1868.] BAUEE^klAX ARAEIA PETR^A. 19 



4 feet in thickness. This is snf&ciently hard to resist the action of 

 the weather, and, to a certain extent, it protects the softer gypseons 

 marls and shales underneath. As the waste of the latter still goes 

 on, the blocks of conglomerate gradually lose their support and fall 

 down, leaving a conical hill, which is then rapidly destroyed, unless 

 a fresh conglomerate is formed in place, as frequently happens, owing 

 to the ready solubility of the cementing material — gypsum. In 

 some places the gravel is from 15 to 20 feet thick ; but it sometimes 

 happens that the pebbles disappear, leaving a bed of almost pure 

 crystalHne gypsum in its place. The pebbles in the conglomerate 

 are almost all of j^Tummulitic limestone, of a dark-grey, black, or 

 yellowish tint, and externally present the peculiar pitted and furrowed 

 appearance caused by the scouring of drifted sand, which is so cha- 

 racteristic of all the loose stones found on the African and Arabian 

 deserts. At c there is a low terrace of blown sand; and from this 

 point to the shore worn shells and branches of coral abound, in- 

 creasing in quantity towards the beach. From c to the foot of the 

 hill they are almost entirely absent, onlj- a single valve of a Pecten 

 having been found between the former point and the region of the 

 conglomerate-hills. 



The springs at Ain Mousa rise from the salt and gypseous shales, 

 probably being fed by the drainage of the gravel-region at the back 

 of them. There are 10 or 11 principal ones. The largest dis- 

 charges into a basin about 30 feet in diameter, and shows a slight 

 discharge of gas. There is a small deposit of bog-iron-ore in the 

 basin, and, according to Heuglin, a great number of Diatomaceae are 

 found in the mud. An upper spring, about 150 yards to the south of 

 the gardens, crowned by a solitary palm tree, which forms a promi- 

 nent and welcome land-mark to the traveller returning from the 

 desert towards Suez, contains a great number of Cyprides also, 

 which, together with the sand, form a basin round the point of 

 discharge. 



The height of Moses's Wells above high-water-mark is about 45 feet. 

 Their aspect has changed considerably since the time of Heugiin's 

 ^dsit in 1861, when it appears to have been a place of residence for 

 Suez merchants, as he speaks of having lodged in the villa of the 

 Belgian consular agent. Nowadays there is nothing approaching to 

 a decent habitation, although the enclosures have increased in num- 

 ber, the most pretentious being a miserable grog-shop rejoicing in the 

 name of the Hotel de Bourgognc. The springs are now nearly all 

 enclosed, even the higher outlying one on the hill having been in 

 process of enclosure by a wire fence on our return in the month 

 of June last (1868). At the same time it is also subjected to 

 the incursions of visitors to a much greater extent than formerly, 

 owing, no doubt, to the great influx of population at Suez and other 

 points on the Isthmus, consequent on the undertaking of the canal 

 from the Mediterranean to the Eed Sea, and the new deep-water 

 harbour for the Indian mail-steamers. A certain amount of Test 

 must, however, have been given to the place since the cessation of 

 the water-supplv to Suez^ which town, it need scarcely be said, is no 



c2 



