The Land of Midian (Revisited) Volume II Part 31

April 9. 6 a.m. 30.04 68 Wind east.

Noon. 30.06 77 3 p.m. 30.06 81 Damp from noon to sunset.

April 10. 6 a.m. 30.06 64 Wind north. Fine day. Damp and north-west wind from noon to sunset.

CAIRO.

Reaching Cairo, I found Dr. T. E. Maclean from Thebes, with good instruments. He kindly compared mine with his, and gave me the following results:--The difference between my aneroid (Casella) and his is very slight, varying generally from 0.05 to -0.10. He advises me to neglect this slight difference. The dry bulb is, on the whole, a little higher than his; and we have not sufficient observations for the wet bulb. The pocket thermometer wants correction; it reads from +1 deg. to +2 deg. 15'.

LIST OF OBSERVATIONS.

N&Z = Negretti and Zambra No obs. = No observation.

Date. Time. N&Z's My Differ- Casellas Differ- N&Z's Casellas Differ- N&Z's Casellas Differ- (1878) standard Casella. ence for portable ence for dry bulb. dry bulb. ence. wet wet ence for aneroid. correc- thermo- correc- No. bulb. bulb. correc- No.1140. tions. meter tions. 39,518. tions.

(deg.).

April 28. 12.30p.m. No obs. No obs. - 91 -1.6 89.4 90.0 -0.6 71.75 71.0 +0.75 3p.m. No obs. No obs. - 84 -2.1 81.9 82.5 -0.6 69.0 69.0 0.0 6.30p.m. No obs. No obs. - 73 -2.5 70.5 71.0 -0.5 61.0 61.0 0.0

April 29. 9a.m. No obs. No obs. - 69 -2.4 66.6 67.0 -0.4 59.1 59.0 +0.1 11.30p.m. 29.796 29.850 -.054 77.5 -2.0 75.5 76.0 -0.5 63.5 64.0 -0.5 3p.m. 29.755 29.752 +.003 77.5 -1.5 76.0 76.0 0.0 62.75 62.0 -0.75

April 30. 9a.m. 29.828 29.850 -.022 67.5 -2.15 65.0 66.0 -1.0 59.5 60.5 -1.0 12.30p.m. 29.822 29.850 -.028 76 -1.5 74.5 75.0 -0.5 63.75 63.5 +0.25 3p.m. 29.799 29.802 -.003 77 -2.0 75.0 73.5 -0.5 64.0 58.0 +1.5

May 1. 9a.m. 29.959 30.100 -.141 66.5 -1.75 64.75 65.5 -0.75 57.5 58.0 -0.5 12.30p.m. 29.945 29.952 -.007 76 -2.5 73.5 74.5 -1.0 61.5 62.0 -0.5 3p.m. 29.984 29.902 +.082 77.5 -1.75 75.75 76.5 -0.75 61.75 61.5 +0.25

May 2. 9a.m. 30.051 30.102 -.051 66 -1.25 64.75 65.0 -0.25 58.0 58.5 -0.5 12.30p.m. 29.978 30.000 -.022 78 -2.0 76.0 76.0 0.0 63.0 66.5 -2.5 3p.m. 29.936 29.950 -.014 78 -1.5 76.5 No obs. - 63.75 No obs. -

May 3. 9a.m. 29.961 29.952 +.009 71.5 -1.5 70.0 No obs. - 58.5 No obs. - 12.30p.m. 29.880 29.900 -.020 83 -2.5 80.5 81.0 -0.5 63.23 62.0 +1.25 3p.m. 29.820 29.850 -.030 83 -1.1 81.9 82.5 -0.6 62.0 62.5 -0.5

May 4. 9a.m. 29.716 29.750 -.024 71.5 -1.25 70.25 71.0 -0.75 63.25 63.0 +0.25 12.30p.m. 29.679 29.700 -.021 89.5 -1.25 87.75 88.0 -0.25 70.25 69.5 +0.75 3.30p.m. 29.617 29.650 -.033 89.5 -1.0 88.5 89.0 -0.5 70.0 69.0 +1.0

May 5. 9.30a.m. 29.586 29.600 -.014 76.5 -1.5 75.0 No obs. - No obs.No obs. - 12.30p.m. No obs. No obs. - 83 -2.0 81.0 82.0 -1.0 69.75 68.5 +1.25 3p.m. 29.603 29.602 -.001 82 -1.5 80.5 81.0 -0.5 69.0 67.0 +2.0

May 6. 9a.m. 29.780 29.800 -.020 70 -1.75 68.25 69.0 -0.75 63.0 63.0 0.0 12.30p.m. 29.785 29.800 -.015 77 -2.0 75.0 76.0 -1.0 65.25 65.0 +0.25 3p.m. 29.778 29.800 -.022 79 -2.0 77.0 77.5 -0.5 67.5 66.0 +1.5

May 7. 9a.m. 29.854 29.850 +.004 67 -2.0 65.0 66.0 -1.0 60.75 61.0 -0.25 12.30p.m. 29.822 29.802 -.020 80.5 -1.5 79.0 79.0 0.0 66.0 65.0 +1.0

Endnotes:

[EN#1] The word is explained in my "Itineraries," part ii. sect.

3.

[EN#2] See Appendix IV. "Botanical Notes."

[EN#3] "Opens," i.e. the door for a higher price: it is the usual formula of refusing to sell.

[EN#4] Chap. XVI.

[EN#5] The Sat.u.r.day Review, in a courteous notice of my first volume (May 25, 1878), has the following remarks:--"The Arabs talk of some (?) Nazarenes, and a 'King of the Franks,' having built the stone huts and the tombs in a neighbouring cemetery ('Aynunah). But there can be no local tradition worth repeating in this instance." Here we differ completely; and those will agree with me who know how immutable and, in certain cases, imperishable Arab tradition is. The reviewer, true, speaks of North Midian, where all the tribes, except the Beni 'Ukbah, are new. Yet legend can survive the destruction and disappearance of a race: witness the folk-traditions of the North-Eastern Italians and the adjacent Slavs. Here, however, in South Midian we have an ancient race, the Baliyy. And what strengthens the Christian legend is that it is known to man, woman, and child throughout the length and breadth of the land.

[EN#6] In Sinai "Shinnar" is also applied to a partridge, but I am unable to distinguish the species--caccabis, Desert partridge, (Ammoperdix heyi, the Arab Hajl), or the black partridge (Francolinus vulgaris).

[EN#7] Chap. IX. has already noticed Ptolemy's short measure.

[EN#8] Chap. XVII.

[EN#9] Helix desertorum (Forsk.) and Helix (sp. incert.)

[EN#10] See "The Gold Mines of Midian,'' Chap. II.

[EN#11] So in Moab the ruins of "Meron" or Merou of the Greeks has degenerated into Umm Rasas, "the Mother of Lead."

[EN#12] Their names will be given in Chap. XIII.

[EN#13] A. G., p. 24. See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. XI.

Sprenger spells the word either with a Zad or a Za: I have discussed the question in my "Itineraries," part ii. sect. 4.

[EN#14] See the end of this Chapter for a list.

[EN#15] See Chap. XIV.

[EN#16] "Irwin's Voyage," 1777.

[EN#17] This was probably a misprint originally, but it has been repeated in subsequent editions. Hence it imposed upon even such careful workmen as the late Lieutenant Henry Raper, "The Practice of Navigation," etc., p. 527, 6th edition.

[EN#18] See an excellent description of the phenomenon in that honest and courageous work, "Through Bosnia and the Herzegovina on Foot," by Arthur J. Evans, B.A., F.S.A. London: Longmans, 1877.

[EN#19] There is, however, nothing to prevent its being eaten.

[EN#20] See Chap. X.

[EN#21] Chap. X.

[EN#22] Not to be confounded with the luguminous "Tanub"

mentioned by Forskal ("Flora," etc., p. 197).

[EN#23] The word cla.s.sically means the cypress or the juniper-tree: in Jeremiah, where it occurs twice (xvii. 6 and xlviii. 6), the Authorized Version renders it by "heath." It is now generally translated "savin" (Juniperus sabina), a shrub whose purple berries have a strong turpentine flavour. When shall we have a reasonable version of Hebrew Holy Writ, which will retain the original names of words either untranslatable or to be translated only by guess-work?