Wady Ghurundel, a valley the bed of which, dry during the rest of the year, is in the rainy season swept by a powerful torrent, and thus with more accumulated soil and moisture, is pretty thickly scattered with groups of wild tamarisk and acacia, with ghurked and other shrubs. The direct road to Sinai crossing this valley keeps inland; but there can be little doubt that the Israelites descended to the valley springs, about half-an-hour's distance lower down towards the sea. These springs form the principal watering place of the Arabs in this region; and thus, with hardly an exception, travellers have considered them identical with Elim, the next halting place of the Israelites. On approaching the principal fountain, which wells out from the foot of a rock, and forms a small oval pool, a greater luxuriance of vegetation appears; numerous thickets of dwarf palm-trees, nourished by the springs and surrounded by a reedy marsh, are intermingled with the predominant foliage; and though elsewhere it might excite but little attention, such a scene in this thirsty wilderness is comparatively delightful. The water, though not good, is decidedly better than that of either Ayûn Musa or Howarah, which circumstance seems opposed to the conclusion of Dr. Lepsius, that this, and not Howarah, is the actual “ Marah ;” not to recall what has been already remarked, that Howarah would be the first place reached by the suffering Israelites. Besides this principal spring, others would appear to be scattered at intervals between that and the sea, which is at no great distance. As we descend the valley, flocks tended by the Terabin Arabs are occasionally met with; and at its extremity, just where it opens into a sterile plain extending to the sea, is a very remarkable and overhanging rock, the "shadow" of which in this weary "land," we found a perfect "refuge from the heat," that at the burning hour of noon in an Arabian desert is almost insupportable. This rock, if the Israelites encamped in Wady Ghurundel, would be in all -probability chosen as the head-quarters of Moses. At “Elim, where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees, they encamped by the waters ;" and as they came "unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai,” on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departure out of the land of Egypt, they must have remained here about a month.

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The track of the wanderers, hitherto marked out by the wells, is next conclusively indicated by natural landmarks. The plain at the termination of Wady Ghurundel comes down to the sea, and at its extremity the mountain of Hummam Pharoon comes down to the water, and shuts up all passage along the coast; thus, to regain the main track, the Israelites must have passed up the narrow ravine called Wady Useit; though perhaps a portion, ascending the valley, may have come down to the same point by the route further inland. On leaving Elim, it is stated (Numb. xxxiii. 10.) "that they encamped by the Red Sea." This halt cannot well have taken place in the afore-mentioned plain, as it would be close to their encampment at Elim; we must then look for it at the next point where they would descend to its shores. Wady Useit is a pass through limestone mountains of the most dazzling whiteness, the two sides of which almost meet in some places. The sandy bed of the defile is full of rocks, and exceedingly toilsome to camels; and we may figure to ourselves the difficulty of the way to the cumbrous host of Israelites. As the valley opens, a little oasis, where they would naturally have halted, bursts gratefully upon the sight. It consists merely of a few groups of wild palm trees and a little brackish water; but is a delightful relief from the horrible glare of the lower part of the valley. The road is now for some distance more open and easy; and at a distance of about ten miles from Wady Useit we reach Wady Shubeikeh, which here unites with another valley running down to the sea, called Wady Taiyibeh. Here, at the present day, the two roads to the convent of Sinai divide the upper, so called from its keeping the interior, passes near the remarkable mining station of the Egyptians, called Sarabut el Khadim; where, on the top of a mountain, are the remains of a temple, in the midst of great mounds of ore, with numerous stelæ, or tablets, recording the names of various Egyptian kings. The lower, with which we have to do, was that pursued by the Israelites, who, descending the valley, came out upon a small plain by the seaside, where was made, in all probability, their next encampment after leaving Elim. Wady Taiyibeh, unlike Wady Ghurundel, is destitute of springs; but it displays a similar vegetation of tamarisks and wild palms, which derive both soil and nourish

ment from the residue of the winter rains. The plain runs out to a point called Ras Zelime, behind which is a small sheltered bight for vessels; and here, according to Dr. Lepsius, was in very remote times a station, whence part of the smelted metals brought down from the mining stations was conveyed to Egypt across the Red Sea. In accordance with this view he supposes this spot and not Wady Ghurundel, to be Elim; and he founds his opinion on the twelve “wells,” which he supposes were dug to supply the want of springs; which wells, if they ever existed, are at the present day filled up with drift sand. His opinion, besides, involves the assumption that “Ghurundel” was Marah. It may be observed, however, that while the general route of the Israelites cannot be mistaken, their different stations cannot be decided with the same degree of certainty, and will probably be ever disputed.

On leaving the plain of Ras Zelime, the track along the coast is rocky and difficult, and could not have been passed except at low water. It is, however, a great relief after the sandy inland route: the sea view, the freshness of the rolling surges, are delightful; the opposite coast of the desert of Egypt is bold and striking; and we may fancy it covered with the ancient ships of that country some four thousand years ago, and as one of our Indian steamers passes up towards Suez, endeavor to realize the mighty changes that have taken place in this wide interval of ages. After clearing the difficult passage by the sea, another plain appears, bounded on the left hand and in front by mountains, which leave however, a space along the sea-side, which extends as far as Tur, and is denominated at the present day "El Kaa." As yet we have met with no water all the way from Wady Ghurundel; but here, at some distance on the left, is the spring El Murkhah. We are now in the "Desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai.” (Exod. xvi. 1. Numb. xxxiii. 11.) This district is supposed by Lepsius to have extended as far as to Mount Sinai; and here it was that the Israelites, their stores at length exhausted, and with the destitution of all sustenance in this frightful wilderness staring them in the face, began to murmur:-" Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full! for ye have brought us forth into

this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Moses promised them, in the name of the Lord, that their wants should be supplied-at even by flesh, and in the morning by bread. "And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna; and it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey." The "quails," or desert partridges, are very commonly met with both here and elsewhere in the desert, and they are sometimes in great numbers; but there is no natural production at all answerable to the manna, but the gum that exudes from the turfeh-tree only when growing in a rich soil, as in Wady Feiran, where it consequently abounds, but of which there is none in this neighbourhood, though the shrub itself is often met with.

BAD SPELLING.

IT is one of the tendencies of the present age, and perhaps of human nature in all ages, to overdo every thing. Amongst other matters our orthography wants correction; and we are told that to do this efficiently is as great a work as the original discovery and establishment of printing, and inferior only in importance to the diffusion of Christianity itself, And how do our Writing and Printing-Reformation friends attempt it? Not by correcting here and there a mispelt word, but by overturning our whole language into double Dutch, and broken German-by overwhelming us with nearly a score of new letters which we do not want, and disguising most of the old ones in such a way as to render them unintelligible!

Beyond a casual notice, we have hitherto let the "Phonetic System," as it is called, alone; but as it now claims the character of a religious movement, by assuring us that fewer persons would be hanged, and crime generally diminished, if more attention were paid to it, we think it may be well candidly to look into its merits, if it have any, and expose some of

the fallacies under cloak of which it seeks to make its way in the world.

The "Phonetic News," the recognized organ of this body, lays down "A Few Facts," as they are called, on which the whole system is supposed to turn. Let us briefly examine

them.

I. "It is a fact, that no one can tell the sound of an English word from its spelling."

No? Why this monosyllabic interrogation is itself a refutation of the " fact." If N-O can be made to spell any thing but 'No,' we are very much mistaken. Thousands of similar instances might be adduced to prove that the rule is by no means so general as is here assumed. Much less can we call it universal. We admit that the sound of many English words cannot be inferred from the way of spelling them, and our remedy for this would be the short and simple recommendation to spell them better. We are not so wedded to the very letters of a word as to think it little less than sacrilege to drop or change them occasionally. And this we are doing every day. The tendency of all language is towards compactness and condensation. We would indeed move in this rather quicker than the times, though common sense in this as in all other matters is making rapid progress.

II. “It is a fact," say our Phonetic friends, in the second place, "that no one can tell the spelling of an English word from its sound."

A sweeping assertion like the other, which is not strictly true. Many English words can be spelt only as they are sounded. But we may safely further a reform in this respect, without endorsing all the absurdities of Phonography. Our present appliances will we think enable us to effect a very comprehensive alteration here. We come now to the third fact

III. "It is a fact, that one woman in two, and one man in three, who were married in 1846, signed the marriage register with marks."

-Where? In all England, in all Britain, in Great Britain and Ireland, or in all the world? But wherever the thing occurred, what has it to do with Phonetics? If they could not