MAWA. 377 



deep. Here the Waliabees imposed heavy assessments, 

 taxing not only the produce of the groves and gardens, but 

 the very water used in irrigating them. In Wady Feiran 

 Burckhardt mentions the jamya as the best species, of which 

 the monks of Sinai send large boxes annually to Constanti- 

 nople as presents, after having taken out the kernel and put 

 an almond in its place. Among these date-groves he ob- 

 served several doun-trees, as well as in other parts of the 

 peninsula. They belong to the Tebna Arabs, and during the 

 five or six weeks of harvest the vallev is crowded with peo- 

 ple, who erect temporary huts of palm-branches, and pass 

 their time va. great conviviality. At Dahab the plantations 

 have a very different appearance from those in Hejaz. The 

 lower branches, instead of being taken off annually, are suf- 

 fered to remain, and hang down to the ground, forming an 

 almost impenetrable barrier round the tree, the top of which 

 only is crowned with green leaves. 



Manna. — The true nature and origin of this substance, 

 celebrated as the miraculous food of the Israelites, have not 

 yet been very satisfactorily ascertained. The observations 

 made by travellers and naturahsts do not accord with the 

 Scripture nairative, nor do they afford any explanation of the 

 phenomena as recorded by Moses (Exod. xvi., Numb, xi.) 

 That it is a vegetable production is generally admitted. Rau- 

 vvolf has described a thorny plant called algul, which yields 

 -a species of manna ; and Michaelis mentions another under 

 ;the name of alhagc. Niebuhr neglected to inquire after this 

 :Sub3tance, and what he heard from a monk near Suez was an 

 :idle legend not worth repetition. He was told that in Meso- 

 potamia manna is produced by several trees of the oak genus ; 

 that it covers the leaves like flour, and is obtained by shaking 

 the branches. July or August are the months in which it is 

 gathered, and it is found in greater abundance in moist than 

 in dry seasons. When fresh it is white and saccharine, but 

 it melts in the sun. At Bussora this traveller was shown 

 another species called taranjubil, which is gathered from a 

 prickly shrub near Ispahan : the grains were round and yel- 

 lowish. Both of these Boxis were used by the inhabitants as 

 sugar in preparing several dishes, especially pastry. Burck- 

 hardt is clearly of opinion that the manna of Scripture is 

 that which distils fi-om the iarfa or tamarisk-tree, a shrub 

 .abounding in the peninsula of Sinai. This remarkable fact, 



115 



