* The members of the English Commission do not hesitate to attribute the construction of these towers to the remotest antiquity; the Bedouin call them “namus,” plur. “nawamis,” mosquito-houses, and they say that the children of Israel built them as a shelter during the night from mosquitos at the time of the Exodus.  The resemblance of these buildings to the “Talayot” of the Balearic Isles, and to the Scotch beehive-shaped houses, has struck all travellers.

Elsewhere they possessed fortified “duars,” where not only their families but also their herds could find a refuge—­circular or oval enclosures, surrounded by low walls of massive rough stones crowned by a thick rampart made of branches of acacia interlaced with thorny bushes, the tents or huts being ranged behind, while in the centre was an empty space for the cattle.  These primitive fortresses were strong enough to overawe nomads; regular troops made short work of them.  The Egyptians took them by assault, overturned them, cut down the fruit trees, burned the crops, and retreated in security, after having destroyed everything in their march.  Each of their campaigns, which hardly lasted more than a few days, secured the tranquillity of the frontier for some years.*

* The inscription of Uni (11. 22-32) furnishes us with the invariable type of the Egyptian campaigns against the Hiru- Shaitu:  the bas-reliefs of Karnak might serve to illustrate it, as they represent the great raid led by Seti I. into the territory of the Shausus and their allies, between the frontier of Egypt and the town of Hebron.

[Illustration:  159.jpg VIEW OF THE OASIS OF WADY FEIKAN IN THE PENINSULA OF SINAI]

     Drawn by Boudier, from the water-colour drawing published by
     Lepsius, Denhn., i. 7, No. 2.

To the south of Gebel et-Tih, and cut off from it almost completely by a moat of wadys, a triangular group of mountains known as Sinai thrusts a wedge-shaped spur into the Red Sea, forcing back its waters to the right and left into two narrow gulfs, that of Akabah and that of Suez.  Gebel Katherin stands up from the centre and overlooks the whole peninsula.  A sinuous chain detaches itself from it and ends at Gebel Serbal, at some distance to the northwest; another trends to the south, and after attaining in Gebel Umm-Shomer an elevation equal to that of Gebel Katherin, gradually diminishes in height, and plunges into the sea at Ras-Mohammed.  A complicated system of gorges and valleys—­Wady Nasb, Wady Kidd, Wady Hebran, Wady Baba—­furrows the country and holds it as in a network of unequal meshes.  Wady Feiran contains the most fertile oasis in the peninsula.  A never-failing stream waters it for about two or three miles of its length; quite a little forest of palms enlivens both banks—­somewhat meagre and thin, it is true, but intermingled with acacias, tamarisks, nabecas, carob trees, and willows.  Birds sing amid their branches, sheep wander in the