CONVENT OF MOUNT SINAI. 243 



premises. The call to vespers is made by striking 

 a piece of dry wood in the same manner. 



In former times, every principal Christian sect, 

 except Lutherans and Calvinists, had its chapel in 

 the convent of Sinai ; but most of these have long 

 been abandoned by their owners. What may be 

 considered more remarkable is, that close by the 

 great church stands a Mohammedan mosque, spa- 

 cious enough to contain two. hundred people at pray- 

 ers. It is said to have been built in the fifteenth or 

 sixteenth century, to prevent the destruction of the 

 monastery, and is sometimes visited by straggling 

 pilgrims. The greatest number of these is perhaps 

 from sixty to eighty annually ; but so late as the 

 last century, regular haj-caravans used to come from 

 Cairo as well as from Jerusalem ; 800 Armenians 

 are stated to have arrived in one day, and 500 

 Copts on another occasion. Adjoining the con- 

 vent is a pleasant well-stocked garden, which is en- 

 tered by a subterraneous passage. It produces fruits 

 and vegetables of various kinds, and of the finest 

 quality. 



The number of monks, most of whom are natives 

 of the Greek islands, does not now exceed twenty 

 or thirty. They have a president or prior ; but the 

 economos or steward is the true head of the com- 

 munity, and manages all its affairs. The superior 

 of the whole order is the archbishop or reis, w^ho is 

 chosen by a council of delegates, and formally con- 

 firmed by the Greek patriarch of Jerusalem. In an- 

 cient times he resided in the convent ; but since its 

 affairs have been on the decline, it has been found 

 expedient that he should live abroad ; the Bedouins 

 considering his presence as entitling them to exact 

 very high fees, especially on his entering the estab- 

 hshment. On this occasion 10,000 dollars (2156/.) 

 were sometimes demanded ; hence the monks, rather 

 than purchase this honour so dearly, shut up the 

 gate, and have dispensed with the archbishop's pres- 



