;i2 



NA TURE 



[January 13, 1910 



countrv traversed bv the line was in parts almost 

 unknown, and, as regards all the western section, 

 of an extremely wild and mountainous character. 

 The winters were very severe, and the difficulties of 

 travel formidable. In such circumstances it may well 

 be understood that the responsibilities of Wilson's posi- 

 tion, he being then little more than a boy, entrusted 



The Problem of Mou 



Jebel Serbal. 

 ' The Life of Majo 



with the duties of commissariat, store and transport 

 officer, were great. 



Not long after the termination of this commission, 

 he had an opportunity of taking up a work of a some- 

 what difi'erent character, a work which at intervals 

 occupied his energies for a large part of his life — the 

 survey of Palestine and the surrounding regions. It 

 is not the place here to recapitulate, even in briefest 

 NO. 2098, VOL. 82] 



summary, the services rendered by him and other 

 officers in this great undertaking ; those curious may 

 consult the maps and records of the Palestine Ex- 

 ploration Fund, or may read the account of Wilson's 

 share of it in the work before us. 



After his return to England in iS66. and his mar- 

 riage in 1867, he again went to the East to carry out 

 a special task for the same body, the 

 survey of the Sinaitic Peninsula, with 

 the object of illustrating and elucidat- 

 ing the events of Bible history. Pre- 

 eminent among the points to be in- 

 vestigated was that of the identifi- 

 cation of Mount Sinai, then a dis- 

 ]uitcd question, some authorities con- 

 tending for a mountain called Jebel 

 Musa, and others for Jebel Serbal. 

 Wilson's party, including, it should 

 be remembered, the late Prof. E. H. 

 Palmer, afterwards murdered by 

 Bedouins in the same country, unani- 

 mously came to the conclusion that 

 Jebel Musa was the true Sinai of the 

 Exodus. This view is now generally 

 accepted, and it is this mountain 

 which is pointed out to passengers in 

 mail steamers proceeding southward 

 from Suez. The late Sir Richard 

 Burton, however, always refused to 

 accept it, and maintained that the 

 honour belonged to one of the minor 

 peaks to be found along the pilgrim 

 road from Suez to Akaba. 



Wilson's share in the Nile ex- 

 pedition of 1884, and in the attempt to 

 relieve Khartum and rescue Gordon, 

 is dealt with at length. We have 

 already alluded to the abortive attack 

 upon him for a failure in no wise his 

 fault, and it may be fairly conjectured 

 that the author, himself a life-long 

 friend of Gordon, welcomed this 

 opportunity of putting on record his 

 version of the history of that troubled 

 time, especially so in view of the 

 opinion strongly held by him that 

 Lord Cromer, in his " Modern 

 Egypt," was less than fair to Gordon, 

 and gave evidence of a certain want 

 of understanding of his character. 



The other work that filled Wilson's 

 busy life we must pass by with slight 

 notice. In 1878 he was appointed to 

 delimit the Turco-Servian frontier, 

 and he afterwards served as Consul- 

 General in Servia. He was for seven 

 years, 1886-94, Director-General of 

 the Ordnance Surveys, a post that he 

 filled with efficiency, though his rule 

 was not marked by any striking ad- 

 vances. From 1895 to 1S98, the date 

 of his retirement from the army, he 

 held the office of Director of Military 

 Education. ,'\fter his retirement he 

 twice again visited Palestine, and in 

 1 90 1 was elected to the chairmanship 

 of the executive committee of the 

 Palestine Exploration Fund, a position which he held 

 until his death in 1905. He was the recipient 

 of numerous honours, being elected a Fellow of the 

 Royal Society in 1874. The present biography is 

 written in a simple and unpretentious style. It may 

 be cordially recommended to all those to whom the 

 history of the events of which it treats is of interest. 

 The general reader may also find a certain attraction 



1 Sir Charles William Wih. 



