[p.625] promontory, of the mountain, over which lies the road to the
Hammam Mousa, or hot-wells of Moses, we turned, on its south side, into
a fine valley called Wady el Taybe [Arabic], inclosed by abrupt rocks,
and full of trees, among which were a few of the date, now completely
withered. Want of rain is much more frequent in the lower ranges of the
peninsula, than in the upper. At four hours and a half we passed Wady
Shebeyke, reached soon afterwards the top of Wady Taybe, and then fell
in with the road by which I had passed on my way to the convent from
Suez. We rested in Wady Thale, under a rock, in the shade of which, at 2
P.M. the thermometer rose to 107°. After a march of eleven hours we
halted in Wady Gharendel.
June 6th.We continued in the road described at the beginning of this
journal, and at six hours and a half reached Wady Wardan. Here we turned
out of the great road to Suez, in a more western direction, towards the
sea, in order to take in water at the well of Szoueyra, which we came to
in three hours from Wardan. The lower parts of Wady Wardan, extending
six or eight miles in breadth, consist of deep sand, which a strong
north wind drove full in our faces, and caused such a mist that we
several times went astray. Upon small sandy mounds in this plain
tamarisk trees grow in great numbers, and in the midst of these lies the
well of Szoueyra, which it is extremely difficult to find without a
guide. It is about two miles from the sea. We here met many Terabein
women occupied in watering their camels; I enquired of them whether they
ever collected manna from the tamarisks; I understood from them that in
this barren plain, the trees never yield that substance. In the evening
we rode along a narrow path, parallel with the sea, for two hours and a
half. The wind still continued, and obliged us to seek for shelter
behind a