535
WADY KYD.
have seen them in Syria, and the eagle Rakham. The Bedouins
also mentioned an eagle whose outspread wings measure six feet
across, and which carries off lambs.
After four hours and a half we reached Wady Kyd (5), and
rested at its entrance under two immense blocks of granite, which
had fallen down from the mountain ; they form two spacious caverns, ¬
and serve as a place of shelter for the shepherdesses; we saw
in them several articles of tent furniture and some cooking utensils.
On the sides figures of goats are drawn with charcoal; but I saw
no inscriptions cut in the rock. The blocks are split in several places
as if by lightning. We followed the Wady Kyd, continuing on a
gentle ascent from the time of our setting out in the morning. The
windings of the valley led us, at the end of five hours and a half, to
a small rivulet, two feet across, and six inches in depth, which is lost
immediately below, in the sands of the Wady. It drips down a granite -
rock, which blocks up the valley, there only twenty paces in
breadth, and forms at the foot of the rock a small pond, overshadowed
by trees, with fine verdure on its banks. The rocks which overhang
it on both sides almost meet, and give to the whole the appear
ance of a grotto, most delighful to the traveller after passing through
these dreary valleys. It is in fact the most romantic spot I have
seen in these mountains, and worthy of being frequented by other
people than Arabs, upon whom the beauties of nature make a very
faint impression. The camels passed over the rocks with great
difficulty ; beyond it we continued in the same narrow valley,
along the rivulet, amidst groves of date, Nebek, and some tama
risk trees, until, at six hours, we reached the source of the rivulet, ¬
where we rested a little. This is one of the most noted date
valleys of the Sinai Arabs; the contrast of its deep verdure with
the glaring rocks by which it is closely hemmed in, is very striking,
and shews that wherever water passes in these districts, however
