477 
WADY EL NASZEB. 
The direction of our road across it was S. E. by S. At six hours 
and a half we entered a mountainous country, much devastated by 
torrents, which have given the mountains a very wild appearance. 
Here sand-stone rocks begin. We followed the windings of a val 
ley, and in seven hours and a quarter reached the Wady el Naszeb 
), where we rested, under the shade of a large impend 
ing rock, which for ages, probably, has afforded shelter to travel 
lers ; it is I believe the same represented by Niebuhr in vol. i. 
pl. 43. He calls the valley Warsan, which is, no doubt, its true 
name, but the Arabs comprise all the contiguous valleys under the 
general name of Naszeb. Shady spots like this are well known 
to the Arabs, and as the scanty foliage of the acacia, the only tree 
in which these valleys abound, affords no shade, they take advan 
tage of such rocks, and regulate the day’s journey in such a way, 
as to be able to reach them at noon, there to take the siesta. 
The main branch of the Wady Naszeb continues farther up to 
the S. E. and contains, at about half an hour from the place where 
we rested, a well of excellent water; as Iwas fatigued, and the sun was 
very hot, I neglected to go there, though I am sensible that travel 
lers ought particularly to visit wells in the desert, because it is at 
these natural stations that traces of former inhabitants are more 
likely to be found than any where else. The Wady Naszeb empties 
its waters in the rainy season into the gulf of Suez, at a short dis 
tance from the Birket Faraoun. 
While my guides and servant lay asleep under the rock, and one 
of the Arabs had gone to the well to water the camels and fill the 
skins, I walked round the rock, and was surprised to find inscrip 
tions similar in form to those which have been copied by travellers 
in Wady Mokatteb. They are upon the surface of blocks which 
have fallen down from the cliff, and some of them appear to have 
been engraved while the pieces still formed a part of the main