^yS Thy fie al Ohfer-vations 6c c. 



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



phere ujually 



ferene. try^ durittg the Months oi Septemher and Ofioher, the ^z. 

 mo/phere was perfe6lly clear and ferene all the Way from Kairo 

 to Corondel\ but from thence to Mount S'lna'i, the Tops of 

 the Mountains would be now and then capped with Clouds, 



A "rcat Storm ^^^^ fomctimes coutittue fo for the whole Day. This Difpofition 



et^Moimt of t]^e ^ir was fucceeded, loon after, by a violent Tempelt^ 

 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 Thanomena are not frequent, rarely ialhng out, as 

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



Jtthfmifs Except at fuch extraordinary Conjunftures 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 Directi- 

 ons are the moft frequent ; and, by blowing over a vaft Trad; 

 of this fandy Defert and bearing away the fandy Surface along 

 with them, make continual Encroachments upon the Sea, and 



The Moun- frcqueut Chaugcs 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. 



T^^py^lPf/f Where anv Part of thefe Deferts is fandy and level , the 



of the Dejert •/ ■' ' 



appems to beHorizou is as fit for aflronomical Obfervations as the Sea, and 



a Colletlw}/ of ' 



ivatir. appears, at a fmall Diftance^ to be no lefs a Collection of Water '. 

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

 ordinary Manner every Object appeared to be magnifyed with- 

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

 Flock of Jtchhohhas might be miftaken for a Caravan of 



I Tlie like Obfervation is taken Notice of by D'lodorus Siculus in his Account o( Africa. 

 1. I. p. 128. H t/V (^fet) visrJf 7B vlmoY fWp®' \i^7fivisffa^ kk^' 'iv n I'^TJoc ipin!^ tvy'tSxMV, Iteorngf! %aa. ttff^ 



Camels. 



