SINALOA 438 SINCLAIR highest peak, Um Shaumer, is the cul- minating point of the whole Sinaitic range. Serbal, with its five peaks, is the most magnificent mountain in the pen- insula, and is identified with Sinai by the earlier Church fathers, Eusebius, Jerome, Cosmas, etc. ; but it does not meet the requirements of the Hebrew narrative, and even as early as the time of Justinian the opinion that Serbal was the Sinai of Moses had been abandoned, and to a ridge of the second or E. range that honor had been transferred, the N. summit of which is termed Horeb; and the S. Jebel Musa, or Mount of Moses, continues to be re- garded by the great majority of scholars as the true Sinai. Its height is variously estimated at from 6,800 to 7,100 feet above the sea. It is separated from the Jebel-ed-Deir on the W. by a narrow valley, called Er-Rahah, on one of the steps of which stands the famous con- vent of Mount Sinai, devoted to St. Catherine. In many of the western Sinai- tic valleys the more accessible parts of the rocky sides are covered by thousands of inscriptions, usually short, and rudely carved in spots where travelers would naturally stop to rest at noon, frequently accompanied by a cross and mingled with representations of animals. The inscrip- tions are in unknown characters, but were at first ascribed to the ancient Israelites on their way from Egypt to Sinai, and afterward to Christian pilgrims of the 4th century. Recently, however, many of them have been deciphered by Profes- sor Beer of Leipsic, who regards them as the only known remains of the lan- guage and characters once peculiar to the Nabathaeans of Arabia Petraea. SINALOA, one of the Pacific States of Mexico; area, 27,557 square miles. Pop. (1912) 329,317. Capital, Culiacan (pop. 22,000). It contains over 100 mining dis- tricts chiefly producing silver. The an- nual sale of cattle is about $9,000,000. Crops, $8,000,000. Revenue, $11,000,000. SINCLAIR, originally St. Clair, a Scotch family of Norman origin, founded by William de Santo Claro, who settled m Scotland and received from David I. the grant of the barony of Roslin. The earldoms of Orkney, of Caithness, and of Rosslyn have been especially connected with this family, which at one time was one of the most powerful in the kingdom. SINCLAIR, MAY, an English novel- ist, born at Rock Ferry, Cheshire, Eng- land. She was educated at the Ladies' College, Cheltenham, and at an early age began the writing of essays, short stories, and novels. Her first notable success was "The Divine Fire," published in 1904. This attracted wide attention and won her immediate reputation. This was fol- lowed by "The Helpmate" (1907); "The Judgment of Eve" (1908); "The Com- bined Maze" (1913) ; "The Three Sisters" UPTON SINCLAIR (1914) ; "The Belfry" (1916) ; "The Tree of Heaven" (1918). During the World War she served as a nurse in Belgium. She was considered one of the foremost of modern English novelists. SINCLAIR, UPTON (BEALL), an American novelist and socialist, born in Baltimore, in 1878. After graduating from the College of the City of New York in 1897, he immediately took up literature as a vocation, but at first without much success. In 1903 he published "The Jour- nal of Arthur Stirling," supposed to be the diary of a young poet who had com- mitted suicide. Much editorial indigna- tion was vented on Sinclair when it was discovered that he had written the work and was still alive, only serving to brin^ him into public notice. In 1906 he pub- lished the first book which made him fa- mous, "The Jungle," which, in fiction form, gave such a picture of labor con- ditions in the packing house industry in Chicago that the entire American public was horrified. President Roosevelt imme- diately ordered an investigation, whose report indicated that Sinclair had, on the whole, stated the actual facts. As a result stringent legislation was passed, known as the Pure Food Acts Since
