Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/126

 originating and executing these works, man himself had been but an imitator of nature; that he had endeavoured to reproduce artificially those forms which the natural architecture here presented to his view was well calculated to suggest to him. The noble cliffs and rock faces at the base of Mount Hor of themselves assume forms simulating artificial structures, such as temples, fortresses, or dwellings of men. Here may be seen three grand natural facades of sandstone ranged side by side like a line of palaces, but severed from each other by intervening spaces; and one cannot help conjecturing that the examples of natural architecture here, as well as at other places, displayed along the sides of the valley, had suggested to the early Edomites and Nabathean inhabitants the idea of imitating in art what nature has so prominently placed before them.

The colouring of the sandstone cliffs of Wâdy Mûsa should not pass unnoticed; it is wonderfully gorgeous, possibly altogether unique. I have seen coloured sandstone formations in the British Isles and in Europe, but never before colours of such depth and variety of pattern as these. The walls of rock reminded one of the patterns on highly painted halls, Eastern carpets, or other fanciful fabrics of the loom. The deepest reds, purples, and shades of yellow are here arranged in alternate bands, shading off into each other, and sometimes curved and twisted into gorgeous fantasies. These effects, due to the infiltration of the oxides of iron, manganese, and other substances, are frequent in sandstones to various degrees; but nowhere, as far as my observation goes, do they reach the variety of form and brilliancy of colouring to be found in the Wady Músa amongst the ruins of Petra.

Little time was allowed for an examination of Petra, or the Wâdy Mûsa, as the days were short; and, owing to the difficulty, not to say danger, of traversing the mountain path in the dark, it was necessary to allow ourselves time to get out of the Wâdy Haroun before sunset. My companions had not joined me when I began to retrace my steps. As it afterwards turned out, when the party reached the summit of Mount Hor, they found themselves in mist, which delayed the trigonometrical observations for nearly two hours. Hence much precious time was lost, and their visit to the Wâdy Mûsa was consequently a hurried one. We all reached the camp, however, in safety, our party about an hour after sunset, the other about four hours later. Fortunately for them a brilliant moon shed its light on their path, and enabled them to avoid the pitfalls with which the road over the Nagb was beset.