when he reached the window, a vigorous monk drew him in as he had drawn in the trunks, and deposited him in a place of safety. We followed his example, not I confess without some repugnance on my part, and we attained the haven in safety; Mohammed and Abdallah followed us.

As soon as Taleb saw the last of us enter, he gave the signal for departure in his turn; and all the troop having saluted us with hand and voice, set off as fast as the dromedaries could gallop.

R

XV. MOUNT HOREB.

WE were most hospitably received by the holy fathers. One of the two monks whom we met at the fountains of Moses, the very one who had given us the letters, was the superior of the convent, and his recommendation was pressing.

They led us to three contiguous cells, very clean, and furnished with divans, over which were spread carpets of an exquisite pattern; we were allowed time to change our dress, and while thus engaged, water and coffee were brought; then in a few minutes, they told us that a collation was prepared. We went into a room, where we found a table laid, and covered with rice boiled in milk, eggs, almonds, pastry, camel-cheese, and datebrandy, distilled in the convent, which, mixed with water, makes an exquisite beverage. But the luxury which most charmed us in this sumptuous repast was fresh bread, real bread, such as we had not tasted for the last fortnight.

At the end of the repast, the entire community came into our refectory. The good fathers were anxious to felicitate us on our arrival, and to place themselves completely at our disposal. We asked to see the convent, though we were dreadfully

riness.

fatigued, but our impatience prevailed over our weaOne of the fathers went before us, and we immediately commenced our inspection.

The convent, which is dedicated to St. Catherine, resembles a little fortified city of the Middle Ages; it contains about sixty monks, and three hundred domestics, employed in all the labours of the house, and the far more considerable labours of the garden. Each has his fixed business in this little republic; so that a visitor traversing the streets of the convent, is immediately struck with the extreme order and neatness that reign there. Water, the great requisite of those who dwell in Arabia, springs up, pure and refreshing in every direction, and vines are trained over the white surfaces of the walls, which delight the eye by their verdant drapery.

The church is of Roman construction; it dates at the epoch of transitions from Byzantium to Gothic. It is a basilica, terminated by a sanctuary of a more recent date than the rest of the edifice; the walls of which are covered by Mosaics, in the taste of those that adorn the cathedral of St. Sophia at Constantinople, and Mount Neal in Sicily. A double range of marble columns, heavy in their forms, and whimsical in their ornamentation, support semicircular arches, above which small windows open a little below the roof; the ceiling is of carved cedar, enriched with gold mouldings. The ornaments

of the altar, exceedingly rich and numerous, are nearly all of Russian origin and form. The lower walls are covered with marble, which the monks assured us came from St. Sophia. The lobby, which divides the church into two portions, is of red marble; its most remarkable feature is a Christ of colossal dimensions: and what is strange, this rage for ornament, which is the principal character of the Byzantium art, is extended even to the cross on which Our Saviour is nailed. The cross is richly gilt, and adorned with minute and capricious sculptures.

The Mosaics, in the sanctuary, represent Moses striking the rock to procure water, and Moses before the burning bush. The sanctuary is built on a holy place, and the altar, according to tradition, stands on the very spot where the wondrous scene, so powerfully described in the following words by the inspired historian, actually occurred.

Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.

Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land, and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have, also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Having examined the sanctuary in all its details, we went to the sacristies and side chapels. The walls are everywhere hung with pictures of the Lower Empire, surprisingly strange, but full of grandeur and sublimity.

As we went out from the church we stopped to