and the escort already gathered together in little parties for the evening. On our arrival, several of the younger Arabs came to meet us; and one in particular, from whom I had received several civilities, gave me a cordial sunny smile, and a peace be to you ;' and pointing to the wells, proposed to lead me to them. I was parched and thirsty; so, taking a large cup in my hand, and joining my young guide, we went to the wells together. I dipped my cup and drank; but the water had a saline flavour, or as if it held in solution a considerable quantity of soda. I dipped again, and handed it to my companion. He was pleased by the civility, smiled, and laid his hand on his heart as he received it. I pointed to an oleander in bloom, which was just at hand. He instantly gathered two clusters of its beautiful flowers, and presented them to me. Destitute as he was of what we Europeans call cultivation, yet I am sure that young Arab had the good taste of a gentleman.

"I am much inclined to think that Ayún Mousa is really the spot on which the feet of rescued Israel rested, and from which they beheld their enemies dead on the sea-shore. . . . I am persuaded . . . that the people of Israel entered their pathway through the Red Sea, just to the north of Rás Âtákah, and that they passed straight onward to Ayún Mousa."-FISK's Pastor's Memorial.

MARAH.

SCRIPTURE NOTICE.

"AND when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter : therefore the name of it was called Marah," (or bitterness.)-Exodus xv. 23.

"We came to the 'Ain Howárah, the 'well of destruction,' a fountain on a small knoll close to the track

which we were pursuing. It occupies a small basin, about five feet in diameter, and eighteen inches deep, and to some extent it oozes through the sands, leaving, like the wells of Moses, a deposit of lime. The Arabs, on observing me about to drink of the water, exclaimed, 'It is bitter, bitter, bitter!'

"This fountain has been almost universally admitted by travellers, since the days of Burckhardt, to be the true Marah of Scripture, as it is found in a situation about thirty miles from the place where the Israelites must have landed on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, a space sufficient for their march, when they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. No other constant spring is found in the intermediate space. It retains its ancient character, and has a bad name among the Arabs, who seldom allow their camels to partake of it."-DR. WILSON,

The following is the account of another recent traveller:-"Some of our Arabs pointed to a distant clump or two of stunted palms, as marking the locality of Bîr Howárah, which has been almost unanimously agreed upon by travellers as the bitter waters of Marah, of which the people of Israel could not drink. We soon arrived at the wells, which are small, and lie embedded as it were in a low sandhill . . . Certainly it was not such water as I should be willing to drink, except I were fainting with thirst, and deprived of all other. Though not so disagreeable at first, yet it leaves a soapy flavour in the mouth. Surely none but those who have thirsted in the desert, have learnt to prize, as they ought, the real blessing of good water. It is with this, as with most of the ordinary bounties of God; they are little esteemed, and awaken, too generally, but slight returns of gratitude, because they are so common.”

ELIM.

SCRIPTURE NOTICE.

"AND they came to Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees and they encamped there by the waters."- Exodus xv. 27: (Numb. xxxiii. 9.)

"About five miles from the 'Ain Howárah, we came to the Valley Gharandel, which is commonly supposed to be the Elin of Scripture. It is somewhat precipitous on its banks; and a good many rounded stones and beds of sand are visible throughout its course (resembling the dry bed of a river). It nourishes a great many bushes and trees, as well as herbs. Of these, brooms, and tamarisks, and stunted palms, were the most conspicuous."-WILSON's Lands of the Bible.

Dr. Wilson, however, prefers regarding the next large valley he arrived at, as the Elim of the Bible. “About five or six miles from Gharandel, we pitched our tents for the night in the Valley Waseit, or Useit. Here we found a considerable number of palm-trees, and tolerable water to any extent that we chose to dig for it in the sands... We counted the palms in the neighbourhood of our tents, and found thirty in the form of trees, more or less thriving, and twenty in the form of bushes or stumps. Each of us cut a branch or two as a memorial of our visit. But where,' asked some of our party, 'are the twelve wells of water, near which the Israelites encamped?' Only one small part was exposed to our view. By digging into the sands, we found that others could easily be called into existence. . . The twelve wells of water are merely twelve fountains of water, as the reading is in Numbers xxxiii. 9, and were probably merely such springs, then open, as are here to be obtained at present by digging. The mountain and

rock around us scenery was here so peculiar and romantic, that we had a view of it taken by our artist."

"After spending a quarter of an hour at Bîr Howárah," writes another traveller, "we remounted and pursued our course over a rugged and broken plain, sometimes intersected with low hills and harsh precipices, in which the savageness of the wilderness began to be apparent; when at length, about eight o'clock, by the light of a lovely moon, we entered Wady Ghurandel, a gracefully undulated sandy territory, scattered over with thick clumps of the tamarisk-tree and small palms, which gave it the appearance of an ornamental plantation. The effect of this was indeed delightful, after the scene through which we had passed before sunset. When we were encamped, the Arabs took the camels and water-skins to a spot about an hour

distant from the direct route, in order to get a supply of water, of which there is usually plenty, and of a tolerable quality. The water brought from Ayún Mousa had become offensive, and we longed for a change. The spot to which the Arabs went for water, is now, I believe, generally agreed upon as the Elim of Scripture, where, at the time of the Exodus of Israel, there were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm-trees, by which they encamped." Burckhardt says, "The non-existence of twelve wells at Ghurandel, must not be considered as evidence against the foregoing conjecture, for Niebuhr says that his companions obtained water here by digging to a very great depth, and there was a great plenty of it when I passed; water, in fact, is readily found by digging in every fertile valley of Arabia, and wells are thus easily formed, which are as quickly filled up again by the sands. Quitting Wady Ghurandel, we entered upon the wilderness of Sin, which Moses describes as lying between Elim and Sinai.”

ENCAMPMENT BY THE RED SEA-WILDERNESS OF SIN.

SCRIPTURE NOTICE.

"AND they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. And they removed from the Red Sea, and encamped in the Wilderness of Sin."- Numb. xxxiii, 10, 11.

At a day's march from Elim, the Israelites must have reached the valley Et-Taîyibeh, which conducts to the shores of the Red Sea, where they had their first station after leaving Elim, as we are told in the book of Numbers. This valley passes between abrupt rocks, and has some small pits of stagnant water. The view which suddenly bursts upon the traveller emerging from the valley on to the sea-shore is interesting and magnificent.