DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0283
268
incidents of travel.
CHAPTER XV.
Ascent of Sinai.—A Miracle.—The Grotto of Elias.—A Monkish
Legend.—The Pinnacle of Sinai.—Anchorites.—Mohammed
and his Camel.—An Argument.—Legend of St. Catharine.—
The Rock of the Tables.—The Stone struck by Moses.—De-
scription of the Convent.—Habits and Character of its Inmates.
The next day was one of the most interesting of
my life. At eight o'clock I was breakfasting ; the
superior was again at my side ; again offering me
all the convent could give, and urging me to stay
a month, a fortnight, a week, at least to spend that
day with him, and repose myself after the fatigues
of my journey ; but from the door of the little room
in which I sat I saw the holy mountain, and I
longed to stand on its lofty summit. Though fee-
ble and far from well, I felt the blood of health again
coursing in my veins, and congratulated myself
that I was not so haokneyed in feeling as I had once
supposed. I found, and I was happy to find, for
the prospective enjoyment of my farther journey,
that the first tangible monument in the history of
the Bible, the first spot that could be called holy
ground, raised in me feelings that had not been
awakened by the most classic ground of Italy and
Greece, or the proudest monuments of the arts in
Egypt.
Immediately after breakfast I rose to ascend the
mountain. The superior conducted me through,
incidents of travel.
CHAPTER XV.
Ascent of Sinai.—A Miracle.—The Grotto of Elias.—A Monkish
Legend.—The Pinnacle of Sinai.—Anchorites.—Mohammed
and his Camel.—An Argument.—Legend of St. Catharine.—
The Rock of the Tables.—The Stone struck by Moses.—De-
scription of the Convent.—Habits and Character of its Inmates.
The next day was one of the most interesting of
my life. At eight o'clock I was breakfasting ; the
superior was again at my side ; again offering me
all the convent could give, and urging me to stay
a month, a fortnight, a week, at least to spend that
day with him, and repose myself after the fatigues
of my journey ; but from the door of the little room
in which I sat I saw the holy mountain, and I
longed to stand on its lofty summit. Though fee-
ble and far from well, I felt the blood of health again
coursing in my veins, and congratulated myself
that I was not so haokneyed in feeling as I had once
supposed. I found, and I was happy to find, for
the prospective enjoyment of my farther journey,
that the first tangible monument in the history of
the Bible, the first spot that could be called holy
ground, raised in me feelings that had not been
awakened by the most classic ground of Italy and
Greece, or the proudest monuments of the arts in
Egypt.
Immediately after breakfast I rose to ascend the
mountain. The superior conducted me through,