Part L Travels into the Levant. 169 
there we heard Mafs faid by the Capucin who was v/ith us. Near to that, there 
is a little Mofque, and by the fide of it a Hole or iittle Gav^, where Â/ofes 
fafted Forty Days. There is a fmall Grott aifo at the lide of the Latin Church, 
where Mofes hid himfelf, when having defired to fee God's Face, the Lord told 
hii^, that he could not fee his Face and live ; but that he fhouid hide himfelf in 
that Rock, and that v\'hen he was psffed by, he fliould fee his back parts : His 
Back and Arms are very well marked on the Rock under which he hid himfelf. 
It was upon the top of this Mount that Mofes received from God the'Xen Com^ 
mandments written upon two Tables. From this place one may eafily fee 
down into the Convent, which is at the foot of the Mount, and as it were 
juft under thofe who are on the top of it. There you fee a fair large Church 
covered with Lead, where ( they fay j the Body of St. C^?kr;/7<? is in pieces. 
Before the door of the faid Church, within the Precindls of the MonaHery, 
there is beautiful Mofque. As we were coming down again, we found by the 
way agreat Stone, and (as the Greeks fzy) this is the place to which the Pro- 
phet Eli^s came, having fled from Mount Carmel, becaufe of the Perfecution of 
Jez-abel, Queen of Syrm being come to that place where^ the Stone is, an 
Angel appeared unto him, and with a Rod, fmitingthat great Stone, made it 
fall down in the. way, and forbid Ellas to go any farther, telling him, that 
iînce Mofes had not been in the Holy Land, he fiiould not go to the top of this 
Mount. A littlelower, is the Foot of a Camel, fo well imprinted on the Rock, 
that it cannot be better flsmped upon the Sand over which a Camel palTes ; 
the Moors and ylrabs ïay it is the print of the Foot of A/lzfeo^a 's Camel, which 
it left there as he pafled that way upon it, they kifs it with great devotion ; 
but it is credible that the Greeks have made it to captivate their friendfiup, to 
the end they may reverence thofe places. After that, in feveral places of the 
Mount, we fav/ little Chappels, which have all little Houfes near them, and 
Gardens fall of Fruit-Trees . Heretofore thefe places were inhabited by Her- 
mites, info great number, that it is faid, that in the Mountain of Mofes xhevQ 
were in ancient Times above fourteen thoufand Hermites ^ afterwards the 
Greeks kept Monks in all thefe Hermitages, to celebrate Divine Office j but 
at prefent there are none, becaufe the ^?v;i^/ too much tormented them. We 
dined upon this Mountain on Bread, Onions, and Dates that we had brought 
with us, and then went to fee the Hermitages, and firft we found three of 
thefe Chappels altogether, with a palfage from one to another : Behind the 
Altar of the third, which is dedicated to the Honour of St. Elias^ there is a 
Hole in the Rock, where EUas lived all the while that he fojourncd in that 
Mount, becaufe of the Perfecution of Jez^abel. Then we came to another place 
where there are three Chappels more, dedicated one to the Honour of the Blef- 
fed Firgin^ another to the Honour of St. Am^ and a thir3 to the Honour of 
St. John ; after that, to a Chappel dedicated to St. Pantdeon^ then to another 
dedicated to the Holy ^«?xz«, another to David, another to the Baptifm of our 
Lord Jefits Chrtfti another tQ St. Anthony the Hermite ; to another place where 
there are three little Cells, in which (the Greeks fay) that two Elder Sons of 
the Greek Emperour (hut themfelvesup, each in his Cell, caufingthe Doors to 
be walled up, and leaving only a Window in each, fdll to be feen, by which 
they received Victuals from a Servant who lived in the third Cell, that was not 
flîut up, and that both of them died in their feveral Cells. All thefe Chappels 
are fcattered up and down upon the Mount, fo that one mufl go a good way 
before he can vifite them all : Near to every one ofthem, there is a little Houfe, 
a Garden, and good Water. From thence we went down to the great Mona- 
ftery at the foot of the Mountain, by ileps whith heretofore reached from the 
faid Monaftery up to the top of the Mount, and were in number fourteen thou- 
fand -, at prefent fome ofthem are broken ^ thofe that remain, are well made, 
and eaiie to go up .or dow^n. One may judge of the height of St. Catherine's 
Mount, by this, which certainly is not fo high by a third, and yet hath fourteen ^'^^j ^^^3^^ 
thoufand Steps up to it._ Upon the v\/ay as we came down, we found two fair tain rf^A/JfT, 
flone Porticos, by which we palFed, and where ( the Greeks fay) that they 
who performed the Pilgrimage, paid heretofore a certain fmall due. After 
that, we came to the great Monaftery at the bottom, which is welt built of good 
Free-ltone, with very high fmooth Walls ; on the Eaft-lide there is a Window, 
2 by 
