[p.xiii]and Judaea, have not, like the latter country, preserved many of
the names of Holy Scripture, the new information of Burckhardt contains
many facts in regard to their geography and natural history, which may
be useful in tracing the progress of the Israelites from Egypt into
Syria.

The bitter well of Howara, 15 hours southward of Ayoun Mousa,
corresponds as well in situation as in the quality of its water, with
the well of Marah, at which the Israelites arrived after passing through
a desert of three days from the place near Suez where they had crossed
the Red Sea.[Exodus, c.xiv. xv. Numbers. c.xxxiii.]

The Wady Gharendel, two hours beyond Howara, where are wells among date
trees, seems evidently to be the station named Elim, which was next to
Marah, and at which the Israelites found "twelve wells of water, and
threescore and ten palm trees." [Exodus, c.xv. Numbers, c.xxxiii.] And
it is remarkable, that the Wady el Sheikh, and the upper part of the
Wady Feiran, the only places in the peninsula where manna is gathered
from below the tamarisk trees, accord exactly with that part of the
desert of Sin, in which Moses first gave his followers the sweet
substance gathered in the morning, which was to serve them for bread
during their long wandering;[Exodus, c.xvi.] for the route through Wady
Taybe, Wady Feiran, and Wady el Sheikh, is the only open and easy
passage to Mount Sinai from Wady Gharendel; and it requires the
traveller to pass for some distance along the sea shore after leaving
Gharendel, as we are informed that the Israelites actually did, on
leaving Elim.[Numbers, c.xxxiii.v.10, 11.]

The upper region of Sinai, which forms an irregular circle of 30 or 40
miles in diameter, possessing numerous sources of water, a temperate