The  vegetation  here  is  very  luxuriant.  Lofty  date-palms  and  wild
palm  saplings,  tamarisks,  and  acacias  thrive  in  abundance ;  and
vegetables  are  successfully  cultivated  by  the  Arabs  who  live  in  the
mud  hovels  near  the  springs,  and  who  expect  a  bakshish  from
visitors.  Their  gardens  are  enclosed  by  opuntia  hedges  and  palings,
at  the  entrances  to  which  the  traveller  is  beset  by  barking  dogs.
The  springs ,  situated  in  the  midst  of  these  gardens ,  consist  of
several  turbid  pools  of  brackish  water.  The  largest  of  them,
enclosed  by  an  old  wall,  is  said  to  have  been  the  spring  called
forth  from  the  rock  by  the  rod  of  Moses,  or  the  bitter  waters  which
the  prophet  sweetened  by  casting  a  certain  tree  into  them.  The
scene  of  these  miracles ,  however,  must  have  been  a  considerable
distance  to  the  S.  of  this  point ;  but  this  oasis  may  have  been  the
spot  where  Moses  and  the  Israelites  sang  their  beautiful  song  of
praise,  recorded  in  Exodus,  xv.
'I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously :  the
horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.  The  Lord  is  my
strength  and  song,  and  he  is  become  my  salvation:  he  is  my  God,  and.
I  will  prepare  him  an  habitation;  my  father's  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him.
