FAUNA AND FLORA OF SINAI, PETRA, AND WADY 'ARAB AH. 7 



tion. Noteworthy instances of the above peculiarities will be given 

 farther on. 



Of the Sinaitic mountains, no part was as yet visible ; we were, how- 

 ever, gradually rising above sea-level, and with the cooler atmosphere 

 there was a steady increase also in the quantity of vegetation. A very 

 fragrant bushy Artemisia, A. santolina, Linn., had become frequent, 

 and is subsequently one of the most characteristic plants of the flat 

 widies. 



In Widy Sudur Cleome arabica, Linn. ; Pennisetum dichotomum, Del., 

 and Elionurus hirsuius, Vahl., were secured in good condition, except the 

 latter grass, which is so closely eaten by camels that it is hard to obtain 

 good specimens. 



Anabasis articulata, Forsk., is a prevalent low-sized species ; its dried 

 twigs are always topped by a few scales, the remains of the floral enve- 

 lopes. These are occasionally a showy red or claret colour, and give a 

 brilliant effect, sometimes equalling that of red heather at a distance. It 

 is perhaps the commonest species throughout Sinai ; Gymnocarpum fruti- 

 cosus, Forsk., however, is nearly as abundant. The Anabasis, whose 

 slenderer twigs are, I believe, all lost and withered at this season, accumu- 

 lates round its roots blown hillocks of sand a couple of feet high, favourite 

 hiding places for lizards, and burrowing ground for ants and the smaller 

 rodents. The Bedawin called this plant ' Erimth.' 



The vegetation is scattered in tufts amongst the sand and gravel ; 

 except in the occasionally moistened wady beds these tufts are usually 

 isolated and often far apart. 



On the 13th, at about 350 feet above sea-level, we entered a bed of 

 chalk intermixed with white marls strewed with chert, fossils, and selenite. 

 We reached Ghurundel by moonlight. Tamarisks and palms {Tamarix 

 nilotica, Pall. ; Phcenix dactylifera, Linn) form here a pleasant grove ; 

 Zilla, Nitraria, and most of the species above mentioned, are plentiful. 



At Wady Ghurundel (' Elim ')* I obtained some fresh species of birds. 



* This wady must not be confounded with others of the same name in Sinai and Edoni. 

 A notable instance of confusion occurs in the ninth chapter of the EngHsh translation of 

 Laborde's 'Arabia Petrasa,' 1836, where the translator quotes several pages of description of 

 the present wMy from Burckhardt, to illustrate Laborde's short and correct mention of Wady 

 Ghurundel, near Petra. 



