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344 PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
rock, there forming deep pools which invite one to bathe in their cool waters, reflecting areen
ferns and mosses. Just where Wady Bugiyeh—" the valley through which water rushes with
the sound of a trumpet "—flows in from the neighbouring pass of Nagb Hawa the vegetation
is seen in its utmost abundance, and the ruins and gardens are most numerous. In the midst
of the savage grandeur of such utter desolation these gardens smiling with vines, olives, apple
and pear-trees, fig-trees, nebbuk, apricots, mulberry-trees, &c, &c, almost make one forgetful
of the surrounding wilderness. The main defile is named Wady Emleisah, " The Slippery
Valley," and the traveller is prepared for hard work amongst its smooth boulders polished by
the running waters. Just below Wady Bugiyeh an old monastic path affords a little help.
Two miles above this tributary there is a bifurcation, and the valley takes the name Wady
T'lah,— (Taldh is the opposite to Salah, "righteous"—the inaccessible nature of the valley once
made it a favourite resort of robber bands). The principal and fertile branch turning southward
subdivides into many little valleys, which climb the slopes of Jebel Katarina to their sources;
the other branch, a mile long, terminates in a steep nagb, with an immediate descent into
Seil Leja, not far from the foot of Ras Sufsafeh. In this Wady T'lah are the remains of the
convent of SS. Cosmas and Damian, and of the prison convent of St. John Climax.
The central passage, Nagb Hawa, " Pass of the Wind," may be reckoned as being fifteen
miles from the commencement of Wady Feiran. It can be traversed by very lightly laden
or riding camels, but a large caravan must necessarily take the road by Wady es Sheikh. The
pass commences near the head of Wady Solaf (some three thousand five hundred feet above
the sea). A large cluster of ancient stone circles and nawamis is soon reached, called Matabb
ed Deir el Gadim, " The Site of the Ancient Convent," and then the ascent begins. It is
steep and difficult at first, for the old way paved with flags, passing in and out amongst
tremendous boulders and blocks of granite detached from the heights above, has been partly
destroyed by torrents. The defile varies in breadth from two hundred to three hundred
yards, and is like a long straight passage, through which the winter storms from the north-west
must rush with tremendous fury. It is a tedious two hours' journey, though only four miles
direct from the foot of the nagb to the watershed—about one thousand five hundred and
seventy feet above the head of Wady Solaf. After the watershed is crossed, there is a rapid
descent and then another ascent through Wady Abu Seileh. Following the course of a feeble
stream till the crest of the pass is gained (five thousand one hundred and forty-one feet above
the sea), the entire plain of Er Rahah is seen stretched before us, and we are face to face with
Ras Sufsafeh, two miles away, and the majestic pile of Jebel Musa.
This mountain block, composed mainly of red or pink syenitic granite, has for the traveller
coming from the north a direction south-east. Its length is rather more than two miles and
its breadth a mile. Wady ed Deir, " The Convent Valley," sometimes called Wady es Sho'eib,
" Jethro's Valley " (see steel plate), in which stands the Convent of St. Catherine, separates
it on the north-east from Jebel ed Deir; while on the south-west a deep, narrow ravine, Wady
Sh'reich, divides it from the subordinate ridge of Jebel Fera, which is itself cut off from the |
