ESCHIPTION OF ARABIA. 66 



appearances, though there are islands in the Red Sea 

 which retain marks of volcanic action. But objec- 

 tions such as these are entitled to little weight. 

 We do not read of any actual discharge from the 

 mountain. It is described, indeed, as having " quaked 

 ereatly," as having " burned with fire," and emitted 

 smoke "like a furnace:" but these appearances 

 were not the effect of any natural convulsion ; they 

 were the awful emblems which the Deity chose to 

 make the harbingers of his presence,— the cloudy 

 robes of his divine majesty. To look, therefore, for 

 the ordinary results of such phenomena in the site 

 of this wonderful and miraculous transaction were 

 as reasonable as to expect to find the nightly pillar 

 that enlightened the Hebrew camp, or the fountains 

 which followed them on their march through the 



wilderness. -^ ^ j 



Another still more elevated summit westward, 

 called Mount Serbal, has been considered as having 

 rival pretensions to the honours claimed for the 

 Mount of Moses ; but these do not seem to be better 

 founded. It exhibits no volcanic appearances ; and 

 its five peaks, according to the general theory on 

 the subject, militate against the idea that it is the 

 Horeb and Sinai of Scripture. That it was first se- 

 lected as the representative of Smai was probably 

 owing to its great elevation ; but the hypothesis is 

 altoo-ether gratuitous which considers that sacred 

 mountain as pre-eminently high. Notwithstanding 

 the many theories and conjectures of travelleis, the 

 probability remains stronger in favour of Gebel 

 Katerin and Gebel Mousa than of any other; how- 

 ever difficult it may be to reconcile their scenery or 

 position with the several events recorded in Holy 

 Writ There is yet room for future investigation ; 

 and it is possible that, by examining the different 

 localities with more attention to the Sacred Record 

 than to the legends of monks and Bedoums, further 



