54 



Visit to Mount Siiiai. 



[Ko. S3, 



palms ; beyond that the plain of El Kaa bounded to the east by the 

 mountains of Sinai. 



El "Wadi and leaving the walls of this dusty wretched town,^ 



Jebel Hum- y^,q travelled on a N. by direction alonff the mar- 

 mam. ° 



shy and sandy fiat to the palm and date shaded vil- 

 lage of El Wadi which is a little more than a mile from Tor. Near 

 El Wadi we crossed the Wadi itself which appears to be the dry 

 broad channel of a monsoon torrent. After travelling 3 or 4 miles 

 further on, we turned in an E. direction to our right over a low 

 ridge apparently the southern prolongation of Jebel Hummam. 



Jebel Hummam ^ (J^t*- derives its name from some tepid 

 springs called the Baths of Moses Hummam Mussa" (which I vi- 

 sited on another occasion,) close to the gardens of El Wadi. The 

 rock there was fossileferous limestone with millepores. 



By some travellers the wells in the Wadi and palms have been 

 supposed to be the wells of Elim. 



The principal objection that has been urged against this opinion is 

 that if the Israelites crossed the Red Sea near its northern extremity 

 in their road from Egypt to Mount Sinai and to the promised land ; 

 it is not likely they would have come so far south out of the direct 

 route. 



This can hardly be received as an objection when we reflect that 

 the progress of the Israelites towards the promised land was not a 

 direct one, after the passage of the Red Sea, but a series of wander- 

 ings in the wilderness decreed by the Almighty Himself for their 

 chastisement. The direct road would certainly have been from the 

 eastern shore of the Red Sea to Gaza but avoiding altogether Mount 

 Sinai, Edom and Mount Hor where Aaron died, before the land 

 flowing with milk and honey was permitted to be attained. 



June 3d. We rose before dawn ; the morning extremely cold ; 

 and pursued our route north-easterly, across El Kaa toward the pass 

 of Wadi Hebron which debouches on El Kaa from the grand moun- 

 tain mass of peaks before us. 



The plain rises gently towards the base and nearer the mouth of 

 Wadi Hebron is broken up by diverging beds of torrents. Here our 

 Arabs called it Hulleh Hebron. It was a lovely sight to witness 

 from the plain of El Kaa the rays of the rising sun gilding the lofty 

 peaks of Mount Catherine, Jebel Sherban, Muara and Om Shomar. 



