These caves Cuthbert knew had formerly been the abode of hermits.

It was supposed to be an essentially sacred locality, and between the third and fourth centuries of Christianity some 20,000 monks had lived solitary lives on the banks of that river.

Far away he saw the ruins of a great monastery, called Mar Saba, which had for a long time been the abode of a religious community, and which at the present day is still tenanted by a body of monks.

Cuthbert made up his mind at once to take refuge in these caves.

He speedily picked out one some fifty feet up the face of the rock, and approachable only with the greatest difficulty and by a sure foot.