Page 65 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

4tf t6r TO SINAI. fen.

among each other, they bear the petulance
and ill-temper of strangers who travel with
them with astonishing good humour.
Quitting this sacred grove, which will be
found described elsewhere, on September 22d,
at five hours, we crossed the plain of El Kaa,
in a direction a little to the eastward of
Serbal, which bore north. Extensive tracts
are here covered with a saline effervescence ;

and, altogether, the country is remarkably
destitute of trees and bushes. Nearer to El
Wadi, there are several varieties, the Tar fa*
and Talh f being the most common. The
latter produces the Gum Arabic, large quan­
tities of which were formerly obtained in this
peninsula, and, being shipped from T6r, it
obtained in Europe the name of Gumma
Torrae. It is collected in the summer months,
and principally from the Wadis of Feiran
and Sheik. Continuing for six hours across
the plain, we arrived at the base of the first

range of hills, which form a natural bulwark
to the mountain district behind it. These
exhibit a succession of dark-coloured ridges,
increasing in height as they approach the

* Tamarix Orientates. I Acacia gumnufora.

ft