6 
similar to those with which the Israelites used to grind their 
manna. Great festivals are held, at which sheep and goats 
are sacrificed and eaten, and the blood may be seen poured 
out at the tomb of their saints, or struck upon the lintel and 
door-posts of their shrines ; the marriage rites, the law of 
restitution in cases of theft, the lawful killing of a slayer by 
the “ revenger of blood/'’ are almost identical with the laws 
and customs appointed by Moses. 
There can be little doubt also that the present natural 
features of the Peninsula are almost the same as they were at 
the time of the Exodus. The mountains and wadies remain 
unchanged. This can be proved. At Wady Mugharah and 
Sarabit el Khadim, in the sandstone district, are found nume- 
rous tablets of Egyptian hieroglyphics and inscribed stelae, in 
connection with the ancient turquoise-mines, which the inscrip- 
tions state were worked by the kings of Egypt who lived 
before the time of the Exodus. 
The inscriptions are in most cases as sharp and fresh as on 
the day they were executed, which prove that the thousands 
of years which have elapsed can have had little or no effect 
upon the sandstone; much less upon the harder and more 
compact limestone and crystalline rocks of which the Peninsula 
is mainly composed. 
The conclusion thus arrived at is further confirmed by the fact 
that the position of the Sinaitic inscriptions, w T hich are scattered 
over a large area of the Peninsula, not only in the wadies, but 
also on the sides and summits of the mountains, clearly proves 
that no great change has taken place since they were made, 
probably nearly 2,000 years ago. 
At the same time there can be little doubt that the 
amount of vegetation has considerably decreased. Large 
tracts of the northern portion of the Till plateau, w r hich 
are now desert, were formerly under cultivation, and the 
Isthmus of Suez, under the influence of the maritime and 
freshwater canals, is only now regaining its former fertility. 
Such changes in the character of the surrounding country 
must, to some extent 1 at least, have influenced the dews and 
rainfall of the Peninsula of Sinai. I am watching now with 
interest to see what effect the refilling of the Bitter Lakes 
and the introduction of freshwater irrigation in the Isthmus 
will have upon the climate of Suez. 
Probably also the Peninsula itself contained formerly a far 
larger number of trees. Eor many years the Arabs have been 
burning them for charcoal, which they carry to Egypt and ex- 
change for corn ; and the smelting of ores in olden times, of 
which extensive traces remain, must have caused a considerable 
