Page 35 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

18 TOR TO SUEZ. [CH.

which appear to have been occupied at some
early period by monks or other ascetics, who
devoted themselves to a life of solitude and
self-denial. They mostly consist of two rooms,

each eight feet long, and in breadth and height
about seven feet. The walls have been exca­
vated with much care, and several bear in­
scriptions in modern Greek—one as early as
1603. One of these cells, somewhat larger
than the rest, would seem to have been origi­
nally used as a chapel.
I learned from the priest at Tor that not

less than 200 recluses formerly resided in this
part, but that the continued ill-treatment of
the Bedowins obliged them eventually to seek
shelter within the walls of their convent at
Sinai. After the period when the Empress
Helena, in the fourth century, set the exam­
ple of proceeding on a pilgrimage to Mount
Sinai, vast numbers of hermits resorted to the
peninsula, and made it their permanent resi­
dence. Traces of them are found in several
other parts, though I believe none are at pre­
sent found there.

Observing that no Bedowins had taken up
their residence in these caverns, I became

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