Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/84

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were now about to experience a surprise for which we were entirely unprepared, in the form of a magnificent gorge, resembling one of the great cañons of Western America. The road we were taking is seldom traversed either by travellers or by Arabs, and our guides were unacquainted with it. It is next to certain that the Israelites did not take this route, which from its nature would have been impracticable for a host of men, women, and children with cattle. Professor Palmer has happily identified the position of “Hazeroth” with that of Ain Huderah, which lies to the east and south of our course; and the children of Israel, in journeying towards Ezion Geber, doubtless took the easier and more direct route, under Divine guidance, by the Wâdy Saal and Wâdy el Huderah; and then descending, by the lower end of the Wâdy el Ain, to the sea coast of the Gulf of Akabah, continued along its margin to Ezion Geber. The upper part of the W. el Ain, as I have already stated, would have been impracticable for such a host. To us, indeed, it presented a spectacle of the grandest kind, illustrating the marvellous erosive power of water, when employed in cutting its channel through an indefinitely long period of time. (See Frontispiece).

Shortly after leaving our midday camp our eyes were greeted by the unusual spectacle of a grove of palms, following the course of a trickling stream of clear water issuing from the fountain which gives its name to the valley, and the first we had seen since leaving the Convent of St. Catherine. Following with some difficulty the course of the stream between narrow walls of granite, we presently found ourselves in a gorge about twenty yards in width, with walls rising to still higher altitudes, up to 600 feet or 700 feet, by estimation. The air was deliciously cool and fresh. Several kinds of birds darted about; and some plants, hitherto unrecognised, gave Hart abundant employment. My son got his camera