DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12664#0287
272
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL,
from the superior of the convent. A little beyond
this was another narrow passage secured by a
door, where it was formerly necessary to show a
pass from the keeper of the gate, and where a
dozen men could make a good defence against a
thousand. Soon after, we entered a large open
space, forming a valley surrounded on all sides by
mountains; and on the left, high above the others,
rose the lofty peak of Sinai. It is this part of the
mountain which bears the sacred name of Horeb.
In the centre, enclosed by a stone fence, is a tall
cypress, the only tree on the mountain, planted by
the monks more than a hundred years ago. Near
it is a fountain, called the fountain of Elias, which
the prophet dug with his own hands when he lived,
in the mountain, before he was ordered by the Lord
to Jerusalem. According to the monks, the prophet
is still living somewhere in the world, wandering
about with Enoch, and preparing for the great final
battle with Antichrist. A little above is an old
church with strong walls and iron doors, now fall-
ing and dilapidated, and containing a grotto, called
the grotto of Elias, which, according to the legend,
formed the prophet's sleeping-chamber.
I crawled into the rocky cell, and, thanks to my
travelling experience, which had taught me not to
be fastidious in such matters, found the bedroom
of the prophet by no means an uncomfortable
place ; often in the desert I would have been thank-
ful for such a shelter. Here our dwarf left us, and,
continuing our ascent, the old monk still leading
the way, in about a quarter of an hour came to a
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL,
from the superior of the convent. A little beyond
this was another narrow passage secured by a
door, where it was formerly necessary to show a
pass from the keeper of the gate, and where a
dozen men could make a good defence against a
thousand. Soon after, we entered a large open
space, forming a valley surrounded on all sides by
mountains; and on the left, high above the others,
rose the lofty peak of Sinai. It is this part of the
mountain which bears the sacred name of Horeb.
In the centre, enclosed by a stone fence, is a tall
cypress, the only tree on the mountain, planted by
the monks more than a hundred years ago. Near
it is a fountain, called the fountain of Elias, which
the prophet dug with his own hands when he lived,
in the mountain, before he was ordered by the Lord
to Jerusalem. According to the monks, the prophet
is still living somewhere in the world, wandering
about with Enoch, and preparing for the great final
battle with Antichrist. A little above is an old
church with strong walls and iron doors, now fall-
ing and dilapidated, and containing a grotto, called
the grotto of Elias, which, according to the legend,
formed the prophet's sleeping-chamber.
I crawled into the rocky cell, and, thanks to my
travelling experience, which had taught me not to
be fastidious in such matters, found the bedroom
of the prophet by no means an uncomfortable
place ; often in the desert I would have been thank-
ful for such a shelter. Here our dwarf left us, and,
continuing our ascent, the old monk still leading
the way, in about a quarter of an hour came to a