The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-07-26
ON TOP OF SINAI.

quote the following: 1t does not seem
high, because it was yet half hidden
from our view by the intervening hill.
As soon as this hill was mastered the
plain of Er Raha, or plain of Assem-
blage," came into full view, with the
Sinai range at its southern extreme.
The combination was satisfying-con-
vincing. Here was the one great
feature the want of which prevented
Mount Serbal from C1ntesting for the
honors of Sinai. There is no plain in
the vicinity of Serbal extensive enough
TO accommodate an asSemblage az
large as Moses led. But here is a vast
plateau of sufficient extent, and, as
we shall presently see when we view it
from Mount Sinai summit, so located
that Moses could overlook it all when
he read the Law. This must be the ''true
Sinai, the very mCuntain upon
which the glory of the Lord rested in
the sight Of the people. When facing
its awful, stately grandeur, felt as if
/ 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 worship!
| dismounted to contemplate the SUBJ
lIillG DdbOI lILlSis anu I-IiHdCI. IllN Ndllltl
driver, sat down beside me. He hard
ly seemed to understand my actions,
and at last interrupted my reverie by
exclaiming, as he pointed to the lofty
group, 'Jebel Mousa-Tayeeb"
(''Mountain of Moses-goodn) He
also reverenced it, for he was a
Mohammedan.
What impresses the American
traveller most sensibly here is the fact
that although mountains abound, and
Stream-beds are more plenty than in
our own White Hills, cascade or a
waterfall is never heard. When the
rains fall, the water rolls down these
bare, rough diagonals uninterrupted,
and empties into the wadies, which in
turn impetuously roll the torrents into
the sea with great speed, before the
parched earth has time to absorb more
than mere surface supply.
What a surprise, then, when, arrived
at the highest ridge of the vast plateau
Of Fl Raha, to see a bright oasis full of
trees laden with the rich blossoms OF
spring, backed by the strange, con-
trasting, gloomy walls of the Convent
of Saint Catherine. No location could
be more charming-iu the narrowing
valley, nestled at the feet of the close
ly protecting mountains. Upon the
highest ramparts are set both the can
non and the cross. 1t was both castle
and convent we were approaching.
More than once the inmates have been
obliged to defend themselves against
the 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 the ncighborhood
until our credentials We're examined
and approved.
Arriving at the convent wall we sent
up shout to the top. In the course of
time the voice of monk sent down a
squeaky response. To a point near
the top of the wall tiny structure
like a dog-kennel is attached. From
this a small rope was let down to which
we attached our tirman, or letter Of in
PRODUCTION, obtained at the branch in
sttution at Suez. This was hauled up
slowly and soon answered by a great
noise in the aerial kennel. Then
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 90
up by the cable. When we arrived at
the quarters of the superior we saw
that the cable was not letdown by hand
over hand, but that clumsy windlaSs,
worked and turned by Bcdouin serfs,
was the power behind the throne. The
combination is believed to be the first
passenger elevator III the world. .
1t seems as though no semblance of
humanity should remain in place
made sacred by so many holy associa-
tions, but the convent Is inhabited
by about sixty monks varying in grades
of sanctity. Nine of them yielded to
our camera. A beardless youth afford
ed us considerable amusement. Re-
peatedly he came to me, with tears in
his eyes. and begged for some recipe to
make his beard grow. He said that he
would not be allowed to read chapel
service until he had beard; that
nearly all the monks but him had
boards.