SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 



FAUNA AND FLORA OF SINAI, PETRA, AND 



WADY 'ARABAH. 



CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Early in the summer of 1883 my friend Professor Hull, Director of the 

 Geological Survey of Ireland, proposed to me that I should accompany 

 him as a volunteer on a geological and surveying expedition to Sinai and 

 the Dead Sea, of which he was about to take the leadership under the 

 auspices of the Palestine Exploration Society. 



With the main object of studying the botany of this region, and as far 

 as possible also other branches of its natural history, I accepted this 

 friendly offer. I was chiefly induced to do so by the assurance I received 

 from Professor Oliver, of Kew, that, whatever our Continental brethren 

 may have accomplished, few British botanists had as yet turned their 

 attention to Sinai. He at the same time promised his yaluable assistance 

 in the determination of my specimens upon my return — a promise 

 since fulfilled in a manner which entitles him to my sincerest thanks. 

 Another welcome consideration which helped to determine me was that 

 of a grant of money from the Scientific Fund of the Royal Irish 

 Academy. 



I feel bound to take this earliest opportunity of expressing my grateful 

 sense of the courtesy of the Rev. Canon Tristram, the well-known 

 authority on the Natural History of Palestine, who has helped me with 

 his advice before starting, and his scientific knowledge since my return. 



I 



