470 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER' 



tion, amidfl thofe barren, bare, and llony mountains which 

 border the valley of Eg)'pt on the weft. 



The 6th of October thcv came to El-Vah, a large village, 

 or town, thick-planted with palm-trees, the Oafis Parva of 

 the ancients, the laft inhabited place to the weft that is un- 

 der the jurifdidion of Egypt. By foftening the original 

 name, Poncet calls this Helaoue, which, as he fays, fignifies 

 fiveetnefs. But furely this was never given it from the pro- 

 duftions he mentions to abound there, Wz. fenna and colo- 

 quintida. The Arabs call El-Vah a fhrub or tree, not un- 

 like our hawthorn either in form or flower. It was of this 

 wood, they fay, Mofes's rod was made when, he fweetened 

 the waters of Marah. With a rod of this wood, too,Kaleb 

 Ibn el Waalid, the great deftroycr of Chriftians, fweetened 

 thefe waters at El-Vah, once very bitter, and gave it , the 

 name from this miracle. A number of very fine fprings 

 burft from the earth at El-Vah, which renders this fmall 

 fpot verdant and beautiful, though furroundcd with dreary 

 dcferts on every quarter ; it is fituated like an ifland in the 

 niidft of the ocean. 



The caravan re Red four days at El-Vah to procure wa- 

 ter and provifions for the continuation of the journey thro' 

 the defert. Poncet's defcription of the unpleafantncfs of 

 this, is pcrfeaiy cxacT:, and without exaggeration. In two 

 days they came to Chcb, where there is water, but ftrongly 

 impregnated with alum, as the name itfelf fignifies ; and, 

 three days after, they reached Selima, where they found the 

 water good, rifing from an excellent fpring, which gives its 

 name to a large defert extending weftw^ard forty-five days 

 journey to Dar lowr, Dar Sclc, and Bagirma, three fmall 

 2 principalities 



