378 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARABIA. 



he observes, remained unknown in Europe until it was first 

 mentioned by Seetzen. It is called mann by the Bedouins, 

 and accurately resembles that described by the Jewish his- 

 torian.* In the month of June it drops from the prickles of 

 the tamarisk upon the fallen leaves and twigs, which always 

 cover the ground beneath the branches, in its natural state. 

 The Arabs collect it in the morning, when it is coagulated, 

 but it dissolves as soon as the sun shines upon it. They 

 clean away the leaves and dirt v/hich adhere to it ; and, after 

 being boiled, it is strained through a coarse piece of cloth 

 and put into leathern skins, in which it is preserved till the 

 following year. They do not seem to make it into cakes or 

 loaves ; but they dip their morsel into it, or pour it as they do 

 honey over their unleavened bread. It is found only in sea- 

 sons when copious rains have fallen, and sometimes it is not 

 produced at all. When kept in a cool temperature it is hard 

 and solid, but becomes soft if held in the hand or exposed to 

 the sun. The colour is a dirty yellow ; but the taste is 

 agreeable, somewhat aromatic, and sweet as honey. If 

 eaten in considerable quantities it is said to be slightly pur- 

 gative. The Bedouins esteem it as the greatest dainty 

 which their country affords : the produce, however, even in 

 the best years, is trifling, perhaps not exceeding 500 or 600 

 pounds. The harvest is usually in June, and lasts about six 

 weeks. Though the tamarisk abounds in Hejaz, on the Eu- 

 phrates, and in every part of Arabia, Burckhardt never heard 

 of its yielding manna except in Mount Sinai. He was in- 

 formed that in Asia Minor near Erzeroum, the kind men^ 

 tioned by Niebuhr was still collected from the tree which 

 produces the galls ; but this is probably the gum-tragacanth, 

 which is obtained from a spinous shrub of the genus Astra- 

 galus, and which is so strong that a drachm will give to a pint 

 of water the consistency of a s}T:up. This gum is indigenous 

 in Natolia, Crete, and Greece. There is, however, a confu- 

 sion in his different accounts of the mamia, which he appears 



* Josephus derives the name from the Hebrew particle 7?w?i, 

 which, he says, means What is it ? this being the exclamation 

 of the Jews when they first beheld that divine and wonderful 

 food. — (Antiq. b. iii. c. 1.) Whiston, in a note on the text, 

 rather thinks it comes from the verb mannah, to divide ; and 

 mentions that in an old heathen waiter, Artapanus, it is corn-- 

 pared "to oatmeal, and hke snow in colour." 



