Page 30 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

>•] TOR TO SUEZ. 13

single male amidst several female date-trees.
My old friend the priest related to me that in
former years no portion of this garden, be­
yond what was necessary for his own support,
escaped the rapacity of the Bedowins; but,
awed by the influence of Mohammed Ali,
who has proved himself a good friend to the
monks, they are now satisfied with a certain
quantity which is furnished them annually;
the remainder, disposed of at Cairo, yield­
ing, it is said, an annual revenue of four thou­

sand dollars.
On the eastern side of the garden, under
the shade of its palms, is situated the Hum-
mum Musa, or “ Bath of Moses.” The tra­
ditions of the country assert this to be Elim,
where Moses and his household encamped.
Some intelligent travellers who visited the
country around T6r, have also satisfied them­
selves with this identification; but, not­
withstanding such high authority, I must
avow my scepticism ; for if, as is generally
supposed, the Israelites crossed at the north­

ern extremity of the Red Sea, what brought
them so far south, and out of their route to
Sinai, as T6r ? Not its wells and water, since