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contains several stories, among which you will find this.' The supposed writer, 'S. Y. G.,' has not communicated further with us, either by sending more of his tale or by revealing his name. We should very much like to have the latter, for the satisfaction of making known to our readers who the pilferer is, who has thieved from the publishers of Toilers of the Thames, and lied to us. We trust he is not a College boy.

G. L. B. Wildig has been elected Exhibitioner of New College, Oxford.

We must apologise to J. D. S. Sim and W. Peel, whose names we inadvertently omitted from the list of Prefects in the March number.

The remaining Prize-subjects are as follows:

Iredell Prize. . The Crusades.

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Walker Prize. Isaiah: the Communion and Baptism Services.

English Verse. Granada.

English Essay. The Feudal System.

French Prose.. A letter written from Rome during the siege
of 1849: the writer a Frenchman, an
artist, and a red republican.

German Prose. First two pages of Dr. Arnold's Inaugural
Lecture as Professor of History.

On Thursday night, April 1, Dr. Barry delivered a lecture in the Town Hall, on 'Work and Rest.' Dr. Barry also preached in the Chapel on Sunday morning, April 4, and in the evening at Christ Church.

The Racquet and Fives Matches as yet present no features of interest. The best men still survive in both sets of matches.

An extra day was added to the Easter holidays this year, in honour of Mr. Henry James, who is now member for Taunton.

The other Cheltonian M.P., Mr. Wyllie, was turned out at Hereford on the count of treating by his agent.

Mr. John Morley, editor of the Fortnightly Review, and an old Cheltonian, stood for Blackburn at the second election for that borough, but did not succeed.

At the Athletic Sports of Christ College, Cambridge, A. H. Hamilton won the 100 yards, the Pole Jump (clearing 8ft. 10in.), the High Jump, and the Trowser Race,

At the Barnes Football Club Athletic Sports H. Ommanney won the 120 yards Hurdle Race.

The races will probably take place about the beginning of May. The following have been elected as stewards:

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April has come: Shaw, our bowler, is here, and we have begun cricket. We are late in beginning, but now that the time has come we must make up as far as we can for lost time. Our captain and Strachan are the only two left who played against Marlborough last year, so it is hoped that every fellow who knows a cricket bat from a ball will work hard for his red and black. We are especially in want of bowlers, and the open field offers a chance of success to every colt.

Now that the twenty-two nets have been moved to the second eleven ground, fellows are expected to play as steadily as if under the eye of the professionals on that of the first.

For the future, balls will not be provided as hitherto for the nets at the expense of the playground fund. This is rendered imperative by the immense quantity of balls being lost and good balls being accidentally changed for old. Also the houses will have to provide their own cricket things.

Not more than two balls are to be bowled at each net, and practice by non-twenty-two fellows before afternoon school must be stopped.

The following matches have been arranged:

May 1 Pembroke College, Oxon.

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The Cheltonian.

MAY, 1869.

Exploration of Sinai.

T will be known to some of our readers that an expedition was organised in the autumn of last year for exploration and survey in the Peninsula of Sinai. The party consisted of the Rev. F. W. Holland, Mr. E. H. Palmer, Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, a first-rate Arabic scholar-four non-commissioned officers of Royal Engineers, including an experienced photographer, Captain Palmer, R.E., and Captain C. W. Wilson, R.E., an old Cheltonian, in command. The labours of the survey are now drawing to a close, and the most satisfactory results are said to have been attained; funds only are wanting, and if any reader of these pages feels inclined to aid the good work, his subscription may be forwarded to Messrs. Cox and Co., Army Agents, Craig's-court, London, S.W., for 'Survey of Sinai.'

We have been permitted to extract the following notes from the field journal of Captain Wilson, for the pages of the Cheltonian.

The party left Suez on the 11th of Nov., 1868, and after sundry awkward attempts at camel riding, disputes with the Bedouin, &c., found themselves on the 14th fairly in the desert lunching at Ain Howara (supposed to be Marah) where the water was brackish but not undrinkable at this time of the year, and camping at Wady Gharundel (Elim) for the night.

The 15th was Sunday-and a halt.

On the 16th some progress was made through a sandy desert, and on the 17th, soon after leaving the camp, we entered a narrow gorge where the peculiar scenery of the Sinaitic peninsula commenced. We met with some of the famous inscriptions, and even in our few days' experience our learned Pundit (Palmer) sees great hopes of being able to decipher them-this of itself will be a feather in the cap of the expedition. Some of the figures are very

No. 32.-Vol. IV.

grotesque on one there is a man with a sword and shield, and a regular Don Quixote on a faithful Rosinante; on others are Ibexes with horns twice as long as the body. Our camp for the evening was near a well with a great number of them, and in the sandstone formation with the most regular and perfect ripple marks I ever saw, everything as the sea had left it—the tracks of the worms on the sand, and pieces of wood that had been floating about in ages long before man appeared on the world.

18th. To-day we reached the foot of the hill on which Surabit el Khadim stands, and after a good stiff climb reached the celebrated Egyptian monuments and the Turquoise mines. There is a great field for excavation, and we hope at some future period to spend a week turning over the rubbish which is full of Egyptian pottery, beads, &c. The view from the summit is very fine: nothing can exceed the picturesque outline of the jagged peaks, and with the background of clear blue sky, each stone comes out sharp and clear as if one had only to stretch out the hand to grasp it. From the summit of Surabit el Khadim we caught our first glimpse of Jebel Musa (Sinai) still distant, and surrounded by the desert haze which adds so much to the beauty of the scenery here.

19th. Along a fine open valley to the foot of a sharp peaked mountain called the Zib. The ascent was pretty stiff work, and just at the summit we had to pass over a narrow ledge, and then pull ourselves up a perpendicular face nearly seven feet high-our first taste of Sinai climbing-but we were well rewarded for our trouble by a view which I shall always consider as amongst the finest in the world. On the south rose a great granite wall 2,000 feet high, stretching right across the peninsula-a feature I was quite unprepared for, and behind this rose the peaks of Sinai and St. Catherine; the view was most extensive, whilst away in the north we could see the high wall of chalk cliffs which bound the great and terrible wilderness.

20th. To-day we travelled up Wady es Sheik, and at one point came to a large grove of Tamarisk trees. In the morning we had a magnificent view of Mount Serbal, the outline of which is by far the finest of the Sinai mountains. The granite wall we had before seen was traversed by a fine pass, the rocks on either hand rising abruptly over 1,000 feet with a space of only 20 feet between. This Holland supposes to be the place where the battle of Rephidim was fought. Soon after emerging from the pass a small whirlwind crossed us, running away over the valley in a cloud of dust.

21st. To-day we reached our final camping place close under the Sinai mountains, and half-an-hour's walk from the convent,

where in the afternoon we were most hospitably entertained by the monks; they brought out some first-rate cake, dried dates and coffee, which would bear off the palm anywhere.

22nd (Sunday). Camp service, and visit to the monks at the

convent.

23rd. To Wady es Rahah where the Israelites are said to have been assembled for the giving of the law. The view of the Sinai group of mountains from this point is very impressive, the peaks rising straight up to a height of nearly 2,000 feet above the level of the plain. In the afternoon we visited the Convent Church, said to have been built by Justinian A.D. 531. Our friend Jakobos, the agent of the convent, who, in the absence of the superior, did the honours, is rather a character, and amused us with his experience of the place. He had been, as he told us, a Smyrna merchant, and had retired to the convent after having become tired of the world; but some one remarked, it was more probable that the world had got tired of him. Be that as it may he is now a firm believer in all the legends of the convent. 'Before I came here,' he said, 'I was a doubter, but since I have been here I have stood in the church and seen the mountains shaking with earthquakes without feeling the slightest movement within the sacred building.' After having felt certain unmistakable symptoms of the activity of certain animals, we asked Jakobos whether it was true there were no fleas in the convent, to which he gravely replied, 'Santa Maria banished all fleas from the convent, and now if you wanted the leg of the smallest flea for medicinal purposes, you might search the whole of the convent and not find one.' You will see by this that our friend is rather amusing, but I am sorry to say he shows a greater affinity for 'raki' than becomes one of his age and station.

24th. At work, selecting a basis for commencing operations. 25th. Walked round Jebel Musa. The number of ruined monasteries and houses, the holes and stone buildings in which hermits lived is very remarkable, and shows that a very large Christian population must have existed in the peninsula at an early period, I should say not less than 7,000 at the same time.

26th. Ascended the Jebel Musa mountains, by what we have christened 'the slide,' a steep sloping mass of debris rising nearly 1,500 feet to the cliff of the Ras Susafeh. We were about an hour scrambling to the top, and then commenced the ascent of two peaks on which we were going to place cairns. There were one or two bad places, and up one ledge I had to scramble by Palmer's leg which he hung down for me. We did not get back to camp till after dusk.

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