The Land of Midian (Revisited) Volume I Part 20

[EN#86] The name is from Gen. xx. 1, and it signifies the country lying to the south of Palestine. See "The Negeb," by the late Rev. E. Wilton (London, 1863), and vol. ii. "The Desert of the Exodus," so often alluded to in these pages.

[EN#87] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. IX.

[EN#88] Kufah

[EN#89] Roaring when the rider mounts, halts, or dismounts, is considered a proof of sn.o.bbish blood among the Bisha'ri'n: for some months the camel-colt is generally muzzled on such occasions till it learns the sterling worth of silence.

For an admirable description, far too detailed to place before the general public, of the likeness and the difference between the dromedary of the Bisharin and the Numani and Maskati, the purest blood of the Arabs, see pp. 145--154, "L' Etbaye, etc., Mines d Or," by my old friend Linant de Bellefonds Bey, now Sulayman Pasha. Paris: Arthus Bertrand (no date).

[EN#90] The contents worked into shape by Mr. William J. Turner, of the Royal Geographical Society, appear in the Appendix.

[EN#91] "Desert of the Exodus," p. 347.

[EN#92] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. VI.

[EN#93] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian" (pa.s.sim) this "Spring of the She-Cook" appeared as the "She-Cork!"

[EN#94] A region to the north-west of 'Aynunah, afterwards visited by Lieutenant Yusuf. See Chap. IX.

[EN#95] Such an act would disgrace an Arab tribe, and of course it is denied by the Beni 'Ukbah. We visited this valley, which is one of the influents of the Wady 'Aynunah, during the first Expedition ("The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 165).

[EN#96] The modern Beni 'Ukbah ignore the story of Abu Rish, not wis.h.i.+ng to confess their obligations to the Huwaytat.

[EN#97] The tomb on the hillock north of El-Muwaylah.

[EN#98] South-east of EI-Muwaylah.

[EN#99] These hard conditions were actually renewed some twenty-five years ago.

[EN#100] For ample notices on this subject, see "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. XII. In p. 337, however, I made the mistake of supposing Makna to be the capital, instead of the port of the capital. The true position is north lat. 28 degrees 24'.

[EN#101] For historical notices of the diamond in North-Western Arabia, see "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 168.

[EN#102] Dr. Beke's artist made a plan of this rude affair (p.

349), and nothing can be worse. The Egyptian Staff-officers drew the ruin correctly; but the poor remains by no means deserve the honour of a wood-cut.

[EN#103]. The word is corrupted from Jamb, "the side," alluding to the animal's gait; we did not find the true lobster (Homarus vulgaris), the astica of the Adriatic, whose northern waters produce such n.o.ble specimens.

[EN#104] The spirit-tins, prepared for me at Trieste, were as most things there are, very dear and very bad; after a short use they became full of holes. So the bowie-knives, expressly made to order at old Tergeste, proved to be of iron not of steel.

[EN#105] "Travels," Vol. II. Chap. IV.

[EN#106] Confirmed by Dr. Beke, p. 533.

[EN#107] P. 351.

[EN#108] I am doubtful about this name, which the Bedawi apply to more than one place.

[EN#109] Strictly speaking, the dust of the Nevada country was oxide of silver.

[EN#110] M. Burat ("Geologie Appliqee," i. 8) gives the following minima proportions in which metal may be worked on a grand scale, of course under the most favourable circ.u.mstances. The extremes are 0.25 (iron), and 0.00001 (gold); and antimony, bis.m.u.th, cobalt, and nickel are neglected, because the proportions vary so much.

Iron, 0.25 Zinc, 0.20 Lead, 0.02 (two per cent.) Copper and mercury, 0.01 Tin, 0.005 (1/2 per cent.) Silver, 0.0005 (1/2 per 1000) Gold, 0.00001 (1/100,000)

This table is recommended to the many "profane" who do not believe a rock to be auriferous or argentiferous, unless they can see the gold and silver with the naked eye.

[EN#111] The b.u.t.ton, when a.s.sayed by the official mining office at Trieste, was p.r.o.nounced to be antimony! It was extracted from ruddle (red ochre) and limonite (brown ochre or hydrous oxide of iron): both are sesquioxides (Fe2O3) which become dark when heated and change to magnetic oxide (Fe3O4). M. Marie is probably the first who ever "ran down" iron oxide with lead. No wonder that Colonel Ross p.r.o.nounced his culot a marvellous alloy.

[EN#112] Karun was a pauper cousin of Musa, who had learned alchemy from Kulsum, the Lawgiver's sister. The keys of his treasure loaded forty mules; and his palace had doors and roof of fine gold. As he waxed fat he kicked against his chief, who as usual became exceeding wroth, and prayed that the earth might swallow him.

[EN#113] Pp. 337--339.

[EN#114] "Tasbih" literally means uttering Subhan Allah!--"Praise be to Allah!"

[EN#115] It is curious how this G.o.ddess has extended, through the Dalmatian "Fortunale" and the Slav "Fortunja" of the Bosnian peasants, to Turkey, Egypt, and even Arabia. Applied to a violent storm, perhaps it is a euphuism for the Latin word in the sense of good sign or omen; so in Propertius--"Nulla ne placatae veniet fortuna procellae."

[EN#116] P. 341.

[EN#117] The singular is Maknawi, p.r.o.nounced Magnawi.

[EN#118] Loc. cit. p. 79.

[EN#119] The pa.s.sage was brought to my notice by my excellent friend, Mr. James Pincherle of Trieste. In the "Atlante Storico e Geografico della Terra Santa, esposto in 14 Tavole e 14 Quadri storici della Palestina," republished (without date) by Francesco Pagnoni of Milan, appears an annexed commentary by Cornelius a Lapide. The latter, Cornelius Van den Steen (Corneille de la Pierre), born near Liege, a learned Jesuit, profound theologian, and accomplished historian, was famous as a Hebraist and lecturer on Holy Writ. He died at Rome March 12, 1637; and a collected edition of his works in sixteen volumes, folio, appeared at Venice in 1711, and at Lyons in 1732. It is related of him that, being called to preach in the presence of the Pope, he began his sermon on his knees. The Holy Father commanded him to rise, and he obeyed; but his stature was so short that he appeared to be still kneeling. The order was reiterated; whereupon Zacchaeus, understanding its cause, said modestly, "Beatissime Pater, ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos."

[EN#120] The name and other points connected with it have been noticed in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338.

[EN#121] See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338.

[EN#122] "Travels in Syria, etc.," p. 524.

[EN#123] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338, this name became, by virtue of the author's cacography, "Beoche."

[EN#124] "Diario in Arabia Petrea" (1865) di Visconte Giammartino Arconati. Roma, 1872.

[EN#125] Wellsted, ii. 143.

[EN#126] "Ghor" is the whole depression including the Jordan and the Dead Sea, while El-'Akabah is its southernmost section. In older maps this gulf is made to fork at the north--a topographical absurdity. I have also fallen into a notable blunder about the Jebel el-Shara', in "The Gold-Mines of Midian,"

note ?, p. 175.

[EN#127] See Appendix, p. 537, "Geological Notes," etc., in Dr.

Beke's "Sinai in Arabia."

[EN#128] See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," pp. 338, 339.

[EN#129] This Yitm, which Burckhardt first wrote El-Ithem, unfortunately gave Dr. Beke an opportunity of finding, in his "Wady el-Ithem," the "Etham of the Exodus." (See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," pp. 359--361). The latter has been conclusively shown by Brugsch-Bey in his lecture, "La Sortie des Hebreux d'E'gypte" (Alexandrie: Moures, 1874), p. 31, to be the great fort of Khatom, on the highway to Phoenicia. The roots Khatam, Asham, Tam, like the Arabic "Khatm" (

[EN#130] Dr. Beke, who afterwards changed his mind, would identify Hor, the burial-place of Aaron, with h.o.r.eb of the Rock ("Orig. Biblicae," 195). He then adopted ("Sinai in Arabia," p.

77) the opinion of St. Jerome ("De Situ," etc., p. 191), "Mihi autem videtur quod duplice nomine mons nunc Sina, nunc Ch.o.r.eb vocatur." Wellsted (ii. 103) also makes h.o.r.eb synonymous with "Wilderness of Sinai." Professor Palmer (118) translates h.o.r.eb by "ground that has been drained and left dry:" he would include in it the whole Desert of Sinai, together with "the Mountain;"

whilst he warns us that the monks call the whole southern portion of their mountain "h.o.r.eb." Others confine "h.o.r.eb" to Jebel Musa, and even to its eastern shoulder.