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August 25, 1909. THE
THROUGH THE DESERT OF THE
EXODUS.
By Rev. F. C. Hoskins, D.D.
During my absence of eighty-five days,
I traveled 1,900 miles; 109 hours of the
journey were accomplished on camels,
the slowest mode of locomotion in the
Orient, less than three miles an hour,
cuiu uuomer loz mues on horses at a
little more than four miles an hour.
Through the desert we had as many
as twenty-one camels and sixteen cameleers,
while on our way from Akaba to
Petra we had a guard of nineteen soldiers,
which, with our muleteers and
camp servants, made thirty-three persons,
while the horses, mules, camels
and donkeys numbered thirty eight, or
seventy-one thirsty mouths to be provided
for in a land where water was
more precious than gold. Out of twenty
camps between Suez and Akaba ten
were absolutely waterless. Twice the
camels went three days' journey without
a drop of water, and once they were
forced to iro four rl?va' Inii'nov trv
next watering place.
The life in the desert was simply fascinating,
and our camp life delightful beyond
all telling. On our second day out
of Spez we had one of the experiences
of our life in a desert sandstorm, which
raged for twenty-four hours, and impressed
itself on our memories in sensations
never to be forgotten. Baggage
outside the. tents was almost buried,
while everything we possessed Inside
was saturated with the fine yellow particles
of the desert sand. But we would
not have missed it if we could have
done so.
Our first Sabbath out was spent at
Elim, and it certainly is a lovely vale,
with its purling streams and grouus of
palm trees. It is now entirely uninhabited,
except at the time of the date harvest,
when the Arab owners of the trees
come and gather the fruit and then steal
away to the desert again for another
year. .
Our second Sabbath was .at Sinat, Inside
the garden of tho old convent, and
was a never-to-be forgotten privilege.
This monastery fortress is a venerable
group of old buildings dating back more
than 1,300 years, and is the most lonely
spot, as well as the most sublime, that
I have ever visited. It Is owned and
occupied by Greek orthodox monks
from the Ionian Islands, and their life
here through the centuries has been a
picturesque struggle for existence. Their
monastic rule is one of the most rigid
known, and they have been veritable
knights of the cross. Within the wall
of the monastery is the well where
Moses helped water Jethro's flocks and
won his daughter for his wife. The
Chapel of the Burning Bush, another to
Hlijah, and the stairway up the Mountain
of Moses?the Mountain of the
Law?are the pilgrim shrines of Sinai.
llKeeeu 4W- *
* mo 11 mi ui y in ma muunniary columns
one of the most interesting collections
of manuscripts In existence. In it the
celebrated Codex Slnalctlcus was found,
In 18B9, by Tlschendorf. But greater
than all the legends and shrines are the
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indescribable beauties and grandeur of
those granite mountains' connected with
the giving of the Ten Commandments.
There is a magnificent correspondence
between the granite cliffs of Sinai and
the unchangeable walls of moral truth.
Between Egypt and Sinai the route of
the Children of Israel is easily located,
as also from Sinai to the shore of the
Red Sea again, but between Hazeroth
and the Plains of Madeba are many
miles of desert, where they wandered for
so many years, and here lie the most interesting
problems of the exodus. Between
Sinai and the Gulf of Akaba was
a journey of three and one-half days, in
which we saw water only twice, and
once only at our camping place. Then
we had two delightful days along the
seashore, where we bathed in its clear
waters aiul picked thousands of shells
from the millions that lay at our feet.
At a place called Nuweiba there is a
well, a little bay and an Egyptian fort,
which was occupied by many Egyptian
soldiers until the boundary dispute was
settled throe years ago, when Great
Britain told Turkey to get back behind
the Akaba line or she would know the
reason why. Since then the fort at
Nuweiba has been occupied by a garrison
of three soldiers, who remain to
guard the building, hoist the Egyptian
ting and look after the one cannon left
In the fort. The well of good water is
the most important possession of the
whole location.
Two days later we came in sight of
the famous Boundary Pillars, which extend
from this point near Akaba across
the peninsula northwest to the Mediterranean
Sea at Arish. The pillar nearest
the sea stands on a rocky eminence one
hundred feet above the water, and with
Its well-built base of masonry, is fully
thirty feet high. Then back some
thousand yards, on a high peak, is tho *
second one, thus giving the line or direction
of the whole boundary.
Akaba, at the head of the gulf of the
same name, is a beautiful spot?seen
from a distance?because of its oasis*
like clusters of palm trees and the shimmering
sea at their base. But the town
Itself is wretchedness and fllth personl4
* *
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I. 21
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fled. Rain seldom falls here, and the
dirty inhabitants drink from brackish
and almost putrid wells. The old castle,
or caravansary, is half in ruins, and the
other houses are mouldering mud heaps.
If one heavy rain ever came, these
houses would crumble into ruin in a few
hours. The people are despicable, poor
in their persons and characteristics, having
lived like leeches on the Egyptian
caravans to Mecca for centuries.
Among the surprises within the Sinai
Peninsula was the matter of the heights.
The three days to Elim were practically
along the sea, but in the following six
days we climbed through wiuding valleys
and over steep passes, until at
Sinai our tents were pitched at a height
of 5,100 feet above the level of the sea.
Here it was cold enough for overcoats
sua sweaters. The winter of 1907 08
was one of much snow, when as much as
half a meter fell. Up to February 27 of
the present' year not a drop of rain had
fallen about the Monastery at Sinai, but
they were still hoping to %ave either
rain or snow, or both. Then it was a
surprise to wind through the gently
sloping valleys for day after day, where
the rise or fall was only a few feet in
the mile.
Another delightful surprise was a visit
to a real oasis, that of Faram, rightly
called "The Pearl of Sinai." The water
which makes the oasis is a lovely
stream, large enough to turn many millstones.
It winds among the granite
cliffs for more than ten miles, giving life
to 20,000 or 30,000 palm trees, with some
other fruits and patches of grain. All
the tribes of the peninsula have a share
in these trees and water, and at the
time of the date harvest come for scores
of miles to get their share. The more 1
study the problems of the exodus, the
more I am Inclined to believe that it was
here in this oasis that the Children of
Israel remained for eleven months, while
they were being organised as a nation,
and nence It was at Serbal, and not at
the present Sinai, that the law was given
to Moses. It waa certainly a beautiful
camping place, 'and contained everything
that waa necessary for the people.?Prom
the Presbyterian.