th our feet, with the adjacent wadys and mountains; while Wady
esh-Sheikh on the right, and the recess on the left, both connected with
and opening broadly from er-Rahah, presented an area which serves nearly
to double that of the plain.

"'Our conviction was strengthened that here, or on some of the adjacent
cliffs, was the spot where the Lord "descended in fire," and proclaimed
the law. Here lay the plain where the whole congregation might be
assembled; here was the mount that could be approached, if not
forbidden; and here the mountain brow, where alone the lightning and the
thick cloud would be visible, and the thunders and the voice of the
trump be heard, when the Lord "came down in the sight of all the people
upon Mount Sinai."

"'We gave ourselves up to the impressions of the awful scene; and read,
with a feeling that will never be forgotten, the sublime account of the
transactions, and the commandments there promulgated, in the original
words as recorded by the great Hebrew legislator.'"

"Other travellers have explored a valley on the southern base of Sinai,
which was shut out from the view of Dr. Robinson in his ascent by a long
ridge of rocks, and which has been found, by measurement of Krafft and
Strauss, and others, to be even greater than the valley of er-Rahah on
the north. This, it is supposed by Ritter and others, may have been
occupied by the Israelites at the giving of the Law. The locality of
this tremendous scene may perhaps be determined by future researches.

"An American artist and scholar, Mr. M. K. Kellogg, has lately given an
interesting account of this valley, which appears to be much more
extensive than er-Rahah, and better suited for the accommodation of the
immense camp of Israel. To reach this station, the Israelites must have
continued their march much further down the coast than on the other
supposition, and turned at a bolder angle up into the mountains near the
modern town of Tur or Tor. Dophkah, Alush, and Rephidim, must also, on
this supposition, be transferred to other localities corresponding with
this supposed line of march.

"If there be such a valley at the southern base of Sinai, it seems very
extraordinary that it should have escaped the notice of travellers. It
must be visible from the summit of Sinai (Jebel Musa); but, seen only
from that lofty summit, and running in an irregular line at the very
base of the mountain, they must have overlooked it in their brief survey