a celebrated mountain of Arabia, near the head of the Red sea, the place whence the divine law was given by Moses. It is surrounded by a vast and gloomy desert, the few inhabited spots of which are occupied by the Arabs who live by plunder, and attack all passengers unless they form part of a large and well defended caravan. Mount Sinai belongs to the range of mountains called by the Arabs Zibbel Musa, and consists of several lofty summits, separated by frightful gulfs between precipitous rocks. At the foot of the mountain is the Greek convent of St. Catherine, founded in 1331. It is 120 feet in length and almost as many in breadth, built entirely of hewn stone. In this convent, the monks remain imprisoned by the wild Arabs of the surrounding country; and they are supplied with provisions by a basket drawn up by a cord and pulley to the height of thirty feet. The predatory hands of Arabs often fire upon the convent from the rocks adjacent, and make prisoners of the monks who venture beyond the walls, for whose restoration they exact a considerable ransom. The convent has an excellent garden at a little distance, which is reached by a subterraneous passage secured with iron gates. It has a temperate climate, owing to the elevation, and snow sometimes falls. Fruits, plants, and vegetables, are produced in the utmost profusion. The convent is eighty feet long and fifty-three broad, paved with marble and adorned with a variety of figures. It has many lamps of gold and silver, and the grand altar is gilded and adorned with jewels. The ascent of the mountain is steep, and is by steps cut in the rock; or loose stones piled in succession. A Christian church and a Turkish mosque crowns the summit of Mount Sinai; the former now greatly dilapidated. It commands a most extensive view over the Red Sea and the opposite coast of Thebais; beneath is the port of Tor, by which the commodities of India were formerly conveyed to Egypt. The descent is even more rugged and steep than the ascent; and terminates at the monastery of the Forty Saints, which has been plundered often by the Arabs. On the other side is the still loftier mountain of St. Catherine, 150 miles east of Suez.

SINCLAIR'S Rocks, four small rocks off the south coast of New Holland, included by Capt. Hindens in Nuyt's archipelago.

SINDANGAN Bay, on the north-west coast of Mindanao, extending from north to south about 100 miles. Long. 123° 52'. Lat. 8° 15' N.