Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine/Chapter 5
CHAPTER V.
GRANITIC REGION.
We were now about to bid farewell for a time to the region of sandstone, and to enter one composed of much more ancient formations, consisting of grey or red granite, porphyry, and igneous rocks; giving rise to scenery of a bolder and more majestic character, and for the most part destitute of that grotesqueness which frequently characterises the region of sandstone. Still, remnants of this latter formation were seen from time to time to linger on the summits of the granitic cliffs, especially along the northern sides of the Wâdies Berk, Lebweh, and Beriáh. One of these (Fig. 4), of which I have taken a sketch—and almost the last of these outlying remnants—will give a general idea of the form of these interesting ruins of a once more extended formation. It will be gathered from a consideration of the form and position of this outlying mass of sandstone that the older rocks, upon which the sandstone rests, originally constituted a platform over which the strata were deposited in continuous sheets, and over a horizontal area vastly larger than that which they now occupy.
We camped for our midday meal near the head of the Wâdy Berk, at an elevation of about 2,700 feet above the sea, amidst a waste and wilderness of crumbling rocks, consisting chiefly of red porphyry, which some distance back had burst through and ultimately replaced grey granite of older date.[1] Notwithstanding the elevation and the time of year, the temperature in the shade at 1.30 p.m. was 85° Fahr. The road (if such it could be called) consisted of a camel track amidst boulders and masses of shingle, often channelled by torrents. The scenery was wild and desolate in the extreme, but relieved here and there by little knots of vegetation, amongst which the pretty ubiquitous plant (Zygophyllum)—beloved of the camel—with rose-pink or yellowish blossom, was conspicuous. This is "the erymth" of the Arabs, and is perhaps the most continuous of all the plants of the desert, as we met it at intervals all through from Ayun Mûsa to the vicinity of Jerusalem.
Fig. 4.—Sandstone Tor, resting on a basis of granite and porphyry. Seen from the Wâdy Berráh.
On descending into the W. Lebweh we were struck by the appearance,near the centre, of great tabular masses of very red granite (pegmatite) and porphyry, traversed by numerous basaltic dykes, ranging generally in north and south directions. These rocks weather dull brown; so that until I examined them closely and broke off fresh faces with my hammer, I mistook them for sandstone. In composition they consist of red felspar and quartz; and masses of this type predominate, as we found afterwards all through the mountainous part of the Sinaitic peninsula. These rocks are everywhere traversed by dykes of dark basalt, so conspicuous as to attract the notice of our dragoman, and even of the Arabs. One of these dykes can be traced by the eye for at least a distance of two miles; and towards the east it enters a basin in the mountains called "Bahera el Harriah."
On Saturday evening we camped in the Wâdy Lebweh, at the foot of a conical tor of granite, and at an elevation of about 3,800 feet. The air was cool and bracing. Before dinner I climbed to the top of the tor, and as the sun approached the horizon enjoyed an extensive prospect all around. To the north in the distance was the table-land of the Tîh, breaking off along a steep, indented line of light grey cliffs. Looking westward and southward across the plain at my feet, and through the gaps in the rugged sides beyond, I could descry in the distance the serried heights of Jebel Serbal, Jebel Mûsa, and the adjoining peaks, now coming for the first time into view, and giving promise of majestic scenery when we should approach nearer to them on the following day. Around, the granitic rocks, fissured and traversed by deep depressions, seemed crumbling into ruins; and, as if in contrast to this display of nature in her wilder forms, just below was our little camp with its five pretty white tents, its busy inmates all astir preparing for the night, and close beside, the Arabs gathered around their little fires were preparing their evening meal; our camels meanwhile were wandering in all directions over the plain in search of the tender herbs, and hopelessly (I fear) in search of water.
Next Sunday, the 18th November, might have been spent at rest, but there was no water, and we were obliged to move on. The morning was bright and sunny, yet bracing; the dew was glittering on the herbage, and we were surrounded by wild and picturesque scenery. Our march lay down a valley, of which the granite walls contracted more and more till they terminated at the lower end in two huge massive buttresses guarding the entrance to the pass, one of which is called Jebel el Gebal, and rises about 1,500 feet above its base. It can therefore be imagined with what feelings of gratification we surveyed this scene from the backs of our camels. Nor did this feeling end here, for on issuing forth through the giant gates of the pass, Mounts Katarina and Serbal were sighted in the distance. We had got a glimpse of the peak of Serbal before, “but now” (in the graphic language of Palmer) “the whole mountain rose up in all its azure grandeur before us.”
I have referred above to the beauty of the desert herbage. Few of those who have not personally traversed this region have formed any other idea of a valley in the Sinaitic peninsula except as a sandy or stony waste with a few plants and palm trees here and there where moisture is present. This, however, is far from being the proper view. The valleys are generally covered by dwarf plants throughout, ever varying by the disappearance of one kind and the appearance of another. Some are very persistent, others only local; while the thorny acacia (or shittim tree of Exodus), the tamarisk, the broom (or retem), and less frequently the date-palm, in some small degree compensate for the forest vegetation of more temperate climes.
At no time during our wanderings through the Sinaitic peninsula was I so much struck by the beauty of this desert flora as when we commenced our march down the Wâdy Berráh on this Sabbath morning. The whole surface of the nearly level plain was gay with its peculiar dwarf vegetation, on which the dewdrops were sparkling like diamonds in the clear sunshine. The plants seemed to arrange themselves in little natural gardens, or individual bunches with gravelly spaces between; each plant separately set in its place shows itself to the best advantage, and the eye wanders over a tract bedecked with leaves and flowers of various hues, from tints of green through those of yellow and pink to red. Amongst these the Santolina fragrantissima, of a delicate bluish green, and the Zygophyllum simplex, with its silky bracts of yellow, pink, and reddish hues, form the most abundant kinds. The latter plant, somewhat resembling in general appearance and size the heather of the British hills, is much more beautiful from the variety of colouring of the blossom. As the eye rests with pleasure on the desert garden, and beholds with wonder the decorative powers and processes of nature, one forgets for the time the absence of the green grass, of the daisy, the cowslip, the primrose, and other field flowers of home—and so the beholder goes on his way rejoicing.[2]
On descending from the narrow gorge of the Wâdy Berráh, the range of J. Katarina rises grandly in front. This mountain out-tops the neighbouring heights—a giant amongst giants[3]; and shortly after, on looking to the right, the serrated ridge, sharp peaks, and deep clefts of Serbal appeared, dark and majestic, against the sky.[4] It was a scene not to be forgotten. We had full in view not only some of the finest mountains in this part of the world, but those which had witnessed the power and presence of Jehovah in a special and terrible manner amongst His chosen people. One could not gaze on such a scene without emotion almost too deep for utterance.
The Wâdy es Sheikh, which we were now traversing, is interesting from several circumstances. We find ourselves surrounded by low granite hills, with serried outlines and irregular forms. And we observe that they are penetrated by dykes of dark basaltic (or dioritic) rock, which from their greater hardness form the crests of the ridges, and project from the sides like broken walls. The general direction of these dykes is W.S.W. and E.N.E., but there are some which run transverse to these. These basaltic dykes are seen to cut through others of red porphyry, and which are, therefore, of older date.
Another feature of interest is the extensive grove of tamarisks which is found near the centre of the valley. We had not hitherto seen so large a grove, nor trees of this kind of such size, or so graceful in form. The drooping twigs were covered with flowers at the time of our visit; and from the numerous heaps of ashes lying about it was clear that the wood is used by the Arabs for charcoal. Young plants were, however, springing up in place of the old, and our camels enjoyed the opportunity of browsing on the green leafy sprays and twigs.
Towards the upper part of the Wâdy es Sheikh we met with terraces of marl, fine gravel and laminated sand, rising from 60 to 80 feet above the present bed of the valley. These ten-aces were originally much more extensive and continuous, but have been to a large extent carried away by the torrents which descend from the mountains. At the head of the W. Watiyeh these soft strata occupy the floor of a plain about half a mile across. There can be little doubt, I think, that these deposits, surrounded as they are in nearly every direction by higher ground, were formed over the bed of an ancient lake, or chain of lakes similar to those I have already described in the Wâdy Hamr and Wâdy Gharandel, further to the north-west. They have since been drained, owing to changes in the level of the country and other causes; and are possibly referable to a period when rain was much more abundant than at the present day.We now reached the foot of a lofty ridge of red granite and porphyry, rising to a height of 1,153 feet above the plain, crossing our path in a direction a little north of east, and forming a sort of outer wall to the mountainous district of Sinai to the south. Major Kitchener and others of our party climbed to the summit of this ridge, and planting the theodolite on the highest pinnacle, took angles to all the consjiicuous points within sight. The ridge is traversed by a gorge—one of three passable ones—called El Watiyeh. It was one of the grandest I had ever seen; the walls of red porphyry rising from 800 to 1,000 feet above the remarkably level floor of the pass itself. The effect is more striking from the intense redness of the porphyry, rendered deeper still, sometimes almost to blackness, apparently by the fierce rays of the sun, from which one is glad to get protection by keeping close to the shady side. The gorge bends to the right in a northerly direction; and on emerging we found ourselves in an open space, and in front of a succession of granitic heights and intervening valleys by which the ascent to Jebel Mtisa is made.[5]
This remarkable ridge is found on examination to be a huge "dyke" or mass of porphyry and red granite protruded through the floor of grey granite, which seems to have been the most ancient and fundamental rock of this region. The junction and relations of these two important masses of plutonic origin may be clearly seen at the northern entrance to the gorge; and half way through it will be seen that a basaltic dyke coincides with the general direction of the gorge itself.
On Monday evening, 19th November, we encamped in a plain about seven miles from the Convent of St. Catherine, and near a spring of water surrounded by palms and other plants. The elevation of our camp was found by Mr. Laurence—who made the determination from observations on the boiling point of water—to be about 4,880 feet. The air of the following morning was cold and bracing. Here we remained while visiting Jebel Musa and the neighbouring places.
- ↑ The grey granite of the Sinaitic peninsula is marked and coloured "Metamorphic" on the geological map of the Ordnance Survey, 1869. But I was unable anywhere to see evidences of foliation where I happened to have an opportunity of examining it. A tabular structure is apparent in some places, but this is to be found in eruptive granites, such as that of the Mourne mountains in Ireland.
- ↑ If I recollect right, that curious little plant "the rose of Jericho" (Anastatica hierochundica) was found here and there from the Sinaitic peninsula into the Jordan Valley. A list of the plants of the Sinaitic peninsula, drawn up br Sir J. D. Hooker from the collections brought home by the officers of the Ordnance Survey, will be found in the Report of the Ordnance Survey of Sinai, p. 247.
- ↑ The heights of the chief mountains, as determined by the officers of the Ordnance Survey, are as follows:—
Jebel Zebir 8,551 Eng. feet. „ Katarina 8,586 „ „ „ Umm Shomer 8,449 „ „ „ Mûsa* 7,373 „ „ „ Serbal 6,734 „ „ Ras Sufsafeh 6,937 „ „
*The elevation as determined by Mr. Laurence with the aneroid, calculated from Suez, was 7,585 feet, and calculated from Akabah was 7,595 feet, both considerably over those of the Ordnance Survey, but less reliable.
- ↑ An excellent view of this grand mountain, as well as of J. Katarina, is given in "Picturesque Palestine," edited by Col. Sir C. W. Wilson, Parts 18 and 19.
- ↑ This was the road taken by Captains Wilson and Palmer, and the Rev. F. W. Holland, in 1869. Mr. Holland considers this localiLy to have been the scene of the battle with the Amalekites ("Desert of the Exodus," p. 52), but this view was not accepted by the other explorers, for reasons which appear sufficient. Wilson prefers the W. Feiran as the scene of action ("Ord. Survey Sinai.")