Show oh top of sinai tho july century opens with a called binai and the wilderness with photographs taken by the autho rEdward L wilson from we the following erdoes not because be causa was yet half hidden from burr view by the intervening hul aal soon aa this hill of E baha or thain of assemblage Assam blage caige i full view niqi the sinai range at its southern extreme the combination was satisfying convincing here was the one great feature the want of which prevented mount from contesting bof the honors of cihal there is no plain in the vicinity of derbal extensive enough to accommodate an assemblage as large as moses led but here is a vast plateau of sufficient extent and as we shall presently aeo when we view it from mount sinai summit so located that moses could overlook it all ahen he read the law this must be the true sinai the very mountain upon which the glory of the lord rested in the sight of the people when facing its awful stately grandeur I 1 felt as if I 1 had come to the end of the world how many pilgrims had come from all parts of the earth to this very spot to reverence to sacrifice and to wor 1 ship I 1 dismounted to contemplate the sublime panorama and elimuel my camel driver sad down beside me he hardly seemed to understand my actions and at last interrupted my reverie by exclaiming as he pointed to the lofty group aebel jebel mousa Tay eeb mountain of moses good he also reverenced reveren ced it for he was a mohammedan what impresses the american traveler most sensibly here ia the fact that although mountains abound and stream beds are more plenty than in our own white hills a cascade or a waterfall water fall is never heard when the rams fall the water rolls down these bare rough diagonals uninterrupted and empties into tho wadies which impetuously roll the torrents into the sea ditl great speed before the parched earth has time to absorb more than a mere surface supply what a surprise then when arrived at the highest ridge of the vast plateau of er to see a oasis full of trees laden with the blossoms of spring backed by the strange contrasting gloomy walls of the convent of saint catherine no location could be more charming in the narrow valley nestled at the feet of the closely protecting mountains upon tho highest ramparts are set both the cannon and che cross it was both castle and convent we were approaching more than once the inmates have been obliged to defend themselves against ache marauder at one time every monk was massacred since then more care has been exercised We were obliged to prove our friendship before we could gain admittance we could not even encamp in tho neighborhood until our credentials were examined and approved arriving at the convent wall we sent up a shout to the top in the course of time the voice of a monk sent down a squeaky response to a point near the top of the wall a dinv structure shaped like a dog kennel is attached from this a small rope was let down to which vas attached our firman or letter of introduction obtained at the branch institution at baez this was hauled up slowly and boon answered by a great noise in the aanal kennel then a thick cable was lowered to us and we were asked to get in and come up but the low gate in the wall was swung open at that moment and we chose to enter the convent by it rather than go up r by cable when wo arrived at the quarters of the superior we saw that the cable was not let down hand over hand but that a clumsy windlass worked and turned by was the power behind the throne the combination is believed to be the first passenger elevator in the world it seems that no semblance of humanity should remain in a place made sacred by so many holy associations ciati ons but the convent is inhabited by sixty monks varying in grades of sanctity nine of them yielded to our camera A beardless youth afforded us considerable amusement repeatedly he came to me with tears m his eyes and begged for some recipe to make his beard grow he said he would not be allowed to read chapel service until he had a beard that nearly all the monks but him had beards |