316 NOETH-EAST AFEICA. 



advances into the Red Sea in the form of a triangular peninsula, terminating in the 

 Ras-Benas headland, and sheltering on the south the gvdf of Umm-el-Ketef, 

 identified as the ancient port of Berenice. 



North of the Nubian frontier, where the crystalline rocks occupy the whole 

 breadth of Upper Egypt, the zone of granitic formations is gradually narrowed, 

 while still maintaining its chief elevations in the neighbourhood of the coast. 

 This region, now frequented only by a few scattered nomad tribes, was formerly 

 worked for its mineral wealth by numerous gangs of minei-s and quarrymen. The 

 Jebel-Zabarah, the Smaragdus of the ancients, which rises on the E,ed Sea coast, 

 under the latitude of Edfu, contains in its veins garnets and other valuable crys- 

 tals ; and in the year 1816, Cailliaud here discovered the beds of emeralds, which 

 though far from abundant and of rather indifferent quality, were worked by the 

 sovereigns of Egypt down to the year 1358. North and south of the mountain are 

 still visible the remains of the villages erected by the miners. 



Farther north, in the depression which runs from the Nile at Kenehto the port 

 of Kosseir, and near the Hamamat wells, have been discovered the remains of a 

 town of two thousand inhabitants, built of stone, and not far off vast quarries of 

 "verde antico," of "Egyptian breccia," and of other varieties of diorite, which 

 were used especially for cutting vases, sarcophagi, and statues. Still farther north 

 follow the two groups forming the ancient Mount Claudian, now severally 

 distinguished as the Jebel-Dokhan and the Jebel-Fatireh, the latter granitic, the 

 former porphyritic. The monoliths hewn out of these hills were conveyed down 

 to the coast of the E.ed Sea, and thence transported by the Suez Canal, or " Trajan's 

 River," to the Nile, and so on to Alexandria, and there shipped for all the 

 Mediterranean cities of the Roman world. The Jebel-Dokhan, or " Smoky 

 Mountain," the " Porphyrites Mons " of the ancients, contained a group of 

 quarries, which during the Roman epoch was more actively worked than any other 

 in Egypt, although the Egyptians themselves had never quarried this close-grained 

 stone. Since the reign of the Emperor Claudius, Rome and Byzantium continued 

 to import the admirable red porphyry, which was used in the erection of their 

 temples and palaces. Here are still found columns 58 feet long, and 24 feet in 

 compass, hence larger than the largest block in " Pompey's Pillar." The Arab 

 invasion of Egypt put an end to the operations carried on at these famous quarries, 

 whose site is still indicated by enormous heaps of refuse and the remains of large 

 towns. The porphyry formation of the Jebel-Dokhan crops out in the midst of 

 the granitic rocks, like the analogous porphyries of the Jebel-Katherin amid the 

 granites of the Sinai peninsula. 



Over against Mount Tor, on the Sinaitic coast, stands the Jebel-Gharib, whose 

 granite peaks rise to an altitude of 6,120 feet. This is the last lofty summit of 

 the border range, and according to Schweinfurth, it forms the culminating point of 

 the whole Arabian desert. So abrupt are its sides that it seems quite inaccessible. 



In the distance are visible Mount Tenareb and the Jebel-Shellalla, the latter 

 separated by the "Wadj-el-Tih from the Jebel-Attaka. All the mountain groups 

 iu this region are distinguished by nimierous pyramidal crests, whose spurs are 



