gj'o Geographical Ohjervations 



Eiim and the Thcrc IS iiothing further remarkable^ 'till we fee the Ifraelites 

 Trees?' ^ "" eiicamped at E/m. Ex.ir- X7- Numb. 3 3. 9. upon the northern 

 Skirts of the Defert of Sin, two Leagues from Tor, and near 

 thirty from Corondel. 1 faw no more than nine of the tweke 

 Wells that are mentioned by Mofes, the other three being filled 

 up by thofe Drifts of Sand, which are common mArahla. Yet 

 this Lofs is amply made up by the great Increafe of the Talm 

 Trees, the Jeiienij having propagated themfelves into more 

 than two thoufand. Under the Shade of thefe Trees is The 

 {Hammam Moufa) Bath of Mojes, which the Inhabitants of 

 Tor have in extraordinary Efteem and Veneration ; acquaint- 

 ing us, that it was here, that MoJes himfelf and his particular 

 Houfhold, were encamped. 

 The Defert of Wc havc a diftiudt View of Mount Sinai from Elim-, the 

 ^'"- Wildernefs, as it is ftill called, of Sin, lying betwixt us. We 



traverfed thefe Plains in nine Hours, being diverted, all the 

 Way, with the Sight of a Variety of Lizards and T^ipers, that 

 are here in great Numbers. I had not the good Fortune 

 to fee the famous Infcription, that is faid to be engraven upon 

 the Rocks, juft as we turn into the Valley that conducts us to 

 Mount Sinai. Sin was the firft Place where God gave the 

 Ifraelites Manna, Ex. 16. 14.. and therefore fome Authors have 

 imagined, that thefe Characters were left, as a ftanding Monu- 

 ment of that Bleffing, to future Generations. 

 The p/aiu of ^c wcre near twelve Hours in paffing the many Windings 

 Sinai. ^j^^ difficult Ways, which lye betwixt the Deferts of Sin and 

 Sinai. The latter is a beautiful Plain, more than a League in 

 Breadth, and nearly three in Length, lying open towards the 

 N. E. where we enter it, but is clofed up to the Southward by 

 fome of the lower Eminences of Mount Sinai. In this Direction 

 likewife the higher Parts of it make fuch Encroachments upon 

 the Plain, that they divide it into two, each of them capacious 

 enough to receive the whole Encampment of the Ifraelites. 

 That which lyeth to the Eafbward of the Mount, may be the 

 Defert of 5i«^i, properly fo called, \^hQXQMofes fawthe udngel 

 of the Lord in the hurning BufJj, when he was guarding the 

 The Convent Flocks of Jethro. Ex. g. 1. The Convent of St. Catharine is 

 of St. Catha- \^yjfi\i over the Place of this Divine Appearance. It is near three 

 hundred Foot Square, and more than forty in Height, being 

 partly built with Stone, partly with Mud only and Mortar mixed 



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