; for the whole pass is filled with large
stones and rocks, the _debris_ of these cliffs. The bottom is a deep and
narrow water-course, where the wintry torrent sweeps down with fearful
violence. A path has been made for camels, along the shelving rocks,
partly by removing the topmost blocks, sometimes in the manner of a
Swiss mountain-road. But though I had crossed the most rugged passes of
the Alps, and made from Chamouni the whole circuit of Mont Blanc, I had
never found a path so rude and difficult as that we were now ascending.'

"After toiling along for nearly two hours, our travellers continue their
narrative:

"'Here the interior and lofty peaks of the great circle of Sinai began
to open upon us--black, rugged, desolate summits; and, as we advanced,
the dark and frowning front of Sinai itself (the present Horeb of the
monks) began to appear. We were gradually ascending, and the valley
gradually opening; but as yet all was a naked desert. Afterwards, a few
shrubs were sprinkled round about, and a small encampment of black tents
was seen on our right, with camels and goats browsing, and a few donkeys
belonging to the convent. The scenery through which we had now passed
reminded me strongly of the mountains around the Mer de Glace in
Switzerland. I had never seen a spot more wild and desolate.

"'As we advanced, the valley still opened wider and wider with a gentle
ascent, and became full of shrubs and tufts of herbs, shut in on each
side by lofty granite ridges, and rugged, shattered peaks, a thousand
feet high, while the face of Horeb rose directly before us. Both my
companion and myself involuntarily exclaimed, "here is room enough for a
large encampment!"

"'Reaching the top of the ascent or watershed, a fine broad plain lay
before us, sloping down gently towards the south-south-east, inclosed by
rugged and venerable mountains of dark granite, stern, naked, splintered
peaks, and ridges of indescribable grandeur; and terminated, at a
distance of more than a mile, by the bold and awful front of Horeb,
rising perpendicularly in frowning majesty, from twelve to fifteen
hundred feet in height. It was a scene of solemn grandeur, wholly
unexpected, and such as we had never seen; and the associations which at
the moment rushed upon our minds were almost overwhelming.'

"They subsequently ascended the frowning summit of Horeb, and sketched
the scene from that point:--'The whole plain, er-Rahah, lay spread out
benea