that were near half an Inch in 

 Diameter. Yet the conftituent Matter, which was of a dark 

 mineral Appearance like the Powder of Lead Ore, was of no 

 Solidity, crumbling away, as the Armetiian or any other 

 Bole would do, by touching it. 

 The Strata The fevcral Strata in thefe and moft of the other Mountains 



cloje/y jcyned. t • 1 Τ 1 r • ^ τ • 



which 1 have ieen in Arabia, are generally fo many Kinds of 



I Embufctit/mt ex monte S'ni/ii (Hicrofolvnltano male additur) dcpromptum; quod albicans 

 cit {noflnim riibefcit) ad flavcdinem tendcns j & quocunc|iie modo fecetur auc dividatur, 

 in CO arbufta & fruticcs, colotc nigricantc, fubtilitcr a Natiira dcpidi apparent. Si Ibpra 

 igncm ponatur, brevi cvanefcit pidura &c. Ego Anglicc 115θΓΓ35εΓηχϊ5υΠ)Γ-£153Γΐ!ε of l^icru* 

 falemnominarem. Charlt. Exercit. dc Foffil. p. ip. 2 TD Sifi.ii moiuisnomen, a HJlJ Rubus, 

 quodlap'dcs tnventi hi eofiguratum in fe lubtierint riibum, lit icribunt commentatorcs in librum 

 More nebhuc him, p. r. cap. 66. adeo ut ctiam in fragmentis lapidiim iftorum, ngntx rubi 

 apparuerint, quod Ic Epbodeus, alter iftorum commcntatorum, vidilic fcribit. Biixtorf. ia 

 voce njD. Horeb2^T)^ the mlier Name, by which this Mountain is likewife known in 

 Scripture, feems very juftly tocxprefs the barren defoUie Condition of ir, from 2in, Siccatus, 

 vaftatus, defolattts j in foUtudinem red-icliis fuit &c. 



Marble, 



