Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/51

Rh with those of the Red Sea. Beyond the tract influenced and irrigated by its waters, all was sandy desert covered by scrub, amongst which the only visible inhabitants were a shepherd and his flock. It was dark when we reached Suez, and on entering our hotel we learned that the steamship, the "Shannon," had arrived from England, and lay in the gulf awaiting the arrival of H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, on his way to India.

Next morning, on ascending to the roof of our hotel, to take a glance at the surrounding country, we were struck by the bold aspect of Jebel Attâkah, which rises in the form of a lofty escarpment along the western shore of the Gulf of Suez a few miles from our position. In form and outline it seemed to bear some resemblance to the ridge of Jebel Mokattam behind Cairo, and to be in some measure, in a geological point of view, representative of it; the strata were, in fact, easily visible from the roof of the hotel. We determined to devote the day to a visit to this fine range, and taking a sail-boat manned by four Arab sailors and a boy we dropped down the gulf. The wind was light, and sometimes failed us, so that the sailors had recourse to the oars, which they accompanied by a monotonous chant extemporised for the occasion, and, as we supposed, in our honour; as we could distinguish the word "hawajah" not unfrequently. At length, after three hours, we landed on a pier leading up to the quarries which were opened by M. De Lesseps for his buildings at Suez. From the pier we toiled up to the quarries under a burning sun (the temperature in the shade being 91° Fahr.), and were rewarded by finding the limestone rocks crowded with fossil shells, though generally only in the form of casts. Our return was enlivened by a steady breeze which sprung up from the north-west; and as we were carried along we kept a sharp look-out for the flying fish, which from time to time leaped out of the water, and after skimming over the crest of the waves for some yards, disappeared. As we neared the harbour the sun went down behind Jebel Attâkah; and soon after, the sky over the hills was all aglow, as if behind it were concealed a great city in conflagration; the deep red of the west shading off through purple and roseate hues into the dark grey of the zenith. It is only in the East that such sunsets reward the beholder.