Page 117 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

98 SHERM TO SINAI. [C H.

tered, leaving fissures rather than valleys,
between their remaining portions. These
form the highest part of the range of moun­

tains that spread out over the peninsula, and
are very generally, in the winter months, co­
vered with snow, the melting of which occa­
sions the torrents which everywhere devastate
the plains below. The peculiarities of its co­
nical formation render this district yet more
distinct from the adjoining heights which
appear in successive ridges beyond it, while
the valleys which intersect them are so nar­

row that few can be perceived. No villages
and castles, as in Europe, here animate the
picture; no forests, lakes, or falls of water,
break the silence and monotony of the scene.
All has the appearance of a vast and deso­
late wilderness, either grey, darkly-brown, or
wholly black. The feelings of the pilgrim who
stands on the summit of Mount Sinai must
be cold indeed, if they remain uninfluenced
by the objects before and around him. I

know, but heed not, that scepticism has done
its best to weaken or destroy the impressions
such a locality should naturally inspire. Even
if I do not stand on that identical spot of our