he who sings the mass finds on the altar a letter, in which is written the name of the man who is to be the abbot, and his lamp re-lights itself. In the same abbey is the spring where Moysi caused the water to flow, when he struck the rock with his staff. Not far from the said abbey, is the church built in honour of our Lady, where she appeared to the monks; higher up, is the chapel of Moysi, to which he fled when he saw our Lord face to face. There is also on the mount, the chapel of the prophet Helyas; the mount is called Oreb; close to the chapel of Moysi is the site where our Lord delivered to him the tables with the ten commandments, and on this same mountain is the cave in which Moysi remained, when he fasted forty days. From this valley one gets to a larger valley, and gets to the mountain to which Saint Catherine was carried by angels. In the same valley is a church, built in honour of the forty martyrs, in which the monks often sing the mass. The valley is cold, and the place on Saint Catherine’s mount where she was carried by the angels, is nothing but a heap of stones; but there has been a chapel which is destroyed. There are also two mounts called Sinay, which are near each other, except for the valley which is between them. [1] Muntagi should be called Huschan-Daghi, Mountain of the Apparition. _F._ 39.—Of the withered tree. Not far from Ebron is the village of Mambertal,(1) where is the withered tree which the Infidels call kurruthereck; it is also called carpe,[1] and has been since the time of Abraham, and was always green until our Lord died on the cross; since His death it has withered. It is found in prophecy, that a prince will come from the Occident towards the sun, and will with the Christians take possession of the holy sepulchre, and will cause the celebration of the mass under the withered tree; then will the tree become green and bear fruit. The Infidels hold it in great honour, and take good care of it. It has also the virtue, that when anybody suffers from epilepsy, and he passes by it, he falls no more; and it possesses many other virtues, so that it is well taken care of.(2) Item, it is two full days journey from Jherusalem to Nazereth where our Lord was brought up, which was formerly a considerable city; but now it is a small village, the houses are far from each other, and mountains are around it. There was a church where our Lady received the salutation of the archangel Gabryel, but now there is only a pillar.(3) The Infidels guard it well, because of the offerings which the Christians bring there; these they take away because they are enemies, but they dare not do anything to them, because it is forbidden by the sultan. [1] Selvy is the Turkish for cypress tree. This word appears as Sirpe in edition of 1814. 40.—Of Jherusalem and of the Holy Sepulchre.