I Believe It Was In These Parts That Niebuhr Copied The
Inscriptions Given In Plate 49 Of His Voyage.
From the spring the
descent was steep; in many parts I found the road paved, which must have
been a work of considerable labour, and I was told that it had been done
in former times at the expense of the convent.
This road is the only one
passable for camels, with the exception of the defile in which is the
seat of Moses, in the way from the upper Sinai towards Suez. At three
hours and three quarters from the convent we reached the foot of this
mountain, which is bordered by a broad, gravelly valley. This is the
boundary of the upper mountains of Sinai on this side; they extended in
an almost perpendicular range on our right towards Wady Szaleh, and on
our left in the direction W.N.W. We now entered Wady Solaf [Arabic],
“the valley of wine,” coming from the N. or N.E. which here separates
the upper Sinai range from the lower. At five hours we passed, to our
right, a Wady coming from the north, called Abou Taleb [Arabic], at the
upper extremity of which is the tomb of the saint Abou Taleb, which the
Bedouins often visit, and where there is an annual festival, like that
of Sheikh Szaleh, but less numerously attended. Our road continued
through slightly descending, sandy valleys; at the end of five hours and
a quarter, after having
[p.598] passed several encampments without stopping, we turned N. by W.
where a lateral valley branches off towards the sea shore, and
communicates with the valley of Hebran, which divides the upper Sinai
from the Serbal chain. Wady Hebran contains considerable date-
plantations and gardens, and this valley and Wady Feiran are the most
abundant in water of all the Wadys of the lower country. A route from
the convent to Tor passes through Wady Hebran, which is longer than the
usual one, but easier for beasts of burthen.
At six hours and three quarters we halted in Wady Solaf, as I found
myself somewhat feverish, and in want of repose. We saw great numbers of
red-legged partridges this day; they run with astonishing celerity along
the rocky sides of the mountains, and as the Bedouins do not like to
expend a cartridge upon so small a bird, they are very bold. When we
lighted our fire in the evening, I was startled by the cries of Hamd “to
take care of the venemous animal!” I then saw him kill a reptile like a
spider, to which the Bedouins give the name of Abou Hanakein [Arabic],
or the two-mouthed; hanak meaning, in their dialect, mouth. It was about
four inches and a half in length, of which the body was three inches; it
has five long legs on both sides, covered, like the body, with setae of
a light yellow colour; the head is long and pointed, with large black
eyes; the mouth is armed with two pairs of fangs one above the other,
recurved, and extremely sharp.
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