238 
SIN 
SIN 
province of Tlemsan, nearly three miles in circumference, 
and situated on the eastern side of the Shelliff; 72 miles 
south-west of Algiers. 
SINAI, a mountain of Arabia, near the head of the Red 
Sea, celebrated in scripture history as the spot whence the 
law was given to Moses. It is situated in the heart of a vast 
and gloomy desert, the few inhabited spots of which are 
occupied by hordes of Arabs, who subsist by plunder, and 
render the road impassable, unless for a large and well de¬ 
fended caravan; but the range to which Sinai belongs is 
called by the Arabs Jibbel Musa, and consists of several 
lofty summits, the valleys of which are composed of fright¬ 
ful gulleys, between rugged and precipitous rocks. At the 
foot of the mountain is the Greek convent of St. Catharine, 
which was found there in 1331, by William Bouldesell, and 
has ever since continued to afford hospitality to the few 
pilgrims whose zeal impels them to brave the perils of this 
road. It is situated on the slope of the mountain, and re¬ 
quires the traveller to ascend considerably before he reaches 
it. The edifice is 120 feet in length, and almost as many 
in breadth, built entirely of hewn stone, which, in such a 
desert, must have cost prodigious labour and expense. The 
monks are kept, as it were, imprisoned in this convent by 
the wild Arabs of the surrounding country. The gate of 
entrance, which is in a small adjoining building, is never 
opened, unless on occasion of the visit of the archbishop. 
At all other times, men, as well as provisions, are introduced 
by a basket drawn up by a cord and pulley, to the height of 
30 feet. The Arabs often fire upon the convent from the 
adjacent rocks, and seize the monks when they find them 
without the walls, refusing to release them without a consi¬ 
derable ransom. They take advantage of the entry of the 
archbishop, to accompany him in great numbers, and prove 
most unweleome visitors, the monks being obliged to subsist 
them for a considerable time. There is an excellent garden 
at a little distance from the convent, which is reached by a 
subterraneous passage, secured by iron-gates. It produces 
fruits, plants and vegetables, in the utmost profusion. The 
climate is temperate, in consequence of the elevation; and 
snow even falls in winter. The interior of the convent pre¬ 
sents little remarkable, all the apartments and chapels being 
built of rough stone, without symmetry or order, communi¬ 
cating by crooked and dark passages. The church of the 
Transfiguration alone possesses any pretension to magnifi¬ 
cence. It is 80 feet long, and 53 broad, paved with marble, 
adorned with a variety of figures. The event to which it 
relates is represented in Mosaic. There are many lamps of 
gold and silver, and the great altar is grit over, and embel¬ 
lished with jewels. 
From the convent, the ascent of Mount Sinai is steep, and 
rendered practicable only by steps cut in the rock, or loose 
stones piled in succession. After a short ascent, the tra¬ 
veller comes to a most delightful spring of fresh and cold 
water, a little above which is a chapel dedicated to the 
Virgin Mary, and where pilgrims were formerly obliged to 
confess themselves, and obtain absolution, before they were 
allowed to proceed farther. Higher up is shewn the impres¬ 
sion made by the foot of the camel on which Mahomet was 
carried up to heaven, under the guidance of the angel Ga¬ 
briel ; but the Greeks acknowledge that this impression was 
made by themselves, in order to inspire the Mahometans 
with a reverence for the mountain, which otherwise they 
would never have entertained. The summit.of Sinai is 
marked at once by a Christian church and a Turkish 
mosque, the former of which was once much more extensive, 
but is now greatly dilapidated. It commands a most exten¬ 
sive view over the Red Sea and the opposite coast of the 
Thebais; immediately beneath being the port of Tor, once 
the main channel by which the commodities of India were 
conveyed to Egypt. The descent is still steeper and rougher 
than the ascent, and terminates at the monastery of the Forty 
Saints, which has suffered still more deeply from the depre¬ 
dations of the Arabs, who, according to the most recent 
accounts, have now driven out the monks, and obtained 
entire possession of it. On the other side of it is the moun¬ 
tain of St. Catharine, still loftier than Sinai, which many 
pilgrims ascend; 150 miles south-east of Suez. 
SINALUNGA, a small town of Italy, in Tuscany, in the 
province of Sienna. 
SINAMARI, a large river of French Guiana, which falls 
into the Atlantic, between the river Marowine and the island 
of Cayenne, in Lat. 5. 39. N. 
SINAN, a small and winding river of Algiers, distin¬ 
guished by the flight of the elder Barbarossa, who strewed 
his treasure, on its banks, in the vain hope of retarding the 
pursuit of the Spaniards. It falls into the Wed el Mailah, 
about five miles before its junction with the sea. 
SINANO, a village of Greece, in the Morea, supposed to 
occupy the site of the ancient Megalopolis. The ruins of a 
theatre, and of the stadium, still remain; but the modern 
village is merely an assemblage of mud huts. 
SIN API PERSICUM, or Persian Mustard, a name by 
which some botanical authors have called the thlaspi, or 
treacle mustard. 
SINAPIS [2ivr,T(, of Theophrastus and Dioscorides], in 
Botany, a genus of the class tetrydynamia, order siliquosa, 
natural order of siliquosaa or cruciformes, cruciferae {Juss.J 
■—Generic Character. Calyx: perianth four-leaved, spread¬ 
ing ; leaflets linear, concave-channelled, cruciform-spread¬ 
ing, deciduous. Corolla: four-petalled, cruciform. Petals 
roundish, flat, spreading, entire: claws erect, linear, scarcely 
the length of the calyx. Nectareous glands four, ovate : one 
on each side between the shorter stamen and the pistil; and 
one on each side between the longer stamens and the calyx. 
Stamina : filaments six, awl-shaped, erect : two of them op¬ 
posite, the length of the calyx, and four longer. Anthers 
from erect spreading, acuminate. Pistil: germ cylindrical. 
Style length of the germ, height of the stamens. Stigma 
capitate, entire. Pericarp: silique oblong, torose below, 
rugged, two-celled, two-valved: partition for the most part 
twice the length of the valves, large, compressed. Seeds 
many, globular. Hence sinapis differs from brassica, in 
having the calyx spreading, but the claws of the corolla 
erect. Crantz unites this genus with raphanus.—• Essential 
Characta\ Calyx spreading. Corolla, claws erect. Gland 
between the shorter stamens and pistil, and between the 
longer stamens and calyx. 
1. Sinapis arvensis, wild mustard, or charlock.'—'Root an¬ 
nual, fusiform; stem from nine inches or a foot to a foot and 
a half in height, upright, rough with a few stiff hairs or 
bristles bent somewhat downwards; branches spreading. 
Leaves petioled, rugged, serrate, sometimes entire, but most 
frequently jagged at the base, and sometimes lyriate or pin- 
natifid. Flowers at the ends of the stem and branches, each 
on a pedicel the length of the calyx and slightly hispid. 
Corolla always yellow. Siliques spreading, slightly hairy 
or sometimes smooth, torose or swelling, ending in a short, 
compressed, ensiform, grooved beak. Seeds dark brown, 
shining, eight or nine.—Native of Europe, in cqrn fields: 
flowering in May and June, and perfecting its seeds before 
harvest; it is therefore very abundant in spring com. 
Its classical name in English js wild mustard ; but it is 
known among husbandmen by the names of Charlock, Gar- 
lock, Warlock, Chadlock, Cadlock, and Kedlock, all 
evidently the same name originally, only variously pro¬ 
nounced in different counties. 
The young plants, and particularly the tender tops before 
they flower, are boiled and eaten as greens by the peasants 
in Scandinavia, Ireland, and many parts of England. 
2. Sinapis Orientalis, or Oriental mustard.—Like the pre¬ 
ceding, but the beak only of the pod smooth.—Native of 
the Levant. 
3. Sinapis brassicata, or cabbage mustard.—Leaves obo- 
vate tooth-letted even. Stature of cabbage or lettice, hut the 
calyx of mustard. Stem a foot and a half high, very smooth. 
Flower very like that of the common cabbage Calyx 
yellow, scarcely emarginate. Pod like that of cabbage.— 
Native of China. 
4. Sinapis 
