_Gebel-um-Schomar_ ("Mount Mother _Schomar_"), also consists chiefly of _granite_; the lower part _red_, but the top is almost _white_. In its middle, between the granite, occur broad layers of brittle _black slate_, mixed with veins of _quartz_ and _felspar_, and with _micaceous schist_. Its extreme _peak_, about 8800 feet above the sea, is sharp pointed, and seems to be inaccessible, owing to its perpendicular and smooth sides. Burckhardt, in his attempt to ascend it, was obliged to halt at about 200 feet below it. This was, until recently, esteemed the _highest_ point in the Peninsula; but, according to Herr Russegger, two or three other peaks, to the south of it, are about 500 feet more lofty; the _extreme_ elevation of this last group, which seems not to bear any distinct appellation, he estimates at 9300 English feet. I here add, after the latter author, a sketch of the _granite peaks_ of the high Modern-Sinaic mountains, from north to south, as they present so interesting and remarkable an appearance. [Illustration: Sketch of granite peaks] In the narrow valley, a little south of _Gebel Mohala_, which is all granite, on the east side of, or opposite to, the Schomar, is a spring named _Tabakat_, where beautiful porphyry is observed. The south side of Mount _Schomar_ is very abrupt, and there is _no_ secondary chain between it and the other lofty southern mountains, and the long gravelly plain _El Kaa_. From that plain, entering _Wadi Hebron_--a ravine about 100 yards wide--fragments of rocks, principally of _granite_ and _porphyry_ washed down by torrents, are frequent; a small stream is seen flowing among them; in spots, some date trees occur, and likewise the manna-producing tamarisk. Continuing to ascend, a moderately-steep pass is reached; afterwards, a descent of about 700 feet leads into the sandy _Wadi Solaf_ "wine valley;" and then, gaining, with some difficulty, the summit of a steeper pass, the north-west angle of the extensive _Wadi Raha_ is come to. Here, again, the present Sinaic group, beyond the plain, exhibits its rugged mountains of dark _granite_, with "stern, naked, splintered _peaks_, and ridges of indescribable grandeur."