Joannicus, in 1672, was in Bethlehem where he subscribed to a declaration against Calvin, in which the Maronites, the Copts and the Armenian Christians joined. In 1675 he went on an embassy to Turkey. He also engaged in correspondence with Ignatius, archbishop of Ochrida in Serbia, on the _firmân_ which had been granted to the monks of Sinai by the emperor Justinian. A visit to Moldavia resulted in the gift of the property called Rimineke to the monks of Sinai by Vaivode Brancovan († 1719). The traveller Poncet, who visited the convent about the year 1699, coming from Sherm, was received by Joannicus, who was in his ninety-third year and paralytic. Like other travellers Poncet was hauled into the convent by means of the seat attached to a rope. He was treated to some of the liqueur called _arac_, which was made by the monks out of the fermented juice of the date.[301] The prelate in succession to Joannicus was Cosmas I of Chalcedon, who became patriarch of Constantinople within a year of his election, but he soon abdicated and returned to the convent where he spent the rest of his days under Athanasius II of Bari (1706-18). The next prelate was Joannicus II of Mytilene (1718-22), during the term of whose rule Jeremiah, patriarch of Constantinople, was deposed by the vizier and exiled to Sinai. He was staying there at the time of Bishop Pococke’s visit (i. 150). It was probably Athanasius of Bari who received the Franciscan prefect Claude Sicard of the mission _De Propaganda Fide_, wearing an exquisite crown. The Franciscan prefect wrote a short account of his visit which attracted the attention of Bishop Pococke and was translated into English by Bishop Clayton in 1753. This translation was addressed to the Society of Antiquaries in London, and Bishop Clayton offered the sum of £500, spread over five years, to assist in an exploration of Mount Sinai. But no definite step was taken in the matter, its chief result being to add to the Biblical explorers of the peninsula. Chief among these was Bishop Pococke, whose _Description of the East_, first published in 1743, attained considerable celebrity. Several chapters were devoted to an account of Sinai and the progress of the Israelites. It contains a careful description of the monastic buildings with several plans. Bishop Pococke, like other travellers before and since, accepted the sites pointed out by the monks as the actual spots mentioned in the Biblical narrative, regardless of the impossibilities implied. He only questioned the spot where Dathan and Abiram were swallowed, remarking that when this happened they had left the desert of Sinai (i. 145). Owing to the difficulties of dealing with the claims of the Bedawyn, the prelates of Sinai now found it preferable to take up their residence in one of the dependencies of the convent.