In this chain,
about five hours from Tor, northward, is the Djebel Nakous, or mountain
of the Bell. On its side next the sea a mass of very fine sand, which
has collected there, rushes down at times, and occasions a hollow sound,
of which the Bedouins relate many stories; they compare it to the
ringing of bells, and a fable is repeated among them, that the bells
belong to a convent buried under the sands. The wind and weather are not
believed to have any effect upon the sound.
Bearings from Om Shomar.
Tor, W.1.S. The usual road to Tor from the upper Sinai lies through the
valley of El Ghor [Arabic], not far distant to the N.W.
WADY RAHABA
[p.592] of Shomar; to the south of El Ghor extends the chain of Djed el
Aali [Arabic]; and another valley called El Shedek [Arabic], entered
from the Ghor, leads towards the lower plain
Djebel Serbal, N. 1/4 W.
The Djoze, over Feiran, N. 1/2 W.
Om Dhad, N.N.W.
Fera Soweyd [Arabic], a high mountain between Om Shomar and Mount St.
Catherine, N. b. E. It forms one range with the peak of Koly, which
branches of from hence, N.E. b. N.
Mountain of Masaoud, E.
Mountain over Wady Kyd, E. 1/4 S.
We took a breakfast after our return to Romhan, and then descended by
the same way we had come. In re-ascending Wady Zereigye we heard the
report of a gun, and were soon after gratified by seeing our huntsman
arrive at the place where we had left our camel, with a fine mountain
goat. Immediately on killing it he had skinned it, taken out the
entrails, and then put the carcase again into the skin, carrying it on
his back, with the skin of the legs tied across his breast. No butcher
in Europe can surpass a Bedouin in skinning an animal quickly; I have
seen them strip a camel in less than a quarter of an hour; the entrails
are very seldom thrown away; if water is at hand, they are washed, if
not, they are roasted over the fire without washing; the liver and lungs
of all animals are usually eaten raw, and many of the hungry bystanders
are seen swallowing raw pieces of flesh. After a hearty dinner we
descended, by a different path from that we had ascended, into the upper
part of Wady Rahaba, in which we continued N.E. b. E. for two or three
hours, when we halted at a well called Merdoud [Arabic], at a little
distance from several plantations of fruittrees.
My departure from the convent had roused the suspicions of the Bedouins;
they had learnt that I was going to Om Shomar, and
WADY OWASZ
[p.593] two of them set out this morning by different routes, in order
to intercept my return, intending no doubt to excite a quarrel with me
respecting my visits to their mountains, in the hope of extorting money
from me.
