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[v]PREFACE.

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This book is an attempt to give a systematic account of the geography and geology of South-Eastern Egypt according to the latest information available. It is based on surveys which I carried out by order of the Egyptian Government during the four years 1905-1908, and has been written in the intervals of other official work during the succeeding three years.

In the first or introductory chapter, I have given a summary, with some criticisms, of previous accounts of the region. This seemed advisable in that the literature, although not very extensive, is scattered in books and papers in various languages, and is not always easy of access.

The second chapter is a concise systematic account of the district, designed mainly as a summary for those who do not wish to go into the details; it also contains sections dealing with matters of insufficient importance, or of which our knowledge is too scanty, to be treated of specially in the succeeding chapters.

The third chapter is an account of the surveying methods employed and the principal geographical results obtained. The surveying methods are treated at some length, firstly because an adequate specification of the survey methods used is necessary for the assessment of the value of any contribution to modern geography, and, secondly, because some of the methods are either new or little known, and have been found by experience to be specially adapted to the mapping of this type of country. The principal geographical results are given, mostly in tabular form, as exhibiting clearly the groundwork of the actual maps, and as indicating a series of adequately fixed positions which may be employed as a basis in any further surveys.

In the fourth to sixth chapters the drainage lines and hill features are systematically described. A knowledge of the drainage[vi] lines, as the key to a precise understanding of the relief, is nowhere more important than in these deserts.

In the seventh chapter the important question of water supplies is considered, and the positions and particulars of the various water sources are tabulated for easy reference.

The eighth to tenth chapters deal with the various rocks occurring in the district. The petrology of the region has been discussed with some fulness, because while the district offers a remarkable wealth of rock-species, well exposed in considerable masses, detailed studies of Egyptian petrology have hitherto been few. My great regret in this connexion is that I have been unable to add chemical analyses of the rocks.

The eleventh chapter summarises the general geological structure and history of the region, as gathered from a broader outlook over the detailed geological evidences.

In the twelfth chapter I have set down the information I was able to obtain regarding the territorial limits of the different Bedouin tribes inhabiting the region.

The thirteenth and concluding chapter of the book consists of brief notes taken on the return march to Port Sudan.

In regard to the cartographic material, most of which is new, special attention has been given to the place-names, and it is believed that these are correct in almost every case. But as the names are in languages not understood by European draughtsmen, it is almost impossible that mistakes have been entirely avoided; in any case where map and text may disagree in spelling (the differences will, I trust, never be so great as to leave doubts of identity), the text should be followed in preference to the map, as mistakes in the text are usually more easily perceived and corrected. I would remark that although the whole of the field maps have been employed in preparing the small scale ones, yet the full detail can be recorded only on the large scale maps, which are given for the most important districts; a future explorer would do well, therefore, to refer to the manuscript field maps which are filed at the Survey Office at Gîza, before concluding that no more detailed survey exists than is shown on the maps in this book.

The plates illustrating the scenic types are from my own photographs, while those illustrating the natural-size aspect of the typical[vii] rocks are reproductions from water-colour drawings which I made from actual specimens. These coloured plates of rocks are mainly designed to enable prospectors to identify readily the ordinary kinds of stone they meet with in the field; but they will also serve to give to petrologists an idea of the appearance of hand specimens of rocks from this part of the world, which are not frequently met with in the great museums. The text figures of rock sections I have mostly drawn at the microscope on silver prints from photographic plates, the prints being afterwards bleached out with mercuric chloride; they will appear slightly diagrammatic in places, owing to the necessity of using lines and dots for tints, but I find I myself get a better idea of a rock from a drawing of this kind than from a photograph.

Much detailed surveying of this mountainous and arid region remains yet to be done, especially in the districts round the heads of the Wadi Alaqi, before our knowledge of it can be considered complete. It is hoped, however, that a substantial beginning has been made towards this end, and that future work may be facilitated by the observational data recorded in the following pages.

John Ball.

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[ix]CONTENTS.

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			Page.
Chapter	I. —	Introduction	1
„	II. —	General Description of South-Eastern Egypt	18
„	III. —	Surveying Methods and Principal Geographical Results	39
„	IV. —	The Wadis draining Westwards to the Nile	78
„	V. —	The Wadis draining Eastwards to the Sea	94
„	VI. —	The Mountains and Hills	164
„	VII. —	Water Supplies	234
„	VIII. —	Geology.—Sedimentary Rocks	251
„	IX. —	Igneous Rocks	262
„	X. —	Metamorphic Rocks	331
„	XI. —	Tectonics and General Geology	354
„	XII. —	Tribal Boundaries	366
„	XIII. —	Notes on the Road from Halaib to Port Sudan	372
Index			379

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[x]LIST OF PLATES.

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Plate.		To face page
I. —	Orographical Map of South-Eastern Egypt	Frontispiece.
II. —	Sketch Map showing Drainage Basins		22
III. —	Sketch Map showing Water Sources and Roads		26
IV. —	Views of Ruins at Um Eleiga and in Wadi Shenshef		30
V. —	Views of Tomb of Sheikh Shadli and Bir Shadli		32
VI. —	Map of the District of Nugrus and Sikait		106
VII. —	Summit Views of Gebels Nugrus and Abu Hamamid		166
VIII. —	Views from Gebel Migif		168
IX. —	Descending Gebel Zabara		170
X. —	Views from the Summit of Gebel Atut		172
XI. —	Views in Wadi Muelih and of Gebel Selaia		172
XII. —	Typical Views among the Mountains of Hamata and Abu Hamamid		176
XIII. —	Views on Gebel Kahfa		178
XIV. —	Views of Gebel Kalalat and the Summit of Gebel Faraid		192
XV. —	Map of the District of Abraq and Abu Saafa		202
XVI. —	Panoramas from the Summits of Gebels Niqrub and Gerf		206
XVII. —	Map of the District of Gebel Gerf		210
XVIII. —	Map of the District of Meisah and Wadi Di-ib		218
XIX. —	Map of the District of Elba and Halaib		226
XX. —	Geological Map of South-Eastern Egypt		250
XXI. —	Geological Map of Ras Benas		258
XXII. —	Acid Igneous Rocks		268
XXIII. —	Intermediate Igneous Rocks		284
XXIV. —	Basic and Ultra-basic Igneous Rocks		300
XXV. —	Metamorphic Rocks		334
XXVI. —	Sketch Map showing Tribal Boundaries		368
XXVII. —	Sketch Map of Route from Halaib to Mohamed Ghul		372
XXVIII. —	Sketch Map of Route from Mohamed Ghul to Port Sudan		372

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[xi]LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT.

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Fig.		Page.
1.	Sketch-map showing position of area described	1
2.	Map of Abraq Springs	123
3.	View from the summit of Gebel Elba	229
4.	Granite of Gebel Fereyid	269
5.	Red pegmatitic granite of Wadi Gemal	271
6.	Biotite-granite of Gebel Abu Hegilig	273
7.	Hornblende-granite of Gebel Elba	275
8.	Hornblende-granite of Gebel Hamata	275
9.	Granite-porphyry of Kreishim Hill	276
10.	Quartz-felsite of the Wadi Huluz	277
11.	Quartz-felsite from a dyke at Gebel Kolaiqo	278
12.	Altered quartz-felsite of Gebel Igli el Iswid	281
13.	Microperthitic structure in felspar of quartz-felsite of Gebel Hadarba	282
14.	Fractured felspar crystals in crushed quartz-felsite of Wadi Huluz	282
15.	Syenite of Gebel Zergat Naam	284
16.	Syenite-porphyry of Gebel Zergat Naam	284
17.	Trachyte from a dyke at Gebel Kahfa	285
18.	Diorite of Gebel Allawi	287
19.	Diorite of Wadi Baaneit	287
20.	Augite-diorite of Wadi Um Hargal	289
21.	Augite-diorite of Gebel el Anbat	290
22.	Mica-diorite from a dyke at Gebel Abu Hegilig	291
23.	Diorite-porphyrite of Gebel Abu Hodeid	292
24.	Augite-porphyrite of Wadi Muelih	293
25.	Kersantite of Gebel Fereyid	294
26.	View near the top of Gebel Sufra	296
27.	Andesite of Gebel Sufra	296
28.	Gabbro of Gebel Dahanib	298
29.	Gabbro of Um Eleiga	299
30.	Hypersthene-gabbro of Hadal Aweib Meisah	300
31.	Olivine-gabbro of Gebel Um Bisilla	301
32.	Olivine-gabbro of Gebel Atut	302
33.	Olivine-gabbro from hill S.-E. of Gebel Selaia	303
34.	Troctolite of Gebel Um Bisilla	304
35.	Pyroxene-granulite of Kolmanab Hill	305
[xii]36.	Diabase from under the Nubian sandstone, Rod el Nagi	306
37.	Diabase from Gebel Abu Hamamid	308
38.	Olivine-diabase from a dyke at the junction of Wadis Gemal and Huluz	308
39.	Diabase from a dyke in Wadi Kreiga	309
40.	Mica-diabase of Gebel Um Khariga	310
41.	Basalt of Gimeida Hill	311
42.	Basalt of Einiwai Hill	312
43.	Amphibolite from hills near Gebel Um Gunud	317
44.	Amphibolite containing olivine and bronzite, Qrein Salama	319
45.	Serpentine (probably from a mica-peridotite), east of Erf el Fahid	321
46.	Serpentine (from lherzolite), hills near Wadi Um Khariga	322
47.	Serpentine (from dunite), low hills near Bir Abraq	326
48.	Serpentine (from dunite), low hills near Bir Abraq	326
49.	Serpentine (from wehrlite), Gebel Gerf	327
50.	Bronzite passing into serpentine, Gebel Gerf	327
51.	Serpentine (from harzburgite,), Gebel Korabkansi	329
52.	Crushing of quartz and felspar in granite-gneiss, Gebel Um Rasein	334
53.	Diorite-gneiss, Wadi Muelih	334
54.	Crushed and altered syenite (schist), near Gebel el Anbat	339
55.	Hornblende schist, Wadi Muelih	340
56.	Schist composed of crushed volcanic rocks, Gebel Abu Hamamid	341
57.	Hornblende schist, near Gebel Eqrun	343
58.	Emerald and quartz, near Sikait	345
59.	Tourmaline in talc-schist, Sikait	346
60.	Section of sandstone at Gebel Um Khafur	358
61.	Junction of sandstone and granite, west of Gebel Um Reit	359
62.	Faulting near Wadi Saalek	359

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[1]THE GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY OF
SOUTH-EASTERN EGYPT.

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CHAPTER I.

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INTRODUCTION.

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The district treated of in this volume constitutes the extreme south-east corner of Egypt, lying between the parallels of 22° and 25° of north latitude, and between the meridian of 34° E. and the Red Sea coast. It comprises an area of about 56,000 square kilometres, and includes some of the most mountainous and least accessible portions of the Khedive’s dominions.

The district has been comparatively little visited by travellers, and the literature concerning it is not very extensive. Berenice (Jh)[1] was founded by Ptolemy II (285-247 B.C.), who named the town after his mother, as a station at one end of the road for transporting goods from the Red Sea to the Nile at Koptos (Quft). The emerald mines in the Zabara area[2] were worked at least as early as Ptolemaic times, and gold mines in the south at a much earlier date.

References to this part of Egypt occur in the writings of Strabo, Diodorus Siculus, and Pliny, as well as in Ptolemy’s Geography and the Antonine Itinerary. Both Strabo and Pliny state that in Berenice, as in Syene, the sun cast no shadow at the summer solstice from which they inferred the town to be on the tropic of Cancer, though in reality it lay in their day some twenty-five kilometres, and is now about 28′, or some fifty-two kilometres, north of the tropic, the difference being caused by the secular change in the obliquity of the ecliptic since the beginning of the Christian era. Ptolemy gives the latitude of Berenice as 23° 50′, which is only 5′ too low; the Smaragdus mons, or emerald mountain, he places in latitude 25°, which is about 15′ higher than the true position of Gebel Zabara (Ec). Diodorus gives a very clear description of the working of gold mines in the Eastern Desert in his day, by miserable convict labour. The road from Koptos to Berenice is mentioned, with lists of stations and water reservoirs and their distances from each other, both by Pliny and the writer of the Antonine Itinerary; and though Pliny gives fewer stations than the Itinerary, the two accounts agree very closely in estimating the total distance at about 258 Roman miles, which, so far as can be judged from a partial identification of the stations marking the route, is pretty correct. The island of Zeberged (Ok), on which occurs the green gem called peridot, is probably the Topazos Insula of Diodorus, and the Agathon of Ptolemy; but Diodorus gives its length as eighty stades (about twelve kilometres), which is three times greater than its present size, and Ptolemy’s latitude of 23½° is some 16′ too low. Ptolemy states that the coast was inhabited by the Ichthyophages, or fish-eaters, while the Troglodytes, or cave-dwellers, of Strabo, were probably the workers in the mines.

The books of the Arab geographers, Edrisi and Abu el Feda, contain some references to the roads and mines of the Eastern Desert, but their descriptions are unimportant and contain frequent palpable errors.

D’Anville, in his Mémoires sur l’Egypte, Paris, 1766, pp. 230-235, attempted to construct a map of the coast of the Red Sea by combining the classical records with some early Portuguese and other charts, but the latter were too crude to enable any approach to be made to an accurate map.

[3]It has been thought that Bruce discovered the island of Zeberged and the emerald mines of Zabara in 1769, but it is tolerably certain that he saw neither of these places. He estimated the latitude of the island he saw “pretty exactly” as 25° 3′, and its distance from the coast as three miles,[2] whereas Zeberged is really in latitude 23° 36′, and is over thirty miles from the nearest coast. The mines he saw were so close to the coast that he could walk to them from his boat and back in less than a day (in fact he states that they were only three miles from the coast), while both the Sikait and the Zabara mines are over a day’s journey from the sea. Nor could the mines have been the sulphur workings near El Ranga (He), unless Bruce made a large error in his observation for latitude, for the sulphur mines are about in latitude 24° 25′, and, moreover, Bruce states that he found “brittle green crystals,” not sulphur.

It is to the French traveller Cailliaud[3] that we owe the first modern account of Berenice and the emerald mines. Cailliaud was a mineralogist, in favour with Mohammad Ali Pasha, who sent him on two expeditions in 1816 and 1817 to search for mines in the Eastern Desert. On his first expedition, starting from Redesia (near Edfu), he discovered the rock temple of Seti I, forty-five kilometres east of the Nile, and several ancient stations on his route, and proceeded to the emerald mines of Zabara and the sulphur mines of El Ranga. On his second expedition he took with him sixty Albanian workmen to exploit the mines, and led them by nearly his former route to Zabara, where they extracted ten lbs. weight of emeralds (beryls) for presentation to the Pasha. On this second expedition Cailliaud discovered the mines and ruins of Sikait, and also other ruins in the Wadi Nugrus (Ed). Cailliaud’s drawings of the ruins of Sikait greatly exaggerate their size and elegance.

Jomard, in notes prefaced to Cailliaud’s account of his travels, made a careful study of the probable positions of the ancient roads and mines in this part of Egypt; he thought that Wadi Gemal Island (Hd) was Zeberged.

[4]In 1818, Belzoni,[4] fired by Cailliaud’s discoveries, set out to discover the ancient Berenice. Starting from Edfu, he travelled eastward for some days over Cailliaud’s route, then marched via Bir Samut (where he discovered the ancient station) and Wadi Ghuel to the Zabara mines, where he found Cailliaud’s miners still at work. From Zabara he journeyed through the Wadi Sikait, passing the mines and ruined temples which had been discovered by Cailliaud, and down the Wadi Gemal to the sea. Proceeding then southward along the coast, he examined the sulphur mines at El Ranga near the mouth of the Wadi Abu Ghusun, and then made his discovery of the ruins of the temple and town of Berenice, near the peninsula of “Cape Galahen” (Ras Benas). The ruins were so inconspicuous as to be only found with difficulty, and the temple was so buried in sand that Belzoni could only make a very imperfect plan of it. The ancient town he estimates to have covered a space near the temple 1,600 feet broad and 2,000 feet long. Leaving Berenice the same day on which he made his discovery, Belzoni returned to Sikait by way of Abu Greia, Haratreit (where he discovered ancient stations), Hefeiri well, and the spring of Um Sueh. After copying some Greek inscriptions at Sikait, he returned to Edfu by way of Wadis Hafafit (Dc), where he found an ancient station, Abu Had, and Samut.

Belzoni’s map[5] of his routes is of course very crude and erroneous, but the fact that he gives the names of the places he passed enables one to reconstruct his routes on modern maps with fair exactitude. His drawings of the ruins he visited are fairly accurate, that of the rock temple of Sikait being a much truer picture than Cailliaud’s.

The extreme south-east corner of Egypt was first explored in 1831 and 1832 by Linant de Bellefonds, who twenty years later published an interesting account of his travels and discoveries.[6] The manner in which Linant Bey’s expedition arose is very curious. He had read the accounts of Diodorus and Arabic writers concerning the ancient gold mines of the Eastern Desert, and when he accidentally[5] discovered small crystals of gold in quartzose detritus brought down the Wadi Alaqi into the Nile by a storm torrent, he at once inferred that this wadi would lead him to the mines. The Arabs told him, quite correctly, that the down-wash had its origin far up the wadi, nine days’ journey from its mouth. Reporting his discovery to Mohammad Ali Pasha, that prince commissioned him to lead an expedition to search for the mines. Starting from Aswan, Linant journeyed south-east and discovered the ancient mines and ruins at Gebel Seiga (Bp), and subsequently the more extensive workings at various places round the head of Wadi Alaqi, such as Egat (Ft) and Darahib (Gu). From the Alaqi district he proceeded northward to Bir Shinai (Hr), and thence eastwards round the spurs of the mountains to Bir Meisah (Kr), east of which he discovered the old mines of Romit (Ls). Crossing the great Wadi Di-ib, he appears to have reached Bir Akwamtra (Os), at the foot of Gebel Elba. His desire to explore the mysterious Elba mountains was frustrated by the Arabs, and he only ascended a minor peak before commencing his return march. From Elba he returned via Bir Meisah, Bir Beida (Ho), and the Wadis Khashab (Gn), Hodein, Rod el Kharuf (Ch), and Kharit to Daraw on the Nile, discovering the springs of Abu Saafa (Em) in the course of his march.

Linant thus performed for the south portion of the district a similar service to that which his compatriot Cailliaud had already done for the north portion. His remarks on the people of the country, their manners and customs, are no less interesting than his descriptions of the ruins and mines which he discovered. The notes on certain points, such as the manner of trapping the wild ass which then roamed these deserts, are specially interesting as illustrating past usages. Linant also compiled a small Bisharin-French vocabulary as an appendix to his work. The large map accompanying his book, though it is well engraved and depicts well the general mountainous character of the country, is unfortunately full of large errors; Gebel Is (Jt), for example, is placed more than sixty kilometres too far south; while many of the place-names are either wholly incorrect or so loosely transliterated as to be almost unrecognisable. But with all its defects, Linant’s map remained the only source for cartographers for a large portion of the Eastern Desert down to the time of the commencement of the present survey; the map of Egypt published in 1905 by the Topographical Section of the British General[6] Staff, for instance, contains much of Linant’s material, though a comparison of that map with the one joined to this report will show how great were the errors in the matter thus incorporated.

Wilkinson[7] gives very brief notes on Berenice and the ancient roads leading to it, as well as on the emerald mines of Zabara and the ruins of the Sikait district. Wilkinson believed he had identified all the ancient stations on the Koptos-Berenice road, besides another smaller one not mentioned in classical itineraries. In the temple of Berenice he found a small fountain, which is now in the British Museum. But his work added little to what had already been learned by Cailliaud and Belzoni regarding this part of Egypt.

In 1836, Wellsted,[8] a lieutenant in the Indian Navy, who had been employed in surveying the Red Sea coast, described the topography of Berenice, and assigned to the place its true latitude of 23° 55′. He gives a plan and view of the temple, which he partially cleared, and in which he found fragments of Greek tablets and of a statue.

Between 1830 and 1840 important contributions were furnished to the geography of Eastern Egypt by the surveys of the Red Sea, carried out by Moresby, Wellsted, and other officers of the East India Company’s Navy. Their sailing directions formed the foundation of the “Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Pilot,” now published by the British Admiralty.[9] Both the charts and sailing directions have been continually revised by Admiralty surveys, and furnish much accurate information about the coast. The principal errors are that almost the entire coast-line between latitudes 22° and 25° is placed too far to the west,[10] and some of the place-names are wrong, or at least unknown to the local sailors of to-day. Such details of the inland relief as are given on the charts are not correct, as was of course to be expected in a hydrographic survey; but the main summits are fairly accurately laid down, and their altitudes agree well with my determinations. Thus the “Southern peak” of the chart, in latitude[7] 23° 18′, is Gebel Fereyid;[11] the “Black conical hill,” near Mersa Shab, is Gemeida; “Scragged hill” is Qash Amir;[12] “High peak” is Gebel Elba; “Castle hill” is Gebel Shendodai; and “South peak” is Asotriba, the highest mountain of the Elba group.

In 1846, Barth made a journey from Aswân to Berenice and thence to Qoseir, and subsequently published a brief journal of his expedition.[13] Going eastward from Aswân, he passed north of Gebel Hamrat Mukbud (Cf), via the Wadi Khashab, past the tomb of Sheikh Shadli (Df) and the granite boss of Selaia (Fh), which he thought to be of slate, and then descended to the coast by Wadi Salib Abiad and Wadi Khoda (Hf). He discovered the old station (now called Garia Kalalat) south-west of Berenice, on his way to the temple, of which he took measures. Barth remarks on the insignificant nature of the ruins and on the badness of the site for a town. On his return journey, he discovered the wells and ruins of Shenshef (Jj), where there are well preserved remains of substantial dwellings which he thought denoted a settlement by people from Berenice. Ascending the Wadi Shut after returning to Wadi Khoda, he turned westward and reached the plain south of the Abu Hamamid-Hamata mountains. Crossing this mountain track by the difficult pass of Hilgit, he descended the Wadi Huluz (Ef), into Wadi Gemal, whence he turned northward and visited the ruins of Sikait. From Sikait he proceeded by winding tracks past Bir Ghadir (Ec) and on to Qoseir.

The next traveller to visit the district, von Heuglin, examined the country from the coast.[14] Sailing southward from Qoseir, he discovered ruins which he thought to be those of Ptolemy’s Nechesia, in latitude 24° 55′, a little south of Ras Tundeba. Further south, he enumerates the various openings and anchorages of the coast to Suakin. Gebel Hamata (Gf) he wrongly thought might be the Alaqi of the ancient mining records. His “Wadi el Hemmah” is doubtless Wadi Lahami (Hg). Rounding Ras Benas, he passed the coral island of[8] Mukawar (Geziret el Ras), and anchored by the ruins of Berenice, which he states to be called Sikait Qibli.[15] In and near the temple ruins von Heuglin found copper nails, fragments of statues, Roman coins, a quartz sistrum and pieces of beryl, besides potsherds and broken glass. Passing Mersa Shab (Sherm Hel el Madfa), he notes a few fishermen’s dwellings on Seyal Island, and a pearl fisher from Jidda plying his calling at a small anchorage called Gota, near Ras Fatma. He mentions Kwolala as “Geziret Elba,” close to the “peninsula of Halaib” (now an island, Geziret Halaib).[16] The Elba mountains he states to be the Prionotus mons of Ptolemy. The “Sherm Qubeten,” which he notes to the south of Halaib, is doubtless Mersa Qabatit of my map.

It is to the veteran African traveller Schweinfurth that we owe the first investigations of the Elba mountains, as long surrounded with mystery as the stronghold of dreaded Bisharin tribes.[17] Like von Heuglin, Schweinfurth visited the country from the coast, making excursions inland. Starting from Qoseir in March, 1864, he proceeded with frequent stoppages to Suakin, spending nearly six months in exploring the littoral districts. His chief object was the investigation of the flora of the country, but his accounts[18] contain much geographical and geological information of great interest. He compares the coastal ranges of Africa with the Cordilleras of South America, and the Abyssinian highlands with Quito. The flora of the Elba district he found to be sharply marked off from that of the rest of Egypt by the presence of large numbers of plants of Abyssinian types. Among his geological notes, it is interesting to come across a reference to serpentine, which I have lately found to form the great mountain masses of Abu Dahr (Gk), Korabkansi (Fq), and Gerf (Hp). Schweinfurth wrote, however, in the early days of petrography, and his term[9] “basalts” includes a variety of fine-grained dark eruptive rocks which we should now call by other names. The sulphur mines of El Ranga he characterised as worthless, the mineral being in very small quantity. Schweinfurth’s map of the Elba district was a great advance on anything of the kind previously existing, though it contains many inaccuracies, particularly of place-names, as was in fact only to be expected from his very short stay in the locality. He remarked the separation of Gebel Elba (Pr) from the more southern mountains, but failed to notice that Qash Amir (Os), (the “Scragged Hill” of the Admiralty Chart), is in its turn quite distinct from Elba, Halaib is called Elei,[19] and the Geziret Halaib is shown as a peninsula; Kwolala is called “Geziret Elei,” and the Geziret el Dibia (the Elba Island of the charts) is called Geziret Abu Fendira by Schweinfurth. My Wadi Shellal he calls “Wadi Heberah,” and Cape Elba (my Ras Hadarba) is noted as “Ras Edineb.” His “highest peak” (South Peak of the charts) is Asotriba, the highest mountain of the group, lying just within the Sudan; the name Asotriba (Schweinfurth’s “Soturba”) means “green mountain,” and refers to the vegetation on its slopes. Schweinfurth’s experience of the Bisharin led him to give them a very bad character, though he gives high recognition to their beauty of feature and figure; but being unfamiliar with their language was, he admits, an obstacle to forming a fair judgment of them.

In 1873, Colonels Purdy and Colston, two American officers attached to the Egyptian Army, were commissioned by the Khedive Ismail Pasha to carry out a reconnaissance for a proposed railway line between Berenice and Berber. Colston[20] travelled overland from Qena via Qoseir to Berenice, discovering several ancient stations on his way to join Purdy. Though Purdy sanguinely states[21] that “la construction d’un chemin de fer de ce point (Berenice) à Berber n’offrirait pas de grandes difficultés,” the reconnaissance appears to have been singularly rough for a decision in so weighty a matter. Distances were mere guesses, and the only instruments employed[10] seem to have been a compass, aneroid, and hypsometer. The compass must often have been unreliable owing to magnetic rocks, which in places deflect the needle as much as 40° from its normal position, while the use of the aneroid was so little understood that Purdy could actually write, in the concluding paragraph of his paper: “Je me permets de rappeler l’attention sur les notes barométriques jointes à ce rapport. A ce propos, je dois faire observer que quoique l’anéroïde soit très sensible aux changements de niveau, il ne l’est pas assez pour la pression atmosphérique, et sa marche est excessivement irrégulière. . . . Il m’est arrivé, par exemple, de constater, le matin, au moment du départ, une différence sensible du point marqué le soir précédent à mon arrivée.” Not only are many of the place-names given by Purdy erroneous, but some of his most important statements are contrary to fact; to take only a few examples, the Wadi Kalalat is confused with Wadi Shenshef, and Gebel Shut with Gebel Dahanib, while it is stated that no water exists between Gebel Dif (Fm) and Gebel Egat (Ft), although there are several good wells between the two places. The map accompanying Purdy’s paper is full of errors, and almost worse than useless. Of Colston’s route from Qena to Berenice there was no published cartographic record until 1891, when G. Cora[22] endeavoured to place Colston’s track on a map from his manuscript sketches. Cora’s map shows no new material except the route, and even this cannot be very correct, for it is evident on comparison with the results of the recent survey that Colston’s sketch map was of the same rough and inaccurate character as Purdy’s.

In January 1889, Golénischeff made an expedition from the Nile to Berenice and back. His object was to collect archæological information, especially concerning the ancient roads and stations, but the careful account[23] which he has given of his journey is also of geographical interest. Starting from Redesia by Cailliaud’s route, he examined the temple of Seti I, and then discovered the ancient station of Abu Medrik[24] further to the south-east. Passing the ruins[11] at Samut and Dweig (Cc), he found another small station on the way to Abu Had, and arrived at the station in Wadi Gemal (Ed), near Wadi Hafafit. From the Wadi Gemal he proceeded via the Wadis Abiad (Fe), Abu Hegilig, Hefeiri, Abu Ghusun (Ge), Haratreit (Hf), Khashir (in which another ancient station was discovered), and Lahami (Hg), past the Abu Greia ruins, to Berenice. He returned by way of Wadis Naait (Hh) and Lahami on to the plain of Kharit, and thence past Hamrat Mukbud (Cf), via the Wadis Khashab, Kharit (Ag), and Abu Modellim, to the Nile. Golénischeff, besides giving small plans of the various ancient stations and a carefully measured plan of the temple of Berenice, made a comparison of his itinerary with the descriptions of the old roads by classical writers and by Colston. He considers there can be no doubt that Abu Greia is the Vetus hydreuma of Pliny, and the ruins in Wadi Khashir the Novum hydreuma of the same writer. The ruins in Wadi Haratreit he considers to be the station Cabalsi of the Antonine Itinerary, Apollonus being identified with the well found by Colston at Hefeiri, Falacro with the ruins in the Wadi Gemal, and Aristonis with those in Wadi Dweig.

In 1891, Floyer, at the head of a scientific exploring expedition sent out by the Khedive Tewfik Pasha, travelled over the country north of 23° 30′, and his results were published in French in 1893.[25] A little later, the geographical results of the expedition were embodied in an English paper read at the Royal Geographical Society.[26] The general map in the French essay is only on a very small scale, but the English publication is accompanied by a much more illuminating map on a scale of 1:760,320, reduced from one prepared by the Intelligence Division of the War Office from Floyer’s original plane-table sketches. This latter map, in spite of many errors and defects, was a very great advance on anything which had previously appeared, and it formed the principal source of geographical information concerning the north part of the district at the commencement of my survey in 1905.

The geological observations made by Floyer during his expedition formed the subject of a paper read by him before the Geological Society of London in 1892.[27] This paper is chiefly remarkable for[12] the number of grave errors of observation into which Floyer’s limited acquaintance with geology caused him to fall, and later researches have fully justified the scepticism with which his deductions were received by the Society. Thus, for instance, he refers to the ancient schists and slates of Zabara as “blue clay,”[28] and to the dark schists and diorite of Abu Hamamid and Abu Gurdi as “compact granite.” The rocks which Floyer considered to be “metamorphosed sandstone” are diorites and schists at Um Eleiga and in the Wadi Gemal, and typical gneisses and granites in the Nugrus and Hafafit ranges. Not a trace of sandstone has been found to exist within many miles of the places where Floyer records its metamorphism, nor has any evidence of the recent volcanic activity reported by him (Geog. Journal, 1893, p. 430) been discovered.

An account of a short visit to the Elba district was published by Bent[29] in 1896. Bent landed at Halaib and camped near Gebel Shellal (Qt). He thinks that Halaib may have been the town of Aydat mentioned by the Arab geographers Abu el Feda and Edrisi, and that it is a place of purely Arab origin. At Suakin el Qadim (Qs) he found among the mounds nothing earlier than Cufic remains, unless certain graves, formed of four large blocks of coral set deep in the ground, may be looked upon as a more ancient form of sepulture. His “Gebel Shendeh” should be correctly Gebel Shendib, and his “Shendoeh” is correctly Shendodai; the “Riadh” mentioned by him I have not been able to identify. His estimated heights are considerably in error; thus Gebel Shendib is really 6,273 feet and Gebel Shellal 4,623 feet instead of the 4,500 feet and 4,100 feet which he gives. The paper contains interesting remarks on the Hamedorab tribe, which Bent was informed totalled only some 300 fighting men in the entire district from Asotriba to Ras Benas. The reference to the sheikh as “the batran” is due to a misconception; Batran was the late sheikh’s first name, and is not a title of station. The map accompanying Bent’s paper is only to a very small scale, and formed practically no addition to existing knowledge.

[13]Macalister[30] has given a detailed and interesting account of the Sikait district (Ed), with special reference to its geology, as the result of an expedition there in 1899. The small scale sketch map of the route followed in reaching the mines from the valley is not very correct, but the detail maps of the Sikait neighbourhood give an accurate representation of the area in which the mines are situated, while the geological notes give an excellent idea of one of the most highly metamorphic areas of the entire Eastern Desert. Macalister gives some notes also on the ruins and the people of the neighbourhood. His experience of the Ababda as workers was very unfavourable; though his characterisation is unfortunately only too well merited by a large section of the tribe, it is probable that a longer acquaintance with Arabs would have enabled him to select men of a better class. A sufficiency of good men for a caravan of 130 camels cannot be raised without great expenditure of time and care, even by those who have lived for many years among the Arabs, and a few bad characters in a desert camp soon exert a bad influence over the rest.

The brilliant series of investigations carried out by the officers accompanying the Austrian research ship “Pola” in the Red Sea in the winter of 1895-96, though chiefly concerned with oceanographic questions, contain not a few observations of interest connected with the land.[31] The positions determined include Sherm Sheikh, Berenice, St. John’s or Zeberged Island, and Halaib. The latitudes observed agree well with the values which I found by triangulation.[32] For longitude the method used was the transport of chronometers, and this method is liable to such considerable errors that we need have no hesitation in preferring my triangulation values, especially as our latitudes are in agreement. The observations made by the officers of the “Pola” on the compass-variation at Berenice and Halaib are of considerable importance as enabling us, by comparison with my own observations at the same places, eleven and twelve years later, to obtain a reliable value for the rate of secular change of this magnetic element in the district. A large scale map of Halaib is given, and[14] amongst other observations of interest to the geographer in South-Eastern Egypt are analyses of the water at Halaib, a series of pendulum observations which show a decided increase in the force of gravity over the sea as compared with the intensity over the land, and descriptions with figures of some of the reptiles which are found in the region.

Turning now to the work of the Geological Survey in the district, the maps and descriptions in the present volume are the result of surveys carried out by me in the three seasons 1905-1908, or about twenty-two months’ work in all. The survey was commenced primarily with the view of enabling mining concessions to be accurately marked out. How little possibility of this existed so recently as 1902 may be gathered from the fact that although a ministerial order of that year had defined the administrative frontier between Egypt and the Sudan as being a line joining certain important mountains and wells, which were named, yet it was impossible to lay this frontier down correctly on a map because the geographical positions even of these important features were uncertain to many kilometres.

The main interest in the field methods used, which will be described in detail in a subsequent chapter, lies in the fact that many of them are wholly or in part new, having been devised as the work proceeded to meet the special exigencies of the case. The costly nature of camel-transport, and the relatively small value of the country, precluded the employment of the ordinary sequence of survey operations, and it was necessary to carry on reconnaissance, precise triangulation, detailed topographical mapping, and geological surveying, all at once, and to move rapidly so as to cover a large area in a moderate time. Starting from a measured base near Gebel Muelih, which had been previously connected by triangulation with the Nile Valley, a network of large triangles was thrown over the country. The essential feature of the triangulation was the employment of observations at relatively few occupied main summits, to fix large numbers of points by intersection; in some cases over a hundred triangulation points were sighted from a single occupied station. The triangulation was continued so as to join to a second base line near Gebel Um Harba (Ck), and was also connected on to main points in the trigonometrical survey of the Sudan, thus linking up a continuous chain of triangles from Alexandria to Berber. The total number of main[15] (occupied) stations was sixty-four, while the intersected points numbered 450. In addition to these, about 1,200 minor points were fixed by subsidiary triangulation from short local bases.

Levels were taken trigonometrically for all points fixed by triangulation, using the actual sea-level as the datum. The altitudes of nearly all camps were likewise found trigonometrically, and between successive camps aneroid readings, adjusted to the initial and terminal points of the day’s march, were employed to supplement trigonometrical determinations made on the journey.

For the control of the maps, latitudes and azimuths were taken at intervals, the former by equal altitudes of three or more stars, the latter by elongations of close circumpolar stars.

The topographical sketching, carried out on plane-tables on a scale of 1:100,000, was based on the points triangulated, these being computed in camp and plotted by their geographical coordinates as much ahead of the lines of march as possible. When marching, plane-table stations were fixed by re-section from three or more triangulated points, the compass being useless owing to abundance of magnetic rocks. Details along the line of march were put in by tacheometric readings from the stations, using specially devised long distance methods. But the greater portion of the sketching was done from the mountain tops while occupying them as trigonometrical stations, and for this again special methods, involving an extensive use of vertical angles, were employed. On an average, about thirty square kilometres were sketched in during each day’s march, and about 400 square kilometres from each main trigonometrical station, where it was usually necessary to remain for at least a week to get sufficiently clear weather for the more distant sights. It was not, of course, possible to sketch every portion of the area in uniform detail, for some parts lay so far from the line of march and from the triangulation stations that little or no detail was visible. The lacunæ were filled in as far as possible in the field from guides’ statements, taking care on the field maps to distinguish parts so filled as only approximate. A few additions near the west limit of the map have been added from reconnaissance surveys by various colleagues of the Survey Department. For details of the upper part of the basin of the Wadi Alaqi, I have taken advantage of an admirable reconnaissance-survey of this tract recently made by Mr. J. Morrow Campbell, B.Sc., F.R.G.S.,[16] for the Egyptian Options, Ltd., who kindly placed their map at the disposal of the Government. My triangulation gave the positions and altitudes of all the principal peaks of this region, and thus enabled Mr. Campbell’s map to be accurately adjusted to the Survey positions, and his drainage lines and other topographical details have been inserted with great advantage to the map, which would otherwise have been almost blank in this particular area. Mr. Campbell’s map does not, unfortunately, give any altitudes, and the only altitude data for the orographical sketching were the peaks and other points of connexion with the Survey map; but by taking into account the depth of shading of the different hill masses and the known altitudes determined by triangulation, it is believed that a fairly approximate picture of the orography has been obtained.

The sea coast north of latitude 24° 10′ was adapted from the Admiralty Chart, fitting it on to coast points trigonometrically fixed. South of 24° 10′ the coast was surveyed in detail by means of depression angles from the occupied peaks of the triangulation. The local circumstances, in the existence of high mountains pretty close to the sea, are so favourable to the employment of this method, that it is confidently believed that the maps represent a considerable advance in accuracy over the Admiralty Charts. It was frequently possible to check the accuracy of the coast-line delineation by plane-table rays, and it was invariably found that the errors were insensible, even on the fairly large scale employed in the field-maps. The coast-line shown is the high water-line. The tidal change of level, though it is generally less than a metre, uncovers in many places extensive coral reefs at low water, but no attempt was made to map these.

Very special care was taken with place-names, which are transliterated on the Egyptian Government system. It may be remarked that this system is based on the Arabic spelling, not on pronunciation. Thus, in this part of the country, the letter g is almost always soft, like an English j, and the q is always sounded like a hard g. The same system was used for the Bishari and Ababda names, these being first written by a guide in Arabic characters and then transliterated. It is believed that the orthography is correct in almost all cases.

The geology was examined along every line of march, and additional specimens were obtained by sending guides to collect rocks from mountains otherwise unvisited. Where possible, the principal[17] geological boundaries were drawn direct on the plane-table sheets in the field, and the remainder have been placed from field notes. The limits of the different igneous and metamorphic rocks shown on the geological map aim only at showing general relationships, for in many cases it is difficult, owing to insensible gradations, to decide exactly where granites and diorites end and gneisses and schists begin, while in other places rocks of two or three distinct species are so intimately mixed that the boundaries could not be shown on the small scale used, even if the exact limits were traced by a life-time’s work; in these latter cases the areas are coloured in accordance with what appeared to be the dominant rock within them.

Throughout the three seasons’ work I was accompanied by Dahab Effendi Hassan, who rendered useful assistance in booking angles and in reconnaissance, and in the third season Mr. O. N. Bakewell also accompanied me and gave me much useful help. The Egyptian unskilled staff employed consisted almost entirely of Bedouin and comprised on an average about twenty-five camel drivers (for thiry-five baggage camels), six porters, three guides, and two postmen, all placed under an Arab sheikh.

The total cost of the field-work was approximately L.E. 5,090, or about 150 milliemes for each square kilometre of country mapped in detail. Nearly two-thirds of the entire amount were expended in camel-transport, the remainder representing the expenditure on salaries and allowances of the author and assistants engaged in actual surveying operations.

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[18]CHAPTER II.

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GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SOUTH-EASTERN EGYPT.

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In this chapter will be given a brief general account of the district, under the heads of:—

1.	Extent.
2.	Relief.
3.	Hydrography.
4.	Coast-line.
5.	Climate.
6.	Scenery.
7.	Animal and Plant Life.
8.	Water Supplies.
9.	Geology.
10.	Mineral Products.
11.	Antiquities.
12.	Inhabitants.
13.	Languages.
14.	Industries.
15.	Communications.
16.	Government.

The subjects of topography, water supplies, and geology, will be further considered more fully in succeeding chapters.

Extent.

As already mentioned in the introduction, the district treated of in this volume lies between the parallels of 25° and 22° of north latitude, and between the meridian of 34° E. and the Red Sea. It comprises an area of about 56,000 square kilometres (22,000 square miles).

[19]Relief.[33]

The higher mountains of the Eastern Desert generally form the watershed between the Nile and the Red Sea. This watershed is much nearer to the coast than to the Nile, with the result that the eastward drainage is much steeper than to the west.

Commencing from the north (see the orographical map, Plate I), the principal mountain masses are:—

(i) The Migif — Hafafit — Nugrus — Hangalia — Zabara group (1,505 metres[34]), cut off to the south by the Wadi Gemal (Fd).

(ii) The Abu Hamamid — Hamata — Abu Gurdi group (1,978 metres), limited on the south by the Wadi Lahami (Hg).

(iii) The Um Gunud — Dahanib — Batoga group (1,270 metres), lying between Wadi Lahami on the north and Wadi Khoda (Hj) on the south.

(iv) The Abu Dahr — Orga — Um Tenedba group (1,131 metres), separating the drainage of Wadi Betan (Fl) from Wadis Khoda and Rahaba (Hl).

(v) The Faraid group, the Mons Pentadactylus of Ptolemy, comprising some very remarkable granite peaks (1,366 metres), lying near the coast between Wadi Khoda and Wadi Rahaba.

(vi) The Awamtib — Abraq — Dif — Aqab el Negum — Mishbih group (1,353 metres), forming the tripartite watershed between the great Wadi systems of Kharit and Alaqi on the west, and that of Wadi Hodein on the east.

(vii) The Gerf — Abu Hodeid group, a mighty mass rising to 1,736 metres, lying between Wadi Hodein (Jn) and Wadi Hasium (Hs).

(viii) The Meisah — Adar Qaqa — Is group, between the Wadis Hasium and Di-ib (Mr).

(ix) The Elba — Shendib group (1,912 metres[35]), a great mass of spiky mountains lying near the sea between Wadi Di-ib and the coast.

Besides these main groups, there are numerous more or less isolated mountains, of which Gebels Abu Khrug (Bd, 870 metres), Hamrat[20] Mukbud (Cf, 890 metres), Zergat Naam (Ej, 845 metres), and the two Niqrubs (Fn and Fo, 829 metres and 1,078 metres) are examples.

Some of the mountains, especially the granite “bodkin” of Gebel Faraid (Hl), and some of the peaks of the Elba group, appear to be unclimbable. A few others are rather dangerous of ascent, as, for example, Gebel Abu Hamamid (Ef) on account of its steepness, and Gebel Abu Dahr (Gk) by reason of combined steepness and rotten rock, which comes away in tons at a touch. The highest peak of all within the district, Gebel Hamata (Gf), is a comparatively easy climb from the north.

Hydrography.

The course of the main watershed which parts the Red Sea and Nile drainages is highly irregular both in altitude and direction, as will be evident from the orographical map (Plate I), on which it is shown by a red line. From Gebel Hamrat Wogud, in the north, it passes east of Gebel Atut, thence through the high masses of Gebels Hangalia, Nugrus, Hafafit, and Migif, beyond which it drops southward through the low country round Gebel Abu Had. Entering the mountains again at Gebel Nukheira, it takes an eastward bend, passing along the great ridges of Gebels Abu Hamamid, Um Usher, Um Hasidok, and Ras el Kharit. Striking southward across the head of Wadi Kharit, it courses through the mountains of Mikbi and Abu Gurdi, thence dropping to the south on the plain near the hills called Marwot Elemikan. Turning here sharply westward over the plain, it passes through the hill-mass of Gebel Abu Derega and on to Gebel Zergat Naam, south-west of which it crosses the low tract at the head of Wadi el Arned to the sandstone plateaux of Dagalai, whence it courses a little to the west of Gebel Um Reit and enters the mountainous tract of Gebel Aqab el Negum. Its further course has not been traced in detail, but from guides’ statements and the indications of the main drainage-lines it is believed to run as shown on the map, in a great curve through the two sharp peaks of Gebel Sheyenit to the west of Gebel Mishbih, and then in another flatter curve south-eastwards to Gebel Soaorib, at the head of Wadi Hasium. Continuing along the mountain ridges of Gebel Soaorib, it crosses[21] to Gebel Is,[36] separating the Wadi Is from the heads of Wadi Alaqi on the Sudan frontier.

The watershed is for a great part of its course quite impassable for camels. The principal places where it can be crossed are at the head of Wadi Nugrus, near Abu Had, the Wadi Marasan between Huluz and Wadi el Sheikh, the heads of Wadi Lahami, Wadi el Fil, Wadi Arned, and Wadi Um Reit, passes at Aqab el Negum and Hamrat el Feg, near Gebel Mishbih, the head of Wadi Hasium, and the pass of Adar Ameit, north of Gebel Is. All these places are practicable for baggage camels, though in some of them, as, for instance, at the head of Wadi Nugrus, care is required because the track is steep and stony.

The principal drainage-basins are shown on the small scale map on Plate II. The westward drainage ultimately reaches the Nile by the three main trunk wadis of Shait, Kharit, and Alaqi; Shait and Kharit enter the Nile Valley at Kom Ombo, while Alaqi debouches near Dakka. The eastward drainage is much more complex, the principal trunk wadis, such as Um Khariga, Gemal, Khoda, Rahaba, Hodein, Ibib, Di-ib, and Serimtai, being separated by very numerous minor wadis draining independently to the sea.[37]

Nearly all the wadis contain vegetation in the form of trees and bushes, and plant life flourishes as a rule far more luxuriously in wadis draining seawards than in those leading to the Nile. Feqoh, Naam, and the lower reaches of Hodein are, however, exceptionally barren. Forming, as they do, the only possible roads, furnishing the entire supply of camel food, and containing most of the wells, the wadis are to the desert what the Nile is to Egypt proper. The intervening mountains are of no interest to the Arabs, except when they contain water-reservoirs. Hence the place-naming starts from the wadis, even the smallest of which have names unless they are barren. Mountains are generally named after the nearest wadi, and may[22] thus have two names when situated between two wadis, the particular name used depending on which side the mountain is seen from.

Coast-line.

The coast-line of this part of Egypt is somewhat irregular, the peninsula of Ras Benas forming a prominent projection in latitude 24°. In the south part of the area the eastward extension of the country, culminating in Ras Hadarba (Cape Elba of existing maps), is very marked, extending nearly to 37° of east longitude. The coast is almost entirely fringed by coral reefs, passage through which is only possible at certain points, and then only with the utmost care in navigation.[38] Between the feet of the mountains and the sea there extends a gently sloping plain, varying in width from about eight to twenty-five kilometres, covered with sand, over which the drainage meanders in shallow courses, often only traceable by the vegetation which occurs along them. A rather surprising result brought out by the levelling observations is that the slope of the coast plain, even where it looks flattest and sandiest, is as steep as the floors of some of the wadis draining on to it, and several times more steep than the beds of the wadis which drain westwards to the Nile, its fall seawards averaging six metres per kilometre and reaching over ten metres per kilometre in some sections.

Climate.

The climate of the district is predominantly hot and dry to the west of the watershed, hot and moist eastward of it; but very cold weather is apt to prevail for a few weeks in January and February, with strong north winds, on both sides of the watershed, and the transition from piercing cold to great heat at these times is often brought about very suddenly by a change of wind direction. There is seldom any frost, but water-bags are occasionally frozen on the mountain tops at night. Cool north-west winds prevail in the north part of the area, while hot damp winds from the south-east are usual in the south. In the central part, round Berenice, absolute calms[23] are frequent.[39] The highest mountain-masses are frequently swathed in clouds for weeks together, especially from January to March. The hot, dry, sand-laden winds called Khamsin occasionally blow for four or five days together in March and April; at these times the shade temperature rises to over 45° C., and the air is thick with sand and dust. Rain falls in most years, but its quantity is very variable; in some years there is barely enough to keep the wells supplied, and much of the vegetation withers; in others, heavy storms produce wild downrushes in the wadis, filling them for short periods with raging torrents. Curious electrical and optical phenomena can sometimes be seen on the mountain-tops during storms and in mists.[40] The Elba region is seldom free from clouds, and receives far more rain than any other portion of the area, forming in fact the northern limit of the rainy tropical zone; it is in consequence relatively well wooded, while the other mountains are a dreary waste of naked rocks.

Scenery.

The predominant types of scenery are extensive sandy plains and gaunt rugged mountains. In the low-lands, pleasant relief from the stony monotony is afforded by the trees and scrub which occur along most of the wadis, though their struggle for existence is often evidenced by miles of withered and blackened scrub in places which a few years ago were green and flourishing. The bareness of the mountains becomes slightly relieved in the Elba district, where beautiful trees and flowering plants thrive high up the mountain-side along all the drainage lines. As to the forms of the mountains, one sees extensive broken sandstone plateaux at Gebel Abraq (El), remarkable rounded granite bosses at Gebels Muelih (Ab), Nugrus (Dc), Selaia (Fh), and Um Rasein (Jr), jagged and spiky granite peaks in the mountains of Faraid (Jk), Qash Amir (Os), and Elba (Ps), and broken masses of gneiss, dark schists and serpentines at Gebels Hafafit (Dc), Hangalia (Dc), Abu Hamamid (Ef), Hamata (Gf), and Gerf[24] (Hp). Perhaps the most remarkable of all the peaks are those of Faraid (Jk), which from the north look like the expanded fingers of a huge hand, whence they received their name of Mons Pentadactylus in antiquity, while one specially sharp peak is styled very appropriately “the Bodkin” on Admiralty Charts. The mass of Elba forms a very fine view from the north, but the prevalence of clouds about its summits frequently hides it from view for months together. The views from the mountain-tops are extensive and beautiful, especially at sunrise and sunset, when the peaks take on wonderful colours, and the views from the summits when the entire lower landscape is bathed in clouds, through which only the higher peaks project like islands from a great sea, are not less remarkable. Though a good look out was kept from the highest mountains across the sea, the mountains of the opposite shore of Arabia were never with certainty made out; the cone of Zeberged Island was, however, often seen. It is stated by d’Anville, on the authority of Castro,[41] that both the Arabian and African mountains can be seen from the summit of Zeberged.

Animal and Plant Life.

Both animal and plant life is mainly confined to the drainage lines. Of wild animals suitable for human food, gazelles can be shot fairly frequently in the south part of the area, but are very scarce in the north. Sand grouse and partridges can occasionally be obtained round Abu Saafa, while doves are very abundant in the groves near Bir Akwamtra, at the foot of Gebel Elba. Ibex were never seen with certainty, though their horns and lairs were often found on the mountains. Conies inhabit the rocks near Bir Abraq and Bir Madi. The wild ass has disappeared from the area, as also has the ostrich, though fragments of ostrich eggs picked up here and there, and drawings of this bird on the rocks, attest its presence here in recent times. Vultures, kites, and ravens are everywhere in evidence, and several kinds of smaller birds, such as swallows and wagtails, are often seen about the greener wadis. Lizards of many kinds are to be seen. Scorpions and snakes are seldom met with. Of butterflies and moths, especially the latter, many varieties occur. The common fly occurs in[25] such numbers as to be a great pest, but mosquitoes and sand-flies are practically absent. Camel ticks infest the ground under all trees used as shade by travelling Arabs. Earwigs are in some places very abundant, and a great variety of beetles and bugs occur. Near the sea, whole armies of crabs are to be seen marching on the shore, and hermit crabs are very numerous in all sorts of gasteropod dwellings.

Of plant life the district contains a great variety. The north and central parts of the area contain the same trees and bushes as abound further north in Egypt,[42] and camel food is moderately abundant. As Elba is approached, many beautiful flowering plants not found further north are met with, while in the clefts of the slopes of Elba itself is a far richer vegetation than occurs wild in any other part of Egypt. I found the approach to Elba was stopped for baggage camels some four kilometres from the summit owing to the closeness of the trees, and the ascent on foot up the clefts of the mountain-face for the remainder of the way was more like going through an English wood than up a desert mountain. Many varieties of sweet-smelling flowers and some fruit-bearing trees unfamiliar in Egypt were seen, while mosses and lichens covered the tumbled masses of granite in many places. Schweinfurth, who examined the botany of this region in 1864, found that of 300 species of plants collected in the Elba district, the vast majority were of Abyssinian types; scarcely 100 were living in other more northerly parts of the Eastern Desert of Egypt, while still fewer are indigenous to the Nile Valley, and only fifteen species were of those found wild in Europe.[43]

Water Supplies.[44]

The sources of water comprise galts (rock basins forming rain water reservoirs in the mountains), springs and wells. Of these, galts yield the purest water, and form the principal supply of the pastoral Arabs, except in years of no rainfall, while springs and wells, the latter usually rude excavations in the alluvia of wadis, are most used by travellers from their easier accessibility. Small galts are called[26] megal (Ababda) or megwel (Bisharin); they are frequently accompanied by small springs.

The small scale map on Plate III, which shows all sources known to exist within the area, gives a good idea of the distribution of water supplies. Water is scarce in the western parts of the country, Bir Abu Hashim being the only source within a radius of about sixty kilometres of itself, but galts and wells are fairly frequent among the mountainous tracts further east. The springs of Abraq and Abu Saafa are the most important sources in the central area. The portion of the country under the Sudan Administration is far richer in water that the Egyptian part, containing numerous fine wells and springs, such as Birs Meneiga, Abu Hodeid, Akwamtra, and Frukit. The coast plain is waterless, except for salty wells near the sea.

Water can usually be obtained at intervals of about two or three days when on the march, and in some parts much more frequently. The water of certain wells and springs has a purgative effect due to the absorption of magnesium salts, especially after a long interval without rain. That of others, again, such as Muelih and Shalatein, is so salty as to be only drinkable by camels.

Geology.[45]

The rocks composing this part of Egypt are principally igneous and metamorphic deposits of very ancient origin. Granite is most prominent in the Nugrus, Faraid, and Elba areas, schists and diorites cover a large portion of the remaining country, and huge masses of serpentines form the mountains of Abu Dahr, Korabkansi, and Gerf. Of sedimentary rocks, plateaux of Nubian sandstone (Cretaceous) cover large areas round Bir Abraq and westward of it, while a narrow belt of the same rock also occurs along the sea coast in the north part of the district. Gypseous limestones (Miocene?) form the hills of Ras Benas and occur along the coast north of Wadi Lahami, as well as in small areas near the coast further south in the neighbourhood of Halaib.

[27]Crushing of the older rocks is almost everywhere strongly evidenced, but faulting is difficult to trace except in the sandstone areas, where it is strongly marked. The presence of clearly defined overthrust faulting in the Abraq area shows that tangential earth movements, so rare in this part of the world,[46] have not been altogether absent.

Mineral Products.

The mineral resources of this part of Egypt are not of very great importance, owing partly to its inaccessible situation and desert character. Gold and copper ores occur in places; other localities contain beryl and peridots, while others, again, bear iron ores, gypsum, sulphur, steatite, asbestos, and magnesite, and good building stones abound over large areas.

The presence of ruins and excavations at places like Hangalia, Sikait, Zabara, Romit, and Darahib, are evidence of mining activity in the past, but the mean nature of the accommodation for the workers, and the presence of old stone hand mills where gold was the thing sought for, confirm the statement of Diodorus[47] that the mines were worked by miserable convicts.

In recent years much prospecting has been done to test whether the ancient mines could be developed and made commercially productive under modern conditions. In the case of many areas, including that round Darahib, the mines of which are believed to be those referred to with a map in the Turin papyrus of the Nineteenth Dynasty,[48] the prospecting licences have been surrendered to the Government because the results were unfavourable. In a few other cases prospecting is still being carried out, and in three localities the results have been sufficiently encouraging for exploitation to be undertaken.

The following tables, compiled from information supplied by the Mines Department, give particulars of the prospecting licences[28] and mining leases at present (1912) held within the area described in this book:—

Prospecting Licences.

Licence No.	Date of Licence.			Principal Mineral sought.	Holder of Licence.	Situation of Area licensed.
49	Nov.	1	1909	Gold.	Mr. Mack.	Kurdeman district.
50	„	1	1909	„	„	Sabahia district.
75	May	14	1911	„	„	North-east side of Gebel Zabara.
59	Feb.	17	1910	Sulphur.	Mr. Venizelos.	Gebel Ranga, near the mouth of Wadi Abu Ghusun.
60	„	17	1910	„	„	Adjoining the foregoing.
61	March	19	1910	„	„	„  „  „

Mining Leases.

Lease No.	Date of Lease.		Period for which granted.	Mineral exploited.	Holder of Lease.	Area leased.
13	Dec.	1, 1910	30 years.	Gold.	African Reefs, Ltd.	25 acres near Gebel Um el Tiur el Tahtani.
15	Jan.	1, 1912	30 years.	Gold.	Mr. Wells.	25 acres near Gebel Sukari.
55	June	1, 1906	30 years.	Peridot.	Peridot & Egyptian Gems Co., Ltd.	Zeberged (St. John’s Island).

Of the above three mining leases, the last mentioned (the Peridot and Egyptian Gems Co., Ltd.) is the only one under which any considerable exploitation has been carried on, large numbers of beautiful peridots having been obtained from the mines. The two gold mining undertakings have been commenced too recently for much to have been as yet accomplished.

Antiquities.

The archæological remains of pre-Arab times in this part of Egypt comprise the small ruined temples of Berenice and Sikait, the ruins of stations along the old mining roads, the ancient mines with the rude habitations of the miners, and sundry markings on rocks near the roads.

[29]The Temple of Berenice is a low inconspicuous structure measuring only some ten metres square, containing five small rooms and a tiny corridor and staircase.[49] Owing to its exposed situation on the coast and the soft limestone (from Ras Benas) of which it is built, it is in a very dilapidated condition, and it is difficult to make out many of the inscriptions on its walls. The axial direction of the temple (63° 20′ east of true north) appears to show that it was oriented to face the rising sun at the summer solstice. Of the village (one can hardly call it a city) of Berenice, only insignificant remains exist near the temple. The houses were mere hovels built of rough lumps of coral.

There are three temples in Wadi Sikait; they are small rock-hewn structures in even worse preservation than that of Berenice.[50]

Many attempts have been made to trace the ancient mining roads mentioned by classical writers. The stations on the road from Koptos (Quft) to Berenice, enumerated by Pliny and Antoninus, have not been with certainty identified. The absence of any reliable map of the main features of the country has hitherto prevented travellers from locating the positions of stations found, while in careful surveying it has generally been necessary to travel by other roads than the ancient ones, so that it cannot be hoped that all the ruined stations, many of which are invisible till one is close to them, have been included in the maps. Now that all the principal features of the country have been accurately laid down, it will be much easier for future travellers to locate precisely any ruins they may come across.

Of the road leading from Contra-Apollinopolis (Edfu) to the emerald mines of Sikait and Zabara, much more is known, this route having been traversed by Golénischeff[51] and most of its stations located by the Geological Survey. Leading from Edfu, past Bir Abad, the ruins of a large station and rock temple occur at a distance of about forty-five kilometres from the Nile, at a place now called Kanais (the churches), where a well yielding good water was sunk three years ago by the Mines Department. About forty-five kilometres[30] further on is the station called Gariat Abu Medrik, where there are two ancient stucco-lined cylindrical reservoirs, but no well. At the next station, called Samut, there is a good well in the centre of a large rubble ruin. As all the stations just mentioned lie outside the limits of the maps which accompany this memoir, I give their approximate geographical positions below:—

Station.	Latitude N.	Longitude E.	Altitude above Sea.
			metres.
Edfu	24° 58′	32° 54′	90
Kanais	25° 0 ′	33° 19′	205
Gariat Abu Medrik	24° 55′	33° 41′	295
Samut	24° 49′	33° 54′	340

The next station after Samut appears to have been the ruins near Gebel Dweig. Further on, after passing over the watershed, is another station with two cisterns in a semicircular enclosure. The road continues past Gebel Abu Had to the Wadi Gemal, where there are two more cisterns, this time in a triangular enclosure, and thence up to the Wadi Nugrus and Wadi Sikait to the mines. The Edfu-Sikait road may have joined the Quft-Berenice road at the Wadi Gemal station.

A third ancient road is believed to have led northward from Berenice to Qoseir, along the coast; while a fourth, from near Dakka on the Nile up the Wadi Alaqi to the gold mines of the south, is now a regular route to the Nile Valley Company’s mine of Um Gariart.

The ancient emerald mines of Zabara and Sikait consist of numerous irregular shafts, mostly of no very great depth, excavated in schists of micaceous and talcose types. The old gold mines, such as those at Sukari, Um Eleiga, Seiga, Romit, and the Darahib district, are on a considerable scale, excavations having been carried on in quartz veins to fair depths. The dwellings at the mines were for the most part only miserable hovels of rubble stone. A view of those of Um Eleiga is given on Plate IV. The ancient quartz-grinding mills, mostly made of a hard diorite, are frequently found among the ruins of the hovels. There is no clear evidence that any of the mines[31] yielded a very rich output; the workings were of the nature of penal settlements (Prof. Mahaffy[52] has aptly termed them a “tropical Siberia”) in times when life and labour were cheap, and a very moderate yield may under those conditions have been satisfactory.[53]

Besides those at the mining camps and stations, there are some other extensive collections of ruins in the district, two of the most considerable being at Shenshef and Bir Meneiga. The ruins at Shenshef (see Plate IV) are in part those of well-built houses, furnished with doors and windows, formed of slabs of fissile quartzose schist, quarried in the neighbouring hills. There are wells at Shenshef, but apparently no mines; the presence of watch towers on the hills, and the peculiar situation of the place, suggest that it may have been a slave dealer’s stronghold where slaves were herded till they could be shipped from Berenice. The better houses may have been those of the overseers, while the ruder hovels accommodated the slaves, and sentinels at the watch towers prevented any attempt at escape. The ruins at Bir Meneiga, though extensive, are very rude, and probably only represent a camping ground near the springs. A large rubble enclosure near Abraq springs has been thought by Purdy[54] to have been a hunting station of the Ptolemies.

In many places there are marks and drawings on the rocks near roads. These are frequently spirited representations of animals, among which the ostrich is often seen. At the Galt el Aguz, near the watershed at the head of one of the branches of Wadi Garara, the drawings are accompanied by rude Greek inscriptions. At Abu Saafa, one of the springs issues from a niche cut in the sandstone, having a carved cornice with the remains of a Greek inscription on it.

Another class of remains are found scattered over the area in the form of cylindrical rubble piles, four metres in diameter and from one to two metres high. The natives consider these to be tombs of pre-Arab date.

[32]Of Arab tombs in the area, the most considerable is that of Sheikh Shadli, near Gebel Abu Hamamid, a view of which is shown on Plate V. It is a well-built tomb of several domes, inhabited by a Moorish guardian. A yearly pilgrimage is made to this place by the Ababda Arabs, who hold the memory of Shadli in high veneration. The next largest tomb is probably that of Sheikh Hamid, near Abraq springs. Near the nose of Ras Benas is a large sheikh’s tomb, where sailors perform their devotions, and smaller tombs of the same type, built of drift-wood, are to be seen at other points near the coast. Cemeteries of small Arab graves exist near every well and spring.

Inhabitants.

The South-Eastern Desert of Egypt is inhabited by nomad Arabs of the various Ababda and Bisharin tribes.[55] Ababda (Ashabab and Meleikab) occupy the country north of Muqsim and Bir Shalatein, while Bisharin (Hamedorab, Kurbeilab, Koatil, and Balgab) inhabit the country to the south.[56] Only guesses are available as to their numbers, but it is not probable that they comprise so much as one inhabitant for each five square kilometres. A casual journey through the country would lead one to think that it was inhabited to an even less degree, but the Arabs mostly camp in selected narrow wadis out of sight of the traveller. They are a people of good physique, hardy, intelligent, and fair workers if once their employer knows how to handle them. They share, however, in the universal Bedouin dislike to protracted regular work; after a few months of regular routine, even the semi-nomad routine of a survey-expedition, they experience strong desires for their own independent roaming life, and it is impossible to retain them for longer periods. Many of the Ababda who are settled near the Nile have lost their true desert character, and on desert expeditions men of this class are far less satisfactory than nomads; they do not know the country, but fear the desert and are continually desirous of returning to the valley. The better desert guides, on the other hand, love the wilderness, and they have a perfectly marvellous geographic instinct. The skeleton on which they arrange their knowledge is always the system of drainage. If[33] a map of their country is laid before them, and a few points named to them, they will delight in tracing out and naming all the wadis and peaks. But they have very vague ideas of proportion, and can only read a map when it is laid on the ground in its true orientation with respect to the meridian. The Ababda are generally regarded as the best type of Egyptian desert Arab, while my experience of the Bisharin of the Elba district is that they are superior, in industry, intelligence, truthfulness, and orderliness, to the Ababda.[57] It is, however, necessary either to understand the Bishari tongue, or to have men who can interpret into Arabic, as the great mass of the Bisharin understand only their own language, which is quite different from Arabic.[58] Education is very backward, but there is a kuttab (elementary school) at Halaib, where instruction in Arabic reading and writing is given to boys. All the Arabs are of course Moslems, but they are not at all fanatical.

The manner of life of the Arabs is very simple. Most of the men have only a single cotton wrap about their middle, though some wear the ordinary galabia and cotton drawers. Their camps are rude tents of matting about two metres in diameter, but the men commonly sleep in the open, sheltering themselves from winds by their camel saddles, covered only with their cotton wrap, which they spread over their entire bodies, including their heads. They wear no head covering, having heavy “mops” of curled black hair plentifully supplied with mutton fat. Their food consists almost entirely of milk and meat, of which their flocks and herds give them a plentiful supply; they eat but little bread, but they are fond of a kind of gruel of flour and water, and of dates, which are imported from Arabia via Suakin. Only a few of them smoke tobacco, and that generally in soapstone pipes which they carve out for themselves. Intoxicants are unknown amongst true desert Arabs. For arms, they carry swords and knives, seldom fire-arms. Of their tribal customs, I saw but little; Linant de Bellefonds gives an interesting account of them in his “L’Etbaye.” On festive occasions, camel-racing and dancing are favourite amusements.

[34]Slavery appears to be non-existent at present, for in the course of my twenty months’ wanderings I received no complaint under this head, as I should almost certainly have done had any oppressive servitude existed.

Languages.

My own study of the Ababda and Bishari tongues has been mainly confined to their geographical terms. The Ababda nowadays almost all speak Arabic, and most of their place-names are either Arabic or closely akin to it. A marked feature of their tongue is a fondness for diminutives. Thus we have Sellim and Seleim, Hafafit and Hefeifit, Faraid, and Fereyid, Wadi and Wadai, in each of which the second of the pair is a diminutive formed by vowel-change, generally accompanied by a change in the placing of the stress. The commonest special geographical terms in Ababda country are: erf, a ridge; rod, a tributary wadi; talet, a small tributary wadi; kab, a watershed or pass; hamrat, a (red) granite mountain; zergat, a black mountain; galt, a rock basin containing rain water; and megal, a small water hole. Thus we have such names as Hamrat Selma, Zergat Naam, and so on, the name often giving a clue to the nature of the rock.

As soon as one passes into Bisharin country the change in the nature of place-names is very striking. The definite article is no longer el, but o, u, ei, e (masc.), and to, tu, tei, ti (fem.). Many place-names end in ai and oi. The principal geographical terms are: kwan, a wadi; da-aiyob, a depression from which there is no drainage outlet; aweib and riba, a mountain; kulet, a hill; megwel, a water hole; adar, red; hadal, black; sotai, green; eire, white; sarara, deep; salala, rather deep (applied to wells). Hence we get such combinations as: Hadal Aweib Meisah, the black mountain near Wadi Meisah; Eir Arib, the white (granite) rock; Sarobi Kwan, the wadi where the Sarob plant (Capparis sodada) grows; Bir Sararat Seyet, the deep well in Wadi Seyet, and so on. A mountain called adar is generally of red granite, while one called hadal is usually diorite or serpentine. Asotriba, the green mountain south of Gebel Elba, receives its name from the vegetation on it.

[35]Industries.

The principal industries carried on by the desert Arabs are the rearing of camels, sheep and goats, especially the first-named. The Bisharin devote much attention to camel-breeding, and supply many animals annually to the Coast Guard Administration. Their camels are very superior animals, and need to be hardy in order to negotiate the steep mountain passes of their country. Sheep and goats can be bought cheaply in the south, and are driven in to Aswân for sale at the higher rates there prevailing. It is common to find a flock of hundreds of sheep being watered at wells such as Bir Abu Hashim and Qoleib on the route to Kom Ombo; but many animals drop and die on the weary march from well to well.

Charcoal burning has been practised, especially in the Ababda country, but is not much carried on now; this industry deserves strong opposition, for it only impoverishes the country, and the seyal trees are few enough for the support of camels in years of drought.

In recent years some employment has been found for the Arabs by prospectors for mining companies, both as miners and for camel-transport, and they are occasionally, as in the present expedition, employed on Government work.

For the information of future travellers, it may be worth while to mention the prices paid for local labour on the survey expeditions. The men and animals were all the best obtainable of their particular class, and the prices include saddles and fodder for camels, their own provision of water and food for the men, and, in the case of sheikhs, postmen, and guides, their riding camels and fodder:—

	Mills, per day.[59]
Responsible sheikhs in charge of all Arabs	200
Skilled guides (also employed as beacon builders)	150
Postmen journeying regularly to and from the Nile Valley	150
Baggage camels, each to carry 300 pounds’ load, with one driver to every two camels, the drivers to act as general labourers at a camp and to collect wood and water and to carry supplies up the mountains when required	120
Riding camels	120
Porters	70 to 80

A small amount of agriculture is practised in the Wadi Di-ib, slightly south of the Sudan frontier, but there is none actually within[36] the district here described. My camels were fed for some time on durra (Indian corn) brought from Wadi Di-ib.

A little fishing is carried on near Berenice and at Mersa Shab and Halaib, but only for the food of the fishermen, who subsist almost entirely on it, and thus recall the Ichthyophages of Ptolemy. When I had abundance of excellent fish at Shab and Halaib, I noticed that but few of my Bisharin cared to partake of what was to me a very welcome change of diet.

Halaib is the only permanent village, and even it is merely a miserable collection of wooden huts and tents, where trade is confined to dates, fat, corn, sugar, and such like necessaries; supplies are brought by boat from Suakin and sold to the local Arabs.

Communications.

There are numerous camel-roads connecting the various wells with each other and with the Nile, the principal of which are indicated on Plate III (p. 26). The most usual starting points from the valley are Edfu, Kom Ombo, Aswân, Dakka, and Berber. The roads lie mostly along wadis, and are far from being very direct, being necessarily so chosen as to pass water supplies and to avoid very steep places. From Aswân or Kom Ombo, Berenice can be reached in about seven or eight days by luggage camels, and the roads are fairly good; water is least scarce on the Kom Ombo road, which takes advantage of the wells of Qoleib and Abu Hashim. Between any two wells, there are generally several possible roads. The one taken by any particular traveller is naturally that which his guides happen to know best, or that along which the most camel food is to be found at the time; hardly any two Europeans have journeyed by precisely the same road. A “road” in desert parlance is only a track by which camels have passed at some time or other; there is nothing of the nature of a made road, even along the ancient routes mentioned in the Antonine Itinerary; and the tracks are sometimes obliterated by sand. Since the opening up of Port Sudan, the Elba district is most easily reached from that place, whence it is about 340 kilometres distant, by two roads of nearly equal length, one skirting the coast and the other more inland; the latter passes good wells at about two[37] days’ intervals.[60] To reach Elba from the valley, a camel journey of more than 500 kilometres is necessary whether Aswân, Dakka, or Berber be the starting point. The ports of Berenice, Shab, and Halaib are only touched occasionally and irregularly by coasting boats and Coast Guard steamers. News is passed orally among the wandering Arabs with remarkable rapidity, but naturally it frequently gets somewhat modified in transit.

Government.

The geographical frontier between Egypt and the Sudan is the 22nd parallel of north latitude. But for administrative purposes it has been found convenient to consider all Bisharin Arabs as under the Sudan Government, and all Ababda under that of Egypt. The administrative frontier therefore runs between the districts of the two main tribal divisions, along a zigzag line from Gebel Muqsim, via Gebel Um el Tiur el Foqani, Gebel Niqrub el Foqani, and Bir Meneiga, to Bir Shalatein on the coast.[61] A territory of some 16,000 square kilometres in the extreme south-east corner of Egypt is thus placed for purposes of government under the Sudan mudiria of Berber, under which arrangement a moawin and small police force are maintained in the fort of Halaib. The remainder of the area is administered by the Egyptian mudir of Aswân. In Egypt, the Arabs are not taxed except in respect of any lands they may own in the Nile Valley. In the Sudan a tax is levied on each tribe in return for police protection and other advantages; the tax is paid very willingly, for the Bisharin are less poor than the Ababda, and thoroughly appreciate the advantage of good government, while they have unbounded faith in the justice of Anglo-Egyptian officials in settling their disputes. One of the incidents which most strongly impressed itself on my remembrance during my travels in the district was the meeting near Gebel Korabkansi of an English inspector from Berber, to whom a number of Bisharin Arabs engaged in disputes stated their rival claims quietly and reasonably, both sides having the utmost confidence that the judgment given would be just and fair. In Egypt,[38] the Arabs are less friendly in their feelings towards the government, and prefer to settle their differences among themselves; a circumstance no doubt due to the fact that Egyptian governors have had their hands full with matters connected with the valley, and have had no time to become acquainted with Bedouin ideas and customs, while the Arabs, independent for centuries and very poor, are afraid of misunderstanding and taxation. It would, I think, be unfair to tax the true desert Arabs of Egypt, even to the moderate extent which is done for the Arabs of the Sudan, for their country is much more barren than that of the Bisharin, and their sources of income are consequently fewer. In a year of little or no rainfall, there is not enough vegetation to feed their animals, so that many are lost, and the only way a tax could be raised at such times would be by cutting down trees for charcoal; but, as already mentioned, any encouragement of the charcoal industry would soon impoverish the country still further, the thorny acacia trees being the principal reserve camel food in rainless years. That so many Ababda are settled in and near the Nile Valley is possibly in part due to their having been driven from the desert by the growing scarcity of trees consequent on the prosecution of the charcoal industry in the past.

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[39]CHAPTER III.

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SURVEYING METHODS AND PRINCIPAL GEOGRAPHICAL RESULTS.

---

Triangulation.

Base-Lines—The triangulation was commenced by measuring a base line[62] near Gebel Muelih by means of a 100-metre steel tape, which had been previously standardised at the Khedivial Observatory. A level tract having been selected, in such a position as to afford easy connection with points already triangulated from the Nile Valley, a line about two and a half kilometres long was ranged out, along which wooden pegs were driven flush with the ground at 100-metre intervals. The inequalities of the ground between the pegs were levelled off by tiny embankments and cuttings, so as to enable the tape to lie flat. On each peg was nailed a zinc plate having a millimetre scale running in the direction of the line. In measuring, the tape was laid on the ground, stretched to a constant tension by a spring balance at each end, in such manner that its end marks fell on the zinc scales, and readings were simultaneously taken on the scales at the two ends. Temperatures were taken in several places along the tape by mercurial thermometers. The operation of measurement was carried out in the early morning, so as to avoid any large difference of temperature between the ground and the air. The levels of the pegs were found by spirit levelling. After correction for the initial error of the tape, temperature, stretch, and inclination, the true length of the base-line reduced to sea-level was found, as the mean of two separate measurements at different tensions, to be 2,482·280 metres. The azimuth of the line was found by observations of Polaris at elongation to be 30° 30′ 6″ E. of N. The geographical position of the west end of the line was found by triangulation-connexion with the Nile Valley by Mr. Villiers Stuart to be latitude 24° 53′ 36″·7 N., longitude 34° 4′ 17″·9 E.

[40]A second connexion to a base-line was made near Gebel Um Harba, where a base had been previously measured by Mr. Villiers Stuart in the course of his triangulation of the western part of the desert. In this case the connexion was not made to the actual base-line, but to another main line tied directly on to it. The data at this point of connexion from the two triangulations afforded a useful check on the accuracy of the work, and were as follows:—

	From Mr. Stuart’s triangulation.	From my triangulation.	Difference.
Latitude N.	23° 36′ 55″·0	23° 36′ 55″·6	0″·6
Longitude E.	34° 30′ 38″·1	34° 30′ 37″·6	0″·5
Length of line to Dagalai beacon	13,170·2 metres.	13,167·9 metres.	2·3 metres.

Reconnaissance for triangulation points was carried out simultaneously with the triangulation itself. The distance of likely looking peaks was determined either by intersecting them from distant stations, or by special small triangulations from short bases, and such selection made as seemed most likely to secure well shaped figures and a good command of surrounding country. As a rule, the highest summits were selected as main (occupied) stations, while all other prominent peaks and other features were fixed by intersection from two or more main stations. The form adopted for the main triangulation net was a series of quadrilateral figures with diagonals, combined with centric polygons, all the angles of the figures being generally measured. The average length of side was about thirty-five kilometres.

Beacons.—Main stations were marked by wrought-iron beacons, consisting of two lengths of stove piping about 15 centimetres diameter by 1½ metres long, the upper length fitting into a faucet made by splaying out the lower tube. Near the top of the tube were affixed four sheet iron wings, bolted on to angle iron cleats. A conical cairn of stones was built up round the tube, nearly up to the wings, so that the beacon when erected was about three metres high, two metres in diameter across the base of the cairn, and about a metre wide across the wings. The beacons were taken down while a station was being occupied, and replaced on leaving.

[41]Intersected points were sometimes marked with a beacon or cairn, but in general the peaks were simply bisected from several stations, as it was found that this gave sufficiently accurate results.

Measurement of Horizontal Angles.—Angles were measured with a 6-inch theodolite furnished with reading microscopes graduated to 10″ and permitting of reliable estimations to 1″. The angles between main points were read on four arcs to eliminate circle errors. Intersected points were observed on one arc only. The average error of closure of main triangles was 3″·3.

Field Computation and Plotting of Triangulated Points.—The triangles were computed by the ordinary method, but the angles were rounded off to 10″ to enable the sines to be taken direct from the logarithmic tables, and the logarithms were only taken to five places. The length of the sides having been thus found, the geographical positions were found by the ordinary L M Z computation, using, however, only two latitude terms and 5-place logarithms, while azimuths were only taken out to the nearest 10″. The abbreviated form of computation used will be best illustrated by an example:—[63]

Computation of Position of △ No. 260 from No. 275.

			l	=	20042 m.		275	⎰ ⎱	φ	=	23° 55′  30″·6
			Z	=	64° 29′ 20″	E of N.			λ	=	34° 54′  36″·9
			Log l	=	4·30194		Log l2			=	8·604
	Log cos Z			=	1·63416		Log sin2 Z			=	1·911
	B				2·51194		C			=	9·053
					2·44804					=	1·568
dφ,	1st		term	=	+ 280″·6		Log l			=	4·30194
	2nd		term	=	−   0″·4		Log sin Z			=	1·95545
			dφ	=	280″·2		A′			=	2·50948
				=	4′  40″·2					=	2·76687
			φ	=	23° 55′  30″·6		Log cos φ′			=	1·96072
			φ′	=	24°  0′  10″·8					=	2·80615
									dλ	=	640″·0
	Whence									=	10′  40″·0
	260	⎰ ⎱	φ′	=	24°  0′  10″·8				λ	=	34° 54′  36″·9
			λ′	=	35°  5′  16″·9				λ′	=	35°  5′  16″·9

[42]In the above, it will be noticed that the azimuth is always noted as so much east or west of north or south. If this convention be adopted, one may consider the first term of dφ as always +, and the second term will be + if the azimuth contains the word south,—if it is from the north, while the total dφ is to be added or subtracted according as one is going north or south. A somewhat similar convention is adopted in neglecting the sign of dλ till the actual addition or subtraction is made. It was found in the field that this method prevented any mistake of sign, while being much simpler to work than one involving angles greater than 90°.

The geographical coordinates thus found were plotted directly on to the plane-table sheets, on which the graticule at 10′ intervals was the first thing drawn. The odd minutes and seconds were first converted into minutes and decimals, and then into kilometres by multiplying by the factors appropriate to the latitude, so that the plotting could be done by the ordinary scale of kilometres. To avoid difficulties of paper-shrinkage, as many points as possible were plotted at the time of drawing the graticule, and in general the points had to be plotted as far ahead as possible for controlling the traversing and sketching.

Astronomical Observations.—Astronomical checks on the triangulation were obtained by observations of latitude at certain selected main stations 60-120 kilometres apart, and by azimuth observations for certain main lines.

The method used for latitude was that of observing the times of equal altitudes of three or more stars, selected as near to the meridian[64] as possible. This method presents great advantages over the usual Polaris and circummeridian altitudes, in that the observations are more easily made, and yield much more accurate results, because uncertainties in refraction are largely eliminated and the errors of circle graduation are not involved, the altitudes not being read at all.[65] The theodolite used was the same as was employed in triangulation,[43] and the times were taken by a half chronometer watch, preferably one marking sidereal time with a rate which could be considered negligible during the hour or so occupied by the observation. The first star taken was usually Polaris, and the vertical circle was left clamped at its altitude. For the other stars, any dislevelment was corrected by touching up the levelling screws just before the instant of observation; this was found better, than taking bubble readings and correcting for slight difference of altitude.

The method which I found best in the field for reducing the observations differs somewhat from that described by Chauvenet. Assuming approximate values for the latitude and watch error, I first calculated the altitude of each star from the formula

If the assumed latitude and watch error were correct, all the stars would give the same value for h. If not, each star would give an equation of the form

where A is the star’s azimuth, dφ the required correction to the assumed latitude, dT the required correction to the assumed watch times, and h₀ the true altitude common to the three stars. The values of cos A and cos φ sin A were calculated from the ordinary formula

by four-place logarithms (using the approximate values for φ, t, and h, since these are quite sufficiently accurate for the purpose) and inserted into the three star-equations.[66] By then solving the three simultaneous equations for dφ, the required correction to the assumed latitude was at once obtained.

As the method is one not usually treated of in books on practical astronomy, I give on the following pages the reduction of an observation worked out in full.

[44]Latitude by Equal Altitudes of Three Stars.

Station on Gebel Um Heshenib. January 30, 1906.

Approximate	φ	=	24°	20′	50″	N.
„	λ	=	34°	51′	0″	E.

Sidereal watch U. and C. 30811, approximately 2^m 22^s fast on L.S.T., rate negligible.

Observed times of equal altitudes by watch:—

Polaris	3h	33m	54s·2
α Columbæ	3	42	40 ·8
ε Canis majoris	4	24	35 ·8

Polaris.

Watch time	3h 33m 54s·2
Watch fast	2  22 ·0
L.S.T.	3  31  32 ·2
Star’s R.A.	1  25   9 ·1
t	2   6  23 ·1	= 31° 35′ 46″·5 W. of meridian.

φ = 24° 20′ 50″	log sin		1·6151769
δ = 88° 48′ 33″·1	log sin		1·9999062
			1·6150831	log cos δ	2·3177
	Nat. (1)		0·4121764	log sin t	1·7193
					2·0370
φ = 24° 20′ 50″	log cos		1·9595488	log cos h	1·9560
δ = 88° 48′ 33″·1	log cos		2·3176870	log sin A	2·0810
t = 31° 35′ 46″·5	log cos		1·9303179	log cos φ	1·9595
					2·0405
			2·2075537	Nat. =	0·011
	Nat. (2)		0·0161270
	Nat. (1)		0·4121764	log cos A	1·9999
			0·4283034	Nat. =	1·000
	log sin h		1·6317515
	h	=	25° 21′ 35″·8

Whence the equation for Polaris is

[45]α Columbæ.

Watch time	3h 42m 40s·8
Watch fast	2  22 ·0
L.S.T.	3  40  18 ·8
Star’s R.A.	5  36  15 ·6
t	1  55  56 ·8	= 28° 59′ 12″·0 E. of meridian.

φ = 24° 20′ 50″	log sin		1·6151769
δ = 34°  7′ 45″·7	log sin		1·7490118
			1·3641887
	Nat. (1)		0·2313070	log cos δ	1·9179
				log sin t	1·6854
φ = 24° 20′ 50″	log cos		1·9595488		1·6033
δ = 34°  7′ 45″·7	log cos		1·9179112	log cos h	1·9560
t = 28° 59′ 12″·0	log cos		1·9418753	log sin A	1·6473
			1·8193353	log cos φ	1·9595
	Nat. (2)		0·6596830		1·6068
	Nat. (1)		0·2313070	Nat. =	0·404
			0·4283760
	log sin h		1·6318196	log cos A	1·9523
				Nat. =	0·896
	h	=	25° 21′ 51″·1

Whence the equation for α Columbæ is

ε Canis majoris.

Watch time	4h 24m 35s·8
Watch fast	2  22 ·0
	4  22  13 ·8
Star’s R.A.	6  54  57 ·1
t	2  32  43 ·3	= 38° 10′ 49″·5 E. of meridian.

φ = 24° 20′ 50″	log sin		1·6151769
δ = 28° 50′ 52″·7	log sin		1·6834857
			1·2986626
	Nat. (1)		0·1989128
[46]φ = 24° 20′ 50″	log cos		1·9595488
δ = 28° 50′ 52″·7	log cos		1·9424561	log cos δ	1·9424
t = 38° 10′ 49″·5	log cos		1·8954602	log sin t	1·7911
			1·7974651		1·7335
	Nat. (2)		0·6272853	log cos h	1·9560
	Nat. (1)		0·1989128	log sin A	1·7775
			0·4283725	log cos φ	1·9595
	log sin h		1·6318215		1·7370
				Nat. =	0·546
	h	=	25° 21′ 51″·5
				log cos A	1·9034
				Nat. =	0·801

Whence the equation for ε Canis majoris is

Collecting the equations of the three stars, we have

By solving these equations for dφ, we find

whence the latitude is found to be

It may be remarked that the above process was considerably shortened when it was possible to get a pair of observations on the same south star both east and west of the meridian, instead of on two separate south stars. In that case the watch error was found at once from the difference between the star’s R.A. and the mean of the two observed times, and the latitude could be found from two equations instead of three. The condition for this modification of the method was that a nautical almanac star could be found culminating at an altitude slightly greater than that of Polaris at a time convenient for the observation. It is not advisable to select a star which would give too long an interval between the equal east and west altitudes. The best results are obtainable when the interval between the two observations of the south star is about an hour, and when[47] Polaris is near its transit. Under such circumstances the watch correction is obtained quite nearly enough for a good latitude; for, as Gauss[67] pointed out, “the essential condition is not so much that the precise instant when the star reaches a supposed place should be noted, as that at the time which is noted the star should not be sensibly distant from that place.”

The following table shows the latitudes found by observation and triangulation at the various points. It may be remarked that the method used for latitude determination was liable to observational errors of 2″ or so, as well as to errors of possibly more than double that amount due to plumb-line deflection among the mountains,[68] so that the observed latitudes were only taken as checks to prevent any gross error in triangulation being overlooked, and not for any determination of the figure of the earth, for which latter purpose more elaborate observations would have been necessary.

Point.	Lat. observed.	Lat. computed from Triangulation.	Difference computed-observed.
West Peg, Muelih Base	24° 53′ 40″·3	24° 53′ 36″·7	− 3″·6
Beacon on Gebel Um Heshenib	24° 20′ 56″·5	24° 20′ 49″·2	− 7″·3
„  „ Hill near Gebel Selaia	23° 55′ 33″·2	23° 55′ 30″·6	− 2″·6
„  „ Berenice Temple	23° 54′ 39″·5	23° 54′ 40″·3	− 0″·8
„  „ Gimeida Hill	22° 46′ 33″·2	22° 46′ 29″·4	− 3″·8

Azimuths were determined in the usual manner[69] by elongations of close circumpolar stars, Polaris or 51 Cephei being usually selected. The azimuth mark used was an ordinary Egyptian shamadan (candlestick with spring feed) with a glass globe, placed at a distance of one to two kilometres, with its foot firmly bedded in sand and stones to prevent[48] any motion. The azimuths observed at the different stations are shown in the following table:—

Station of Observation.	Point to which Azimuth is given.	Azimuth observed.
Peg at West end of Muelih Base	Peg east end of base	33° 30′  6″ E. of N.
Beacon on Gebel Um Heshenib	Beacon on Gebel Hamata	45° 15′ 34″ E. of S.
„  „ Hill near Gebel Selaia	„  „ Abu Gurdi	25° 30′ 35″ N. of E.
„  „ Berenice Temple	„  „ Kalalat	61° 10′ 31″ W. of S.
„  „ Gimeida Hill	„  „ Hamra Dom	6° 14′ 46″ E. of S.
Centre of Halaib Fort	„  „ Elba	83° 25′  0″ W. of S.

The observed azimuths, unlike the observed latitudes, were more accurate than the results of triangulation, repetition having shown them to be reliable within 2″ or 3″, an error of which magnitude would soon be surpassed in the process of continuing a chain of azimuths with the unadjusted values of the angles of the triangles, which were the only values possible to be used in the field. On arriving at an azimuth station, therefore, a fresh chain of azimuths was begun from the results of the observation, and continued to the next station where astronomical observations were undertaken. The accumulated azimuth error was, however, never found to exceed 10″ in any chain, a quantity which could not sensibly affect the computed positions of points for plotting on the maps.

Connexion with the Sudan Surveys.—At the south end of the area, connexion was made to a number of points triangulated by the Sudan Surveys, but as the Sudan triangulation was commenced as an independent piece of work from an observed latitude and a telegraphically determined longitude, the connexion affords no check on the accuracy of the triangulations. The difference found between my positions and those of the Sudan Surveys was practically constant for all the Sudan points connected, and amounted to 3″·5 in latitude and 26″ in longitude[70]; these figures represent the errors in the assumed latitude and longitude of the starting point of the Sudan Surveys,[49] and will be employed as corrections to the Sudan positions now that a complete chain of triangulation connects Berber with the Mediterranean.

Levels of Triangulation Points.—The altitudes above sea-level of all triangulation points were determined by vertical angular measurements carried out at the occupied stations, an actual sea-level datum being obtained by including rocks awash in the sea among the triangulated points. To secure constancy of atmospheric refraction as far as possible, vertical angles were always read in the middle of the day, where the change of refraction is slowest. For the occupied stations, refraction and curvature were eliminated by reciprocal observations. For intersected points the formula h = d tan θ + 1 − k2rd² was used, the value of d tan θ being first found by five-figure logarithms and then that of the curvature and refraction correction 1 − k2rd² by means of the very convenient “Universal” slide rule of Nessler.[71] The value of k found from a discussion of the first few reciprocal observations was found to be very nearly 0·13, corresponding with the mean of European determinations, and this value for the coefficient was employed throughout the work for intersected points.[72] For obtaining the correction 1 − k2rd² by the slide rule, a mark R was scratched at 1210[73] on the lower scale of the slide; by bringing this mark R opposite to the distance (in kilometres) on the lower scale (or, where the logarithm of the distance was more convenient, by bringing the mark vertically under that logarithm on the log scale of the rule[50] by means of the cursor) the correction could be read off directly on the lowest fixed scale opposite the end-graduation of the slide. Usually four or five values for the altitude of a single point were obtained from a corresponding number of stations, and the mean taken; the various values generally agreed within two metres.

The constant combination of vertical angular measurements with horizontal ones was of great service from another point of view from that of providing altitude data for the maps. It frequently happened that a peak observed at one station could not be identified among a number of similar peaks visible at another station. When this trouble arose, the vertical angles offered a way out of the difficulty. Vertical and horizontal angles were read off to a number of likely-looking peaks; on working out the triangles to the nearest minute of the observed angles, the distance of each peak was obtained on the assumption that it was the one required. Then to find which of the several peaks was the correct one, the elevations were worked out, assuming the distances correct; in only one case would the level agree from the two stations, and this obviously discriminated the peak required. The working out of the triangles for this purpose could be done with sufficient accuracy in a very few minutes by means of the slide rule, and many points were thus saved from rejection consequent on misidentification.

Checks on absolute level were frequently obtained by observing depression angles to the sea horizon, using the formula θ = 107·8 √ h , where θ is in seconds of arc and h is the altitude in metres. But for high stations the horizon is so distant that very small variations in refraction cause rather large errors in the result, so that this method only furnished a rough check.

Summary of Triangulated Positions.

The following tables give the geographical positions and altitudes above sea-level of all points triangulated, arranged in order of diminishing latitude, i.e., from north to south. The list includes the points fixed within the Sudan for connexion with the Sudan Surveys. Stations occupied are indicated by an asterisk against the number of the point. It will be noticed that in some cases several different mountains bear the same name though widely distant from each other; also that where a single mountain mass possesses several peaks or summits, each of these has been fixed separately.

[51]Summary of Triangulated Positions.

Field Number of Point.		Name.	Mark.	Latitude N.			Longitude E.			Altitude Metres.
				°	′	″	°	′	″
	21	G. Hamrat Wogud	cairn.	25	9	34	34	20	0	1,103
	29	G. Iteima	„	25	8	1	34	11	13	849
*	204	G. Igli	„	25	4	6	34	36	16	975
*	26a	G. Atut	„	25	0	56	34	23	49	908
*	203	Erf el Fahid	„	25	0	5	34	11	52	579
	14	G. Hagar Dungash	„	24	59	12	34	2	33	815
*	218	G. Sukari	„	24	56	50	34	42	50	476
	216	G. Um Tundeba	summit.	24	55	48	34	47	29	550
*	202	Muelih base	E. peg.	24	54	44	34	5	7	406
	219	Isolated hill near sea	summit.	24	54	23	34	54	21	190
*	201	Muelih base	W. peg.	24	53	37	34	4	18	398
	19	G. Muelih	cairn.	24	52	44	34	0	37	707
*	225	Kurdeman mines	„	24	52	35	34	41	35	525
	71	Marwot Rod el Ligah	„	21	51	31	34	8	21	514
	206	G. Mudergeg	summit.	24	51	0	34	22	1	885
	205	G. Hangalia	„	24	50	29	34	38	43	1,241
*	215	G. Ghadir	cairn.	24	50	9	34	47	22	636
*	32a	G. Nugrus	„	24	48	34	34	35	47	1,505
*	25	G. Migif	„	24	47	23	34	27	30	1,199
*	214	G. Allawi	„	24	46	42	34	49	39	515
	211	G. Zabara	„	24	45	21	34	41	53	1,361
	224	G. Lewewi	„	24	44	38	34	46	39	654
	212	Ridge near G. Zabara	N. end.	24	43	48	34	40	56	1,104
	221	Hill near sea	summit.	24	42	31	35	3	15	—
	208	G. Hamrat Selma	„	24	41	58	34	20	58	761
	210	Peak in G. Hafafit	cairn.	24	40	44	34	37	8	722
	240	Wadi Gemal island	N. end.	24	40	45	35	9	6	0
*	223	G. Sikait	cairn.	24	39	55	34	48	5	771
	213	G. Um Moghar	summit.	24	39	16	34	41	5	860
	24a	G. Abu Khrug	cairn.	24	38	57	34	16	19	870
	20	G. Sufra	beacon.	24	38	42	34	4	13	690
	241	Wadi Gemal island	S. end.	24	38	38	35	10	36	0
	207	G. Nahud	N. cone.	24	35	36	34	22	14	662
*	209	Peak in G. Hafafit	beacon.	24	35	32	34	45	22	744
*	222	Madaret Um Gamil	„	24	34	52	34	56	28	454
	[52]226	G. Abu Had	summit.	24	34	12	34	36	6	633
	242	Low spur of coast	tip.	24	33	47	35	10	2	0
	235	G. Um Regeba	summit.	24	33	36	34	42	29	571
	233	G. Nahud	S. cone.	24	33	35	34	20	11	662
	239	Low spur of coast	tip.	24	28	43	35	10	58	0
	247	G. Um Suerab	summit.	24	26	50	34	42	33	1,024
	231	G. Um Sueh	„	24	26	45	34	54	30	781
	236	G. el Abiad	„	24	26	27	34	48	56	892
*	227	G. Abu Hegilig	„	24	26	16	34	58	32	607
	237	G. Um el Abbas	„	24	26	11	34	56	33	697
	232	G. Nukheira	„	24	25	58	34	32	53	876
	73	G. Um Goraf	cairn.	24	25	33	34	18	28	—
	252	G. Durunkat	centre.	24	23	43	34	45	51	924
	274	S. end of low sandy island	—	24	22	41	35	22	56	0
	255	G. Um Sedri	S. peak of twin.	24	22	0	34	41	3	970
	234	G. el Heda	summit.	24	20	56	34	30	11	862
	248	G. Sarobi (S. peak)	„	24	20	50	35	9	0	471
*	228	G. Um Heshenib	beacon.	24	20	49	34	50	53	1,135
	243	G. Hefeiri	summit.	24	20	22	35	1	21	612
	246	G. Khulla	„	24	19	43	34	38	42	978
	253	G. Tarfawi	N. end of ridge.	24	18	46	34	55	54	1,363
	251	G. Marasan	summit.	24	17	34	34	44	56	1,261
	249	G. Abu Ghusun	„	24	16	1	34	58	17	1,389
	245	G. Metawit	„	24	15	51	34	31	48	741
*	230	G. Abu Hamamid	beacon.	24	14	41	34	47	38	1,747
	250	G. Um Usher	summit.	24	14	11	34	53	21	1,487
	259	G. Um Hasidok	„	24	12	45	34	54	46	1,497
*	229	G. Hamata	beacon.	24	12	17	35	0	16	1,978
	258	G. Abarun	summit.	24	11	20	34	50	18	1,602
	257	G. Abu Argub	„	24	11	1	34	45	43	1,609
	75	G. Hamrat Mukbud	cairn.	24	9	53	34	23	17	890
	254	G. Ras el Kharit	peak.	24	9	25	35	1	55	1,661
	261	G. Khashir	summit.	24	9	14	35	4	50	1,565
	262	G. Ras el Kharit	peak.	24	9	2	35	0	28	1,564
*	256	G. Kahfa	beacon.	24	8	18	34	38	55	1,018
[53]*	399	Hill near Bir Qoleib	beacon.	24	8	6	33	42	46	355
	400	Bir Qoleib	clay basin.	24	6	36	33	41	20	239
	287	G. el Anbat	summit.	24	5	12	34	54	58	788
	263	G. Mikbi	S. end of ridge.	24	4	54	35	4	49	1,388
	276	G. Um Huk	cairn.	24	4	41	35	15	34	517
	279	G. Um Sellim	E. peak.	24	3	52	35	9	51	947
	320	Peak N. of Berenice	summit.	24	3	41	35	26	30	276
	264	G. Egat	peak.	24	3	40	35	3	32	1,277
	273	G. Egat	summit.	24	2	52	35	2	29	1,422
	280	G. Abu Ghalqa	cairn.	24	1	7	35	16	47	561
*	260	G. Abu Gurdi	beacon.	24	0	11	35	5	17	1,562
	288	G. Derhib	summit.	24	0	8	35	1	29	1,160
*	315	Hill near Berenice	beacon.	24	0	4	35	30	37	196
	268	G. el Homur	summit.	23	58	54	34	55	16	731
	289	G. Um Gunud	cairn.	23	57	46	35	12	10	989
*	339	Limestone hill on Ras Benas	beacon.	23	57	16	35	43	10	187
	271	G. Selaia	summit.	23	57	14	34	52	13	787
*	317	Hill on Ras Benas	beacon.	23	56	40	35	39	44	193
*	316	Limestone peak, Ras Benas	„	23	56	36	35	36	9	189
*	338	Hill on Ras Benas	cairn.	23	56	1	35	40	53	197
	291	G. Aidab	summit.	23	55	52	35	13	38	848
	270	Hill near G. Selaia	„	23	55	46	34	53	58	623
*	275	Low hill near G. Selaia	beacon.	23	55	30	34	54	37	563
	278	G. Geneina	peak near N. end.	23	54	56	34	47	45	548
	336	G. Um Maiat	N. end.	23	54	45	35	13	35	928
*	313	Berenice Temple	beacon.	23	54	39	35	28	26	8
	290	Marwot Elemikan	summit.	23	54	14	35	6	8	648
	319	Peak N. of G. Kalalat	„	23	54	10	35	13	55	870
	334	Hill near Wadi Mindeit	„	23	53	57	35	22	0	—
	340	Sheikh’s tomb at Ras Benas	centre.	23	53	50	35	47	13	3
	341	Tip of Ras Benas	sandy point.	23	53	42	35	47	5	0
	266	G. Abu Derega	summit.	23	53	38	34	59	13	831
	335	G. Um Maiat	S. end.	23	53	34	35	14	48	842
	333	High range N. of G. Kalalat	N. end.	23	53	3	35	15	1	875
	77	G. el Nekeiba	cairn.	23	52	34	34	22	10	570
	[54]330	Hill near Wadi Kalalat	summit.	23	52	29	35	22	18	328
	318	G. Um Maiat	central peak.	23	52	24	35	15	36	821
	332	High range N. of G. Kalalat	S. end.	23	51	59	35	16	29	762
	331	G. Kalalat	minor peak.	23	50	48	35	15	51	743
	294	N. end of Mukawar Island	—	23	50	47	35	48	31	0
	293	G. Batoga	central peak.	23	50	7	35	20	46	802
	329	G. Kalalat	N. peak.	23	49	57	35	17	6	1,080
	294a	S. end of Mukawar Island	—	23	49	53	35	48	19	0
	314	G. Batoga (S. peak)	beacon.	23	49	37	35	21	9	785
*	282	G. Kalalat	„	23	49	9	35	17	36	1,125
	328	G. Batoga	minor peak.	23	48	57	35	22	47	413
	353	Minor peak of G. Kalalat	S. one of pair.	23	47	37	35	18	46	894
	355	G. Um Hegilig	summit.	23	47	13	35	14	32	966
	327	G. Dibag	NW. peak.	23	46	47	35	21	23	517
	308	G. Dibag	SE. peak.	23	46	40	35	22	4	544
*	265	G. Dahanib	beacon.	23	45	44	35	11	10	1,270
*	269	G. Um Bisella	„	23	45	34	34	57	39	824
*	277	G. Zergat Naam	„	23	45	28	34	40	34	823
	345	G. Reyan	N. peak.	23	45	20	35	17	50	740
	346	G. Reyan	S. peak.	23	44	7	35	17	20	863
*	343	Hill near Shenshef ruins	beacon.	23	44	5	35	22	40	290
	292	Erf el Gemal	W. end of ridge.	23	43	37	34	52	10	673
	272	G. Hagar el Fil	summit.	23	43	5	34	42	3	845
	281	G. Shut	„	23	42	35	35	16	59	930
	398	Bir Abu Hashim	principal well.	23	41	56	34	4	26	320
*	397	Hill near Bir Abu Hashim	beacon.	23	41	44	34	3	33	386
	348	Hill near W. Salib Abiad	summit.	23	41	5	35	7	3	703
	325	G. Um Etli	central peak.	23	39	54	35	23	22	795
	384	G. Abu Husenat	summit.	23	39	45	35	1	15	725
	326	G. Um Etli	W. peak.	23	39	32	35	21	52	844
	324	G. Um Etli	E. peak.	23	39	26	35	23	53	764
	295	G. Hendusi	sharp peak.	23	39	15	34	58	44	678
	344	G. Um Akra	beacon.	23	37	58	35	16	41	1,050
*	385	Ruins of Um Eleiga	„	23	37	20	35	3	5	599
	302	Peak near G. Abu Dahr	summit.	23	37	16	35	6	44	840
[55]*	79	Um Harba	beacon.	23	36	56	34	30	38	688
	356	G. Um Akra	S. peak.	23	36	35	35	16	58	970
	347	G. Hindia	summit.	23	36	27	35	13	39	873
	337	Zeberged Island	central peak.	23	36	16	36	11	42	238
*	267a	G. Abu Dahr	beacon.	23	36	8	35	5	46	1,131
	305	G. Abu Sieiyil	summit.	23	35	16	35	1	4	833
	321	G. Faraid	peak.	23	34	8	35	23	18	1,131
	323	G. Faraid	„	23	33	29	35	21	50	1,341
	361	Hill S. of G. Abu Dahr	summit.	23	33	28	35	4	42	912
	322	G. Faraid	highest peak.	23	33	7	35	22	10	1,366
	342	G. Faraid	„	23	31	53	35	22	46	1,068
	360	Hill S. of G. Abu Dahr	summit.	23	31	43	35	5	15	772
	362	Hill S. of G. Abu Dahr	„	23	31	37	35	2	49	793
	359	Hill S. of G. Abu Dahr	„	23	31	17	35	6	22	784
*	285	G. Faraid	peak.	23	30	53	35	20	25	1,259
*	85	G. Um Khafur	beacon.	23	29	54	34	29	19	560
	357	G. Faraid	minor peak.	23	29	35	35	17	30	862
	286	G. Faraid	“The Bodkin.”	23	28	58	35	20	35	1,232
	350	G. Faraid	outlying peak.	23	28	39	35	17	35	875
	351	G. Faraid	peak.	23	28	35	35	16	31	954
	352	Granite peak near Wadi Rahaba	summit.	23	27	48	35	13	15	697
	349	G. Faraid	outlying peak.	23	27	14	35	19	5	904
	297	G. Orga	beacon.	23	26	21	35	8	17	682
	363	Hill near Wadi Rahaba	summit.	23	26	18	35	12	38	506
*	296	G. Abraq	beacon.	23	25	19	34	46	48	667
	365	Hill near Wadi Rahaba	summit.	23	25	2	35	11	42	536
	389	G. Faraid	minor peak.	23	24	57	35	24	42	585
	358	G. Faraid	peak.	23	22	39	35	22	19	916
	395a	G. Abraq	„	23	22	26	34	50	18	699
	395	G. Abraq	„	23	22	19	34	50	4	705
*	87	G. Awamtib	beacon.	23	20	59	34	26	39	793
*	299	G. Um Tenedba	„	23	19	48	35	10	40	656
	368	Hill near G. Um Tenedba	summit.	23	18	43	35	12	36	555
*	390	Plateau near Abu Saafa	beacon.	23	18	40	34	48	30	639
	307	G. Saalek	peak E. side.	23	18	18	34	31	10	753
[56]*	354a	G. Fereyid	beacon.	23	17	29	35	22	48	612
	394	G. Hodein	„	23	16	20	34	53	25	695
	380	G. Hodein	corner of scarp.	23	16	18	34	52	5	718
	304	Peak W. of G. Um Reit	summit.	23	15	26	34	30	14	805
	306	Peak W. of G. Um Reit	„	23	15	23	34	31	47	837
	366	Hill near Wadi Rahaba	„	23	15	4	35	16	25	420
*	300	G. Um Reit	beacon.	23	15	4	34	34	17	857
*	298a	G. Harhagit	„	23	14	35	35	12	52	542
	393	G. Tibatib	summit.	23	12	41	35	1	28	396
	387	Hill near Wadi Hodein	„	23	12	24	35	16	51	383
	396	Granite peak near Wadi Rahaba	„	23	11	11	35	20	35	355
	392	Rock in sea	(level datum).	23	10	55	35	35	57	0
	310	Isolated hill west of G. Etresia	summit.	23	10	35	34	25	23	703
	388	Hill near Wadi Hodein	„	23	10	33	35	16	32	309
	423	G. Kala	„	23	10	3	34	45	49	808
	503	G. Etresia	E. summit.	23	9	24	34	30	43	1,037
	303	Hill E. of G. Etresia	summit.	23	9	15	34	32	23	922
*	375a	G. Anfeib	beacon.	23	8	24	34	59	19	705
	364	Hill NE. of G. el Anbat	summit.	23	8	0	35	21	46	359
*	386	Close to Bir Shalatein	beacon.	23	7	57	35	36	23	13
	502	G. Etresia	summit.	23	7	53	34	31	24	1,038
	407	G. Kala	„	23	7	42	34	42	58	846
	311	Isolated hill north of G. Shigigat	„	23	7	16	34	24	39	901
	425	G. Kala	„	23	7	11	34	42	37	783
	424	G. Kala	„	23	6	51	34	42	30	739
	501	G. Etus	„	23	6	19	34	29	53	997
*	367a	G. el Anbat	beacon.	23	6	5	35	19	27	390
	312	G. Shigigat	conspicuous peak.	23	5	37	34	23	39	1,023
	406	G. Kala	summit.	23	5	16	34	42	19	629
	500	G. Aqab el Negum	„	23	3	26	34	27	20	1,149
	496	G. Natetiai	peak.	23	3	8	34	21	0	1,022
	499	Peak near Aqab el Negum	summit.	23	2	43	34	26	3	998
	498	Peak near Aqab el Negum	„	23	2	22	34	25	36	979
	497	Peak near Aqab el Negum	„	23	1	56	34	25	42	974
	495	G. Natetiai	peak.	23	0	49	34	22	7	1,164
	[57]373	G. Niqrub el Tahtani	high pinnacle.	23	0	42	35	0	58	828
	373a	G. Niqrub el Tahtani	beacon.	23	0	39	35	0	53	829
*	369a	G. Beida	„	23	0	14	35	16	54	716
	494	G. Natetiai	peak.	22	59	35	34	22	22	977
	508	Peak in S. part of G. Feg	summit.	22	58	45	34	20	29	885
	391	G. Humariai	„	22	58	38	35	9	36	563
	382	Hill S. of Wadi Beida	„	22	58	10	35	12	58	631
	507	Peak in S. part of G. Feg	„	22	58	2	34	19	15	836
	381a	Hill S. of Wadi Beida	„	22	57	30	35	16	53	631
	379	G. Mismih	„	22	56	56	34	45	32	599
	381	Hill S. of Wadi Beida	„	22	56	47	35	17	3	615
	510	Conical hill	„	22	54	48	34	40	27	504
*	401	G. Kolaiqo	beacon.	22	54	13	35	24	35	320
*	374	G. Niqrub el Foqani	„	22	51	29	34	56	49	1,078
	509	G. Waqif	summit.	22	51	21	34	38	57	556
	466	Tree at Mersa Shab	centre.	22	50	56	35	47	3	1
	419	G. Um el Kalala	N. peak.	22	50	23	34	44	14	672
	506	G. Sheyenit	„	22	50	13	34	18	23	853
	505	G. Sheyenit	S. peak.	22	49	58	34	18	15	887
	415	G. Um el Kalala	„	22	49	26	34	44	18	655
	418	Hill close to Bir Madi	beacon.	22	47	46	35	1	39	556
*	408	G. Meneiga	„	22	47	35	35	11	7	1,032
*	402	G. Meneiga	highest point.	22	47	31	35	10	57	1,092
	430	Hill near Wadi Tikosha	summit.	22	46	29	35	20	11	443
*	410	Gemeida hill	beacon.	22	46	29	35	37	49	123
	437	Hill SSE. of Bir Meneiga	summit.	22	45	58	35	13	3	987
	434	Peak near Wadi Ti Ilak	„	22	44	36	35	17	54	774
	376	G. Shabih	highest peak.	22	44	26	34	50	21	1,117
	527	G. Mishbih	NW. summit.	22	44	21	34	41	23	1,321
	378	G. Mishbih	beacon.	22	44	18	34	41	20	1,316
	440	Ridge near head of W. Shellal el Gharbi	high point.	22	44	15	35	12	18	1,092
	447	Qrein Salama	summit.	22	44	5	35	24	32	354
	435	Peak near Wadi Ti Ilak	„	22	44	4	35	17	46	849
	431	Hill N. of Wadi Muqur	„	22	43	55	35	18	52	670
	[58]414	G. el Naga	smaller hill.	22	43	32	34	27	22	747
	91	G. Seiga	cairn.	22	43	31	34	16	16	905
	377	G. Mishbih	E. peak.	22	43	28	34	42	39	1,311
	526	G. Mishbih	peak.	22	42	52	34	41	27	1,353
	413	G. el Naga	N. peak.	22	42	42	34	27	46	787
	445	G. Tueiwi	summit.	22	42	40	35	5	56	836
*	403	G. Gerf	high point on ridge	22	42	15	35	11	43	1,339
	427	G. Gerf	minor summit.	22	42	13	35	13	32	1,327
*	370	G. Gerf	beacon.	22	42	6	35	12	16	1,419
	412	G. el Naga	S. peak.	22	42	0	34	28	25	827
	436	Peak near Wadi Muqur	summit.	22	41	58	35	18	22	778
	493	G. Mishbih	S. peak.	22	41	44	34	42	41	988
	432	Peak near Wadi Muqur	summit.	22	41	40	35	17	35	962
	383	G. Muqur	„	22	41	31	35	16	50	1,058
	433	Hill near Bir Sararat Seyet	„	22	41	16	35	0	57	797
	426	Peak near Wadi Diqdib	summit.	22	41	6	35	14	30	1,258
	438	Peak near Wadi Qadiloi	„	22	41	3	35	17	54	911
	429	Peak near Wadi Eirahimib	„	22	40	51	35	9	55	1,227
	371	G. Shweib	„	22	40	43	34	43	57	914
	428	Peak near Wadi Eirahimib	„	22	40	38	35	10	29	1,327
	531	Mt. near Bir Baaneit	„	22	40	1	35	18	15	909
	404	G. Gerf	minor summit.	22	39	59	35	10	7	1,318
	405	G. Korabkansi	„	22	39	39	35	0	44	1,052
	446	G. Korabkansi	N. peak.	22	39	35	34	59	32	1,176
	614	G. Hamra Dom	„	22	39	34	35	38	19	326
	439	Peak near Wadi Diqdib	summit.	22	39	17	35	16	11	1,028
*	372	G. Korabkansi	beacon.	22	39	16	34	59	55	1,230
	420	Peak near Wadi Difoteb	cairn.	22	39	11	35	10	21	1,298
*	417	G. Hamra Dom	beacon.	22	39	6	35	38	42	388
	450	Tibansi Tikam Ankwei	summit.	22	39	5	35	32	11	345
	475	Peak near Wadi Sherefa	„	22	38	20	35	11	42	1,344
	411	G. Hamra Dom	central peak	22	38	2	35	39	12	381
	473	Hill near Wadi Um Saha	summit.	22	37	54	35	17	56	926
	532	Hill near Wadi Um Saha	„	22	37	53	35	17	56	932
	444	G. Dreb	peak.	22	36	54	35	6	20	1,139
	[59]615	G. Hamra Dom	S. peak.	22	36	48	35	39	36	317
	443	G. Dreb	peak.	22	36	41	35	7	0	1,148
	442	G. Dreb	„	22	36	40	35	7	46	1,137
	476	G. Dreb	„	22	36	16	35	9	15	1,176
	478	G. Dreb	„	22	36	10	35	8	21	1,224
	477	G. Dreb	„	22	36	1	35	8	56	1,191
	504	G. Kulyeit	summit.	22	35	50	34	16	38	724
	441a	G. Dreb	peak.	22	35	18	35	8	24	1,293
	533	Kilia Arib	summit.	22	35	2	35	18	46	647
	441	G. Dreb	peak.	22	35	0	35	8	36	1,288
	535	G. Dreb	„	22	34	15	35	9	42	1,095
	534	Tibashoi Tomakolat	summit.	22	33	4	35	19	40	464
*	449a	Kolmanab hill	beacon.	22	32	26	35	53	36	137
	566	Hill near Wadi Ibib	summit.	22	32	2	35	37	36	459
	619	Point near Kolmanab	—	22	31	55	35	52	40	110
	612	G. Medarai	minor peak.	22	31	23	35	13	5	1,103
	520	G. Medarai	summit.	22	30	58	35	12	5	1,299
	610	G. Medarai	minor peak.	22	30	56	35	14	37	922
	485	G. Anweiyib	N. summit.	22	30	22	34	53	42	871
*	567a	G. Eqrun (W. summit)	beacon.	22	30	10	35	37	9	473
	567	G. Eqrun	SE. summit.	22	30	0	35	37	18	468
	665	Adar Aweib Um Bishtit	summit.	22	29	28	35	33	2	455
	577	Granite hill	„	22	29	19	35	54	6	143
	522	G. Medarai	S. peak.	22	29	8	35	12	4	1,114
	528	G. Anweiyib	summit.	22	29	5	34	53	32	864
	587	G. Um Rasein	N. peak.	22	28	52	35	20	44	791
*	416	G. Um Rasein	beacon.	22	28	12	35	20	19	909
*	575	Einiwai hill	„	22	27	50	35	57	59	138
	521	G. Abu Hireiq	N. summit.	22	27	39	35	14	58	1,116
	609	Hill near Wadi Merdiyeb	summit.	22	27	21	35	15	51	856
	613	Tahaqayet	„	22	26	47	35	40	23	432
	596	Hill near Wadi Odruk	„	22	26	47	35	18	42	639
	595	Hill near Wadi Odruk	„	22	26	25	35	19	17	615
	582	Granite hill	„	22	26	23	35	56	20	155
	592	Near Wadi Odruk	peak.	22	26	9	35	20	9	627
	[60]523	G. Abu Hireiq	highest point.	22	25	57	35	14	39	1,319
	581	Osnei hill	summit.	22	25	38	35	50	42	251
	455	Hill near Bir Um Bishtit	„	22	25	14	35	33	19	634
	472	Mt. near Wadi Abu Hireiq	„	22	24	43	35	16	13	1,256
	611	G. Adatalob Hadal	beacon.	22	24	38	35	48	22	381
	451	Titailibab	summit.	22	24	32	35	38	52	593
	459	G. Orgem	NW. peak	22	24	31	35	31	1	779
	576	G. Orgem	SE. peak.	22	24	21	35	31	11	775
	488	G. Anweiyib	NW. summit.	22	24	16	34	49	46	884
	471	Mt. near Wadi Abu Hireiq	summit.	22	23	56	35	16	41	1,226
	486	G. Anweiyib	SE. summit.	22	23	37	34	51	25	921
	664	Hill S. of Titailibab	summit.	22	23	26	35	39	5	554
	422	G. Abu Hodeid	beacon.	22	23	18	35	14	9	1,482
	572	G. Adatalob Adara	summit.	22	23	1	35	49	58	385
	603	Near Wadi Tikraneib	peak.	22	22	57	35	18	38	732
	454	G. Meis-heit-ar	summit.	22	22	37	35	34	44	717
	470	Mt. near Bir Abu Hodeid	„	22	22	31	35	17	33	1,074
	479	G. Mansur Diab	„	22	22	28	35	10	49	1,091
	469	Mt. near Bir Abu Hodeid	„	22	22	10	35	17	51	1,078
	457	Hill near head of Wadi Qidmib	„	22	22	3	35	32	42	738
	583	G. Tishushi Tiboki	minor summit.	22	22	0	35	57	12	284
	647	Abu Hodeid Oqla	summit.	22	21	29	35	17	51	992
	492	G. Um el Tiur el Tahtani	„	22	21	26	34	34	46	783
	666	G. Meis-heit-ar	„	22	21	15	35	34	48	721
	580	G. Tishushi Tiboki	highest point.	22	21	14	35	55	46	359
*	569a	Ti Keferiai	beacon.	22	21	0	35	49	47	494
	598	G. Hamra Tit	SW. peak.	22	20	6	35	20	44	642
	461	G. Qidmib	summit.	22	19	55	35	30	45	1,037
*	456	O Shakafa	„	22	19	44	35	34	42	751
	597	G. Geror	NE. summit.	22	19	31	35	52	4	434
	462	G. Qidmib	summit.	22	19	13	35	30	23	1,108
	464	G. Qidmib	„	22	19	4	35	29	18	1,070
	463	G. Qidmib	„	22	18	49	35	30	15	1,099
	616	G. Geror	high point.	22	18	37	35	50	18	510
	584	G. Qidmib	summit.	22	18	18	35	29	20	1,089
	[61]453	Adar Aqdeib	summit.	22	18	6	35	37	51	736
	490	G. Um el Tiur el Foqani	„	22	17	56	34	41	14	946
	602	G. Geror	summit.	22	17	51	35	50	55	516
	649	G. el Sela	peak.	22	17	37	36	14	17	433
	487	G. Hadal Derqa	summit.	22	16	40	35	9	55	1,108
*	460	Hadal Aweib Meisah	beacon.	22	16	39	35	31	55	1,224
	650	G. el Sela	peak.	22	16	32	36	12	59	560
	491	G. el Adraq	summit.	22	16	22	34	35	3	770
	421	Qara Saba	„	22	16	7	35	41	34	778
	601	G. Um Seleim	„	22	15	58	35	21	35	1,098
	480	G. Hadal Derqa	SE. peak.	22	15	50	35	10	59	1,090
	585	Hadal Aweib Meisah	minor summit.	22	15	48	35	30	10	1,092
	604	G. Leqaq	summit.	22	15	40	35	20	8	1,192
	512	G. Heianai	NW. summit.	22	14	40	35	1	30	1,007
	668	G. Hamida	minor summit.	22	14	34	35	46	13	583
	620	Qash Amir	beacon.	22	14	31	36	12	20	724
	651	G. Sul Hamid	highest peak.	22	14	16	36	4	53	572
	568	G. Balatitda	summit.	22	13	56	35	58	5	592
	513	G. Hilwit Hasium	NE. peak.	22	13	50	35	14	38	1,037
	468	G. Adar Qaqa	summit.	22	13	47	35	19	0	1,606
	482	G. Heianai	SE. summit.	22	13	41	35	3	11	1,256
	618	G. Hamida	minor summit.	22	13	36	35	46	47	701
	608	G. Adar Qaqa	„	22	13	33	35	19	21	1,542
	448	G. Hamida	summit.	22	13	32	35	46	33	754
*	458	Halaib Fort	centre of top.	22	13	25	36	38	56	8
	556	G. Elba	peak near Bir Kansisrob.	22	13	21	36	22	23	820
	652	Hill E. of G. Balatitda	peak.	22	13	20	35	59	43	491
	555	Karam Elba	summit.	22	13	13	36	25	40	586
	525	G. Shanaiyet	„	22	13	4	34	49	43	907
	653	Hill near Wadi Warabeit	„	22	13	4	35	50	12	511
	676	G. Elba	peak near Wadi Yahameib.	22	13	2	36	20	54	935
	662	G. Balatitda	minor summit.	22	12	56	35	57	44	493
	489	G. el Hateib	summit.	22	12	44	34	43	18	854
	[62]674	Hill near Wadi Siamtit	summit.	22	12	42	36	13	10	507
	516	G. Hilwit Hasium	SW. peak.	22	12	30	35	13	14	952
	669	Mt. south of Hadal Aweib Meisah	summit.	22	12	21	35	30	40	1,072
	481	G. el Arib	„	22	12	15	35	8	32	1,112
	579a	G. Um Ein	beacon.	22	11	52	35	39	4	901
	667	Hill near head of Wadi Warabeit	summit.	22	11	40	35	47	6	651
	467	G. Soaorib	„	22	11	33	35	20	13	1,469
*	536	G. Elba	beacon.	22	11	27	36	20	52	1,428
	621	G. Elba	minor peak.	22	11	16	36	23	44	1,102
	675	G. Elba	„	22	11	10	36	20	35	1,394
	483	G. Heleikonti	summit.	22	11	7	34	57	59	1,151
	573	G. Warabeit	„	22	11	1	35	47	52	794
	518	G. Soaorib	„	22	10	54	35	17	48	1,397
*	571	Adar Aweib	beacon.	22	10	50	35	54	0	620
	538	G. Elba	minor peak.	22	10	17	36	19	34	1,217
	606	G. Soaorib	summit.	22	10	14	35	21	25	1,349
	98	G. Muqsim	cairn.	22	10	11	34	1	12	825
	589	Mt. near Wadi Baueiwai	summit.	22	10	10	35	30	45	1,266
	537	G. Elba	highest point.	22	10	3	36	21	52	1,435
	617	G. Mashushenai	summit.	22	9	54	35	49	45	634
	605	G. Soaorib	peak.	22	9	50	35	21	45	1,383
	678	G. O Sir Eirab	summit.	22	9	24	36	20	56	842
	677	Hill near W. O Sir Hadal	„	22	9	7	36	15	56	724
	519	Peak near Wadi Kirir	„	22	8	24	35	18	27	1,328
	465	G. Soaorib	„	22	8	22	35	23	36	1,431
	590	Mt. N. of Wadi Adar Ameit el Sharqi	NE. peak.	22	8	16	35	31	2	1,294
	670	Hill near Wadi Aqwem	summit.	22	8	12	35	43	30	724
	578	Hill near Da-aiyob Wushaq	„	22	7	45	35	44	8	833
	681	G. Hanquf	minor peak.	22	7	45	36	16	54	789
	591	Mt. N. of Wadi Adar Ameit el Sharqi	SW. peak.	22	7	12	35	29	54	1,299
	682	G. Hanquf	minor peak.	22	6	54	36	17	18	877
	[63]524	G. Um Reddam	summit.	22	6	23	34	59	55	1,109
	657	G. Miatit	W. peak.	22	6	14	35	34	12	1,229
	511	Mt. near G. Egat	summit	22	5	53	34	53	1	985
	484	G. Egat	„	22	5	39	34	52	15	1,145
	586	G. Miatit	SE. peak.	22	5	36	35	35	34	1,257
	659	Mt. near Wadi Adar Ameit el Gharbi	peak.	22	5	20	35	25	30	1,440
	540	G. Hanquf	N. peak.	22	4	52	36	18	45	1,397
	452	Hill near W. Di-ib	summit.	22	4	14	36	1	32	491
	655	G. Suruk	E. peak.	22	4	10	35	38	7	1,059
	588	G. Suruk	highest point.	22	3	50	35	35	28	1,327
	673	Hill near G. Suruk	peak.	22	3	46	35	40	16	846
	656	G. Shendib	„	22	3	40	35	36	1	1,275
	515	Mt. near G. Himeitra	„	22	3	17	35	17	52	1,134
	685	G. Shendib	„	22	3	8	36	13	44	1,427
	539	G. Shendodai	highest peak.	22	3	1	36	25	31	1,529
	672	Hill near G. Suruk	peak.	22	3	0	35	40	25	847
	661	G. Shiab	„	22	2	57	35	45	18	855
*	607	G. Hadarba	beacon.	22	2	53	36	47	23	217
	654	G. Shiab	highest point.	22	2	51	35	44	7	987
	517	G. Himeitra	summit.	22	2	46	35	14	19	1,231
	474	G. Is	cairn on summit.	22	2	36	35	28	4	1,736
	599	G. Is	peak.	22	2	24	35	27	35	1,659
	627	G. Shendodai	S. peak.	22	2	12	36	25	22	1,395
	684	Hill near G. Shendib	summit.	22	2	12	36	9	6	601
	600	G. Is	peak.	22	2	11	35	26	56	1,594
	671	Hill near G. Suruk	„	22	1	54	35	40	20	903
	593	Mt. east of G. Is	N. peak.	22	1	38	35	31	56	1,290
	570	G. Hanquf	highest point.	22	1	32	36	20	14	1,465
	640	G. Shendib	peak.	22	1	26	36	14	47	1,724
	641	G. Shendib	„	22	1	8	36	14	59	1,698
	594	Mt. east of G. Is	S. peak.	22	1	2	35	31	11	1,474
	642	G. Shendib	peak.	22	0	51	36	15	0	1,696
	543	G. Shendib	beacon.	22	0	48	36	16	30	1,912
	546	G. Shendib	peak.	22	0	46	36	14	49	1,674
	[64]544	G. Shendib	peak.	22	0	45	36	16	10	1,852
	687	Hill near G. Shellal	summit.	22	0	40	36	9	2	614
	557	G. Shellal	peak.	22	0	39	36	30	30	1,269
	529	G. Shellal	E. peak.	22	0	34	36	30	45	1,279
	574	G. Shellal	highest point.	22	0	15	36	29	40	1,409
	545	G. Shendib	peak.	21	59	56	36	17	6	1,863
	547	G. Shendib	„	21	59	49	36	15	42	1,668
	550	G. Shendib	„	21	59	8	36	14	16	1,565
	645	G. Shendib	„	21	59	7	36	13	22	1,227
	549	G. Shendib	„	21	59	6	36	14	40	1,525
	644	G. Shendib	„	21	59	0	36	15	20	1,552
	646	G. Shendib	„	21	58	58	36	13	11	1,196
	660	Low hill near W. Shendib	summit.	21	58	24	36	4	25	500
	541	G. Qeda	E. peak.	21	56	24	36	28	11	1,850
	542	G. Qeda	W. peak.	21	56	16	36	26	12	1,872
	514	Hadal Aweib	summit.	21	52	40	35	22	26	1,780
	628	G. Asotriba	highest point.	21	51	55	36	30	26	2,216
	551	Eir Aweit	peak.	21	50	30	36	22	48	1,715
	552	Eir Aweit	„	21	49	56	36	23	1	1,678
	564	G. Obkeik	N. peak.	21	49	55	35	39	40	1,837
	548	G. Asotriba	S. peak.	21	49	30	36	30	40	2,082
	565	G. Obkeik	S. peak.	21	49	6	35	39	29	1,856
	553	Eir Aweit	highest peak.	21	47	57	36	22	40	1,853
	554	Eir Aweit	peak.	21	47	38	36	22	32	1,759
	658	Adar It	sharp peak.	21	47	1	36	19	14	1,170
	409		beacon.	21	44	21	34	36	53	—
	558	Arit	peak.	21	40	26	36	22	50	1,529
	559	Arit	„	21	39	25	36	22	32	1,772
	663	Karai Awa	summit.	21	39	18	36	10	21	1,056
	562	Arit	peak.	21	38	3	36	18	57	1,410
	560	Arit	highest peak.	21	36	51	36	23	27	1,810
	563	Arit	high peak.	21	36	1	36	19	52	1,727
	561	Arit	W. end of ridge.	21	35	50	36	22	48	1,532

[65]Comparison of Positions determined on the Red Sea with those previously found in Official Marine Surveys.

It is interesting to compare the positions found for certain triangulation points with those determined by the British Admiralty surveyors and by Lieut. Koss, who accompanied the Austrian research-ship “Pola” in 1895-6.[74] The three best defined points of comparison are Berenice temple, the central peak of St. John’s Island, and Halaib Fort. In the case of Berenice and St. John’s Island the observation of the two prior surveys were made at stations a little distance from my triangulation points, but the published charts enable one to scale off the necessary corrections to reduce the positions to those of the triangulated points. At Berenice, the British Admiralty observation point, for which the latitude is given as 23° 56′ 16″, is 1′ 26″ north of the temple, so that the equivalent Admiralty latitude for the temple is 23° 54′ 50″. Similarly Lieut. Koss’s observation point, where the latitude found was 23° 56′ 27″, is 1′ 47″ north of the temple, giving the latitude of the temple as 23° 54′ 40″. My triangulation gives the latitude of the temple as 23° 54′ 39″, thus showing a remarkably good agreement with that found by the “Pola” observer.

At St. John’s Island, owing to the smallness of the scale of the available charts, it is a little more difficult to scale off accurately the Admiralty position for the peak and the reduction to the peak of Lieut. Koss’s point. As nearly as I can scale, the Admiralty latitude for the peak is 23° 36′ 40″, while the point where Lieut. Koss observed his latitude of 23° 35′ 47″, near the south-west shore of the island, is approximately 40″ south of the peak, giving the latitude of the peak as 23° 36′ 27″. I found the latitude of the peak to be 23° 36′ 16″, thus again showing as good an agreement as could be expected, having regard to the fact that it is not easy to scale the latitude of the point much within 10″ from the existing charts.

At Halaib Fort, the Admiralty latitude is 22° 14′ 10″, while the “Pola” expedition found it 22° 13′ 26″, and my triangulation gave[66] the value 22° 13′ 25″. The close agreement between my triangulation value and that observed by Lieut. Koss seems to prove the Admiralty latitude of this point to be some 45″ too high.

Summarizing the latitudes of the three points for comparison we have:—

	Berenice Temple.	St. John’s Peak.	Halaib Fort.
Admiralty Chart	23° 54′ 50″	23° 36′ 40″	22° 14′ 10″
“Pola” Expedition	23° 54′ 40″	23° 36′ 27″	22° 13′ 26″
Ball (Triangulation)	23° 54′ 39″	23° 36′ 16″	22° 13′ 25″

If we make corresponding comparisons of the longitudes of these three points, Berenice Temple, St. John’s Peak, and Halaib Fort, we obtain much more wide divergences, as is only to be expected from the fact that the Admiralty and “Pola” determinations were made by transport of chronometers from Suez, which is over 500 miles distant from Halaib.

For Berenice Temple the Admiralty longitude (obtained by applying the scaled reduction of − 40″ to the observed longitude 35° 29′ 11″ at the observation point) is 35° 28′ 31″. Lieut. Koss’s transport of chronometers from Suez via Jidda leads to a longitude of 33° 30′ 20″ for his observation point, which lies 54″ east of the temple; thus the “Pola” longitude for the temple is 35° 29′ 26″. My triangulation gives 35° 28′ 26″, thus agreeing very nearly with the Admiralty value and differing by exactly 1′ from the value found by Lieut. Koss.

For St. John’s Peak, the longitude scaled from the Admiralty Chart is 36° 10′ 20″. The observations of Lieut. Koss lead to a longitude of 36° 12′ 38″ for his observation point, which is about 35″ west of the peak; thus the “Pola” longitude for the peak is 36° 13′ 13″. My triangulation gives 36° 11′ 42″, being thus between the Admiralty and “Pola” values.

For Halaib Fort, the Admiralty longitude is 36° 37′ 3″, while Lieut. Koss’s figures lead to the value 36° 40′ 38″; my triangulation gives 36° 38′ 56″, thus again showing a value between the two marine determinations.

[67]Summarizing the longitudes obtained for the three points, we have:—

	Berenice Temple.	St. John’s Peak.	Halaib Fort.
Admiralty Chart	35° 28′ 31″	36° 10′ 20″	36° 37′  3″
“Pola” Expedition	35° 29′ 26″	36° 13′ 13″	36° 40′ 38″
Ball (Triangulation)	35° 28′ 26″	36° 11′ 42″	36° 38′ 56″

There can, of course, be no doubt of the immensely greater accuracy of the triangulation method of determining longitude as compared with that of chronometer transport in voyages lasting for months, no matter how many chronometers are carried nor what care is taken in the work. The above differences of longitude are small when one considers that no absolute control of the chronometer of the “Pola” expedition was obtained from October 23, 1895, when the ship left Suez, till its return to the same port on January 27, 1896. If we examine the difference of longitude between points fairly close together, we find rather better agreement between chronometers and triangulation. Thus, for instance, between Berenice and Halaib, a six days’ voyage, we have:—

	Longitude by Chronometers (Koss).	Longitude by Triangulation (Ball).
Halaib Fort	36° 40′ 38″	36° 38′ 56″
Berenice Temple	35° 29′ 26″	35° 28′ 26″
Difference	1° 11′ 12″	1° 10′ 30″

showing an error of only 42″, or about three seconds of time in the six days.

The triangulation-positions:—

	Latitude N.	Longitude E.
Berenice Temple	23° 54′ 39″	35° 28′ 26″
St. John’s Peak	23° 36′ 16″	36° 11′ 42″
Halaib Fort	22° 13′ 25″	36° 38′ 56″

[68]may therefore be taken as practically correct, and the three points may be used as well-determined positions both for further discussion of the “Pola” results and in further surveying expeditions in the Red Sea.[75]

Detail Surveying along Lines of March.

All detail visible along lines of march from camp to camp was recorded on plane-table sheets on a scale of 1:100,000. The usual process was as follows: The plane-table sheet was first provided with a graticule at 10′ intervals of latitude and longitude, and all the triangulation points previously fixed within the area covered by the sheet were marked in their computed places. Stations were chosen along the route at an average distance apart of two or three kilometres, the most commanding hills being selected, and the positions of these were found by plane-table re-section from three or more triangulation points. The compass, being frequently disturbed by magnetic rocks,[76] was only used to get a first approximation to the true orientation of the table. The plane-table station having been fixed on the map, tacheometric readings were taken to all conspicuous points easy of access within a radius of about two kilometres, and plotted at their measured distances along the directions given by the alidade.

In the telemetric measurements a 5-inch tacheometer was used side by side with the plane-table, and two staff-men were employed. As the scale of the map was small, the sights were much longer than is usual in tacheometry, and the maximum distance of 800 metres directly readable by the four-metre staves employed was generally exceeded. For the long distance readings, where the distance between two cross-wires subtended more than the length of the staff, I devised[69] the following process. Bringing the centre wire to the base of the staff, a reading of the vertical circle was taken; next, by the tangent-screw, the wire was brought to the top of the staff, and a second reading of the vertical circle was taken, the difference giving the angle subtended by the four-metre staff. It is clear that the distance is as many times greater than 800 metres, as the angle subtended is less than 17′ of arc, and the distance is thus found by simple proportion.

In the case of very long sights, even this method failed, because the circle could only be read to half-minutes, which was too coarse a graduation to give a good result, and in these cases the method used was one of repetition. The wire being brought to the base of the staff as before, and a first reading of the vertical circle taken, the wire was brought to the top of the staff by the tangent screw, then to the bottom again by altering the levelling screws slightly, again to the top by the tangent screw, and so on, three or four times, and then a second reading was taken on the vertical circle. The slight alteration of level had no sensible influence on the result, and it is obvious that by automatically summing up, say, four intercepts in this way, a very much more accurate value of the subtense angle was obtained than was possible from a single measurement. In practice I found it was best to carry in the waistcoat pocket a card giving the distance corresponding to any number of minutes of difference of reading after a four-fold repetition, and it was quite practicable to measure up to three kilometres of distance within one hundred metres of the truth; as this only represented a millimetre on the sheet, and as, moreover, errors were not cumulative, owing to the independent fixation of each successive station by re-section, the accuracy was all that could be desired, and the rapidity of measurement was very great. In this long distance type of tacheometry, finely graduated staves were of no use; the form of staff employed was a broad-faced one, fifteen centimetres wide, bearing fifty-centimetre divisions painted alternately black and white right across the whole breadth of the staff.[77]

An average of about six or eight conspicuous points having been telemetrically fixed from a station, the detail was sketched in around[70] them, and other more distant points were at the same time fixed by plane-table intersections from several stations. At the stations the pencil sketching of relief was by form-lines which were subsequently replaced by hachure-rendering when inking up the sheets in camp.

Occasionally, when a high hill-station was employed overlooking a long wadi, time was saved by reading only two distances, both in the same wadi, one very near to the station and the other two or three kilometres away, at the same time observing the depression-angles to these points. The slope of the wadi being found in this way, the depression-angles to intermediate points gave the distances of such points without the necessity of staff reading at the intermediate points at all. Thus, suppose the near point was close under the station, with a distance of 500 metres and a depression-angle of 18°, while the remote point up the wadi had a distance of three kilometres and a depression-angle of 2° 30′. By means of a slide rule or three-figure logarithms, the near point was found to be 163 metres below the station, and the distant one 130 metres. A point in the wadi estimated roughly as half way between the two would be about 146 metres below the station; so that if the observed depression-angle to it was, say, 4° 40′, its distance would be 146tan 4° 40′, or 1·8 kilometres. Any possible error of preliminary estimation of the distance in order to find the level would be without sensible influence on the resulting true distance.

The process of traversing between stations was seldom resorted to, as the method of fixing stations by re-section from triangulation points is much more accurate (the errors not being cumulative) besides being more rapid. But in certain tortuous cañon-like wadis, where great and time-consuming climbs would have had to be undertaken in order to see any triangulation points, the method of traversing with the tacheometer had to be employed.

Levels along the line of march were measured trigonometrically whenever possible; the vertical angles to one or more triangulation points being read with the tacheometer, and the distances scaled off the map, the differences of height, corrected for refraction, were found by the slide rule in the same manner as in the triangulation already described. Heights of passes and camps whence no triangulation points were visible were determined by barometer-comparisons between them and points of precisely determined altitude.

[71]Names of places were written down by the guides in Arabic characters on the spot where they were ascertained, and transliterated on the Egyptian Government system for insertion in the map. Most of the place-names were checked by getting the guides to give them from several different stations.

Detail Surveying at Occupied Triangulation Stations.

It was generally necessary to remain for at least a week on the mountain summits which formed the main triangulation stations, for only on about one day in seven was the air clear enough for sighting the beacons on the longer lines. Occasionally the entire landscape was blotted out for ten or more consecutive days by clouds surrounding the summit, while at other times it was possible to see only for a limited distance round the station owing to haze. Such times were made use of to map all visible detail within a moderate range (say within a radius of twelve kilometres) round the station.

In this work the first stage was to find a small base, one end of which was the station itself. Usually a minor peak of the same range, 500 to 1,000 metres away from the station, was fairly easily accessible, and was chosen for the other end of the base. The six-inch theodolite being at the main station, the five-inch tacheometer was set up at the auxiliary station, and all noteworthy hill tops, as well as a few points along each main line of drainage, were triangulated off this small base. The length of the base was found by including one or two main triangulation points in the round of angles. These minor triangles were conveniently reduced by the slide rule, and the points plotted at once on the plane-table by means of the alidade and the calculated distances. The base being short, it was necessary to observe to fine marks; cracks in the rocks, and the droppings of birds on the peaks, and the centres of selected tree trunks in the wadis, were usually chosen. The levels of these minor points were determined by vertical angulation in the ordinary way. Usually about thirty points were thus fixed round each high station. Once a number of points were fixed in the wadis, the levels of these gave the slope, and the difference of height between any other parts of the wadis and the station could be estimated to within a few metres by means of the knowledge thus obtained. A sketch being now made of the wadis, which appeared[72] spread out almost like a map below the station, a hundred or more points along them were selected, and their depths below the station being very approximately known from the wadi slope, their distances were found by observing depression angles to them and reducing the vertical triangle by means of the slide rule on the spot. In all, therefore, measurements were usually made of the distances of from 100 to 200 conspicuous points in the area round the station, and when these were plotted with the alidade on the plane-table sheet it was not difficult to sketch in all the detail with considerable accuracy. Usually it was not possible to see all round the mountain from the station itself, so that subsidiary plane-table stations near the main one were necessary. In other cases more than one small base was measured in order to get good angles to various points by the minor triangulation.

By the combined use of minor triangulation for peaks, and vertical angulation for points situated along drainage lines, it was found that far more sketching could be done in a few days at a main station than would have been possible in the same time by tacheometric work on the lower ground, and that of greater accuracy. More than half of the entire detail sketching was in fact done at the main stations.

Survey of the Coast-line.

In the earlier portion of the work, i.e., north of latitude 24°, the work on the coast-line was confined to the fixation of prominent points such as spurs and tips of islands. Some of these were fixed as intersected points during the triangulation, while others were determined by observing the depression angle and azimuth to them from trigonometrical stations of known altitude. In this latter method, taking the mean coefficient of refraction as 0·13, the formula[78] employed was

where d = distance in metres, θ = depression angle in seconds, and h = altitude of station in metres. This formula is rather tedious to work out, though the work is relatively not so great if a number[73] of points are to be calculated from observations at the same station. Prominent points having been fixed in this way, the coast-line north of 24° was sketched in from the Admiralty Chart, adjusting the longitude to fit the points fixed.

It was sometimes a little difficult, however, to identify the fixed points on the existing charts, and hence I tried to find some process of surveying the entire remaining coast-line de novo in detail. Traversing along the coast was placed out of question by the great expenditure of time and money which it would have entailed. Eventually I was led to devise a new method, by which long stretches of coast-line could be mapped by polar co-ordinates from mountain stations with great speed and accuracy. The directions of a series of points sufficiently close together along the coast were taken by theodolite, and the depression angles simultaneously observed with the vertical circle. Then, instead of computing the distances to the points, they were plotted by a special scale graduated directly in angles of dip; by thus doing away with all calculation at the station, it was possible to lay down the points on the chart as fast as the observations could be taken, usually at the rate of four or five points a minute, and it was frequently possible to map thirty kilometres or more of coast-line in an hour with great accuracy. As I have given a full account of this new method in a separate publication,[79] I shall not go into it further here, but would refer those interested to the publication just mentioned.

With the aid of the new method the entire coast-line from just north of Ras Benas southwards to the parallel of 22°, a distance of over 200 miles, was mapped in detail on the 100,000 scale. I had frequent opportunities of testing the accuracy of the delineation of the coast, both by mapping the same stretch from two widely-distant stations of different heights, and by subsequently surveying small portions of the coast directly by plane-table and tacheometer from triangulation points on or near the coast; and in all cases I found the accuracy to be very high, the differences found rarely exceeding the thickness of a line on the map. The tides in the Red Sea are so small in range (generally only about a metre) that variations of sea-level were practically negligible during the operations. Bearing in[74] mind the great difficulties attending the survey of so inhospitable a coast by the ordinary method of traversing, I believe the resulting outline of the coast on my maps is very much more correct than that shown on any previous charts. An accurate delineation of the coast-line in this region is of course chiefly of value as indicating the extent of land; it is of little importance to the navigator, for whom the positions of the outlying dangerous reefs, mapped by the Admiralty surveyors, are far more important.

Location of the Administrative Boundary between Egypt and the Sudan.

By an Arrêté of the Ministry of Interior issued in 1902 it was enacted that the boundary between the administrative divisions of Egypt and the Sudan should be as follows:—

Commencing at Bir Shalatein on the coast of the Red Sea, the limit runs to Bir Meneiga, thence to Gebel Niqrub, thence to Gebel Um el Tiur and to Deiga. From Deiga the line continues to Bir Esmet Omar, thence to Gebel Bartazuga, and finally to the Nile at Korosko.

This frontier was defined after a commission had sat, at the Mudiria of Aswân, to make enquiries as to the vested rights of the Bedouin tribes, the guiding principle being that all Bisharin tribes should be under Sudan administration, and all Ababda tribes (with one exception) under the Government of Egypt. A map accompanied the decision, but was of a very rough character, and the positions of the points specified were not known within several miles.

Part of my work comprised the precise fixation of the points specified in the Arrêté, with a view to laying down the boundary accurately on a map. As was natural in the case of a boundary settled without careful reference to the ground, certain difficulties arose in the location. In the first place, there are two distinct Gebels Niqrub, and two distinct Gebels Um el Tiur. I assumed the higher mountain of each pair to be the one indicated. Secondly, the precise point of the mountain was unspecified; I assumed the highest peak to be the point referred to. Thirdly, the text of the Arrêté disagrees with the map accompanying it, in that the map shows the line curved to pass close to Gebel Mishbih, which is not mentioned in the Arrêté. I assumed the text of the order to be determinative, and that between[75] the points specified the limit followed great circles on the globe, i.e., practically straight lines on the map. The locality called Deiga was not visited, and can only be approximately fixed; it is said by guides to be a narrow road near Gebel Muqsim, of which mountain several peaks were fixed by triangulation.

The following table gives the positions found for the various points along the boundary from the sea to the meridian of 34° (1) from my survey operations, and (2) as scaled from the map accompanying the Ministerial Arrêté. A comparison of the two sets of positions will show how much the survey has added to our knowledge of the geography of this part of the desert.

Point.	Latitude N.		Longitude E.
	From my Survey.	From Arrêté Map.	From my Survey.	From Arrêté Map.
Bir Shalatein	23°  8′  5″	22° 39′  0″	35° 36′ 28″	36°  2′ 30″
Bir Meneiga	22° 47′  8″	22° 41′ 30″	35° 12′ 20″	35°  2′ 30″
Gebel Niqrub (El Foqani)	22° 51′ 29″	22° 48′  0″	34° 56′ 48″	34° 51′  0″
Gebel Um el Tiur (El Foqani)	22° 17′ 54″	22° 18′ 30″	34° 41′  1″	34° 32′  0″
Deiga (approx.)	22° 10′  0″	22°  9′  0″	34°  1′  0″	34°  3′  0″

Variation of the Compass.

Careful observations were made of the variation of the compass at three stations, viz., Berenice Temple, Abu Saafa Springs, and near Halaib Fort,[80] these three points being selected as being well-known places and at the same time likely to be free from local magnetic disturbance. Berenice is on the coast-plain where only coral and sand occur; Abu Saafa is in a sandstone district about 100 kilometres south-west of Berenice, and Halaib is on the calcareous and gypseous rocks of the coast about 220 kilometres south-east of Abu Saafa.

[76]The instrument used was a five-inch theodolite fitted with a good trough compass. A lens was used to bring the needle accurately to zero, and the sun or a star was employed to find the true meridian. In each case several observations, each with an independent setting of the needle, were made, and the mean taken. The values obtained were:—

Place.	Date and Time.	Compass-Variation West.
Berenice Temple	January 6, 1907, 5·30 p.m.	2° 44′
Abu Saafa Springs	October 25, 1907, 4 p.m.	2° 37′
Near Halaib Fort	May 7, 1908, 10 a.m.	2° 18′

In order to find to what degree of accuracy the results of these determinations might be relied on, the instrument used was tested against the Kew magnetometer at the Khedivial Observatory, Helwân, after the completion of the work. Three observations for the declination at Helwân gave the westerly variation as

	2° 41′·2
	2° 58′·8
	2° 55′·0
Mean	2° 55′·0

while the true declination as given by the Kew magnetometer at the same time was 2° 52′ 5″. Thus it appears reasonable to believe the observed values to be within about 5′ of the truth.

It is rather curious to note that the declination observed at Abu Saafa is less than that at Berenice, which lies further east, even if allowance is made for the secular change in the interval. The difference from what one would expect is, however, possibly owing to errors of observation of the magnitude above-mentioned, or it may be due to a slight local influence of magnetic rocks underground at Abu Saafa, where the ground is near to the base of the Nubian sandstone beds, which rest presumably on eruptive and metamorphic rocks.

[77]It is interesting to compare the observations of declination at Berenice and Halaib with those recorded by Rossler[81] at the same places in 1895. Thus we have:—

Berenice.		Mersa Halaib.
Rossler, Nov. 27, 1895	3° 54′	Rossler, Nov. 18, 1895	3° 36′
Ball, Jan. 6, 1907	2° 44′	Ball, May 7, 1908	2° 18′
Diff. in 11·1 years	1° 10′	Diff. in 12·5 years	1° 18′
Yearly decrease	6′·3	Yearly decrease	6′·3

We thus arrive at a yearly secular diminution of declination of 6′ 3″, confirming the value arrived at by Mr. Keeling[82] for the rate of secular change in the Red Sea area from a comparison of other observations. It may be therefore concluded that the rate of 3′ per annum given in the “Admiralty Pilot”[83] is only about half the true value.

Travellers in the Eastern Desert should exercise care in the reliance they place on compass bearings. Bearings taken with a compass are generally normal in granite and sandstone country; but wherever dark igneous and metamorphic rocks abound, disturbances are likely to occur. Local deviations of 5° to 10° are quite common, and in some serpentine areas even 40° of disturbance may be observed. In some places, one can deflect the needle through a large angle by means of a fragment of the rock no larger than a nut, so rich are some of the basic rocks in magnetic minerals. Some lumps of rock even show strong polarity, attracting or repelling the north pole of the needle according as one part or another of the lump is presented to it.

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[78]CHAPTER IV.

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THE WADIS DRAINING WESTWARDS TO THE NILE.

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It has been already mentioned (p. 21) that all the drainage westward from the main watershed ultimately reaches the Nile by the three great trunk Wadis Shait, Kharit, and Alaqi. In the present chapter a detailed description will be given of those parts of these wadis and their tributaries which are known within the area under discussion. The following scheme shows the relations of the principal tributaries, important feeders of the tributaries themselves being indicated in (brackets):—

			Wadi Dweig.
Wadi Shait			Wadi Muelih (Wadi Gerf, Rod el Ligah, Wadi Sibrit).
			Wadi Hamish.
			Wadi Hilgit (Wadi Um Hasidok, Wadi Um el Tiur).
			Wadi Egat.
			Wadi el Anbat.
			Wadi Abarun.
			Wadi Um Daba.
			Wadi Abu Argub.
			Wadi Safihat.
			Wadi Um Sellim.
			Wadi Medsus.
Wadi Kharit			Wadi Abu Gurdi.
			Wadi Elemikan (Rod el Geneina).
			Wadi Abu Hashim.
			Wadi Helie.
			Wadi Abu Hamamid (Wadi Marasani, Wadi el Sheikh).
			Rod el Kharuf (Wadi Abu Had).
			Wadi Khashab (Wadi Metawit, Wadi Antar).
			Wadi Garara (Wadi el Kreim, Wadi Timsah, Wadi Ghadrib, Wadi Abu Hashim, Wadi Abu Homur).
			Wadi Natash.
			Wadi Himeitra.
			Miti Kwan (Wadi Duag, Wadi Kirir, Wadi Merau, Wadi Miaus).
			Wadi Dageina.
			Wadi Alfawi.
			Wadi Egat (Wadi Hiteib).
			Wadi Hateib (Wadi Suhin).
Wadi Alaqi			Wadi Guqub.
			Wadi Um Teneideb.
			Wadi Defeit (Wadi Sarid, Wadi Dauriai, Wadi Hamida, Wadi Bint el Feqoh, Wadi Anweiyib, Wadi Meladoyeb, Rod Hawanin, Wadi Bagharid).
			Wadi Eleifat.
			Wadi Seiga (Wadi Um Derera, Wadi Abu Had, Wadi Um Gholqa).

[79]Most of the drainage-lines mentioned in the description will be found marked on the orographical map which forms Plate I; but the scale of that map is too small for all the minor feeders to be indicated with clearness.

Wadi Shait, an important main trunk wadi draining westwards to the Nile, originates at the west foot of Gebel Ras Shait, in lat. 24° 50′, long. 34° 31′, and joins the Nile Valley a little to the north of Kom Ombo. It has a total length of very nearly 200 kilometres, and an average fall of three metres per kilometre. The fall is much more rapid in the upper reaches than lower down; in the first fifty-five kilometres of its length, from the foot of Gebel Ras Shait to Bir Um Gubur, the fall is 340 metres, or an average gradient of six metres per kilometre, while from Bir Um Gubur, for the remaining 140 kilometres of its course, its fall is only 250 metres, or an average gradient of less than two metres per kilometre.

The head of Wadi Shait is formed by the union of a number of drainage channels from a kind of cul-de-sac formed by Gebels Migif, Ras Shait, and Mudergeg, where it is separated from the heads of Wadi Gerf and Wadi Hafafit by flat sandy divides. Passing in a south-westerly direction to the west of Gebel Migif and Gebel Dweig, it receives as a tributary Wadi Dweig (in which are the ruins of an ancient station) on the left. Taking thence a more westerly course it traverses more open country, and then narrows among hills north-west of the remarkable peak of Gebel Abu Khrug. At a bend further on is Bir Murra, a shallow well sunk in the alluvium of the wadi floor at the foot of a serpentine scarp; the water here (as the name of the well indicates) is very bitter, and is generally drunk only by camels. After passing Bir Murra, the wadi turns south-west, then curves again near Bir Um Gubur, about three kilometres south-east of Gebel Sufra, and about twelve kilometres below Bir Murra. Bir Um Gubur is a shaft about two and a half metres diameter, sunk about eight metres deep in the alluvium of the wadi; it was yielding good supplies of excellent water in 1906. About ten kilometres below Bir Um Gubur, Wadi Hamish joins Wadi Shait from the north-east. In the remainder of the course of Wadi Shait to the Nile, the principal water source is Bir Heliwat,[84] about ten kilometres below the[80] point of influx of Wadi Hamish, and the chief tributary wadis are Muelih, Beza, and Midrik, all of which join it from the north-east.

The upper portions of Wadi Shait contain a fair abundance of trees and scrub, but the lower parts are sandy arid wastes.

Wadi Muelih originates in the mountain called Gebel Iteima, in lat. 25° 8′. For about sixteen kilometres its course lies ill-defined over a sandy plain with scattered low hills, to Erf el Fahid, a remarkable east and west quartz ridge nearly two kilometres long rising among crushed diorites and schists to a height of 579 metres above sea, or ninety-five metres above the wadi, in lat. 25° 0′. After passing Erf el Fahid, the course of the wadi changes to south-west, and gradually becomes more enclosed by low hills. The first hills passed on the right are high ridges formed by great quartz veins striking south-west, at the foot of which the wadi forms a plain nearly a kilometre broad, with low hills and mounds of dark gneisses and schists on the left. At ten kilometres below Erf el Fahid, on the left of the wadi, is a horse-shoe shaped hill of aplite called Marwot Rod el Ligaia, to the north and south of which are other hills penetrated by networks of quartz veins. Two kilometres further on, a band of diorite gneiss cuts across the wadi, which then commences to narrow in among hills of crushed diorites, grey gneisses, and schists, with many dykes of porphyrite and felsite. These hills become progressively higher as one descends, and near the meridian of 34° the wadi curves round the foot of Gebel Muelih, a great bare white granite boss rising through darker rocks to a height of 330 metres above the wadi, or 707 metres above sea. Just after passing Gebel Muelih the wadi, which has here a width of only some 200 metres, turns south-west again. At this turn, nearly in the centre of the wadi floor, is Bir Muelih, an excavation about six metres deep in the alluvium, yielding very salt water drinkable only by camels. North-east of the well a track strikes over the hills towards Dungash mine. From Bir Muelih the wadi continues in a roughly south-west direction past Bir Samut (well about one kilometre north of Wadi Muelih) and then takes a more southerly course draining into Wadi Shait in longitude 33° 46′.

The wadi floor falls from a level of 484 metres near Erf el Fahid to 375 metres at Bir Muelih, the length of the wadi between the two places being about twenty-seven kilometres; this gives an average fall of about four metres per kilometre; the actual gradient varies from[81] about two metres per kilometre in the broader portions to over six metres per kilometre in the more enclosed parts of the wadi.

The upper parts of Wadi Muelih are barren and sandy, but the lower portions contain a fair amount of vegetation. The principal feeders of Wadi Muelih are Wadi Gerf, which enters by several openings on the left above Gebel Muelih, Wadi Samut, entering on the right in long. 33° 54′, and Wadi Sibrit, entering on the left in long. 33° 50′.

Wadi Gerf is the collective name given to a number of rather complicated drainage channels forming tributaries to Wadi Muelih. The principal heads are to the east and west of Gebel Nugrus. The eastern head is called Wadi Hangalia; it commences at about an altitude of 811 metres due east of the highest point of Gebel Nugrus, at a difficult pass leading over the main watershed to Wadi el Nom, and curves round the north spurs of Gebel Nugrus to join the western head. In the Wadi Hangalia are some old ruins of a mining camp, and also some recent prospecting workings and a well giving a poor supply of water. The Western head of Wadi Gerf commences in nearly level ground on the main divide west of Gebel Nugrus, at an altitude of 691 metres. These two main heads unite close to the east of Gebel Ras Shait, whence Wadi Gerf courses about north-west through low hills. A third head is in lat. 24° 52′, at a pass leading into Wadi Um Khariga. A fourth, called Rod el Atut, takes the drainage from all sides of the conspicuous black cone of Gebel Atut. A fifth, called Rod Um el Farag, drains from the mass of moderately high hills further west called Um el Huetat; these hills contain some old mines, chiefly in talc schists. The drainages from these various heads all eventually take a west-south-west course among low hills and over a sandy plain and enter Wadi Muelih by several openings near longitude 34°. Minor tributaries are Wadi Abu Seyal and Wadi Um Seyal, south-east of Gebel Atut, Rod el Ligaia, in longitude 34° 10′; and Rod el Ligah, in latitude 24° 50′.

The principal hills of the plain over which Wadi Gerf and its tributaries run their course are some very remarkable small black peaks collectively called Khusa el Faraon, a light coloured hill called Marwot Rod el Ligah, and a ridge called Erf el Sagur; these two last rise to 514 and 523 metres above sea-level respectively.

[82]Wadi Gerf possesses a fair amount of vegetation, except where it meanders over the sandy plains; in the tributaries Wadi Um Seyal and Wadi Abu Seyal acacia trees are specially numerous.

Wadi Sibrit is a long narrow wadi following a course somewhat south of west, originating to the west of Gebel Mudergeg and joining Wadi Muelih in longitude 33° 50′. It possesses many trees and a good well, Bir Sibrit. This latter is an excavation in the wadi floor, in longitude 33° 58′; it is said to yield a constant supply. In the spring of 1906 I found the water was at a depth of eight metres below the surface, and of good quality.

Wadi Kharit, one of the greatest trunk wadis of Egypt, has its principal head at Gebel Ras el Kharit, on the main watershed in latitude 14° 10′ and longitude 35°. Pursuing a course the prevailing direction of which is a little north of west, and collecting the drainage from numerous great wadis on its way, it debouches on the Kom Ombo plain and reaches the Nile at the same point as another great wadi, Shait, in latitude 24° 35′. The length of the main channel is over 260 kilometres, and of its tributaries probably more than twenty times as great. It drains an area of more than 23,000 square kilometres. Its average fall is about two metres per kilometre, but in its lower reaches its gradient is less than half this amount.

The principal tributaries of Wadi Kharit, which will be separately described, are the Wadis Natash, Antar, Khashab, Abu Hamamid, Elemikan, and Garara (this last with Wadis Timsah and Ghadrib as great feeders). I now propose to trace out the course of the main wadi in some detail, leaving its greater tributaries for separate description, but including its minor feeders.

The main head of Wadi Kharit is on the Nile-Red Sea divide, between Gebel Ras el Kharit and Gebel Mikbi, at an altitude of considerably more than 600 metres above the sea. The wadi at first courses a little south of west, over a gently falling sandy plain with hills of bouldery granite, and curves round the south spurs of Gebel el Anbat.[85] Here it receives two tributaries, one from the north-west called Wadi Hilgit, and one from the south-east called Wadi Egat.[86]

[83]Wadi Hilgit originates on the main watershed in longitude 34° 52′, near Gebel Um Usher. A very steep and difficult pass over the watershed separates its head from that of another Wadi Hilgit draining northward to Wadi Huluz. The two wadis are called Wadi Hilgit lil Kharit and Wadi Hilgit lil Huluz respectively when it is necessary to distinguish them. On its course southward to Kharit, Wadi Hilgit receives as tributaries Wadi Um Hasidok and Wadi Um el Tiur, draining the mountains of the same names.

Wadi Egat drains part of the west slopes of Gebel Abu Gurdi and the south part of Gebel Egat, for the first half of its course being shut in by high hills and for the latter half passing over a gently falling plain.

After passing Gebel el Anbat, Wadi Kharit continues its course a little south of west, in broad shallow drainage channels over a great sandy plain. In this part of its course it receives many important feeders from the mountain masses which limit the plain to the north. The principal of these feeders are the Wadis Anbat, Abarun, Um Daba, Abu Argub, Safihat, Um Sellim, and Medsus. Near where Wadi Medsus enters, Wadi Kharit takes a more southerly course, passing north of a mass of low dark hills called Gebel Geneina, and here it receives Wadi Abu Gurdi, draining the west slopes of the mountain of the same name, the ill-defined Wadi Elemikan (see p. 84), draining the extensive plain south of Gebel Abu Gurdi, and the Rod el Geneina, draining from the hills of Geneina. A little further on, curving to the north-west, it receives Wadi Abu Hashim and Wadi Abu Selili, which drain the south flanks of Gebel Kahfa.

The next feeder is the Wadi Helie, which drains the west slopes of Gebel Kahfa and enters Kharit from the north-east; a well, Bir Helie, exists in this wadi about eight kilometres above its junction with Kharit. The well appears to be of the same character as Bir Abu Hamamid; it was yielding plenty of good water in the spring of 1906, but in the autumn of the same year the supply was said to be smaller and rather salty.

About ten kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Helie, Wadi Kharit receives Wadi Abu Hamamid (see p. 85), coming from the north-east, and some fourteen kilometres further on another tributary, the Rod el Kharuf, enters from the opposite side conveying the drainage from the north-west flanks of Gebel Zergat Naam.

[84]In the remaining portion of its course to the Nile, Wadi Kharit receives numerous other tributaries, of which the principal are Wadi Khashab and Wadi Antar on the north, and the Wadi Garara on the south (see pp. 86 and 87).

On the whole, Wadi Kharit is poor in vegetation; trees are fairly abundant in the central portion of its course, but both near its head and near the river it is very barren. In consequence of its sandy and arid character near the Nile, it is not usual for caravans to journey along the wadi from its mouth; Arabs from Daraw usually go up the tortuous and sandy Wadi Allawi, and thence enter Kharit either by the Rod Abu Modellim or by a track among hills which leads eastward to Bir Qoleib. Bir Qoleib is a good well in a small tributary of Wadi Kharit, about seventy kilometres by road from the Daraw. From Bir Qoleib to the wells of Abu Hamamid and Helie the westward journey is about 110 kilometres, while from Bir Qoleib to the well of Abu Hashim, south-east (on the road to Abu Saafa), is a distance of about seventy-five kilometres.

Wadi Elemikan is the name given to an ill-defined system of drainage channels meandering over the plain south of Gebel Abu Gurdi. It originates on the main watershed, and at its head there is a very easy pass over into the Wadi Lahami, which descends to the sea. At this point, which is 590 metres above the sea, the watershed is ill-defined, being a sandy plain; but while to the west the plain continues with only a slight fall, to the east it soon gives place to rugged country through which narrow wadis descend rapidly towards the sea coast. The plain west of the watershed is remarkable for the presence of three great bosses of quartz, the largest of which, called Marwot Elemikan, rises as a conspicuous cone of dazzling whiteness to a height of sixty-eight metres above the plain. Besides the drainage from the plain itself, Wadi Elemikan receives feeders from the hills which flank Gebel Abu Gurdi to the south, and also a portion of the drainage from the Wadi Abu Gurdi, which divides into two channels on emerging from the mountains. Passing between the granite hills of Gebel Abu Derega and Gebel Selaia, Wadi Elemikan courses a little north of westward over a great sandy plain to join the Wadi Kharit north of Gebel Geneina in longitude 34° 36′. It is a barren wadi, but water can sometimes be obtained a little north of it at a small spring called Megal el Selaia, at the foot of a low hill one kilometre south-east of the great[85] rounded granite boss of Gebel Selaia. I obtained a small supply of very good water here early in 1906, but the spring is a very slow one and is said to fail altogether in dry seasons.

Wadi Abu Hamamid, an important tributary of Wadi Kharit, originates as a series of gullies in the mountains of Gebel Abu Hamamid, on the west face of the main watershed, in longitude 34° 48′. It courses, among high hills a little north of west to longitude 34° 41′, then turns south-west and enters the plain which extends to the west of Bir Shadli. Here it receives part of the drainage from Wadi el Sheikh, and turns westward among lower hills, passing north of the red hills called El Hamra, to Bir Abu Hamamid, and then turning south-west between El Hamra and Hamrat Mukbud to join Kharit in longitude 34° 23′.

Bir Abu Hamamid is an important well; it is a rude irregular excavation, about six metres deep, in the wadi floor, down which men can walk to fill their water skins. This well was yielding more plentiful supplies in the autumn of 1906 than any of the other wells in the neighbourhood; the water was rather salty and muddy, but quite drinkable.

From near Bir Abu Hamamid, a track leads north-westward over the hills to Bir Khashab and on to Bir Masur. To reach Bir Shadli, one follows up the Wadi Abu Hamamid till it opens on to a plain, and then strikes almost due eastward across the plain.

A small tributary which joins Wadi Abu Hamamid from the north-east, in longitude 34° 41′, called Wadi Marasani, is important as leading to a pass over the main watershed into Wadi Marasan, a tributary of Wadi Huluz. The altitude of the pass is 685 metres above sea; it is quite practicable for baggage camels.

Wadi el Sheikh, the only great tributary of Wadi Abu Hamamid, originates in longitude 34° 40′, in the hilly tract west of Gebel Abu Hamamid. In the upper part of its course, it is a narrow winding wadi, mostly shut in by high hills, pursuing mainly a direction a little west of south, fed by numerous lateral wadis entering from among the hills to the east, of which the principal are the Wadis Um Somra, Krioni, Um Nasir, Um Hereini, Um Sereiha, Um Deheisi, Um Retba, and Um Hargal. Near the point where Wadi Um Deheisi joins it, the Wadi el Sheikh emerges from the hill country and meanders over a plain. At its entry on to the plain is the tomb and well of Sheikh[86] Shadli, views of which are given on Plate V. The tomb, from which the wadi derives its name, is a white domed structure, tended by a Moorish guardian. The Ababda Arabs hold the memory of Sheikh Shadli in high veneration, and make yearly pilgrimages to his tomb. The well, Bir Shadli, close to the tomb, is a shallow excavation in the stony alluvium of the wadi floor. Here there is a perennial supply of water, which, however, varies much in quality and quantity; after rain, there forms a large pool of good water, the surface being maintained almost level with the ground by underground influx; while when there has been no rain for a year or more the water is only found by digging to several metres depth, and then only infiltrates slowly at the bottom of the hole, the quality simultaneously falls off and the water acquires a saline and purgative character.

After passing Bir Shadli and entering on the plain, Wadi el Sheikh splits up into numerous channels, one of which joins the Wadi Abu Hamamid, while the others continue in a south-westerly direction, fed by the Wadis Um Retba and Um Hargal, draining from the north flanks of Gebel Kahfa. Uniting together as they leave the plain to re-form a single Wadi el Sheikh, these drainages turn westward among the hills to join the Wadi Abu Hamamid.

Bir Shadli is one of the best-known centres of the Ababda Arabs. Though there is no permanent settlement, it is seldom that many days elapse without Arabs coming to the place to water their animals, which graze in the adjoining wadis. Many roads converge here. To the west, a track leads to Bir Abu Hamamid. To the north-east, a track leads up the Wadi Sheikh, across Wadi Abu Hamamid, and by an easy pass near Gebel Marasan over the main watershed into Wadi Huluz. To the south-east there are several alternative routes by which one can journey over easy passes north of Gebel Kahfa on to the plain of Selaia and down the Wadi Lahami to Berenice. Yet another road leads a little west of south across the Wadi Um Hargal, and by an easy pass into Wadi Helie, a small tributary of Wadi Kharit which drains the west side of Gebel Kahfa, and in which there is a well of similar character to that of Abu Hamamid.

Wadi Khashab commences its course near Gebel el Heda, a little east of longitude 34° 30′, and continues in a generally south-west direction to the latitude of Gebel Hamrat Mukbud. Here it takes a westerly course, passing south of Gebel Homr Akarim and entering[87] Wadi Kharit from the north in about longitude 33° 49′. Wadi Khashab receives its name from its relatively well-wooded character; in its upper parts it presents the appearance of a broad valley, in which trees are so numerous as to give a very pleasing contrast to the dreary wastes on either side of it. Bir Khashab is a series of pits sunk in the wadi floor in about longitude 34° 23′, which were yielding small supplies of water in 1906.

The principal feeders of Wadi Khashab are Wadi Metawit and Wadi Antar. Wadi Metawit is a short valley originating near Gebel Metawit, and joining Wadi Khashab a short distance above Bir Khashab. It possesses an important well, Bir Metawit, excavated about eight metres deep in the centre of the wadi floor, about three kilometres north-north-west of the summit of Gebel Metawit, on a road leading south-east from Bir Masur to Bir Shadli. This well, near which are some large acacia trees, was yielding a plentiful supply of excellent water in the spring of 1906.

Wadi Antar originates near the hills of Nukheira and El Heda, and courses westward as a very wide shallow sandy depression south of Gebel Um Goraf. At the foot of Gebel Derera it turns southward, receiving the tributary Wadi el Anz from the left a little further on; it turns again westward and then north-west to near Gebel Muktil, beyond which it courses south-west and joins Wadi Khashab in longitude 33° 55′, a short distance only above the point where that wadi enters Kharit.

Wadi el Garara, the great southern tributary of Wadi Kharit, heads on the main watershed east of Gebel Um Harba. Pursuing at first a north-westerly course over a sandy plain, it emerges between two high sandstone hills ten kilometres north of Gebel Um Harba, and turns somewhat more to the west, receiving the Wadi el Kreim, which drains the south-east flanks of Gebel Zergat Naam. A little further on it receives an unnamed tributary which courses north-westward from Gebel Um Harba as a great valley nearly full of blown sand. Still further on its course it is fed by another unnamed tributary which, coming from the main watershed in latitude 23° 30′, courses over a wide sandy plain north-westwards. This latter tributary is very barren, but is of some importance as forming a very easy though sandy road over the main watershed to the Wadi Arned (which leads to the springs of Abu Saafa) and as passing, about five kilometres before[88] reaching the pass, a well known water-hole called Galt el Aguz. This galt is a huge sandstone basin in the hills on the east side of the road, fairly easy of access. After rain it holds an immense supply of water, but owing to the porous nature of the sandstone it becomes dry in a few months of drought; rude Greek inscriptions on the rocks, mixed with spirited drawings of animals, show that this source of water supply was known and used in Ptolemaic days. Besides the drainage from the pass, the tributary first mentioned takes that from the sandstone hills of Um Khafur situated further east.

A little lower down, Wadi Garara receives feeders from the north-east, draining the hills round Gebel Nikeiba and Gebel Felieiti, and then the long Wadi Timsah coming from the south.

Wadi Timsah heads among high granite hills a little north of latitude 23°, and courses in a nearly northerly direction for nearly ninety kilometres to join Wadi Garara. The prevailing character of Wadi Timsah itself is sandy and dreary, but its feeders from the eastern hills are richer in vegetation, and in years when there is rain they furnish in their upper portions good grazing ground for Arab camels. The principal of these feeders, enumerating from the south northwards, are the Wadis Um el Rid, Awamtib (with Wadi Um Marakh), Shabakhit, and Dagalai. All these drain the western parts of the high sandstone hills called by the same names. Water can be got from galts here after rain. Near the head of Wadi Um el Rid, there is a very easy pass over the main watershed into Wadi el Dreb, which leads to the well of Um Reit.

Of the Wadi Ghadrib, which heads near the hills of Gebel Abu Rahia and Gebel Um Rewat, in latitude 23°, and follows a course roughly parallel to, but a few kilometres west of that of Wadi Timsah, not very much is known. Its prevailing character is sandy and arid.

The small tributary called Wadi Abu Hashim, which enters Wadi Garara from the south in about longitude 34° 5′, is important as containing the important wells known as Bir Abu Hashim. The wells are excavations in the alluvium of the wadi floor, and furnish good water at a depth of about eight metres. A beacon has been erected on a high hill to the west of the wells and overlooking them, the position of which is latitude 23° 41′ 44″ N., longitude 34° 3′ 33″ E., altitude 386 metres above sea and sixty-six metres above the wells. The principal roads from Bir Abu Hashim are, to Aswân (first water at Um Hibal,[89] nearly one hundred kilometres distant), to Daraw (first water at Bir Qoleib, seventy-five kilometres distant), and to Abu Saafa Springs (a journey of about one hundred kilometres with possibly water en route at the Galt el Aguz, sixty kilometres from Abu Hashim).

Wadi Natash commences among the low hills forming the Nile — Red Sea watershed between Gebel Migif and Gebel Abu Had. It pursues a course roughly parallel with that of Wadi Shait, at first over a sandy plain from which rise the two conspicuous cones called El Nahud (the breasts), and afterwards narrowing in among hills. Pursuing a somewhat devious course in a direction generally a little south of west, Wadi Natash passes south of Gebel Nugra (in longitude 33° 40′) and enters on the great plain called Atmur Nugra, where it joins the Wadi Kharit and drains to the Nile near Kom Ombo.

There is, I believe, no water source in Wadi Natash itself, but Bir Masur is situated in a branch wadi only a few kilometres north of it in longitude 34°. At Bir Masur there are numerous pits sunk in the alluvium of the wadi, in one or more of which good water can generally be found at a depth of about ten metres; but the supply cannot always be relied on, for although I obtained plenty of water in March 1906, I found there was only a very small quantity available in October of the same year.

Wadi Alaqi, the greatest of all the Egyptian wadis draining westwards to the Nile, has its head on the main watershed near Gebel Is, close to the 22nd parallel in longitude 35° 27′. Its main channel, over 350 kilometres in length, pursues a general westerly course, winding at first, past the old mining centres of Darahib and Alfawi, towards Gebel Muqsim, on the 34th meridian, and then, curving round to the north of that mountain, it turns to the north-west, past the gold mines of Um Gariart, and enters the Nile Valley opposite the large village of Dakka, in latitude 23° 8′. The area of its basin is unknown, much of it being unexplored, but it probably comprises no less than four square degrees of the earth’s surface, or 44,000 square kilometres. Its heads and upper tributaries lie among high mountainous tracts partly in Egypt and partly in the Sudan, and occasionally the rainfall in these southern parts of the eastern desert is sufficient to convert the usually dry wadi into a temporary stream for a part or all of its length. That it may on the rare occasions of sufficient[90] rainfall discharge no inconsiderable quantity of water into the Nile is proved by Linant’s experience about 1830, when he records that the torrent from the Wadi Alaqi into the Nile was so great as to prevent his dahabîa sailing up the river past the point of influx, even with a good wind and all sails set.[87] A great flow of water down the Wadi Alaqi also occurred in the autumn of 1902 as a consequence of heavy rains in the mountainous country east of the meridian 34° 30′. This torrent was observed by Mr. John F. Wells, who was then manager of the Um Gariart mine. In the early morning news was brought to the mine that great waters were coming down the wadi. Except for a slight rainfall at the heads of the Wadis Qoleib and Haimur, the drainage of which did not appreciably swell the flood of the main wadi, there had been no rain within one hundred kilometres of the mine, and when the alarm was given, at 6.30 a.m., only a small trickling of water down the wadi was visible, and the news was thought to be an exaggeration. But an hour later the whole wadi was a raging torrent, and by nine o’clock there was a mighty stream, over 300 metres wide and from one to two and a half metres deep, rushing past the mine. The flow continued for about two and a half days. On this occasion the stream, in spite of its magnitude at Um Gariart, did not reach the Nile; after flowing for some seventy kilometres past the mines, it entered a wide depression at Hagab Kara, some forty kilometres from the mouth of the wadi, where it formed a great pool and sank into the sand. Mr. Wells informs me that the water did not penetrate the sandy and gravelly floor of the wadi to the bed rock (the thickness of the sandy and gravelly layer at Um Gariart is fourteen metres) till three months later, and then the rock, though damp, did not absorb enough water to yield any supply to wells sunk in it. The local Arabs stated that these downrushes of water, which they term “seil,” occur on an average at about ten-year intervals; the last one occurred seven years before that of 1902.

The part of the basin of Wadi Alaqi falling within the limits of the district described in this volume includes the whole country west of the main watershed between the parallels of 22° and 23°. This area is drained by numerous tributaries of Alaqi, all entering the main wadi from its north side. The following is a brief description of these tributaries, commencing with the uppermost (easternmost) of them.

[91]Wadi Himeitra is a small wadi draining the south face of Gebel Himeitra. It contains a well, Bir Himeitra, at the foot of the mountain, which is said to yield constant supplies of water. Below the well, Wadi Himeitra continues for about ten kilometres in a south-westerly direction, joining the Wadi Alaqi about seven kilometres above the ruins of Darahib.

The Miti Kwan, the next tributary of Alaqi, has its heads in the north flanks of Gebel Himeitra. Near its head it receives as feeders from the north-east the Wadis Kirir and Duag, draining mountains of the same name which form part of the Adar Qaqa range. About fourteen kilometres further down its course, the Miti Kwan receives the Wadi Merau, which drains the hills of the main watershed round Eir Arib. Below the point of influx of Merau, the Miti Kwan pursues a very winding course among the hills for some eleven kilometres, then receives from the north the Wadi Miaus, a small wadi with many branches among the hills and containing a well, Bir Miaus, about seven kilometres up from its mouth. After receiving Wadi Miaus, the Miti Kwan continues a winding course for about nine kilometres and enters the Wadi Alaqi on the 22nd parallel, about fifteen kilometres below the ruins of Darahib. A well-known road, connecting the Wadi Alaqi with the Abu Hodeid and Meisah wells, leads up the Miti Kwan for a distance of some twenty-three kilometres, and then passes northwards over a stony plain, crossing the watershed into the head of Wadi Hasium, in which is Bir Kagog.

Wadi Dageina is a small many-branched tributary of Alaqi, draining the hills east of Gebel Egat.

Wadi Alfawi, which enters Wadi Alaqi a little lower down its course, is likewise a small wadi draining the hilly tract east of Gebel Egat; there are some old mines on its western side close to its junction with Wadi Alaqi.

Wadi Egat, the next important tributary of Alaqi, drains by very numerous branches the remarkable peak of Gebel Egat and the south faces of Gebel Heleikonti. It contains a well, Bir Egat, situated east-south-east of the peak, about twenty-six kilometres up from its junction with Alaqi, and there are extensive remains of old mining operations to be seen in the same neighbourhood. Passing east and south of Gebel Egat, the wadi emerges from the mountains, coursing almost due west; and after receiving various feeders, the principal of[92] which is Wadi Hiteib, from the mountains to the north, it enters Wadi Alaqi in longitude 34° 40′, about twenty kilometres west of Gebel Egat.

Wadi Hateib,[88] which enters Wadi Alaqi about twenty kilometres below Wadi Egat, has its heads in the south faces of Gebel Um el Tiur el Foqani and the north flanks of Gebel el Hateib or Suhin. Coursing generally south-westward, it receives small feeders on the west from Gebels Adraq and Guqub. About four kilometres above where it enters Wadi Alaqi, Wadi Hateib is joined from the east by Wadi Suhin, the heads of which drain the south faces of Gebel Hateib or Suhin.

Wadi Guqub, a very small wadi which enters Alaqi six kilometres lower down than Hateib, drains the hilly tract which here lies to the north of Alaqi; it contains an important well, Bir Guqub, which yields good water though in varying quantity. A road leads from Wadi Alaqi up the Wadi Guqub past the well and on to Aswân, via El Haimur.

Wadi Um Teneideb drains the western faces of Gebels el Adraq and Guqub, and joins Wadi Alaqi in longitude 34° 11′, about thirty-three kilometres below Wadi Gugub. It has two main branches, which unite about ten kilometres above the point of junction with Wadi Alaqi. The old mines of Betam are situated near the northern of the two branches, about seven kilometres west of Gebel el Adraq, on the road just mentioned as leading from Wadi Alaqi to Aswân.

Wadi Defeit, which is probably the most important Egyptian tributary of Wadi Alaqi, has its heads in Gebels Heleikontî and Heianai, about the meridian of 35°. Its general course is that of a flat circular arc convex to the north and having its chord east and west; the total length of its main channel, from its head in Gebel Heleikontî to its junction with Wadi Alaqi in longitude 34° 10′, is over one hundred kilometres, while its numerous tributaries probably reach a total length three times as great. The principal head of Wadi Defeit is called Wadi Sarid; its branches extend among the hills close to the heads of Wadi Egat and Wadi Miaus. The name Defeit is applied to the wadi[93] where Wadi Sarid is joined by the feeders from Gebel Heleikontî. Passing between the high ranges of Heianai on the north, and Heleikontî and Shanaiyet on the south, Wadi Defeit receives numerous feeders, of which the principal are the Wadis Dauriai and Hamidâ, both entering it from the mountain to the south; continuing westwards, it cuts through the north end of the mass of Gebel Um el Tiur el Foqani, and on emergence is joined by the Wadi Bint el Feqoh, a great westward-coursing tributary draining the north flanks of the Heianai range and the more northerly mountain of Anweyib. Continuing its westward course, Wadi Defeit passes between Gebels Um el Tiur el Tahtani and Adraq; then it enters on an extensive tract of more open country, receiving three main feeders, Wadi Meladoyeb, Rod Hauanin, and Wadi Bagharid, from the hills to the north, before joining Wadi Alaqi.

Wadi Seiga, the next great northern tributary of Wadi Alaqi, has only been partially explored. Its head is in the watershed range near the conspicuous twin peaks of Gebel Sheyenit. Pursuing at first a southerly course, it cuts through the east side of the mass of Gebel Seiga; and about thirty kilometres lower down passes through hills with old gold mines on either hand. Below the mines, Wadi Seiga takes a south-westerly course, and receives a large tributary from either side. That from the west, called Wadi Deheis, heads in Gebel Deheis and curves round east of Gebel Abu Brush, receiving in its course two great feeders, the Wadis Um Gholqa and Abu Had, both of which head far to the north in the main watershed. The eastern tributary, called Wadi Um Derera, drains the south part of the hill-mass in which the Seiga mines are situated. Wadi Seiga joins Wadi Alaqi in longitude 33° 53′, some forty-five kilometres below the mines; the junction is outside the limits of the maps in this volume.

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[94]CHAPTER V.

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THE WADIS DRAINING EASTWARDS TO THE SEA.

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The eastward drainage differs strikingly from the westward in being much steeper and more complex, due to the greater proximity of the mountains to the sea than to the Nile. While all the westward drainages form parts of but three great basins, there are on the seaward side no less than forty-seven distinct drainage basins, each having a separate outlet to sea (see Plate II). Only two of the eastern basins, Hodein and Di-it, are comparable in size with the great basins of the west, the remainder being relatively small.

The following list gives the names in order, from north to south, of the main wadis draining to the sea, with their tributaries so far as they fall within the area treated of in this volume, the principal feeders of the tributaries being indicated in parentheses. It may be remarked that the minor feeders and tributaries are frequently of greater importance to the Arabs than the main channels, owing to their containing vegetation in greater abundance.

Wadi Dabur.
Wadi Igli.
Wadi Um Khariga.
Wadi Sukari.
Wadi Um Tundeba.
Wadi Amba-ut.
			Wadi Ghuel.
			Wadi Fegas.
			Wadi Ma-ud.
Wadi Ghadir			Wadi Sabahia.
			Wadi Zabara (Wadi Atabi, Wadi Um Abid, Wadi Um Dafiri).
			Wadi Allawi (Wadi Lewewi).
Wadi Um Gamil.
			[95]Wadi Huluz (Wadi Abiad lil Huluz, Wadi Mahali, Wadi Tarfawi, Wadi Hilgit lil Huluz, Wadi Um Semiuki, Wadi Um Hegiligi lil Huluz, Wadi Marasan, Wadi Um Suerab lil Huluz, Wadi Abu Gerifat, Wadi Um Iteili, Wadi Ga-etri, Wadi Abu Etl).
			Wadi Um Suerab lil Gemal.
			Wadi Durunkat.
Wadi Gemal			Wadi Hafafit (Wadi Abu Had, Wadi Hefeifit).
			Wadi Nugrus (Wadai el Nom, Wadi Abu Rusheid, Wadi Abu Sada, Wadi Sikait).
			Wadi Mukhatatat.
			Wadi Um Sueh.
			Wadi Um Heran.
			Wadi Nasbia.
			Wadi Abiad (Wadi Um Seyal).
			Wadi Um Kabu.
Wadi Um el Abbas			Wadai el Anz.
Wadi Abu Ghusun			Wadi Romit (Wadi Shoab, Wadi Abu Hegilig, Wadi Hefeiri).
Wadi el Ranga.
Wadi Hamata.
Wadi Haratreit.
Wadi Khashir.
Wadi Mikbi.
			Wadi Um Karaba.
			Wadi Eidab.
			Wadi Um Gunud.
			Wadi Um Rishan.
Wadi Lahami			Wadi Um Homar.
			Wadi Sefent.
			Wadi Um Khuzama.
			Wadi Um Ghobasha.
			Wadi Gumudlum.
			Wadi Abu Marwa lil Lahami.
Wadi Mukhit			Wadi Naait (Wadi Um Sumur, Wadi Abu Marwa lil Naait, Wadi Abu Ghalqa).
			Wadi Abu Daba (Wadi Murra).
Wadi Abu Dibban.
Wadi Mindeit			Wadi Um Sellim lil Mindeit.
			Wadi Um Maiat.
Wadi Kalalat			Wadi Dibag lil Batoga.
			Wadi Um Sellim.
Wadi Um Goran.
Wadi Kunserob			Wadi Dibag lil Kunserob.
Wadi Abu Beriga.
			[96]Wadi Abu Debebi lil Khoda.
			Wadi Salib el Abiad.
			Wadi Salib el Azraq (Wadi Um Karaba).
			Wadi Allawi.
			Wadi Um Tawil lil Khoda.
			Wadi Hindia.
			Wadi Um Akra.
Wadi Khoda			Wadi Shut (Wadi Abu Hugban, Wadi Tawil lil Shut).
			Wadi Um Gubur.
			Wadi Shib.
			Wadi Um Seyal lil Khoda.
			Wadi Gumudlum.
			Wadi Bulluk.
			Wadi Um Lassaf.
			Wadi Shenshef.
Wadi Um Etli.
Wadi Sorubiab			Wadi Bint el Kurdum.
			Wadi Titai.
			Wadi Abu Nikheil.
			Wadi Abu Reye.
			Wadi Um Buerat.
Wadi Rahaba			Wadi Abiad (Rod Elbel, Wadi Abu Ribian).
			Wadi Megah.
			Wadi Hutit.
			Wadi Dagalai lil Rahaba.
			Wadi Abu Had.
			Wadi Marafai.
			Wadi Arned (Wadi Muegil, Wadi Um Arta).
			Wadi Saalek.
			Wadi Um Reit (Wadi Dreb, Wadi Malhat).
			Talet Um Danaqa.
			Talet Um Sideiri.
			Wadi Gihab (Wadi Gihab Abu Derb).
			Wadi Maghal.
			Wadi Naam (Wadi Fil, Wadi Abu Seyal, Wadi Um Bisilla, Wadi Erf Um Araka, Wadi Arais, Wadi Silsila, Wadi Abraq, Wadi Betan).
			Wadi Dif (Wadi Feqoh, Talet Um Karaba, Wadi Enqireidia, Wadi Gelabat Shabai).
Wadi Hodein			Wadi Orga el Atshani.
			Wadi Orga el Rayani.
			Wadi Anfeib (Wadi Anfeib el Tawayib, Wadi Atalab, Wadi Mitatib).
			Wadi Khasiya.
			Wadi Madi (Wadi Difotib, Wadi Eirahimib, Wadi Faditiai, Wadi Shellal el Gharbi, Wadi Sinatib, Wadi Tugudbaia, Wadi Berendiyeb, Wadi Atluk, Rod Mukrayib, Wadi Kolaiqo, Wadi Edunqul).
			Wadi Um Tenedba.
			Wadi Khashab (Wadi Dehaiartib).
			Wadi Um Seleim.
			Wadi Kreiga (Wadi Korbiai, Wadi Meneiga, Wadi Abiad, Wadi Eberer, Wadi Shigig).
Wadi Kolaiqo.
			[97]Wadi Radad.
			Wadi Shellal el Sharqi.
			Wadi Muqur (Wadi Ti Ilak, Wadi Tikosha).
			Wadi Qadiloi (Talet Tihu Shana).
Wadi Shab			Wadi Baaneit.
			Wadi Kilanai.
			Wadi Diqdib.
			Wadi Um Saha.
			Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi.
			Kwat Hewah.
			Wadi Mantil Hasium.
			Wadi Hilwit Hasium.
			Wadi Shinai.
			Wadi Delawet.
			Wadi Abu Hodeid.
			Rod Anut Berer.
			Wadi Tikraneib.
Wadi Ibib (Hasium)			Wadi Abu Hireiq.
			Wadi Odruk.
			Wadi Nilateib.
			Wadi Medarai (Wadi Merdiyeb, Wadi Um Rasein).
			Wadi Soaorib (Wadi Haiyo, Wadi Hankuk, Wadi Dishlo, Wadi Eimya, Wadi Qidmib).
			Wadi Um Bishtit (Wadi Delawet, Wadi Orgem).
			Wadi Habliai.
			Wadi Sarobaiya.
			Wadi Awitla.
			Wadi Lasewid.
Wadi Meisah			Sarob Kwan.
			Akla Da-aiyob.
			Hanqun Ra-ub.
			Wadi Eqaiyib.
			Wadi Shendib.
			Wadi Hareitra.
			Wadi Qurat (Wadi Dibir, Wadi Hashimaiyib, Wadi Oshqeq, Wadi Mashushenai).
			O Harbub.
Wadi Kiraf (Di-ib)			Wadi Salalob.
			Wadi Warabeit (Sarob Kwan, Wadi Wi-eqwer, Wadi Kwileimidaiyeib).
			Wadi Qumad Lim.
			Wad el Qireira (Wadi Didaut, Wadi Baueiwai).
			Wadi Halal Hendiyeb.
Wadi Di-it.
Wadi Eikwan.
			Wadi O Sir Hadal.
Wadi Yoider			Wadi Qeirat.
			Wadi Siamtit.
			Wadi Akwamtra.
Wadi Aideib			Wadi Yahameib (Wadi Akau, Wadi Kansisrob).
Wadi Todhi.
[98]Wadi Delowa.
Wadi Serimtai			Wadi Um Seyal.
			Wadi O Sir Eirab.
Wadi Shellal.
Wadi Aqilhoq.
Wadi Aqwei.
Wadi Kreit-reit-or.
Wadi Qabatit.

Wadi Dabur falls only partly within the district to be described in the present volume. It drains the hill country between Gebels Atut and Igli, by numerous feeders, and courses north-east to enter the sea about latitude 25° 16′, beyond the limits shown on the map.

Wadi Igli is a short wadi draining from Gebel Igli and coursing a little north of east to the sea somewhat south of latitude 25° 10′.

Wadi Um Khariga has its principal head in a cul-de-sac west of Gebel Ghuel and north of Gebel Hangalia, at an altitude of approximately 800 metres above sea-level. Near its head there is an easy pass entering from the west, forming a line of communication with Hangalia mine; the highest point of the pass is 773 metres above sea-level. After coursing for about twelve kilometres a little west of north between the high hills called Gebel Um Khariga, with a rapid fall, the wadi turns north-east, receiving just below the bend a large tributary which heads in an easy pass to Wadi Ghadir. Near this place a road crosses the wadi northwards through the low hills, and passes west of Gebel Igli el Iswid; it is said to go on to Qena. Further on in its course towards the sea, Wadi Um Khariga receives another tributary draining the south flanks of Gebel Igli el Iswid. The lower portion of Wadi Um Khariga has not been surveyed in detail; but it passes through a tract of lower hills and enters the sea in about latitude 25° 5′. The total length of the main channel of Wadi Um Khariga is about fifty kilometres, and the area of its basin is about 300 square kilometres.

Wadi Sukari, the next wadi to the south, heads at a pass from Wadi Ghadir; for about nine kilometres it courses east of north between the eastern range of Gebel Um Khariga and the craggy Gebel Sukari,[99] then turns more to the east and enters the sea a little south of Wadi Um Khariga. Near the south end of Gebel Sukari there are numerous ruins and some ancient gold mines.

Wadi Um Tundeba heads near the mountain of the same name, and courses about north-east to the sea. In one of the heads of this wadi, about three kilometres west of the summit of Gebel Um Tundeba, is an important water source, called Galt Um Tundeba. This is a rock basin situated about one kilometre up a little wadi; it contained a good supply of water in December 1905, but as it depends for its supply on rainfall in the surrounding hills, it cannot be relied on as a permanent water source.

Wadi Amba-ut is a small wadi originating near the granite hills called Gebel Amba-ut, and following a course about parallel with the Wadi Um Tundeba seawards.

Wadi Ghadir, which drains by numerous tributaries the eastern face of Gebels Hangalia and Zabara, as well as the hilly country round Gebels Ghadir, Allawi, and Lewewi, has a basin of over 500 square kilometres and a length along its main channel, not counting its feeders, of about forty-five kilometres; it enters the sea in latitude 24° 50′.

The principal head of Wadi Ghadir is at an easy pass between Gebels Ghuel and Um Khariga, in latitude 24° 55′, at an altitude of about 500 metres above sea-level. Coursing south-east, it receives important feeders from gorges in the west face of Gebel Ghuel; the principal of these feeders, Wadi Ghuel, contains water holes, which gave an excellent supply of rain water in 1905-06. A little further along its course, Wadi Ghadir passes the low hill district called Kurdeman, where there are some old gold mines, and then receives as tributaries Wadi Fegas and Wadi Ma-ud, draining the mountains of Ghuel and Hangalia. Taking now a more easterly direction towards Gebel Ghadir, it receives from the north-west Wadi Sabahia, draining the craggy felsite hill of the same name; there are some old gold mines about a kilometre north-east of this hill, in a branch of Wadi Sabahia.

The Wadi Zabara, an important tributary draining the north flanks of Gebel Zabara and the south-east part of Gebel Hangalia, enters Ghadir from the south-west, nearly opposite Wadi Sabahia. Wadi Zabara has itself three main heads, called by the separate names of Wadi Atabi, Wadi Um Abid, and Wadi Um Dafiri. There are ruins and ancient mines close to where the Wadi Atabi joins Wadi[100] Zabara, while in the upper part of Wadi Um Dafiri are more extensive ruins and numerous ancient emerald mines, as well as a series of rock basins which were yielding good water in 1905-1906.

After receiving the Wadi Zabara, Wadi Ghadir continues its course south-east past Gebel Ghadir, from the slopes of which numerous small feeders enter the main channel. Almost due south of Gebel Ghadir, in the southern one of two branches into which the wadi splits as it passes round a low island-like mass of hills, is Bir Ghadir, a well sunk in the alluvium of the wadi floor. When I visited it early in 1906 this well was filled by downwash, and the Arabs of the district deferred digging it out until the rock basins were empty; it is an important water source and is said to yield good supplies. The mines of Hangalia were supplied by water from Bir Ghadir in 1905, when nearer sources were dry.

About six kilometres below the well, Wadi Ghadir passes close north of Gebel Allawi, where there are some old gold mines. The Wadi Allawi, which with its tributary Wadi Lewewi drains the hilly country between Gebels Zabara and Sikait, enters Ghadir a little to the east of Gebel Allawi; both Allawi and Lewewi are very tortuous wadis, their names in fact meaning “crooked” in the Ababda tongue (Lewewi is a diminutive of Allawi).

Wadi Um Gamil, the next wadi entering the sea to the south, drains the hilly country south-east of Sikait. Very little is known about its course, the only part surveyed being the heads east of Gebel Sikait.

Wadi Gemal is the terminal portion, about sixty kilometres in length, of the main drainage channel from a basin nearly 200 square kilometres in area. With its numerous large feeders, the principal of which is Wadi Huluz, about eighty kilometres in length, the Wadi Gemal drains the Hafafit and Nugrus ranges of mountains on the north, and a great mass of high mountains, including Gebel Hamata, on the south. It will be convenient here to describe only the Wadi Gemal proper, leaving the great wadis which join to form it, and its major tributaries, for separate treatment.

The name Wadi Gemal is first given to the drainage at the point where Wadi Huluz turns sharply eastward in longitude 34° 39′.[89][101] At this point the country becomes more open than in the gorge-like Wadi Huluz. To the north is a mass of low granite hills, some of which have remarkable shapes, with a great deal of drift sand, while to the south are the higher dark hills flanking Gebel Um Suerab. Among these surroundings the wadi pursues a winding course, with a general north-easterly direction, receiving the Wadi Um Suerab lil Gemal and the Wadi Durunkat as tributaries from the south.

About six kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Durunkat, on the right (south) side of Wadi Gemal, is a locality called Geli, where there are extensive ruins. A very remarkable rock in the middle of the main wadi marks the place whence a track leads south-east past the ruins and across the heads of Wadis Um Ghazal and Mukhatatat into the upper part of Wadi el Abiad.

Passing a remarkable bell-shaped hill (Gebel Um Regeba, rising to 571 metres above sea, the “mosque rock” of Floyer’s map) about four kilometres on the left, Wadi Gemal receives two small feeders coming from among the hills to the south, and then the important tributary called Wadi Hafafit enters from the north-west.

Below the point of influx of Hafafit, the Wadi Gemal becomes more narrow, and shut in by high hills. Near the meridian of 34° 49′ there are some ruins on the north side of the wadi, and a little further on the Wadi Nugrus, one of the largest tributaries of Wadi Gemal, enters from the north-west at a rather sharp bend. Further down, Wadi Gemal receives Wadi el Mukhatatat and Wadi Um Sueh from the south, and Wadi Um Heran and Wadi el Nasbia from the north. The Wadi Abiad, which next joins Wadi Gemal from the south, is an important feeder. Two kilometres below the mouth of Wadi el Abiad, the Wadi Um Kabu enters Wadi Gemal from the north-west, while nearly opposite to it is a small wadi, called Um Sellimi, in which there are water pools after rain. The wadi now curves more northward round the base of the double-topped hill mass called Madaret Um Gamil. Just beyond the northward turn a road[90] leads up a narrow tortuous gully in a north-westerly direction, passing close south of the hill summit and forming the most ready means of ascent of Madaret Um Gamil; the climb from the road at the top of the gully is only about 200 metres. The course of the Wadi Gemal to the sea[102] has not been surveyed beyond four kilometres east of Madaret Um Gamil; it goes through low hilly country and enters the sea in about latitude 24°.

The fall of the Wadi Gemal averages about six metres per kilometre, being as low as four metres per kilometre in some places, and probably exceeding ten metres per kilometre where it emerges from the hills on to the coast-plain. It is interesting to note that the observations of level indicate a local increase of gradient above the place of influx of Hafafit and Nugrus. The Wadi Gemal is well supplied with trees, as are also almost all its tributaries with the exception of the sandy Wadi Hafafit.

Wadi Huluz is a long winding wadi, mostly shut in by high rock walls, draining the high mountains round Gebel Hamata and coursing north-east for a distance of over seventy-five kilometres to the point, near Gebel Um Suerab, where, turning sharply eastward, it enters more open country and takes the name of Wadi Gemal. The slope of Wadi Huluz averages fifty metres per kilometre for the first ten kilometres from its heads in the mountains. In the next ten kilometres the slope is much flatter, being twenty metres per kilometre. From twenty to forty kilometres from its head the average fall is only ten metres per kilometre, while still further down the rate of fall lessens till in the last reaches, just before entering the Wadi Gemal, it is only six and a half metres per kilometre.

The principal heads of Wadi Huluz are close to the south-east of Gebel Hamata, in a cul-de-sac formed by the high mountains of Gebel Hamata (1,978 metres above sea) and Gebel Ras el Kharit (1,661 metres). Here a number of steep gorges unite to form the main channel, which due south of Hamata has an altitude of 1,053 metres above sea-level. Following a winding course among the mountains as a rapidly falling valley with a sandy floor averaging 100 metres or more in width, it passes west of the great mass of Hamata, receiving the drainages from the north-east flanks of that mountain and from the north face of Gebel Um Hasidok. At its crossing the meridian of 35° it receives as a feeder the Wadi el Abiad lil Huluz, which drains the north face of Hamata and the south flanks of Gebel Abu Ghusun; draining mostly from granite country, this feeder has a floor of coarse granitic sand, from the whitish colour of which it takes its name.

[103]The next feeder of Wadi Huluz, called Wadi Mahali, enters from the south, its head being on the main watershed between Gebels Um Usher and Um Hasidok. Passing between Gebels Um Usher and Um Laham, the Wadi Huluz receives Wadi Tarfawi, draining the mountain of the same name from the east. Further down, feeders come in from Gebel el Mehali on the south and from the high hills south of Gebel Um Heshenib on the north. Near the meridian of 34° 50′ two important tributaries enter Huluz near together from the south. The upper one, Wadi Hilgit lil Huluz, heads in a very steep and difficult pass, leading into Wadi Hilgit lil Kharit. The lower one, called Wadi Um Semiuki, drains the north-east flanks of Gebel Abu Hamamid. Nearly opposite the mouth of Wadi Um Semiuki is another feeder of Wadi Huluz, which I believe forms the main drainage channel for the south face of Gebel Um Heshenib; but it is said to be very steep and stony, and my Arabs preferred to reach Gebel Um Heshenib by a small wadi, containing several tombs, some four kilometres higher up Wadi Huluz, whence there is a stony pass leading into the above-mentioned main drainage channel at a point above the obstructions in it.

About eight kilometres further on, on the north-east side of the wadi, there is a low gap over which by a very easy pass one can descend into the head of Wadi Durunkat, leading to Wadi Gemal. Some three kilometres lower down, Huluz receives two tributaries together; one, from the south-east, is called Wadi Um Hegiligi lil Huluz, while the other, from the south-west, is called Wadi Marasan and heads in an easy pass on the main watershed, over which a track leads south-east and south to the well and tomb of Sheikh Shadli.

Two sheikhs’ tombs and some smaller graves exist at a bend in the Wadi Huluz, three kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Marasan. Below these enter as feeders Wadi Um Suerab lil Huluz from the north, and Wadi Abu Gerifat from the south. The wadi now becomes very tortuous. Near the meridian of 34° 40′, on the south side of the wadi, at a bend where trees are very abundant, is a small gully containing the important water holes called Um Gerifat. These are rock basins fed by rain water draining down steep gorges from the hills round the twin-peaked Gebel Um Sedri; they are easily accessible in a few minutes from the main wadi, and contained good supplies of water in the winter of 1905-1906. About four kilometres lower down,[104] the Wadi Um Iteili enters from the east, and about five kilometres beyond this Huluz opens out into a somewhat triangular space, when the Wadi Gaetri enters from the west and Wadi el Khisei from the east. The Wadi Gaetri leads by an important pass into the more open country to the west (wells of Wadi Khashab and Wadi Natash).

At the open space above-mentioned, Wadi Huluz turns northward, winding somewhat, for some eight kilometres, and then, after receiving the Wadi Abu Etl as a feeder from the west, turns sharply eastward and becomes the Wadi Gemal.

Wadi Durunkat, a tributary of Wadi Gemal, forms an important road from Wadi Gemal into the higher parts of Huluz. By following it up to its head about twenty kilometres from its junction with Wadi Gemal, one can enter Wadi Huluz by a very easy pass in longitude 34° 46′, thus cutting off the long winding course of Wadi Huluz itself; and from this pass one can cross the main watershed by the Wadi Marasan to reach Bir Shadli.

Wadi Hafafit, another tributary of Wadi Gemal, has its head situated close to the east side of Gebel Migif, in latitude 24° 50′, on the main watershed, where there is an easy pass into the head of Wadi Shait. Following a very straight course for nearly forty kilometres south-east, with the remarkable range of high gneiss mountains called Gebel Hafafit on the left, and the sugar loaf granite hills of Abu Had on the right, Wadi Hafafit forms a broad barren valley in which there are heavy accumulations of blown sand. Wadi Abu Had, a small western feeder of Hafafit, is well known by reason of the well of bitter water, Bir Abu Had, at its head. An eastern feeder of Wadi Hafafit, which joins it shortly before the junction with Wadi Gemal, is called by the diminutive name of Wadi Hefeifit.

Wadi el Abiad, likewise a tributary of Wadi Gemal, derives its name from the coarse white granitic sand which forms its floor. Its heads are situated near latitude 24° 20′, among the granite mountains called Gebel el Abiad and on the northerly slopes of Gebel Um Heshenib. There is a very steep pass from its head, east of Gebel Um Heshenib, into Wadi Huluz. Pursuing an almost northerly course and falling rather rapidly, Wadi el Abiad is at first very wide, with high granite hills on each side. It narrows further down, at a point opposite Gebel Shoab, where a small eastern feeder leads by an easy sandy pass into the Wadi Shoab. A little lower down, passing into diorite[105] country, it turns more to the east, and after receiving the Wadis Um Seyal el Foqani and el Tahtani from the south-east, enters the Wadi Gemal near Madaret Um Gamil. The wadis called Um Seyal receive their name from the abundance of acacia trees in them; at the head of Wadi Um Seyal el Foqani there is a pass leading by the Wadai el Anz into Wadi Um el Abbas.

Wadi Nugrus, an important tributary of Wadi Gemal, commences its course on the main watershed west of Gebel Nugrus, in latitude 24° 48′, at the pass into Wadi Gerf, 690 metres above sea-level, and courses south-east in almost a straight line for nearly forty kilometres to join the Wadi Gemal in latitude 24° 34′ and longitude 34° 50′. The fall to this point is some 450 metres, or an average of over ten metres per kilometre, but the fall is most rapid near the head, where the floor of the wadi is rocky and steep; the slope for the first few kilometres is over double the average.

The approach to the head of Wadi Nugrus from the north, by one of the heads of Wadi Gerf, is almost a plain. But as soon as Wadi Nugrus is entered one becomes very sensible of the greater steepness of the eastern drainage by the stony nature of the track and the rapid fall. The wadi here is in fact only a narrow gorge with the huge mountains of Hafafit and Nugrus on the west and east sides respectively. Some three kilometres below the pass, close to the west side of the wadi, in a narrow gorge, is the spring called Megal el Harami, situated in gneiss rocks, and giving supplies of good water; the water infiltrates slowly, however, so that the yield is not sufficiently rapid to supply large quantities at once. Lower down, the wadi broadens out considerably, with a sandy floor in the middle of which low dark hills rise like islands. About thirteen kilometres below the head, an important feeder, the Wadai el Nom, comes in from the north-east. This wadi drains the south-east flanks of Gebel Nugrus and the west flanks of Gebel Hangalia; it contains rock basins holding water for some time after rain, and leads to a steep winding pass which enables one to make a circuit round the great granite mountain of Gebel Nugrus. The pass is, however, impracticable for baggage camels, and one has to dismount from a riding camel in order to get over.

Beyond the junction of Wadai el Nom, the Wadi Nugrus continues its straight course south-east, between the long range of Gebel Hafafit on the west and Gebel Zabara on the east. Some thirty kilometres[106] below its head, Wadi Nugrus receives the Wadi Abu Rusheid from the north, and a little further on one encounters on the east the ruins of an old village called Medina Nugrus. Just opposite the ruins is a small feeder called Wadi Abu Sada, a short distance up which are rock basins yielding water after rain, but these were dry in 1905. Not far below this, there are some old workings in a small feeder on the east side of the Wadi Nugrus, six kilometres above its junction with Wadi Gemal.

Wadi Sikait, a tributary of Wadi Nugrus, heads in some high red granite hills north-west of Gebel Sikait. A pass leads over the western head, while in the eastern one is a small spring, which, though a mere trickle, is said to be constant and to yield excellent water. These two heads join at a well recently sunk by miners. Lower down, on the flanks of Gebel Sikait, are numerous emerald mines, with an ancient tower and many other ruins, and in the wadi near these is another recently sunk well, which has only yielded water of inferior quality. From near the mines there lead two tracks on either side of the wadi. That to the west is a rough path over gneiss hills into Wadi Abu Rusheid. That to the east winds past the ancient tower, ascending gradually to a pass into one of the heads of Wadi Um Gamil. Lower down the Wadi Sikait are many ancient mines, and the ruins of three rock temples and an ancient village. Just before the Wadi Sikait enters Wadi Nugrus, a track leaves on the east for Wadi Um Heran, in which I am told water is sometimes to be found. The length of the Wadi Sikait is about fourteen kilometres, and its fall is from 535 metres above sea at the pass at its head to about 250 metres where it enters Wadi Nugrus, or an average slope of twenty metres per kilometre. It is a narrow gorge shut in by high hills, with a fair abundance of trees.

Wadi Um el Abbas originates by the union of several heads in the neighbourhood of the high granite hills of Um el Abbas and Abu Hegilig. One of its heads leads to an easy pass called Kab el Haram, four and a half kilometres east of Gebel Abu Hegilig. Another, close east of Gebel Abu Hegilig, leads to another easy pass into the head of a tributary of Wadi Romit. A third head, called the Wadai el Anz, leads to yet another pass into Wadi Um Seyal el Foqani, a tributary of Wadi el Abiad. The course of the Wadi Um el Abbas has only been surveyed for a short distance below the place where its heads[107] unite; it pursues a north-easterly course among low hilly country and enters the sea in about latitude 24° 36′.

Wadi Abu Ghusun commences its course among the high mountains of Gebel Abu Ghusun, north of Gebel Hamata. Pursuing a northerly course for about ten kilometres, it passes close east of the sharp granite peak of Gebel Hefeiri, then turns more to the east, receiving Wadi Romit as an important tributary from the west near the bend, and reaches the sea in about latitude 24° 29′.

Wadi Romit, a tributary of Abu Ghusun, originates in the granite mountains called Gebel el Abiad, near the parallel of 24° 20′ and follows a winding course in a general easterly direction for about sixteen kilometres to its junction with Wadi Abu Ghusun. It receives several important tributaries. The chief of these, Wadi Shoab, originates close to the south-west of Gebel Shoab, where there is an easy pass into the Wadi el Abiad. Another tributary of Romit, the Wadi Abu Hegilig, drains the south part of Gebel Um el Abbas, while a third is the Wadi Hefeiri, draining the hills round the granite peak of the same name. All these tributaries, like Wadi Romit and Wadi Abu Ghusun itself, contain abundance of trees, and have a rather rapid fall.

Wadi Hamata drains the eastern flanks of the high hills north of Gebel Hamata, its principal heads being about latitude 24° 15′. Only the heads of this wadi have been surveyed; it follows a winding course among the lower hill country and reaches the sea in about latitude 24° 24′.

Of the three wadis draining seawards south of Hamata, called Wadi Haratreit, Wadi Khashir, and Wadi Mikbi, very little is known, not even their heads having been visible from the stations which I occupied. The summits of the mountains drained by them have, however, been mapped, and their courses are approximately known from the accounts of Floyer; these are indicated on the map probably in nearly their true positions. Draining mostly steep and precipitous mountain faces, the upper parts of these wadis must have an extremely rapid fall, and consequently a rough stony floor.

Wadi Lahami, which enters the sea north of the peninsula of Ras Benas, is well known by reason of the easy pass over the main watershed at its head forming an important means of access to Berenice from the west. At this point, four kilometres north-east of the[108] white quartz cone called Marwot Elemikan, the watershed is sandy, level, and low, being only 590 metres above the sea. The drop on crossing the watershed is fairly rapid, the wadi winding about among the hills in a general north-easterly direction. About six kilometres below its head, Lahami receives the Wadi Um Karaba, which drains the south face of Gebel Abu Gurdi. A little further on, Wadi Eidab enters from the south-east; this feeder is said to head in a rough steep pass over the hills into the Wadi Abu Daba. After passing between the high hills of Gebels Um Goradi and Um Gunud, Wadi Lahami receives the short Wadi Um Gunud, in which there are two well known galts, or rock basins forming reservoirs of rain water; these contained good supplies in 1906-7. Lower down, Wadi Lahami crosses a stony sloping plain, where it receives the drainage from the north and east flanks of Gebel Abu Gurdi and from the mountains to the north of it, by a series of feeders, the principal of which are Wadi Um Rishan, Wadi Um Homar, and Wadi Sefent. East of the plain there is a sort of shunt or loop-line of Wadi Lahami, called the Wadi Abreik, which is preferred to the main channel for a road. Just receiving Wadi Sefent, Wadi Lahami turns sharply eastward, and then north-eastward, receiving as feeders Wadis Um Khuzama, Um Ghobasha, and Gumudlum, draining Gebels Um Sellim and Gumudlum to the north; these feeders are said to contain natural reservoirs full of water after rain. From the south, Lahami is fed by the Wadis Um Eshub and Abu Marwa lil Lahami, draining the lower hill country. The lower course of Wadi Lahami has not been traced in detail. It passes north-west of the well marked granite peak called Gebel Um Huk, as remarked above, and reaches the sea north of the peninsula of Ras Benas. To get to Berenice, one leaves Wadi Lahami about twenty-four kilometres below the pass at its head, and turns off south-east up the tributary Wadi Abu Marwa, which leads to Wadi Naait by an easy road.

Wadi Lahami is well supplied with trees; it presented a very green appearance early in 1906, but the absence of rain for a year made it much more desolate looking in 1907, all the foliage being then blackened and withered. Its length is approximately fifty kilometres, its average slope twelve metres per kilometre, and the area of its basin is about 650 square kilometres.

[109]The drainage from the low hills on the Peninsula of Ras Benas, except for a small portion which joins Wadi Mukhit, reaches the sea by a multitude of small wadis, none of which bear special names. The hills being nearer to the south side of the peninsula than to the north, the wadis draining southwards are on the whole much shorter and steeper than those draining northwards, and the latter cross a sloping plain two or three kilometres wide to reach the sea. Passage across the hills from south to north is only possible to camels at a few places. The southern wadis are mostly barren, but the northern ones contain abundance of a dark coloured grass of which camels are fond. There is no permanent water source on the peninsula, the nearest reliable source of supply being a galt in Wadi Mindeit, on the main land, about twelve kilometres west of Berenice. The tip of the low sandy projection of Ras Benas is marked by a sheikh’s tomb, one of the largest on the coast. It is chiefly built of wreckage cast up on the beach. From the hills it looks like a rectangular rock, and I determined its position by triangulation as latitude 23° 53′ 50″ N., longitude 35° 47′ 13″ E. The sheikh’s memory appears to be greatly venerated by sailors, and several of my camel men made pilgrimages to the tomb to pray.

The Island of Mukawar, about six kilometres south of the sandy tip of the ras, is nearly two kilometres in length from north to south. I did not visit it, but it has the appearance of being made of coral; its highest point, near the south end, is thirty-four metres above the sea-level.

Wadi Abu Daba drains the eastern flanks of Gebel Eidab and Gebel Um Maiat, and courses eastward through the lower hill country to the coast plain, where it joins the drainage from Naait in Wadi Mukhit. The principal feeder of Abu Daba is Wadi Murra which enters it from the south-west a few kilometres before its emergence on to the plain. At the head of Wadi Abu Daba there is said to be a rough steep pass over the mountains into Wadi Eidab. The place where Abu Daba debouches on to the coast plain is marked by a group of low bouldery looking granite hills called Khasheib Abu Daba.

Wadi Abu Dibban is a short wadi draining eastwards from the hills across the coast plain to the sea a little north of Berenice. In its course across the plain it passes a little north of a conspicuous granite hill called Sikeit, a well known landmark five kilometres north-west of Berenice.

[110]Wadi Mindeit drains the hills between Gebel Um Maiat and Gebel Kalalat, entering the sea at Berenice.[91] Wadi Um Sellim lil Mindeit, a shorter wadi coursing across the plain a little further south, is interesting as furnishing the nearest fresh water source to Berenice; it leads to a rock basin or galt among the hills, where rain water collects. This source is some ten or twelve kilometres from Berenice.

Wadi Naait[92] is a narrow tortuous gorge, with a sandy floor shut in by high hills, coursing eastward to the coast plain a little south of the 24th parallel. Though only a small wadi some sixteen kilometres in length, it is well known because it forms the usual road from Wadi Lahami to Berenice. Its actual head has not been surveyed, but lies probably between the mountains of Um Gunud and Um Hegilig. Its principal feeders are Wadis Um Sumer and Abu Marwa lil Naait, which enter it from the north-west, and Wadi Abu Ghalqa, entering from the north and draining the granite hills called Gebel Abu Ghalqa. All three of these feeders enter Naait near together, some ten kilometres before it emerges on the plain; the lower part of the wadi is free from lateral branches. The fall is ten metres per kilometre among the hills. On emerging from the hills on to the sandy coast plain, it joins an ill-defined drainage line called Wadi el Mukhit, which enters the sea at Port Berenice, some fifteen kilometres further east. The name Wadi el Mukhit is also given to other ill-marked drainage lines entering Port Berenice from the sandy tract between the hills of the main land and the hills of the peninsula of Ras Benas. Some three kilometres north-east of the mouth of Wadi Naait, on the coast plain, is a conspicuous isolated low hill, forming a well-known landmark and called Grain el Rih. The plain drained by Wadi el Mukhit is a dreary sandy waste, and the crossing of it in a high wind is very trying by reason of the immense clouds of sand raised and carried in the air.

Wadi Kalalat heads in the north-west portion of Gebel Kalalat, and courses nearly eastward to reach the sea in latitude 23° 52′. For the first two-thirds of its course of about thirty kilometres, Wadi Kalalat is shut in by high hills, and falls rather rapidly. At its head a rough steep pass is said to exist into the head of Wadi Shut.[111] After passing round the north flank of Gebel Kalalat, the wadi receives two small tributaries called Wadi Um Maiat and Wadi el Dibag lil Batoga, the former draining the north-east face of Gebel Kalalat and the latter the north-west face of Gebel Batoga. After receiving Wadi Dibag, the Wadi Kalalat makes a bend northward for about two kilometres, then turns south-eastward to the opening of the hills on the coast-plain. About two kilometres above the point where it leaves the hills, on the south side of the main wadi, is a rocky gully containing the Galt Batoga a rock basin which contained good water in 1907 and which is very easy of access in a few minutes from the main wadi. About one and a half kilometres further down, the small Wadi Um Sellim, draining the north-east parts of Gebel Batoga, joins the Wadi Kalalat just before it opens on to the coast-plain. The course of Wadi Kalalat from here to the sea, about eleven kilometres, is ill-marked, over a sandy plain. A ruined enclosure of considerable size, called Garia Kalalat, lies close south of the wadi about seven kilometres from the sea.

Wadi Um Goran is a small wadi draining by many heads from the east face of Gebel Batoga and its foot hills to the sea in latitude 23° 50′.

Wadi Kunserob, draining the south parts of Gebels Kalalat and Batoga, courses at first nearly southwards, then curves round south of Gebel Dibag, and after receiving Wadi Dibag lil Kunserob from the north-west, proceeds eastward through the hills and across six kilometres of sandy coast-plain to the sea in latitude 23° 47′.

Wadi Abu Berigâ is a short drainage line from among the hills to the sea, a little south of Wadi Kunserob.

Wadi Khoda is an important main drainage channel some forty-five kilometres in length, coursing a little north of eastward to reach the sea in latitude 23° 43′. For the greater part of its length it is shut in by high hills, only the last six kilometres being across the sandy coast-plain. With a basin approximately 780 square kilometres in area, it drains the mountains of Abu Dahr, Dahanib, Shut, Reyan, Shenshef, Hindia, and Um Akra, some of which rise to over 1,000 metres above the sea; it thus receives a fair amount of water in rainy years, and is well supplied with trees and bushes. Its average fall is about nine metres per kilometre.

The head of Wadi Khoda is formed by the union of three wadis,[112] coming approximately from the north, west, and south, in the form of a cross. The central one of these, Wadi Abu Debebi lil Khoda, heads in a very easy pass leading to Bir Betan and the old mines of Um Eleiga. The one to the north, Wadi Salib el Abiad, is said to lead into Wadi Khiua, and to possess some old mines, but has not been explored. The remaining one of the three, Wadi Salib el Azrak, drains the east face of Gebel Abu Dahr and the high hills east of it; the feeder of it from Abu Dahr, called Wadi Um Karaba, leads by an easy pass, just north of the mountain, to Bir Betan and the Um Eleiga mines, while some eight kilometres from its junction with Khoda a track leads up a gully south-westward over another easy pass to Bir Rahaba. The names Salib el Abiad and Salib el Azrak refer to the form of the wadis and the nature of their floor, salib meaning “cross,” while abiad and azrak refer to the prevailing white and dark colours of the sand in the respective arms of the cross; these colours are due to the wadis draining light-coloured granites and dark-coloured serpentines and schists respectively.

A little below the union of the three arms above-mentioned, Wadi Khoda expands into a small rather stony plain, where the sinuous Wadi Allawi[93] enters from the north. This important feeder, which drains the eastern face of Gebel Dahanib, is mostly shut in by high hills, and is relatively well wooded; if it be followed up for about ten kilometres, one comes to the tomb of Sheikh Farhan, near which meet many small feeders, one of them containing a small rock basin near its head.

About eight kilometres below the point of entry of Wadi Allawi, Wadi Khoda receives two feeders from opposite sides; that from the north, Wadi Um Tawil lil Khoda, drains from Gebel Dahanib, while that from the south, Wadi Hindia, is a sandy rapidly-falling wadi draining Gebel Hindia.

Some five kilometres further down, Wadi Um Akra, draining the mountains of the same name, enters Khoda from the south, while another two kilometres brings us to the place of influx of Wadi Shut, an important feeder from the north. The head of Wadi Shut is on the west side of Gebel Kalalat, whence its course is westward for about ten kilometres; it is then joined by the Wadi Abu Hugban,[113] coming from the south-west, and from this point it runs south-south-east for some twenty-three kilometres to its junction with Wadi Khoda. Wadi Shut is a rather wide wadi with a sandy floor, fed by many tributaries from the mountains of Dahanib, Um Hegilig, Reyan, and Shut. Its principal feeder in the lower part of its course is Wadi Um Tawil lil Shut, which drains the south part of Gebel Dahanib and enters Shut from the west about five kilometres above its junction with Khoda. The Wadi Shut has a fair growth of trees, and is said to possess also a large water source, the exact locality of which has not, however, been ascertained.[94]

Just below the place where Wadi Shut joins it, Wadi Khoda receives a small feeder called Wadi Um Gubur, entering from the north and marked by several graves near its mouth. On the other side, two kilometres further on, Wadi Shib enters from the south, and five kilometres further the Wadi Um Seyal lil Khoda enters Khoda from the north.

The Wadi Gumudlum, the next great feeder of Khoda, enters from the north four kilometres below Wadi Um Seyal. It is a wadi some eighteen kilometres in length, coursing south-south-east, and having its head on the west side of Gebel Kalalat. A little below wadi Gumudlum, near a boss of white quartz, several small feeders, of which the two principal are called Wadi Buluk and Wadi Um Lassaf, enter Wadi Khoda from the south; these drain the north side of the high hills called Gebel Um Etli.

The last feeder of Wadi Khoda, the Wadi Shenshef, enters the main wadi some three kilometres above the place where it debouches on to the coast-plain, or eight kilometres from the coast. It is a narrow and very tortuous gorge winding among high hills. If it be followed up for about ten kilometres, one comes to several small wells called Bir Shenshef, which contained water in 1907, and a little above the wells, where the wadi becomes more open, there are ruins, called Hitan Shenshef, which attest the former existence of a town or large village. The ruins are on both sides of the wadi, and many of them are extremely well built of slabs of quartz schist; besides[114] the houses in the wadi itself, there are small towers on the hills. As there are apparently no mines in the hills here, the origin of the ruins is not clear; from the strong situation and the watch towers, and its proximity to fresh water and the sea, it may possibly represent an old slave dealer’s stronghold.

For some eighteen kilometres south of the Wadi Khoda, the seaward drainages have not been explored, but they are believed to be only short wadis, as the high mountains of Faraid are here only about ten kilometres from the coast. From guides’ statements, the Wadi Um Etli, coursing eastward and draining the south faces of Gebel Um Etli, enters the sea in about latitude 23° 38′, and there is probably at least one other short wadi draining to the sea about in latitude 23° 35′ from the north part of Gebel Faraid. The sandy coast-plain in this region is about five kilometres wide.

The Wadi el Sorubiab, draining from the north part of Gebel Faraid, and the Wadi Bint el Kurdum, draining the mountains around the remarkable “Bodkin” peak, enter the sea together by way of a small lagoon in latitude 23° 30′. Another wadi, for which I could not obtain any name from my guides, drains the extreme south parts of Gebel Faraid and the north slopes of the smaller Gebel Fereyid, entering the sea in about latitude 23° 19′.

Wadi Rahaba, with a basin of about 900 square kilometres in area, drains the country between Gebels Faraid and Abu Dahr. From its head, situated about six kilometres south-east of Gebel Abu Dahr, there is an easy pass into Wadi Salib el Azrak, a tributary of Wadi Khoda. About three kilometres below its head, a feeder called Wadi Titai enters Rahaba from the hill country to the east; and a kilometre lower down, another feeder called Wadi Abu Nikheil, comes in from the west. At this point there is an important well, Bir Rahaba, sunk in the alluvium of the wadi floor; this is said to yield good summer supplies, but was filled up by downwash when I visited it early in 1907. Some three kilometres below Bir Rahaba, a tributary called Wadi Abu Reye enters Wadi Rahaba from the north-west; and there is said to be a well, called Bir Abu Reye, about one and a half kilometres up this wadi. Another feeder, the Wadi Um Buerat, joins Rahaba from the south-west a little further on, and then the wadi, which has thus far taken a southerly course, turns south-east, winding considerably for some eight kilometres till it is joined by its most important feeder, the Wadi el Abiad.

[115]This Wadi el Abiad drains the western side of the northern peaks of Gebel Faraid, and derives its name from the white granitic sand which forms its floor. It has a length of some twenty kilometres and is fed by the Rod Elbel, which heads in a sandy plain at the foot of the highest peak of Faraid, and by the Wadi Abu Ribian, which collects the drainage from the lower hill country west of the Bodkin peak.

About three kilometres lower down than the point of influx of Wadi el Abiad, Wadi Rahaba receives the Wadi Megah as a tributary from the north-west; a well, called Bir el Gahlia is said to exist at the head of this wadi, about twelve kilometres up from its opening into Wadi Rahaba. Some six kilometres further down, Wadi Rahaba opens out; its course down to this point has been shut in by high hills, but now becomes an ill-marked drainage line over a sandy plain. The plain is broken by small hills, and is limited east and west by other hills which increase in height further away, forming in fact the foot-hills of Gebels Orga and Um Tenebda on the west and of Gebel Faraid on the east. In this part of its course Rahaba receives several tributaries, the principal being Wadi Hutit from the north-west, Wadi Dagalai lil Rahaba and Wadi Abu Had from the east, and Wadi el Marafai, which runs for some ten kilometres nearly parallel to Wadi Rahaba, among low hills two or three kilometres east of the main Wadi, joining the latter about due west of Gebel Fereyid.

Wadi Rahaba curves round to the south of Gebel Fereyid in a quadrant of about seven kilometres radius, and then proceeds nearly due east to reach the sea in about latitude 23° 12′.

The upper parts of Wadi Rahaba, where it is shut in by high hills, contain many trees and bushes; but the lower parts are more barren and sandy, the actual drainage line being in places difficult to define on account of the paucity of vegetation and the openness of the plain. The total length is about seventy-five kilometres, and the total fall 450 metres; the slope averages eight metres per kilometre in the upper twenty-five kilometres, where the wadi is narrow and shut in, but only five metres per kilometre in the broad and sandy course which forms the remaining fifty kilometres.

Wadi Hodein, one of the largest and most important of the seawards draining wadis of the Eastern Desert, has a basin of nearly 12,000 square kilometres, or over a square degree of the earth’s surface.[116] Its main channel, formed by the union of the Wadis Arned, el Sania, Um Sumur, Saalek, Um Reit, and el Nom, in latitude 23° 18′, longitude 34° 43′, and reaching the sea at Bir Shalatein[95] in latitude 23° 8′, longitude 35° 37′, has a length of 108 kilometres and an average slope of three metres per kilometre. For the first fifteen kilometres of its course it is shut in by the high sandstone scarps of Gebel Abraq and Gebel Hodein; but shortly after passing the Abu Saafa Springs its channel becomes wide and sandy, passing through lower metamorphic hill country; and in the last twenty-five or thirty kilometres of its course it is merely an ill-defined drainage line over the sandy coast-plain. Its lower reaches are dreary and inhospitable, but its upper-portion is pleasantly wooded, and contains the perennial springs of Abu Saafa. Wadi Hodein is remarkable for the large number and length of its tributary wadis, some of which exceed the main channel itself in length, while many of them contain wells and form important lines of communication by leading to easy passes over the main watershed. In the description which follows, I shall first consider the wadis which by their union form the head of the main channel, afterwards tracing the course of the main wadi in detail to the sea, noting the influx of the various tributaries on either hand, and finally describing the larger tributaries themselves.

The most important of the wadis which join to form the head of Wadi Hodein are Wadis Arned, Saalek, and Um Reit. These join in a small plain with the Wadis el Sania, Um Sumur and El Nom, which are smaller and will not need further mention.

Wadi el Arned originates on the main watershed about five kilometres south-east of Galt el Aguz. The watershed here is only 427 metres above sea-level, and is so flat and sandy that it is almost impossible to say within a kilometre where the divide actually is; the wadi in fact heads in a sandy plain about two kilometres wide with low sandstone hills on either hand, from which feeders join the main drainage line. About six kilometres below its head, Wadi Arned is joined from the south by its most important feeder, the Wadi Muegil. This wadi, which has a length of some twenty kilometres, originates in the hill country about nine kilometres north of Gebel Um[117] Reit, where an easy pass connects it with Wadi Saalek; it flows in a northerly direction, entirely among sandstone hills, and is fairly provided with vegetation. Some two kilometres lower down, Arned receives a smaller feeder from the north, called Wadi Um Arta; by following this up for about five kilometres, one can reach a rather steep and sandy eastward pass into the head of Wadi Silsila, and this forms the shortest route from the Galt el Aguz to the springs of Abraq. About four kilometres below the junction of Wadi Abu Arta, near an isolated hill on the east side of the Wadi Arned, there appears to be another opening into one of the heads of Wadi Silsila; this opening is very sandy and looks like a practicable alternative route to Abraq Springs, though it has not been explored. Lower down its course, Wadi Arned is at first very sandy and bare, with high sand-drifts swathing the feet of the hills on the east; but it gradually narrows into a gorge and becomes less sandy, then opens out again, and near its junction with Wadi Hodein it contains abundant vegetation. The Wadi Arned forms the easiest and most direct road from Abu Saafa to Daraw, via Galt el Aguz, Bir Abu Hashim, and Bir Qoleib.

Wadi Saalek is a short wadi with many feeders, draining the hills round Gebel Saalek; one of its northern feeders leads to a pass into the head of Wadi Muegil, while one of its south branches heads in a pass leading round the west side of Gebel Um Reit to Wadi and Bir Um Reit.

Wadi Um Reit heads in the granite mountain called Gebel Um Reit and flows north-eastward, to the south of the mountain, for about twenty-two kilometres, to its junction with Arned and Saalek to form Wadi Hodein. The head of Wadi Um Reit leads to a pass north-west of the mountain into Wadi Saalek, while the western head of Um Reit, which bears the name Wadi el Dub, leads on to a sandy plain forming the main watershed, whence there are easy tracks to the various feeders of Wadi Timsah. The well called Bir Um Reit is a deep excavation, in the wadi floor at the foot of the mountain, near a large tree. Dr. Hume, who visited it in 1906, found it to yield water of only mediocre character. It is about one hundred kilometres by road from Bir Abu Hashim, the nearest well to the west, but only about thirty kilometres from Abu Saafa Springs, the nearest water eastward; to get to Abu Saafa from Bir Um Reit,[118] one has only to follow down the wadi, and the supply at Abu Saafa can always be relied on for quantity and quality. Near the well, Wadi Um Reit receives feeders draining the high granite hills of Etresia; the principal of these is called Wadi Malhat. The lower part of the course of Um Reit is almost entirely in sandstone hills; it has not been mapped in detail except near its junction with Hodein.

We turn now to the main channel of Wadi Hodein, which originates, as above-mentioned, by the union of the Wadis Um Reit, Saalek, Arned, and other smaller wadis in a small plain, and shall follow its course onwards to the sea. Three small feeders, Talet Um Danaqa and Talet Kurit on the south, and Talet Um Sideri on the north, join the channel a few kilometres below its head, while about nine kilometres from the head there enters a larger wadi coming from the south, called the Wadi el Gihab. The main Wadi Gihab has not been followed, but its eastern branch, called Wadi Gihab Abu Derb, contains a large and very easily accessible galt about four kilometres from Hodein, and leads about ten kilometres further on, to a very steep and difficult pass into Wadi Dif; this pass is practicable only on foot, being risky even for unladen camels.

The Springs of Abu Saafa are situated in the Wadi Hodein, about two kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Gihab, at an altitude of 310 metres above sea-level. The Wadi Hodein is here narrow, and shut in by very high steep sandstone scarps. There are four springs, all issuing from the northern scarp at intervals of about sixty metres along the wadi, and all about three metres above the wadi floor, trickling into pools about a metre in diameter close by. The most westerly of the four springs is a mere trickle; the next yields a rather greater flow, from a carved niche in the rock, with a Greek cornice; the third is the one most used, having the greatest flow of the four, while the easternmost is almost stagnant and has yellow incrustations near it. The rate of flow, even from the largest spring, is very slow, probably not more than ten litres per minute, and the overflow from the pools is only a tiny stream a few centimetres wide which soon loses itself in the sand of the wadi floor; but the pools are large enough for a dozen or more camels to drink from, and soon fill up again when emptied. The water is of excellent quality, very clear, and the supply never fails. Near the springs there are five or six small date palms, and the wadi hereabouts has many other[119] trees. After rain, this part of Wadi Hodein at times becomes a stream; this was the case in October 1907, for I found numerous pools in the wadi floor, and scum and froth showing that an impetuous stream about half a metre deep had flowed down the wadi only a few days prior to my visit. Just below Abu Saafa Springs, Wadi Hodein receives the short Wadi Maghal from the north-west; this wadi, which is walled in by high sandstone plateaux, contains water holes about three kilometres from Wadi Hodein; but these are less important than the springs of Abu Saafa, and are, moreover, off the main road.

Wadi Hodein now opens out, the high sandstone scarps of Gebels Abraq and Hodein running north and south-east, and enters a sandy plain with very low hills, from among which some small feeders join the main wadi. About fifteen kilometres below the opening of scarps, Wadi Hodein receives, from the north-west, the Wadi Naam,[96] a great tributary draining the mountains of Zergat Naam, Um Bisilla, and Abu Dahr. The next influx is from Wadi Dif, which enters Wadi Hodein from the south-west about six kilometres further on; Wadi Dif itself is only a short wadi, but it collects the drainage of an immense area to the south by long feeders, and contains a good well. Nearly opposite to Wadi Dif, the Wadi Orga el Atshani joins Wadi Hodein from the north-west; the Wadi Hodein has here two large island-like masses of low hills in it, between which the main drainage line passes. Lower down, Wadi Orga el Rayani enters by two mouths from the north. Both the Wadis Orga are said to originate near Gebel Orga, some thirty kilometres to the north, but their courses have not been mapped; the one called El Rayani is said to lead to a good well, Bir Orga, about twelve or fourteen kilometres above its junction with Hodein. On the opposite (south) side, Wadi Hodein receives the Wadi Anfeib, draining the high sandstone plateau of Gebel Anfeib. A little further on the small Wadi el Khasiya comes in from the north, by two channels, one on either side of a small group of isolated hills; and nearly opposite is the mouth of Wadi Madi, which drains the west side of the great mountain mass of Gerf, some sixty kilometres to the south, and possesses a good well about[120] fifty kilometres up its course from Wadi Hodein. Several feeders come in from the north a little further down the wadi, of which the chief is the Wadi Um Tenedba, draining the mountain of the same name, while others drain the hill country round Gebel Harhagit. On the other (south) side is the mouth of Wadi Khashab, draining the west side of Gebel Khashab and the hills west of it. A few kilometres further on, Wadi Hodein widens considerably, and from here onward it is very sandy and arid. A long spur running north-west from Gebel el Anbat nearly cuts across the wadi, the main channel of which passes north and east of the spur, while to the west of it is a rather broad sandy plain with ill-marked drainage lines from the hills, of which the chief bears the name of Wadi Um Seleim. Near Gebel el Anbat are numerous small feeders of Wadi Hodein from that hill and the other hills to the north-east. About eight kilometres below Gebel el Anbat, Wadi Hodein quits the hills and, turning a little north of east, merges into the coast-plain, over which its remaining course of about twenty-seven kilometres is very ill-defined. Just where it leaves the hills, Wadi Hodein is joined from the south-west by Wadi Beida, draining the mountain of the same name and containing two wells; and a little further on it receives Wadi el Kreiga, which drains the hill country round Bir Meneiga. The junctions of Wadi Beida and Wadi Kreiga with Wadi Hodein are very difficult to trace on the ground, being almost lost in the general sandy plain.

Bir Shalatein, a very salt well in the Wadi Hodein, about two kilometres from its mouth and only about seven metres above the sea, is chiefly of importance by reason of its marking the administrative limit of the Egyptian and Sudan spheres of government. It is merely a few shallow pits sunk in the wadi bed, yielding water drinkable only by camels. An iron beacon two metres high has been erected on a low bank close to the well, and will enable the well, which is itself inconspicuous, to be easily found.

Wadi Naam, a great tributary of Wadi Hodein coming from the north-north-west, originates about ten kilometres south-east of Gebel Zergat Naam by the union of the Wadis Abu Seyal, El Fil, and Um Bisilla, and courses south-south-east for about forty-nine kilometres to its junction with Wadi Hodein. It is a very barren wadi, being for most of its length a broad, shallow, and very sandy drainage line among low hills, and in its lower parts, where it crosses[121] the plain of Abraq, its course is very ill-marked. Its slope decreases from five metres per kilometre near its head to about three metres per kilometre in its lower reaches. Besides the three wadis which, as above-mentioned, unite to form its head, Wadi Naam has several large tributaries, of which the chief are the Wadis Silsila and Abraq on the west, and Wadis Erf Um Araka, Arais, and Betan on the east.

The Wadi el Fil, which may be regarded as the main head of Wadi Naam, though it is not the longest, drains the north-east portion of Gebel Zergat Naam (sometimes called Hagar el Fil). The rocky gullies forming its heads contain rock basins which yield water for a short time after rain.

Wadi Abu Seyal drains the south part of the same range; its head is very steep, and is said to contain a very large galt, which holds supplies of water for five months after rain.

Wadi Um Bisilla drains Gebel Um Bisilla, which it half encircles, its main head being north-east of the mountain, where there is an easy pass into Wadi Abu Nilih, and thence an easy road to the head of Wadi Lahami. About eleven kilometres west of the mountain, Wadi Um Bisilla receives, from the north-east, the Wadi el Khiua, which, with its tributaries, Wadis Abu Fagir and Abu Nilih, drains the low hill country north of Gebel Um Bisilla. The lower parts of Wadis Um Bisilla and Khiua have not been surveyed in detail; their courses as shown on the map are only approximate, but being based on guides’ statements near the spot they are probably substantially correct.

Wadi Erf Um Araka heads as a series of small wadis among the low hills south of Um Bisilla, and curves round westward between the high hills of Abu Shigelat and Erf el Gimal on the north, and Erf Um Araka or Gebel Belamhandeit on the south, to join Wadi Naam about five kilometres lower down than Wadi Um Bisilla. The hill country round the heads of Wadi Erf Um Araka is fairly open, so that one can proceed freely from the head of Wadi Arais, across those of Wadi Erf Um Araka, and on into the heads of Wadi Um Bisilla.

Wadi Arais originates by the union of many small feeders in the low hill country between Gebels Um Guruf and Hendusi, and courses for the first fourteen kilometres in a south-south-west direction. About nine kilometres below its head the Wadi Um Guruf, draining the hills round the conspicuous granite boss called Gebel Um Guruf, enters from the north-west. Some five kilometres further[122] on, just beyond the place where Arais makes a sharp westward bend, Wadi Belamhandeit, draining the east face of the long gneiss range called Erf Um Araka or Gebel Belamhandeit, enters from the north. Wadi Arais now narrows into a winding gorge, cutting westward for about ten kilometres through the complex of high gneiss hills called Gebel Arais to join Wadi Naam. Its junction with Wadi Naam takes place in a small plain, with the sandstone plateaux of Gebel Um Sididad on the west and the gneiss hills of Gebel Arais on the east. The fall of Wadi Arais is from 464 metres above sea at the pass into Wadi Erf Um Araka, to 345 metres where it joins Wadi Naam after a course of twenty-five kilometres; so that its slope averages four and a half metres per kilometre.

Wadi Silsila[97] heads in high sandstone hills on the meridian of 34° 40′, north of Gebel Abraq, where at least one pass, steep and sandy, leads to the Wadi Arned. Its course is almost due east, over a plain with low sandstone banks, with a great deal of blown sand. Feeders enter it from the sandstone hills which bound the plain, the principal being the Wadi Um Sididad, draining the high sandstone hills, called Gebel Um Sididad, on the north. About seven kilometres before it joins Naam, Wadi Silsila cuts through the range of low sandstone hills which stretches southward from Gebel Um Sididad to near Abraq springs; in proceeding to Abraq from the pass at the head of Wadi Silsila, one bears off to the south before reaching this range, entering the drainage of Wadi Abraq over an open sandy plain.

Wadi Abraq is a rather ill-defined drainage line which originates on the north side of Gebel Abraq, and after skirting the high sandstone scarp, from which it receives small feeders, for about thirteen kilometres, turns eastward to join Wadi Naam, about nine kilometres above its junction with Hodein. Wadi Abraq is sandy and barren, and would be scarcely worthy of mention but for the fact that it contains some of the most important water sources of the entire Eastern Desert, the Abraq Springs. There are no less than five springs within a length of as many kilometres of the wadi, yielding perennial supplies of excellent water.

The first spring from the north, called Bir el Sunta, is a pool about two metres in diameter at the entrance to a little gully in the[123] face of the high sandstone scarp; it is very easily accessible to camels, being practically on the plain, and fills as rapidly as it is emptied. The second and third springs, called together Bir Abu Dibesat, are about 1,500 metres south-east of Bir el Sunta, near the tomb of Sheikh Hamid; they form smaller pools at the foot of the scarp. The fourth spring, Bir Abraq, is situated a short distance up a stony gully which emerges from the scarp a little further south; the water lies in large pools under dipping sandstone beds on the south side of the gully. The fifth spring, Bir Gumbit, is said to be some three[124] kilometres further south-east, and, like the others, at the foot of the sandstone scarp; it has not, however, been visited by the survey party.

The water at all the Abraq Springs is of excellent quality; it contains masses of green algæ, but these are easily avoided in baling out, and the water can be obtained quite clear. Of the four springs visited, the one called Bir Abraq is the chief; but Bir el Sunta is rather easier of access for camels. The springs are practically all at the same level, viz., 330 metres above sea, and all derive their water from the same sandstone beds. No camel food grows near the wells, and there are very few trees in the vicinity; consequently, the Arabs of the neighbourhood do not camp near the springs, but in Wadi Hodein and its tributaries, drawing water from Abraq or Abu Saafa at intervals. There are, however, ruins of a large ancient fort on a low hill east of Bir Abraq, and some Arab graves a little further north; among these latter is a large tomb said to be that of Sheikh Hamid.

Wadi Betan originates on the north side of Gebel Abu Dahr, where an easy pass, 610 metres above sea-level, connects its head with Wadi Um Karaba, and courses at first westward to near Gebel Hendusi; it then turns southward to join Wadi Naam a few kilometres only above its junction with Wadi Hodein. Its total length is over fifty kilometres, and its average slope is about seven metres per kilometre. Only the head of Wadi Betan has been surveyed in detail; but this is the most important part, as containing water sources and old mine workings; and the lower part of its course as shown on the map is probably substantially correct, being based on statements made near the spot by guides familiar with the district.

About five kilometres below its head, Wadi Betan contains the two wells called Bir Betan. These are excavations in the alluvium of the wadi. The lower one is at the mouth of the small Wadi Um Eleiga, while the other is about 600 metres further up Wadi Betan, close to a small tree. Both these wells were filled up by downwash when I visited them in February 1907, and their places were only recognisable by the clay “hôds” near them; at this time there was no necessity for the Arabs to open them, as a galt at the head of the wadi, just south of the pass into Wadi Um Karaba, was yielding a good supply of water.

[125]Just above the wells, Betan receives from the south the feeder called Wadi Mistura, draining the west side of Gebel Abu Dahr. The little Wadi Um Eleiga, which drains into Betan close to the south well, is of importance as leading to some extensive ruins and old workings about two kilometres up from its mouth. The ruins are mostly rubble hovels, while the workings, which were evidently for gold, vary from mere scratchings to pits ten metres deep in the rock. A diorite mill-stone is to be seen near the ruins.

The Wadi Abu Debebi lil Betan, which joins Betan on the north about three kilometres below the wells, leads by an easy pass into Wadi Abu Debebi lil Khoda, one of the heads of Wadi Khoda, and forms the nearest way to the coast from Bir Betan. Wadi Abu Sieiyil is a small feeder entering Betan from the south, three kilometres further down. The principal remaining tributaries of Betan are the Wadis Hefeiri, Abu Beid, and Egat. Wadi Hefeiri runs westward from near the Abu Debebi pass, and turning south near Gebel Hendusi, receives the Rod el Hendusi just before entering Betan. Wadi Abu Beid el Azrak originates near Gebel Abu Sieiyil west of Abu Dahr, and flows southwards to join Wadi Abu Beid el Abiad, which in turn flows into Wadi Betan. A well, Bir Abu Beid, is situated near the junction of Wadi Abu Beid el Abiad and Wadi Abu Beid el Azrak, where there are numerous seyal trees; it was yielding a fair quantity of good water in 1906. Of the Wadi Egat, nothing has been seen; it is, however, stated by the Arabs to originate in the rugged hilly tract south of Gebel Abu Dahr, and to join Wadi Betan lower down its course than Abu Beid.

Wadi Dif originates in the sandstone hills round Bir Dif, and pursues a very sinuous north-easterly course, cutting through the high sandstone plateau which is named Gebel Hodein to the north, and Gebel Dif to the south of it. For the major part of its length of twenty-nine kilometres it is very narrow, with very high steep sandstone scarps on either side, but it is a little more open near its origin, where Wadi Feqoh joins it, and in its lower part it winds as a broad sandy valley through the low hills which separate the Wadi Hodein from the high sandstone plateaux; it joins Wadi Hodein close to the meridian of 35°. Except the Wadi Feqoh, which is of immense length, and drains a very large area, Wadi Dif has only a few insignificant feeders. Of these, Talet Um Karaba and Wadi Enqireidia enter[126] from the south plateau near the place where Wadi Dif leaves the high sandstone hills; and Wadi Gelabat Shabai, coursing north-east through the low hill country flanking the plateau, joins Wadi Dif just above its junction with Hodein.

Bir Dif is situated in a small gully forming the head of Wadi Dif, in latitude 23° 12′ 42″. To a traveller coming up Wadi Dif, Wadi Feqoh forms the main continuation of Wadi Dif, and the gully containing Bir Dif appears to be a lateral tributary coming in from the west; but the Arabs restrict the name Dif to the drainage line below the spring, and apply the name Feqoh to all the upper main channel. Bir Dif is a spring forming two pools of good water, situated about a kilometre up the gully, at the junction of sandstone and schists. The approach to the pools is very stony, but camels can easily reach the water; the spring is 290 metres above sea-level.

Wadi Feqoh, a tributary of Wadi Dif, is many times longer than Wadi Dif itself, and even longer than the Wadi Hodein of which Wadi Dif is a tributary, having a length along its main channel of 150 kilometres, with feeders totalling several times that length. Though only portions of Wadi Feqoh have been surveyed in detail, the position of its entire course is known with tolerable accuracy from the statements of guides at various stations from which portions of it could be pointed out. It is for the most part a very barren wadi, forming an ill-defined drainage line through a dreary waterless sandy waste. Its very name, which means “devoid of nourishment,” indicates its character. It originates near the west side of Gebel Soaorib, only some twenty kilometres north of the 22nd parallel of latitude, where the main watershed separates it from the feeders of the Wadi Alaqi. From here it follows a north-westerly course, passing between the mountains of Eir Arib and Hadal Derqa. Curving slightly to the north, it crosses the great sandy plain west of Gebel Korabkansi, and passes close west of the isolated mountain called Gebel Shabih. Further on, it enters a country of low hills with sandy interspaces, passing close west of the low range called Gebel Um el Kalala, and then sweeps round in a great curve towards the east to join the Wadi Dif close to Bir Dif. The fall of its bed from near Gebel Shabih to its junction with Wadi Dif, that is, in a length of seventy-two kilometres, is from 470 metres to 280 metres above sea, giving an average slope of only about 2·6 metres per kilometre; Wadi Feqoh has in fact the most gentle gradient of all the great seawards-draining wadis.

[127]Wadi Feqoh has many tributaries. Those near its head, and others coming in from the western mountains through the low hill country north of Gebel Mishbih, have not been traced; but those draining Gebel Korabkansi and Gebel Niqrub, which are probably the most important, have been mapped in detail. Most of the drainage from these localities eventually finds its way into the great trunk feeder of Wadi Feqoh, called the Wadi Gimal,[98] which joins Wadi Feqoh about sixteen kilometres before its junction with Wadi Dif. The tributaries of Wadi Feqoh are of much more interest than Wadi Feqoh itself, as they contain in many places a fair or even relatively rich assemblage of trees and bushes, and at least one good well, Bir Sararat Seyet.

The most southern tributaries of Wadi Feqoh which have been mapped are Wadi Kamoyib, draining eastward from Gebel Wadhait, and Wadi Tawayib, draining the east face of Gebel Korabkansi. These are for the most part barren wadis each coursing for about sixteen kilometres across a sandy plain to join Feqoh.

The main head of Wadi Gimal is called Wadi Seyet. It originates between Gebel Wadhait and Gebel Dreb about latitude 22° 35′, and by means of many feeders drains the east face of Gebels Dreb and Gerf. The principal feeder of Wadi Seyet from the south-west is Wadi Wadhait, collecting the south drainage of Gebel Korabkansi, while on the east the Wadi Sherefa el Gharbi, which leads to the important Sherefa pass, contributes the drainage from the northern parts of Gebel Dreb and the south-west parts of Gebel Gerf. These both join Wadi Seyet a little south of latitude 22° 40′, while a little further down there enter from the east two small feeders called Wadi Delawet and Wadi Buyet. The name Seyet is given to this wadi only down to where it passes through a narrow gap between high hills in latitude 22° 42′; below that point it is called Wadi Gemal. Wadi Seyet is remarkably well wooded, containing an immense number of fine large acacia trees, and presented an almost park-like appearance at the end of 1907. It also contains a deep well, Bir Sararat Seyet, excavated in the wadi floor just above the gap between the hills above referred to. This well was full of downwash in the winter of 1907. It is said to be twenty metres deep and to yield plenty of good water, but at that time there was plenty of water in galts in the mountains,[128] and the Arabs said they preferred to derive their supplies from these so long as they lasted, only digging out the well when further supplies were necessary.[99] An unnamed feeder from the west, joining Wadi Seyet just below the well, leads by an easy pass into the head of Wadi Hushenab, which drains through Wadi Sortdau into the Wadi Gemal lower down its course.

The country between Gebel Korabkansi and Gebel Niqrub Foqani, through which the course of Wadi Gemal lies, is a gently sloping plain with mere low banks, among which the drainage lines branch out forming numerous loops. The main channel runs fairly straight in a north-westerly direction, receiving Wadis Sortdau and Remalib, draining the hills north-west of Gebel Korabkansi as tributaries on its west side; but a sort of loop line runs off eastward and reaches the main channel again by the Wadi Haletiai, which also collects the drainage from the south parts of Gebel Niqrub Foqani. After passing west of this last-named mountain, Wadi Gemal takes a more northerly course; it receives an immense number of feeders from the west and north of Gebel Niqrub Foqani, of which the principal is called Wadi Umeiatib. Other feeders enter from among the low hills on the west, the principal being Wadi Hadelshisheib, coming from the neighbourhood of the dark cone called Gebel Mismih. From Bir Sararat Seyet to its junction with Wadi Feqoh the length of the main channel of Wadi Gemal is fifty-seven kilometres, and its fall is from 560 metres above sea to about 310 metres, or on the average about four and a half metres per kilometre; its slope is thus much more rapid than that of Wadi Feqoh, though in its lower parts, where it passes over what is almost a plain, its gradient is less than half this average amount. The upper parts of the Wadi Gemal and its tributaries contain as a rule a fair abundance of trees and bushes.

Wadi Abu Hashim, which joins Wadi Feqoh about three kilometres above Bir Dif, commences its course near Gebel Butitelib, where an easy pass, broad and sandy, 405 metres above sea-level, divides it from the heads of Rod Mukrayib, a tributary of Wadi Madi. Wadi Abu Hashim follows a north-westerly course, nearly in a straight line, collecting principally the drainage from the western slopes of the range of high schist hills which flank the sandstone plateau[129] of Gebel Anfeib. It has a length of seventeen kilometres, and an average slope of about six metres per kilometre. It is a fairly open wadi, without much vegetation; on its west side are only very low hills.

Wadi Anfeib, which enters Wadi Hodein from the south-west eight kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Dif, is formed by the union of three main heads, called Wadi Anfeib el Tawayib, Wadi Atalab, and Wadi Mitatib, draining respectively the northern, central, and southern parts of the great sandstone plateau of Gebel Anfeib. Mitatib is joined half-way down its course by Wadi Unfagalan, which likewise heads in the plateau. Below the junction of its three main heads, Wadi Anfeib has a course of only about seven kilometres to run, through low hill country, before it joins Wadi Hodein.

Wadi Madi, the next great tributary of Wadi Hodein from the south, heads in the western side of the complex group of mountains called Gebel Gerf, and courses in a northerly direction for over seventy kilometres before joining Wadi Hodein in longitude 35° 7′, five kilometres lower down Wadi Hodein than the mouth of Wadi Anfeib. The heads of Wadi Madi are extremely complex, consisting of a multitude of branching drainage lines, and some of them divide their drainage with the Wadi Gemal, which enters Wadi Hodein by way of Wadis Feqoh and Dif. The most southerly head is the Wadi Difoteb, draining from the west side of Gebel Gerf in latitude 22° 39′; but only a part of the drainage from this gets into Wadi Madi, the rest going into Wadi Sherefa el Gharbi. A similar fate is shared by Wadi Eirahimib, which heads in a slightly difficult pass, leading into Wadi Um Reddam, about three kilometres west of the highest point of Gebel Gerf in latitude 22° 42′; this wadi courses in a direction a little south of west, falling very rapidly, past the hill mass of Gebel Tueiwi, where it divides, part of its drainage going northwards as Wadi Madi, and part crossing the plain as Wadi Buyet and joining the Wadi Seyet. The next head of Wadi Madi to the north is formed by Wadi Faditiai, which drains the high hills east of Gebel Tueiwi, and captures a part of the drainage brought down by the above-mentioned Wadi Eirahimib. Exactly where the name Madi commences to be applied to the drainage is uncertain, as Arabs differ on the point, but it is probably most correct to consider Madi as commencing just south of Gebel Tueiwi,[130] where the drainage of Wadi Eirahimib, with part of that from Wadi Difoteb, divides into two parts, the lesser going down Wadi Buyet to join Wadi Seyet, while the greater forms Wadi Madi itself. On this basis, Wadi Faditiai is a tributary of Wadi Madi, joining it by several openings between latitudes 22° 44′ and 22° 46′. There are numerous feeders from the low hill country both to Wadi Faditiai and to Wadi Madi proper. After receiving Wadi Faditiai, Madi flows in a well-defined trench, with many trees, north-west for a few kilometres to latitude 22° 47′, where it turns sharply, almost at a right angle, to the north-east. A kilometre and a half beyond the bend where there is a high granite hill on the west side of the wadi, is Bir Madi. This is a well sunk in the alluvium of the wadi floor, having its mouth lined with stone slabs; in December 1907, when I visited it, the water was four and a half metres deep, with its surface three and a half metres below the wadi floor, and the water was good. The wadi floor here is 476 metres above sea-level. A beacon on the granite hill overlooking the well has the position latitude 22° 47′ 46″ N., longitude 35° 1′ 38″ E., altitude 556 metres above sea. Below the well, Wadi Madi follows a rather winding course among moderately high hills to a little north of latitude 22° 50′, where it gets into more open country and continues as a broad sandy valley, curving gently in a northerly direction, to latitude 23° 5′. Beyond this point, where it receives the Rod Mukrayib and the Wadi Kolaiqo from the west and east respectively, Wadi Madi becomes narrower, and winds about, though still keeping a general northerly direction, among low hill country to its junction with Wadi Hodein. Wadi Madi has many tributaries, the chief being the Wadis Shellal el Gharbi, Tugudbaia, Sinatib, Atluk and Kolaiqo, and the Rod Mukrayib, which will be treated separately further on. The upper parts of Wadi Madi and many of its tributaries are well stocked with trees, but its central parts, where it is wide and sandy, are more barren. Its principal head, the Wadi Eirahimib, falls at an average rate of sixteen metres per kilometre; from near Gebel Tueiwi to Bir Madi the average slope is nine metres per kilometre; while in the final fifty-four kilometres of its course from Bir Madi to Wadi Hodein, the average gradient is rather less than six metres per kilometre.

Wadi Shellal el Gharbi, a tributary of Wadi Madi, originates in the mountains about six kilometres north of the highest peak of[131] Gebel Gerf, where a pass connects it with Wadi Shellal el Sharqi, a tributary of the eastward draining Wadi Radad. Flowing at first nearly due west, Wadi Shellal el Gharbi receives the Wadi Um Reddam, which collects the drainage from the north faces of the highest peaks of Gebel Gerf. Two of the heads of Um Reddam lead to passes; one eastward to Wadi Shellal el Sharqi, and one westward into the head of Wadi Eirahimib. Entering a lower hill country from which it receives numerous feeders, Wadi Shellal el Gharbi turns north-west to join Wadi Madi about eight kilometres below Bir Madi. It has a rather rapid fall, and contains a fair quantity of trees and bushes. Its total length along its main channel is twenty-one kilometres.

Wadi Sinatib, which enters Wadi Madi about six kilometres below Shellal el Gharbi, is a small wadi coursing north-west through the low hill country north of Wadi Shellal.

Wadi Tugudbaia conveys to Wadi Madi the drainage from the dyke country south-east of Gebel Niqrub el Foqani. It is only a short wadi, and enters Wadi Madi nearly opposite Sinatib.

Wadi Berendiyeb, which joins Wadi Madi from the west about latitude 22° 54′, drains the western flanks of Gebel Niqrub el Foqani. It is a many headed wadi, coursing at first among the low foot-hills of the mountain, and then crossing almost a sandy plain to join Wadi Madi. Its length along its main channel is about twelve kilometres. North of Berendiyeb, there are two other feeders of Wadi Madi coming from the low hills north-east of Gebel Niqrub el Foqani; they have no special names, being broad and sandy and without much vegetation in consequence of their draining only low country.

Wadi Atluk, which flows into Wadi Madi from the south-east almost opposite Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani, has a rather curious origin. It arises from a splitting of the course of Wadi Korbiai, part of the drainage of which passes eastward down Wadi Kreiga, while the other part retains its northerly direction as Wadi Atluk. The total length of Wadi Atluk is about twenty-one kilometres. It has not been surveyed in detail, but for most of its course it lies in low hill country.

Rod Mukrayib is a many-branched wadi which drains the hilly country between Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani and Gebel Anfeib. One of its heads leads by an easy pass near Gebel Butitelib into the head of Wadi Abu Hashim; another head drains the north face of Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani; while a third drains the south end of Gebel Anfeib,[132] coursing between the sandstone plateau and the schist hills west of it. From the pass into Wadi Abu Hashim to its junction with Wadi Madi the length of its channel is fifteen kilometres, with a fall of from 405 metres to 250 metres above sea, giving an average slope of ten metres per kilometre. It joins Wadi Madi on the north side of an isolated group of hills, just where Wadi Madi begins to narrow in, about nineteen kilometres above its junction with Wadi Hodein. From the point where Rod Mukrayib joins Wadi Madi there is a good open road across the heads of Wadi Edunqul into those of Wadi Anfeib.

Wadi Kolaiqo, which joins Madi almost opposite Rod Mukrayib, originates in the hills between Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani and Gebel Khashab, where a pass at its head leads into the heads of Wadi Khashab. It is a fairly wide wadi, shut in by rather high hills, coursing west-north-west with a length of nine kilometres and a fairly rapid fall.

Wadi Edunqul, a small tributary entering Wadi Madi, about ten kilometres above its junction with Wadi Hodein, drains by numerous gullies the south end of Gebel Anfeib, coursing a little north of east with a length of about eleven kilometres.

Wadi Khashab, a tributary of Wadi Hodein, drains by many branches the hilly country east of Gebel Beida. One of its heads leads to a pass six kilometres due west of the summit of Gebel Beida, whence there is a road to Bir Beida; just before reaching the pass, there is a large quartz vein with some ruins near it. Another feeder of Wadi Khashab, the Wadi Dehaiartib, heads in a pass leading to the head of Wadi Kolaiqo. Wadi Khashab has not been explored south of 23° 0′. From this parallel to Wadi Hodein its length is about twenty-six kilometres, but its head may be five kilometres or more further south. The country on the west side of Wadi Khashab consists of low hills, but on the east it drains very high hills, and its feeders course in trenches across the stony slopes at the feet of the hills to join the main channel. Wadi Khashab contains large numbers of trees, whence its name (Khashab = wood). Its average slope is about eight metres per kilometre.

Wadi Beida originates at a pass 395 metres above sea-level, six kilometres west of the summit of Gebel Beida, where a road leads over into Wadi Khashab. From the pass Beida courses south-east[133] for seven kilometres, receiving feeders from the high hills on either side. It then turns abruptly at an acute angle, following a northerly direction for one and a half kilometres; then turning east for one kilometre, it receives a great feeder draining the south slopes of Wadi Beida, afterwards turning south for one and a half kilometres to a point marked by the ruin of a small well built stone structure, in which mortar and stucco has been used. From this point the wadi follows a winding course, at first south-east but gradually working round into a north-easterly direction, as a narrow gorge through the high hills of Gebel Beida. Just where the wadi begins to turn northward, about one and a half kilometres below the ruin above-mentioned, are the two wells called Bir Beida. The upper well is at the opening of a defile leading south-eastward to a pass, forming the point of departure in the nearest road from Bir Beida to Bir Meneiga; this well was dry in November 1907. The lower well is about 500 metres further down the wadi, at a sharp bend in its course; it is an excavation in the alluvium of the wadi floor, and was yielding good water in 1907 from a depth of about six metres. The Arabs say that the supply at this well only fails after three or four years without rainfall, but the water only infiltrates slowly, so that after it has been emptied by a caravan it requires a day or so to refill. The top of the well is 205 metres above sea-level.

About four kilometres below the well, Wadi Beida emerges from the high hills, and crosses a tract of much lower hill country seven kilometres wide, receiving in this part of its course many feeders from the eastern face of Gebel Beida; it then divides, still preserving its general north-easterly direction, into a number of shallow channels coursing across the sandy plain to join the Wadi Hodein.

From Bir Beida the nearest wells are Bir Meneiga and Bir Shalatein; the water of the latter is, however, very salt and only drinkable by camels. To Bir Meneiga, a distance of thirty-seven kilometres, the track leads over the pass already mentioned south-east of the upper (dry) well, thence into Wadi Kreiga, and up that wadi into Wadi Meneiga; the road is rather stony near Meneiga, and rises rapidly, so plenty of time should be allowed. To reach Bir Shalatein, forty kilometres distant, one descends Wadi Beida into Wadi Hodein and follows Wadi Hodein towards the sea; the road is easy, being mostly across a falling sandy plain.

[134]Wadi Kreiga, the last great tributary of Wadi Hodein, originates by the union of the Wadis Korbiai and Meneiga, both draining that north extension of the mountain mass of Gebel Gerf which is sometimes called Gebel Korbiai or Gebel Meneiga.

Wadi Korbiai and Wadi Meneiga have their heads only separated by a narrow mountain ridge, but there is no possible track over this ridge from one to the other. In each case the wadi contains two water sources near its head, and the limit of “navigability” of the wadi is formed practically by these sources, above which there are steep stony gorges.

Bir Korbiai consists of two wells, both situated at the foot of a sudden drop in the rocky bed of Wadi Korbiai, about 150 metres apart, sunk in the bouldery alluvium; there is some rude timbering at the mouth of the wells over which a large stone is placed to prevent infilling by downwash. In December 1907 both wells contained abundance of excellent water, only a metre below ground level. Both wells are easily accessible, though the road to them is stony. The wells are stated to yield good supplies for three or four years after rain has fallen, but after longer drought they only yield a little.

Below the wells, Wadi Korbiai sweeps round in a semicircle of about three kilometres radius round the west flank of the hills to join Wadi Meneiga. On its right side are the steep slopes of Gebel Korbiai, but on the left is lower hill country. Small feeders enter from both sides. The bed of the wadi is stony, but there are a fair number of trees in it. Only a part of the drainage of Wadi Korbiai turns eastward to join Wadi Meneiga in forming Wadi Kreiga; the other part pursues a northerly course into the Wadi Atluk, a tributary of Wadi Madi.

Bir Meneiga is important, not only as giving a perennial supply of good water, but also as marking a point on the administrative frontier of Egypt and the Sudan. It consists of two springs in the stony bed of Wadi Meneiga, near its head. The northern spring is taken as marking the frontier; its position is latitude 22° 47′ 8″ N. longitude 35° 12′ 20″ E., altitude 605 metres above sea-level. The southern spring is about 320 metres further up the wadi, at a level four or five metres higher. Each of the springs consists of a tiny pool among the rocks of the wadi floor, easily accessible to camels. The pools only contain eight or ten gallons each, but camels can drink[135] as fast as they like and the pool keeps full. The water is excellent. There are numerous ruins at Bir Meneiga; they consist of rude rubble hovels and extend for over a kilometre down the wadi below the springs.

Above the springs, Wadi Meneiga soon becomes impassable, ending in rocky gorges in the mountains. Below the springs it courses for about seven kilometres in a direction a little west of north to join Wadi Korbiai and form the head of Wadi Kreiga. The fall in this seven kilometres is 200 metres, so that the slope is the phenomenally rapid one of twenty-eight metres per kilometre, and of course the floor of the wadi is very stony and camel progress is very slow. There are several lateral feeders, including one from the east, three kilometres below the springs, leading to the head of Wadi Radad; but I am not sure whether the pass is practicable as I only saw it from the mountain top.

From the mouth of Wadi Meneiga, Wadi Kreiga courses about 15° north of east, as a fairly wide wadi with a stony floor, with high hills on either side from which small feeders enter. The first large feeder, the Wadi Abiad, enters from the north-west, six kilometres below the mouth of Wadi Meneiga; it is a steeply falling wadi, which, like all wadis bearing the name of Abiad, has a floor of light-coloured granitic sand. Some eight kilometres lower down, two feeders enter from opposite sides: that from the north is called Wadi Eberer, while that from the south bears the name of Wadi Shigeg. Neither of these has been followed up far, and their length is unknown; but they are believed to be of no great extent. Below this point the country opens out considerably, and the wadi anastomoses round low hills, while its floor becomes less stony and more easy under foot. The various channels unite again about eight kilometres further down, where the wadi receives a tributary from the north-west just before it passes the high hill mass which forms the southward extension of Gebel Beida. This tributary leads to an easy pass, forming a direct road to Bir Beida. Lower down several lateral feeders come into Kreiga from either side, and the wadi emerges on to a sandy plain with scattered low hills. Across this plain Kreiga takes a more northerly direction for about sixteen kilometres to join the Wadi Hodein. The length of Wadi Kreiga from the mouth of Wadi Meneiga to Wadi Hodein is about fourty-one kilometres. Its fall between these points[136] is from 405 metres to about 70 metres above sea-level, giving an average slope of eight metres per kilometre; the slope in the upper parts, where the wadi bed is stony, is of course somewhat greater, and that in its lower more sandy reaches is somewhat less than this average.

Wadi Kolaiqo is a very ill-defined drainage line heading in the low hills called Gebel Kolaiqo, and coursing north-east for about thirty kilometres across the sandy coast-plain to reach the sea about latitude 23° 0′. It is very sandy, and absolutely barren except for a little scrub in its upper parts. It would hardly have been noticed had not the triangulation station on the hill at its head been occupied.

Wadi Shab, with a basin of about 1,250 square kilometres, drains the eastern and southern portions of the great group of mountains of which Gebel Gerf is the centre, and reaches the sea in latitude 22° 52′, a little to the north of Mersa Shab. It has a great number of heads, most of which bear special names, the name Shab being applied collectively to them from the locality near the hill of Qrein Salama, about forty kilometres from the sea, where they begin to unite together into one great trunk channel. From the circumstance that its heads are situated in a high mountain mass where the rainfall is relatively great, and moreover have steeply falling stony beds which absorb but little of the precipitation, the upper portions of Shab and its feeders are well stocked with trees. Only in the last stages of its course to the sea, where the absorption of its drainage by the sandy coast plain becomes great, does the abundance of vegetation fall off and the channel become barren. Its principal heads and feeders are Wadi Radad (fed by Wadi Shellal el Sharqi), Wadi Tikosha, Wadi Muqur (fed by Wadi Ti Ilak), Wadi Qadiloi (fed by Tilat Tihu Shana), Wadi Baaneit, Wadi Kilanai, Wadi Um Saha, Wadi Diqdib, Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi, and Kwat Hewah. At least three of these contain good water sources, Bir Muqur, Bir Baaneit, and Bir Diqdib being situated in the upper parts of the wadis bearing the same names. The various heads and feeders of Shab will be described in detail below, commencing from the northernmost one.

Wadi Radad may be more properly described as a tributary than as one of the heads of Wadi Shab, as it joins the trunk wadi some fifteen kilometres below the other feeders. It originates in a rugged tract of high hills near Bir Meneiga, and courses eastward[137] for about thirty-six kilometres, joining Wadi Shab on the coast-plain near the low hills of Ti Qireira, about twenty-four kilometres up from the point where Wadi Shab enters the sea. It has not been surveyed in detail, but its course was mapped from the triangulation station of Gebel Gerf and from other occupied stations whence portions of it were visible.

Wadi Shellal el Sharqi, a large feeder of Wadi Radad, originates in the mountains between Bir Diqdib and Bir Muqur. It has many heads, the best known of which is one coming from the west, leading to a pass into Wadi Shellal el Gharbi, a tributary of Wadi Madi; while another, a little further south, leads to another pass into Wadi Um Reddam and forms a possible road to Bir Sararat Seyet. Wadi Shellal el Sharqi follows generally a northward course, with a rapid fall, and joins Wadi Radad about eighteen kilometres below the head of the latter.

Wadi Muqur heads in the eastern mountains of the Gerf group, which are sometimes called Gebel Muqur. Here the drainage from several steeply falling rocky gullies collects into a single winding gorge shut in by the mountains. The limit to which camels can go up the gorge is marked by a well called Bir Muqur. At the time of my visit to this, in February 1908, the well was filled up by debris, through which, however, the water constantly rose and trickled into pools in a series of rock basins at slightly lower levels. The flow was at the rate of about five litres per minute, the overflow from the basins running to waste at this rate in the sand of the wadi. The water was of excellent quality. The Arabs state that when the water ceases to flow as a spring they dig out the debris and use the place as a well. Below the well, Wadi Muqur pursues a winding course north-eastward for about two and a half kilometres; then, receiving the short Wadi Ti Ilak, draining the mountains to the west, it turns sharply eastward and emerges from the high hills into lower country about three kilometres further on. In the lower country the wadi changes its direction to east-north-east, receiving many feeders from among the low hills west of Qrein Salama, and its bed divides and anastomoses into a series of channels, which eventually unite just before it enters Wadi Shab, five kilometres north-east of Qrein Salama. From near its head at Bir Muqur to its junction with Shab, Wadi Muqur has a length along its main channel of about nineteen kilometres; it falls from[138] 470 metres above sea-level at the well to 200 metres at its junction with Shab, so that the average gradient is about fourteen metres per kilometre.

A few kilometres before reaching Wadi Shab, Wadi Muqur is joined by the Wadi Tikosha, draining the moderately high hills which lie between Wadi Radad and Gebel Muqur, and winding among low hills over the plain.

The Wadis Qadiloi and Baaneit drain from the east faces of Gebel Muqur and the mountains and hills close south and east of it, into Wadi Shab. There is an eastward extension of hills from Gebel Muqur, partly drained by Tilat Tihu Shana, which flows into Wadi Qadiloi; south of this extension there is a sort of bay, occupied by lower hills separating Wadi Qadiloi from Wadi Baaneit, through which several cross channels connect the two wadis. Bir Baaneit is a small well in Wadi Baaneit, near its head; it is said to yield water always, but refills slowly, so that only six to ten camels can be watered at once. A little below the well, Wadi Baaneit leaves the hills and courses north-east across a rapidly falling stony plain. On the plain, south of the main channel, are the two ruins called Darahib Baaneit. They are built of rubble stone set in plaster, with stucco facing in places, and appear to be ancient Moslem tombs, the larger one having evidently once supported a dome; there are about twenty Arab graves near the ruins.

South of Wadi Baaneit the plain is crossed by many drainage channels coursing north-east to join Wadi Shab, and the plain is covered here with quite a park-like growth of acacia trees. The principal channel, which comes from the hills about four kilometres south Bir Baaneit, is called Wadi Kilanai.

A little south of Wadi Kilanai the plain cuts far back to the west, and the drainage entering this portion comes from the heart of the Gerf mountains to the north-west. A large isolated granite hill-mass called Kilia Arib and numerous smaller hills break the monotony of the plain and cause much branching and looping of the drainage channels. The principal artery draining the south parts of Gebel Gerf is the Wadi Diqdib, which originates on the south flanks of the highest peaks, right in the heart of the mountain mass. In one of the heads is a well called Bir Diqdib, which, though of great service to the Koatil Arabs who inhabit this district with their camels and[139] other animals, is of little importance to the traveller because of its situation in a closed-in wadi and thus not being on any route. From its head, Wadi Diqdib courses south-westward for fifteen kilometres or more among the mountains, receiving many feeders, before it emerges on to the plain. On leaving the mountains it splits up, part of its drainage going round by the north side of Kilia Arib, and part by the south, in each case by a number of anastomosing channels.

The Wadi Um Saha drains the hills south-west of Bir Baaneit, and after coursing southwards among the mountains turns the corner and runs north-east across the plain to Wadi Shab.

Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi, which drains the south portion of the Gerf massif and the north-east flanks of Gebel Dreb, heads in the important Sherefa pass, 807 metres above sea-level, and forming the direct route from Gebel Hamra Dom and Gebel Um Rasein to Bir Sararat Seyet by way of Wadi Sherefa el Gharbi. The pass is a fairly easy one, though the fall is rapid, especially on the east side, where Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi falls no less than one hundred metres in the first two kilometres of its course. A feeder which enters Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi from the south about two kilometres below the pass is said to lead by another pass to a well called Bir Bint el Dreb, situated at the head of Wadi Dreb, a tributary of Wadi Feqoh. For the first seven kilometres of its east-south-easterly course below the pass, Sherefa el Sharqi is shut in by very high hills, from which numerous feeders join it; it then divides just before reaching the great white granite hills called Eir Arib, part of its drainage going southward to join Kwat Hewah, and part continuing its course on the north side of the granite hills to join Diqdib near the granite cones of Tibashoi and thence turning northwards over a large sandy plain to enter Wadi Shab.

Kwat Hewah drains the eastern flanks of Gebel Dreb and the north flanks of G. Medarai. Its heads unite to form a series of channels in a small plain south-west of Eir Arib, and here it receives a contribution from Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi as mentioned above. As it passes Eir Arib, Kwat Hewah divides, part of its drainage curving round to the north to join that of Wadi Diqdib and Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi on its way to Wadi Shab, and the remainder going south-west to join the Wadi Medarai. From the head of Kwat Hewah there is said to be an easy pass into the Wadi el Krim, a tributary of Wadi Feqoh.

[140]Wadi Ibib, which drains the eastern slopes of Gebels Medarai, Abu Hireiq, and Abu Hodeid, and the eastern and northern faces of Gebels Soaorib, Adar Qaqa, Leqaq, Um Seleim, Qidmib, Orgem, and Um Bishtit, as well as Gebel Hamra Dom and the smaller hills south of it, is formed by the union of the Wadis Hasium and Medarai, a little east of Gebel Um Rasein, and enters the sea at Mersa Shab. It has a drainage basin of about 1,800 square kilometres. Including Wadi Hasium, which is simply the upper portion of Ibib, its total length along its main channel is slightly over one hundred kilometres. Its principal tributaries are the Wadis Shinai, Abu Hodeid, Abu Hireiq, Medarai, Soaorib, and Um Bishtit.

Wadi Hasium, which forms the upper portion of Wadi Ibib, originates on the main watershed in about latitude 22° 10′ and longitude 35° 15′; a pass leads from its head on to a stony plain, whence a track leads to Miti Kwan, a tributary of Wadi Alaqi. Near its head, Wadi Hasium contains a small well called Bir Kagog. A few kilometres further down, the short Wadi Mantil Hasium, draining the western face of Gebel Adar Qaqa, enters from the east, while the Wadi Hilwit Hasium, draining the mountain of the same name and containing a galt near its head, joins Wadi Hasium from the west. Continuing its course northward past the mountains of Adar Qaqa and Leqaq, Wadi Hasium enters an extensive sandy plain, open to the north, bounded on the west by the mountains of Abu Hodeid and Um Rasein, on the south by those of Leqaq and Um Seleim, and on the east by those of Qidmib and Orgem. This plain, which averages fifteen kilometres in width, is broken by low hills, the principal of which, Gebel Hamra Tit, Kulet Meiqrum, and Kulet Tinasal, rise to considerable heights. Hasium courses slightly east of north near the western edge of this plain to near Gebel Um Rasein, then curves to the east across it, receiving the Wadi Medarai and becoming Wadi Ibib. In its northward course through the plain, Wadi Hasium receives a number of important tributaries from the western mountains, besides a few smaller feeders from the mountains to the south and from the hills on the plain. These may be briefly described in order.

Wadi Shinai, draining the hills south of Gebel Abu Hodeid, courses a little south of east and enters Wadi Hasium about latitude 22° 19′; it has not been surveyed in detail, but it contains a well known water source, Bir Shinai, which is said to be about seven kilometres from its junction with Hasium.

[141]Wadi Delawet, another small feeder which likewise drains the hills south of Abu Hodeid, and enters Wadi Hasium about three kilometres below Wadi Shinai, is of importance as leading to a camel track over hills which forms the means of access to Bir Odis Maaleq, I have not visited this water source, but it is said to yield immense quantities of good water, and to be situated at a rather high level in the head of a small wadi called Wadi Odis, a tributary of Abu Hodeid. It appears to be a spring fed by the rainfall on the surrounding high mountains, the overflow filling large rock basins. The reason why it is approached by the Wadi Delawet and the track over the mountains, instead of by ascending Wadi Abu Hodeid and the Wadi Odis directly, is that the latter route is very difficult for camels owing to the steep and stony nature of the wadi floor; it is, however, possible to use this route on foot. As nearly as I could make out from my guides’ statements, the total distance of Bir Odis Maaleq from the mouth of Wadi Delawet is about nine kilometres, of which the first four are in the Wadi Delawet and the remaining five on the hill track. The distance by the other route from Bir Abu Hodeid is about four kilometres, some of which is climbing. My native assistant, who was sent to erect the beacon on Gebel Abu Hodeid, took two and a half hours to go on foot from Bir Abu Hodeid to Bir Odis Maaleq, and estimated the latter spring to be some 150 metres higher than Bir Abu Hodeid.

Wadi Abu Hodeid, which drains the mountain mass of the same name, lies to the east of the highest peaks of Gebel Abu Hodeid and is shut in between them and another high range further east. It has a general south-south-easterly direction, and a very rapid fall. Its principal feeder is the short Wadi Odis above referred to, which falls into it from the west about six kilometres below its head. About one and a half kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Odis, there is a large and important spring of good water in the wadi, called Bir Abu Hodeid. Though I have not visited this spring, its situation is shown on the map with tolerable accuracy, as its position with regard to neighbouring triangulated points was indicated by the guides. My native assistant, who passed the spring on his way to erect the beacon on Gebel Abu Hodeid, reported it to be very similar to the springs of Abu Saafa in appearance, though the latter are in a different rock. From its position in the midst of high mountains,[142] Wadi Abu Hodeid must at times of rainfall collect a great deal of water, and this explains the constant supplies yielded by the spring. Above the spring, the steepness of the wadi renders its ascent very difficult for loaded camels, and there is no road through its head, but guides state that there is good grazing at certain seasons in its upper parts, and animals are taken there to feed. Below the spring, the wadi opens out and curves eastward round the foot of the remarkable rounded peak of Abu Hodeid Oqla to join Wadi Hasium on the plain.

The Rod Anut Berer, which joins Wadi Hasium about the same point as Wadi Abu Hodeid but from the opposite side, drains the mountains of Leqaq and Um Seleim which bound the plain to the south.

Wadi Tikraneib, a small wadi full of trees, drains a jagged range north of Abu Hodeid Oqla, and joins Wadi Hasium on the plain by several channels.

Wadi Abu Hireiq, draining the mountains of the same name, originates about latitude 22° 27′. On leaving the high mountains its channel divides, part of the drainage going north-east as Wadi Merdiyeb, and part south-east as Wadi Abu Hireiq. This latter wadi passes between the main mountains and a high isolated range of hills for about seven kilometres, then curves round to the eastward to join Wadi Hasium. There are numerous loopings and branchings of the wadis in this neighbourhood, caused by the feeders from the hills and by the presence of isolated hill masses, which the drainage lines frequently encircle, and it becomes impossible to say which of the various channels is the main wadi, so that the name Wadi Abu Hireiq is applied to all of them collectively.

Wadi Odruk is a small wadi draining between two groups of high hills south-west of Gebel Um Rasein; it joins one of the channels of Wadi Abu Hireiq about four kilometres above its junction with Hasium.

Wadi Nilateib, another small wadi further north, drains the south end of Gebel Um Rasein and the north-east faces of the hills close south-west of it. Coursing at first south-east for about three kilometres, it then curves round the foot of Gebel Um Rasein to join Wadi Hasium by two channels. There is a clear passage from the heads of both Wadi Odruk and Wadi Nilateib into Wadi Merdiyeb. All the wadis hereabouts contain plenty of trees and scrub, especially[143] in their upper parts; as Wadi Hasium is approached they become more sandy and barren. It is, of course, the presence of vegetation available for grazing which determines the possession of a name by such small wadis as these two.

The drainage from the east face of Gebel Um Rasein joins Wadi Hasium directly by many small channels, which appear not to bear any special name.

Wadi Medarai, which forms the Wadi Ibib by its junction with Hasium, ten kilometres due east of Gebel Um Rasein, has its main head in Gebel Medarai, its length along its main channel being about twenty-five kilometres. By numerous tributaries, many of which contain abundance of trees and scrub, it drains the whole of the high hill country between Gebel Medarai and Gebel Um Rasein, and it also takes a part of the drainage from Kwat Hewah. One of its heads is said to lead to a rather difficult pass, south of Gebel Medarai, into the Wadi Kirwau, a tributary of Feqoh. For the first ten kilometres or so of its length, Wadi Medarai courses a little north of east; it then receives the feeder from Kwat Hewah above referred to, and changes its direction to a little south of east, passing close north of Gebel Um Rasein on its way to join Wadi Hasium on the sandy plain of the numerous feeders of Wadi Medarai from the hills west and north of Um Rasein, the principal is Wadi Merdiyeb, which originates ten kilometres south-west of Gebel Um Rasein by the splitting of Wadi Abu Hireiq. From this point of origin, it runs in a north-easterly direction in a rather sinuous course among the hills for about twelve or thirteen kilometres, joining Wadi Medarai close north of Gebel Um Rasein. Another little feeder of Wadi Medarai, though only about two kilometres long, is of some importance from its leading to Bir Um Rasein, a small well among the north foot-hills of Gebel Um Rasein.

Vegetation ceases to be abundant both in Wadi Medarai and in Wadi Hasium before their junction to form Wadi Ibib, and Wadi Ibib itself is for the most part a barren sandy ill-defined channel coursing north-eastward across a dreary plain for some fifty-seven kilometres to Mersa Shab. In this fifty-seven kilometres its fall is very nearly 300 metres, giving an average slope of only a little over five metres per kilometre. The slope of the lower part of Wadi Hasium is rather steeper than this, while that of Wadi Medarai is about twice as great.

[144]But though Wadi Ibib itself is barren, it has some great tributaries which contains abundance of trees and scrub in their upper reaches, as well as several wells. The principal of these tributaries are the Wadis Soaorib and Um Bishtit, which with their feeders drain the mountains of Soaorib, Qidmib, Orgem, and Um Bishtit, while other smaller tributaries drain the lower hills north-east of Um Bishtit and Gebel Hamra Dom.

Wadi Soaorib originates in the midst of high mountains a little south of latitude 22° 10′, between the southern portion of Gebel Soaorib and the range which extends southwards from Hadal Aweib Meisah. At its head is a difficult pass westward into the head of Miti Kwan, a tributary of Alaqi. Curving at first eastward, it soon takes on a north-westerly direction, and in latitude 22° 11′ 30″ reaches a small open space called Mitba; here it is met by several tributary wadis of which the principal is the Wadi Haiyo, draining the eastern slopes of Gebel Soaorib. From Mitba the direction of Wadi Soaorib becomes more northerly, and about nine kilometres below Mitba it turns to the west, emerging from the mountains into the more open country which forms the south end of the great plain already referred to. Here it is joined by the Wadi Hankuk, draining north-eastward from Gebel Adar Qaqa, and a few kilometres further on by the Wadi Dishlo, which drains the western flanks of Hadal Aweib Meisah and enters Soaorib from the east. About three kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Dishlo, Wadi Soaorib is joined from the south-west by another tributary which drains the west side of Gebel Um Seleim. From this point onwards, Wadi Soaorib courses a little east of north in a not very well defined course for about twenty-two kilometres over a gently falling sandy plain, joining Ibib to the north-west of the sand-swathed hills called Baqari Daba. In this part of its course, Wadi Soaorib receives small feeders from among the hills west of it on the plain, the principal of them draining north-eastward between the hills called Kulet Meiqrum and Kulet Tinasal. It also receives more important tributaries from the mountains to the east of it, the principal of these being the Wadis Eimya and Qidmib. Wadi Eimya drains the western face of Gebel Qidmib, while Wadi Qidmib drains the northern parts of the same mountain. Wadi Qidmib has two main heads; the western one lies between two high mountain ridges, and contains a well called Bir Qidmib, while the eastern one leads[145] to a steep pass by which Wadi Meisah can be reached. Before reaching Wadi Soaorib, Wadi Qidmib is joined by other feeders draining the western flanks of Gebel Orgem and Baqari Daba.

From its head at the pass into Miti Kwan to its junction with Ibib, Wadi Soaorib has a length of about fifty kilometres. The level of the pass is unknown, but from Mitba to Ibib the level of the wadi floor falls from 505 metres above sea to 260 metres in a length of about forty-one kilometres, giving an average slope of six metres per kilometre. Most of the upper portions of Wadi Soaorib and its tributaries are well stocked with trees and bushes, but as the wadi crosses the sandy plain it becomes more and more barren. The place where it enters on the plain in latitude 22° 20′ marks a tribal boundary, the upper parts, including Wadi Dishlo, belonging to the Balgab Arabs, while the lower parts, including Wadis Eimya and Qidmib, are Kurbeilab territory.

Wadi Um Bishtit, which joins Wadi Ibib some five kilometres lower down its course than does Wadi Soaorib, heads in a small open space in latitude 22° 26′ and longitude 35° 35′. At its head there are two easy passes, one leading northward into the head of Wadi Habliai, another tributary of Wadi Ibib, and the other southward into the heads of Wadi Meisah. Just below its head Wadi Um Bishtit is joined by the small Wadi Delawet, draining the hills close to the south; while a little lower down is another small tributary from a rocky gorge among the south hills, which is important as leading to Bir Um Bishtit. This well, which was filled by downwash when I visited it in March 1908, is situated in the floor of the gorge at a sharp bend, about a kilometre up from the main wadi. According to the guides, it requires excavating about five metres deep, and yields water in quantity for about a year after rain, but when there has been no rain for a year only small supplies can be got, as it fills slowly; at the time of my visit there was no necessity to open the well because there was plenty of water in galts in the mountains of Meis-heit-ar, a little further south. The well is easy of access, and lies at 330 metres above sea-level.

The total length of Wadi Um Bishtit is about fourteen kilometres. In the first half of its course it runs north-westward, shut in by high hills, and contains abundance of small trees. After cutting through the hills it receives the Wadi Orgem from the south, and turns northward in opening country to join Wadi Ibib north of the hills called[146] Adar Aweib Um Bishtit. Its average slope is about nine metres per kilometre.

Wadi Orgem, which joins Wadi Um Bishtit about four kilometres below the gorge containing the well, has its head at an easy pass near the remarkable peak of O Shakafa; this pass leads into Wadi Meisah, about three kilometres above Bir Meisah. From the pass, the Wadi Orgem runs between the high hill ranges of Orgem and Um Bishtit, in a direction a little west of north, for about sixteen kilometres to its junction with Wadi Um Bishtit.

Wadi Habliai, which heads in an easy pass about three kilometres east of Bir Um Bishtit, and runs northwards for about ten kilometres to join Wadi Ibib, is a broad sandy and rather barren wadi draining gneiss hills; the hills on the east are much lower than those on the west, and their feet are swathed in drift sand.

The last feeders of Wadi Ibib are those draining from the isolated range of high granite hills called Gebel Hamra Dom. These feeders are very numerous, some coming from the west side of the hills and curving round its south end to join Wadi Ibib, while others from the east side course east and north-east over the plain directly into Wadi Ibib. They contain numerous small trees near their heads, and after rain there springs up short grass in this locality, affording for short periods grazing for great flocks of sheep. The most northerly drainage channel from the east side heads in the hills a little north of the highest peaks, and here, after rain has fallen recently, shallow wells are dug in the sand and yield good water. The place where the wells are is called Ti Dabei Hamra Dom. One cannot rely on getting water there for long after rain has fallen, as the supplies are soon exhausted. In January 1908, I heard that water and grass were extremely abundant, and large numbers of Arabs were encamped there with their flocks and herds. But when I reached the place at the end of the next month, most of the grass had been eaten up; only a few Arabs remained, and these were baling out the last drops of water from the holes to fill their skins preparatory to forsaking the place.

Wadi Meisah, which drains the north and east slopes of Hadal Aweib Meisah, the eastern slopes of Gebel Qidmib, and the mountains of Meis-heit-ar, besides the lower hills of Titailibab, Tahaqayet, and Eqrun, has a total length along its main channel (including Wadi Awitla, the central one of its three main heads) of about seventy-five kilometres, and enters the sea about latitude 22° 45′.

[147]Wadi Meisah has three main heads, called by separate names. The most northerly is the Wadi Sarobaiya, draining from between Gebels Qidmib and Meis-heit-ar; one of the heads of this leads to a steep pass into Wadi Qidmib. The central head, Wadi Awitla, drains the north slopes of Hadal Aweib Meisah. The southern head, the Wadi Lasewid, drains the eastern slopes of Hadal Aweib Meisah and the lower hills to the east of it; by ascending its southern feeders, one can pass easily into the heads of Wadi Baueiwai, while one of the gullies opening into it from Hadal Aweib Meisah contains a series of rock basins and a small spring called Megwel Um Edwa, rather difficult of access for camels, which was yielding fair supplies of water in April 1908.

These three heads, each of which has numerous feeders, join together in a small plain at the south-east foot of O Shakafa, a remarkably prominent peak practically isolated from the mountains near it, and from this point onwards the main drainage channel is called Wadi Meisah. The little plain where the three head wadis unite is covered with trees, and has almost the aspect of a park; it is 455 metres above sea-level. Curving eastward and northward close round the foot of O Shakafa, Wadi Meisah receives from the south the Sarob Kwan, a short and very broad wadi leading to an easy pass into Wadi Didaut, and then winds about as a narrow gorge shut in by high hills. Just where it leaves the foot of O Shakafa, there is a track from the east side of the wadi over a very easy pass into the head of Wadi Orgem. Bir Meisah is a well sunk in the alluvium of the wadi bed about three kilometres below O Shakafa, and 410 metres above sea-level. When I visited it in March 1908, it was filled with downwash, and as there was plenty of water in the rock basins of the mountains further north there was then no necessity to dig it out. The Arabs say the well is about ten metres deep, and its water is not so good as that obtainable from the galts, so that they only open it when the other sources in the neighbourhood are exhausted. Two gullies entering Wadi Meisah from the east, just below the well, each contain large galts, called Meis-heit-ar, a short distance up from their mouths; these were both yielding good and plentiful water supplies in the spring of 1908. After winding about among the hills for ten kilometres below the well, Wadi Meisah receives a feeder from the west having three heads. The northern one, Akla Da-Aiyob, is a very sandy[148] gully, in fact it is choked by drift sand, and all the trees in it are dead. The central one, coming westward from among high hills, is called Hanqun Ra-ub, while the southern one, called the Wadi Eqaiyib, is only separated from Meisah at its head by an easy pass, so that it almost forms a loop of Meisah itself. To go from Bir Meisah to Bir Um Bishtit, one crosses this pass into Wadi Eqaiyib, then up Akla Da-aiyob, and over another easy pass at its head into Wadi Um Bishtit; the total distance between the two wells by this route is only sixteen kilometres.

In its lower stages Wadi Meisah traverses broad open sandy spaces between low hills, receiving a number of small feeders from either side. It curves round to the eastward a little south of the hills of Eqrun and then courses in a north-easterly direction across the sandy coast-plain to the sea. In the last stages of its course its channel is very ill-defined, the drainage spreading over the plain. The trees, which are fairly abundant in its upper parts, become fewer as one descends, but its lower portions are not always entirely barren, for after recent rain short grass springs up in its broad shallow bed and affords a moderate amount of grazing for sheep. The slope of the wadi floor just below the well is about ten metres per kilometre; lower down, the gradient gradually lessens, and in the last forty kilometres of its course is only a little over five metres per kilometre.

Wadi Kiraf, the next wadi to enter the sea south of Meisah, is really the terminal portion of the great Wadi Di-ib, the name Kiraf being only applied to the drainage from the point of junction of the Wad el Qireira with Di-ib to the sea, that is, for a distance of some thirty-one kilometres up from its mouth. The Wadi Di-ib is probably the most important and remarkable of all the seawards draining wadis of the Eastern Desert of Egypt and the Northern Sudan. I have only seen that terminal portion of its length which lies in Egypt, that is, north of the 22nd parallel; but the examinations of that length (the part of it lying within Egyptian territory, including Kiraf, is some eighty-five kilometres) is enough to show that the wadi must drain an enormous basin, for the average slope is the remarkably small one of two metres per kilometre, and the wadi floor in many places, instead of being sandy, consists of mud similar to that of the Nile Valley. According to the “Sudan Handbook,” it rises far to the south, probably near the 20th parallel, and flows generally northwards, so that its[149] length must be well over 300 kilometres. Just before it enters Egypt proper, there is an expansion in its bed covered with rich alluvial mud, on which crops of durra are grown; my camels were fed for some weeks on durra obtained from this source whilst I was working in the neighbourhood. In the present volume I shall only deal with that portion of Di-ib and its tributaries which lie north of the 22nd parallel, describing first the main channel and afterwards its principal tributaries.

Wadi Di-ib enters Egypt a little west of the 36th meridian, as a broad sandy drainage channel with many trees. Its bed is here only 170 metres above sea-level. Wadi Di-ib receives two feeders from the east near the 22nd parallel; the Wadi Shendib,[100] draining the western flanks of the high mountain mass of Gebel Shendib, is believed to join Wadi Di-ib a little south of the frontier, while the Wadi Hareitra, draining the north-eastern flanks of Gebel Shendib and the western slopes of Gebel Hanquf, probably enters Di-ib a little north of it. For the first eighteen kilometres of its course north of 22°, Wadi Di-ib flows northward over a sandy plain, with low hills and ridges, their feet often swathed in drift sand, on either side. It then receives an important tributary from the west, called Wadi el Qurat, draining the north slopes of Gebel Shiab and the hilly country between Gebel Mashushenai and Adar Aweib. After receiving Wadi el Qurat, Wadi Di-ib enters mountainous country, being shut in for some fifteen kilometres by Adar Aweib on the east and Gebel Balatitda on the west. In its northerly course here Wadi Di-ib receives many feeders from the hills, of which two entering from opposite sides near Bir Meheriqa are of interest. That from the east is really a drainage channel from the sandy plain south of Gebel Sul Hamid; but it is choked by huge accumulations of drift sand so that the drainage never reaches Wadi Di-ib, but accumulates in a depression called O Harbub, about four kilometres above its mouth. This channel, though very sandy, is quite a practicable road, as I found by traversing it on my way to Gebel Elba from Bir Meheriqa. The feeder from the west, which enters Wadi Di-ib about one and a half kilometres below Bir Meheriqa, is called Wadi Salalob; it drains the north face of Adar Aweib, and heads in a very steep pass[150] into Wadi Wieqwer. I managed to get my riding camel over this pass only with difficulty when unmounted, and it is quite impracticable for loaded camels; the rise in the last kilometre before reaching the top of the pass from the direction of Wadi Di-ib is over one hundred metres, the summit of the pass being 315 metres above sea-level.

Bir Meheriqa is a spring situated in the mouth of a small gully at the foot of Gebel Balatitda, close to the east side of Wadi Di-ib, and practically on the same level as the wadi floor (120 metres above sea-level), so that it is extremely easy of access. The floor of the gully is covered with conglomerate of recent formation and in this are several holes with pools of clear water about one metre in diameter by twenty centimetres deep, which fill as fast as emptied. The water is rather salt, but is drinkable. The portion of Wadi Di-ib which lies among the mountains has a floor of sandy mud, with abundance of trees and plants, among which several gazelles were grazing as I passed through.

About six kilometres below Bir Meheriqa, Wadi Di-ib is joined from the west by Wadi Warabeit, which drains a rather large extent of high hills to the west and cuts through the hills north of Adar Aweib to reach Wadi Di-ib. This wadi forms the route to Bir Meisah from Bir Meheriqa via the well known easy passes of Bani Sana and Sarob Kwan; the total distance is about sixty-five kilometres.

Soon after receiving Wadi Warabeit, Wadi Di-ib gets into lower hill country, with great accumulations of drift sand. From near Gebel Tishushi Tiboki it receives the Wadi Qumad Lim from the north-west, and then after passing the extensive group of low hills of Tishushi it is joined by the Wad el Qireira, which drains a large area east of Hadal Aweib Meisah.

From its junction with Wad el Qireira to the sea, Wadi Di-ib is called by the special name of Wadi Kiraf. It is merely an ill-defined drainage channel coursing north-east across a great sandy plain for a distance of thirty-one kilometres to the sea, with only one insignificant feeder, Halal Hendiyeb, joining it from the westward close to the dark little hill called Einiwai. The Wadi Kiraf is almost barren, the great accumulations of sand about the lower parts of Wadi Di-ib probably absorbing most of the drainage. But to the west of the mouth of Kiraf there is quite a dense growth of bushes and trees, covering a large tract and visible from low hills at considerable distances. This locality is called Shekra el Delam; I did not visit it, but the Arabs say there[151] is no wadi there, and it is possibly due to the drainage of Wadi Kiraf running below the surface of the sandy plain and being dammed back by the sea. A salt well, called Bir Adal Deib, exists close to the shore in the same locality.

Of the Wadi Shendib, only a few of the heads are situated in Egypt, Gebel Shendib being a mass of mountains cut through by the 22nd parallel. Collecting from the west face of the mountain group, a number of drainage lines unite, in the lower hills flanking the main mass, to form the main channel of Wadi Shendib, which courses westward through low hill country a little south of the 22nd parallel to join Wadi Di-ib. None of the heads have been surveyed in detail; their position is shown on the map from the statements of guides combined with the knowledge gained by triangulating fourteen of the principal peaks and sketching the mountain forms from a considerable distance. As the mountain peaks are of great height (the highest peak of Shendib, marked by an iron beacon, is 1,912 metres above sea) and frequently wrapped in clouds for days or even weeks together, it is probable that the heads of Wadi Shendib are very steep and convey considerable streams at certain seasons.

Wadi Hareitra, which lies just within Egypt, has likewise only been sketched in from a distance, but having been approached more closely its course is better known than that of Wadi Shendib. Its main head is nearly on the frontier, in longitude 36° 20′, between Gebels Shendib and Hanquf. From its head it makes a nearly quadrantal turn northward and westward, with a radius of about ten kilometres, among the mountains from which it receives tributaries, and then crosses the plain westward, turning south-west among low dark hills to join Wadi Di-ib after a course of about forty to forty-five kilometres from its head.

The unnamed drainage channel which is blocked by sand at O Harbub before reaching Wadi Di-ib heads in a tract of low hills with sandy interspaces about thirteen kilometres west of Gebel Elba; it receives no part, however, of the drainage of Elba itself, which goes northward by other more important channels. It is a broad and shallow ill-defined drainage line across the sandy plain, with very few trees, but its feeders from the low hill tract of Sul Hamid are less barren. The principal interest of this drainage line lies in its forming a convenient direct road from Bir Meheriqa to Bir Akwamtra and[152] Halaib, being far less sandy, as well as shorter, than any alternative route round the north side of Sul Hamid. In using this road, one leaves the drainage line to the south on the plain, and skirts the hills of Sul Hamid till one reaches the flat sandy divide at the head of Wadi Eikwan, with the “Scragged hill” of Qash Amir in view. Here one turns eastward about four kilometres south of Qash Amir, and follows an easy pass into Wadi Siamtit, a small feeder of Wadi Yoider, whence tracks lead to Bir Akwamtra, Bir Kansisrob, and Halaib.

Wadi el Qurat, which joins Wadi Di-ib from the west in latitude 22° 8′, is a broad wadi with great abundance of trees. Its main head, which has not been surveyed in detail, appears to be in Gebel Shiab, about twenty-four kilometres above its junction with Di-ib, and the first part of its course is through a rugged tract of low hills. Before reaching Wadi Di-ib it is joined by the Wadi Dibir, and Wadi Hashimaiyib on the north and by Wadi Oshqeq on the south. The northern feeders are rather complex, owing to numerous anastomosings and cross-connexions in the low hill country between Gebel Mashushenai and Adar Aweib; but they contain abundance of vegetation and give good grazing grounds. The short Wadi Dibir heads in Wadi Mashushenai, part of the drainage of which it captures. Wadi Mashushenai is a little wadi to the south of Gebel Mashushenai, with a well, Bir Mashushenai, near its head; part of its drainage goes south to Wadi Dibir as above mentioned, while the rest continues as Wadi Mashushenai, flowing south-eastward among low hills for about five kilometres to join Wadi Hashimaiyib.

Wadi Hashimaiyib heads between Gebel Warabeit and Gebel Mashushenai. Curving round the north of Gebel Mashushenai almost in a semicircle, it runs south-south-east among low hills to join Wadi el Qurat after a course of about sixteen kilometres. Besides the Wadi Mashushenai above-mentioned, Hashimaiyib receives, just before entering el Qurat, the Wadi Sinqinyeib, which drains part of the west face of Adar Aweib and the hills west of it, with a length along its main channel of ten kilometres. There is an easy road up this wadi, passing close west of Adar Aweib into Wadi Wieqwer, a tributary of Wadi Warabeit; there is no actual pass, because the westward drainage of Adar Aweib actually splits, one part going north by Wadi Wieqwer, and the other south by Wadi Sinqinyeib.

[153]Wadi Warabeit has its most important head at the easy and well known pass of Bani Sana, leading into Wadi Hamida. It is here a rather wide wadi, with a fairly rapid fall (about thirteen metres per kilometre), between the high hills of Gebel Hamida and those forming the south prolongation of Gebel Geror, and receives numerous feeders from either side. For the first six kilometres, it runs south-east; it then arrives at a small open space, where it is joined by eastward drainages from Gebels Hamida and Warabeit, and turns rather sharply to the east-north-east. After coursing in this direction for some five kilometres, it enters another open space, where it receives several feeders, the principal being the Wadi Wieqwer, draining northwards from the hills west of Adar Aweib. It then receives the Wadi Kwileimidaiyeib from the north, and cuts eastward through the hills to join Wadi Di-ib. The total length of the Wadi Warabeit from the pass of Bani Sana to Wadi Di-ib is nineteen kilometres, and in this length it falls from 335 to 113 metres above sea-level, so that its average slope is nearly twelve metres per kilometre. Both the wadi itself and its feeders are abundantly supplied with trees and bushes, while coarse grasses abound in places. Wadi Warabeit forms a convenient road from Bani Sana to Bir Meheriqa, being free from sand and well stocked with camel food.

Wad el Qireira, which joins Wadi Di-ib from the south-west to form Wadi el Kiraf, is really only the terminal portion of the more important Wadis Didaut and Baueiwai, which join to the north-east of the conspicuous dark hill mass called Ti Keferiai. It is a broad shallow drainage line across the sandy plain, with little vegetation. To the north of it, small hills are dotted over the plain, the most important being one of red granite, called Osnei, containing a galt which yields water for some time after rain. To the south are the low hills of Tishushi, partly smothered in drift sand.

Wadi Didaut, a feeder of the Wad el Qireira, commences its course south-west of the hill of Adar Aqdeib. One of its heads leads to the easy pass of Sarob Kwan, on the road to Bir Meisah. Another leads to a water source in the hills south of Adar Aqdeib, called Megwel Didaut, while a small feeder a little lower down, coming from Adar Aqdeib, also contains a water source called Megwel Adar Aqdeib. Both these water sources are within about half an hour’s journey from the main wadi. After passing Adar Aqdeib, Wadi Didaut curves[154] round to the north, receiving feeders from the hills of Um Ein and Qara Saba to the south, then turns east-north-east, passing between the hills called Kikeiyet Sharqi and Kikeiyet Gharbi, and then between the red granite hills of Adatalob Adara and the black mass of Ti Keferiai to join Wad el Qireira. The total length of Wadi Didaut is about thirty-five kilometres, and its average slope is about eight metres per kilometre. Its upper parts possess abundance of vegetation, the beautiful flowering bush called Sarob being conspicuous in Sarob Kwan; but in its lower portions it becomes almost lost in drift sand. There is an easy open track from near Megwel Adar Aqdeib, passing between the high hills called Qara Saba and Gebel Um Ein, to the Wadi Baueiwai.

Wadi Baueiwai heads in the mountains south of Hadal Aweib Meisah. Numerous feeders from the mountains course across a tract, about six kilometres in diameter, of very low granite hills called Iarih Meisah; this tract is almost entirely shut in by mountains and high hills, with an outlet south-west of Gebel Um Ein. Through this outlet the main channel passes, and receives the Wadi Miatit, draining the mountains of the same name, from the south-west. Curving in a great sweep round the foot of Gebel Um Ein, Wadi Baueiwai turns north-eastward, passing close south-east of the hills of Qara Saba and Ti Keferiai to join the Wadi Didaut and form the Wad el Qireira. From the head of Wadi Baueiwai there appears to be an easy pass by the east side of Hadal Aweib Meisah into the heads of Wadi Meisah. A small feeder of Wadi Baueiwai, draining the north-east flanks of Gebel Um Ein, leads to a water source called Megwel Um Ein. Another feeder coming in from the west side of Qara Saba forms an easy route to Wadi Didaut, as already mentioned above. The principal other tributaries of Wadi Baueiwai are the Wadis Aqwem and Hamida. Wadi Aqwem is a broad and very sandy wadi coursing north-north-east along the west side of Gebel Nubitra, and reaching Wadi Baueiwai in about latitude 22° 18′; it leads to a water source called Megwel Aqwem, situated just south of the end of a long spur of high hills running out north-eastward from Gebel Miatit. Lower down its course Wadi Aqwem is fed by tributaries from the high hills east of it, one of which, the Wadi Nubitra, contains a well. This well, called Bir Nubitra, is said to yield only very small supplies; it is situated about three kilometres up the Wadi Nubitra, among high hills. One of[155] the many heads of the small Wadi Nubitra leads northwards by an easy pass into the head of Wadi Hamida.

The Wadi Hamida heads in the mountain of the same name, and courses parallel to Wadi Aqwem, from which it is separated by a long ridge of high hills. About one and a half kilometres below its head at the easy pass into Wadi Nubitra above referred to, it receives a small gully from the east; by following up this gully, which is narrow and tortuous, for about a kilometre, one can reach a tiny spring called Megwel Hamida. When I visited it in April 1908, the spring was a mere trickle, very salt; a galt a little further up the gorge was dry at the same time, but bears signs of holding a useful store of water after rain. About three kilometres below the gully containing the spring, Wadi Hamida reaches an opening whence one can either go south-east for two kilometres to the easy pass of Bani Sana, or north-west through a gap in the longitudinal ridge which encloses the wadi on the left. Wadi Hamida itself, however, keeps straight on its course past Gebel Geror, and joins Wadi Baueiwai south-east of the hill of Ti-Keferiai. The heads of Wadi Hamida contain a fair amount of vegetation, but its lower parts are more barren and very sandy.

Wadi Di-it drains the north parts of the hill mass of Sul Hamid, and courses north-east to reach the coast independently about latitude 22° 29′. It has not been explored, and is of no great importance; vegetation in it is probably confined to its upper parts among the hills. Of its total course of about thirty-five kilometres, a large portion lies over the sandy coast-plain.

Wadi Eikwan is a broad shallow and sandy channel draining the high jagged hill called Qash Amir and the eastern parts of the low hill mass of Sul Hamid. Its head is about four kilometres south of Qash Amir, in the flat sandy plain. Taking at first a northerly direction past the west side of Qash Amir, it turns to the north-east further on and crosses the coast-plain to reach the sea only a little south of the mouth of Di-it. Its total length is about thirty six kilometres, and its average slope is about nine metres per kilometre.

Wadi Yoider, the next wadi to the east, is of considerable importance, as it drains the west portion of Gebel Elba and its heads are extremely rich in trees and other vegetation, while one of its tributaries contains a large well of good water (Bir Akwamtra). The main head of Wadi Yoider may be considered to be the wadi which bears the[156] special name of Wadi O Sir Hadal, draining the south-west flanks of Gebel Elba and the north-west flanks of Gebel Hanquf, and heading in an easy pass close to the well of Bir Salalat O Sir, about 450 metres above sea-level. Wadi O Sir Hadal courses north-west between the mountain ranges for about eight kilometres, receiving a rather large feeder from the south about six kilometres below its head. It then emerges from the mountains and turns north among lower hills, here receiving the Wadi Qeirat, draining westwards from near the summit of Elba. A few kilometres further on it enters an open plain sloping rapidly downwards to the north, receiving the small and narrow Wadi Siamtit from between two high hill masses to the west. From here onwards Wadi Yoider courses in gentle curves a little north of east to reach the coast in about latitude 22° 27′. A well called Bir Nabit, situated in Wadi Yoider, a few hundred metres up from its mouth, is believed to yield only brackish water. In its journey to the coast Wadi Yoider receives several feeders from among the rugged granite hills of El Sela to the west of it, as well as the important Wadi Akwamtra from the north-east flank of Gebel Elba. The head of this Wadi Akwamtra is quite close to the summit of Elba, and its course is at first almost due west, afterwards changing to nearly north among the lower flanking hills, and dividing into two channels which re-unite lower down. Bir Akwamtra, one of the best water sources in the Bisharin country, is situated at an altitude of 330 metres above sea-level in the eastern channel of Wadi Akwamtra, about three kilometres up above the place where it leaves the hills. It is an excavation in the stony floor of the wadi. The water in April 1908 was about four metres below the wadi floor, and formed a pool about two metres in diameter in a wide open hollow which filled as fast as it could be emptied. The water was of excellent quality. There are two other wells a few hundred metres further down the same wadi; one of these contained a little water, while the other was dry, and only the principal well was being used. The floor of the wadi near and above the well is very stony, so that it is not a very good camping ground, and the Hamedorab Arabs pitch their tents of matting further down the wadi. When I visited the place there were numerous Bisharin Arabs at the well with their women and children, all busily employed in watering their flocks and herds and washing their clothes. The wadi, in spite of its stony floor, is literally full of large trees, principally acacias, so[157] close together that laden camels cannot pick their way through them for more than a short distance above the well, and thousands of doves inhabit the trees. There are some ruins near the wells, built of boulders set in mud; they are said to have been erected by Dervishes in 1886, when they seized Halaib and Bir Akwamtra. These Dervishes were killed off by Egyptian troops, some of them being chased to Bir Meisah and shot there.

As the densely wooded and stony character of Wadi Akwamtra prevents camels from passing up it much above the well, I found it necessary, in order to pitch a camp within a reasonable distance of the summit of Gebel Elba, to descend Wadi Akwamtra for about a kilometre and to cross the Asut Duk pass leading east into the head of Wadi Yahameib. This pass is too steep for loaded camels, and even riding camels have to be led down it; baggage camels have to go round the hill spurs north of the pass. The head of Wadi Yahameib is also full of trees and scrub, but it is possible to get camels up within four kilometres of the summit of Elba by this route, whereas Bir Akwamtra is over six kilometres from it.

Wadi Aideib, with its principal tributary the Wadi Yahameib, drains the north-east portion of Gebel Elba and reaches the sea in about latitude 22° 21′. A well, called Bir Abu Ramad, is situated in the wadi bed not far from the sea; like that of almost all the wells close to the coast, its water is probably brackish. The main head of Wadi Aideib is on the east side of the main peaks of Elba. Coursing at first north-eastward, this drainage channel runs through an open sloping plain about one and a half kilometres wide between the mountain spurs, its channel here dividing into a great loop with numerous feeders from the ranges on either side. Passing west of the high isolated granite mass of Karam Elba, it runs northward over the sloping plain, receiving the Wadi Yahameib from the west near the low red granite hills called Ti Hamra, and then courses north of east to the sea.

Wadi Yahameib originates on the north-west flanks of Gebel Elba, where steep well wooded gorges unite in a steeply sloping stony plain, covered with trees and scrub, between two great spurs of the mountain. There is no pass at its main head, but just before it enters the plain there is a small feeder from among the hills to the west, by following up which one can get over a rather steep pass called Asut Duk; this pass forms a short cut for unladen camels between the[158] wells of Kansisrob and Akwamtra, but is too steep for animals loaded with baggage. Curving round to the east, Wadi Yahameib is fed, just before it joins Wadi Aideib, by the Wadis Akau and Kansisrob, both draining the north parts of a great spur of Gebel Elba. Wadi Akau contains a small spring, called Megwel Akau, a short distance above its opening from the hills, while Wadi Kansisrob contains a great well of good water called Bir Kansisrob, a short distance up from its mouth. Bir Kansisrob is second only to Bir Akwamtra in importance, and there are usually many Bisharin camps in the wadi just below it. Like all the wadis draining from Elba, Wadis Yahameib and Aideib are full of trees and scrub and grasses; in going to the foot of Elba up the head of Wadi Yahameib with baggage camels, much more difficulty is caused by the closeness of the trees and scrub than by the stony nature of the floor. The Elba district is, I believe, the only place in the Eastern Desert of Egypt where vegetable growth is so abundant as seriously to hinder one’s caravan in approaching the mountains; for the progress of baggage camels to be arrested while still four or five kilometres from a peak by the steep and stony nature of the ground is common enough; but for the arrest to be due to trees and scrub was a new and interesting experience. Even the sand dunes on the west side of Wadi Yahameib are half-covered with coarse grasses, and look green instead of the usual yellow. When we could get no further with our camping equipment, Mr. Bakewell, who had been in South Africa, informed me that we were in what would be called in that country “open bush”; but in comparison with the rest of the desert the place was a jungle.

Wadi Todhi drains the high hills about Karam Elba. In the upper part of its course it flows north-east between Karam Elba and a range of lower granite hills called Mikeriba; emerging thence on to the plain, its drainage spreads out over a tract, called Karam Hindi, covered with trees, whence part drains to the Wadi Aideib while another part goes to the sea near Suakin el Qadim.

Suakin el Qadim, is a collection of mounds close to the sea a little south of latitude 22° 20′. Bent, who visited the place in 1896, found “nothing earlier than Cufic remains, unless the graves, formed of four large blocks of madrepore sunk deep into the ground, may be looked upon as a more ancient form of sepulture.”[101] My native assistant[159] reported there was no well at the place, nor anything of interest besides the graves.

Wadi Delowa is a small wadi entering the sea about six kilometres south-east of Suakin el Qadim. It originates in the low hill country near Mikeriba and flows north-east between the little red hill of Alafot and the low banks called Alafot Onqwab on the north and the granite hills of Kreishim and Taar Ara on the south.

Wadi Serimtai is an important drainage line, the main head of which is situated in the Sudan, probably near the great mountain of Asotriba. It enters Egypt in longitude 36° 22′, coursing northward between Gebel Hanquf and Gebel Shendodai, from which last-named mountain it receives a feeder called Wadi Um Seyal. After passing Gebel Shendodai it crosses a tract of low granite hills to the foot of Gebel O Sir Eirab, where it receives the wadi of the same name and numerous feeders from Gebel Hanquf. It then turns north-east, passing along the foot of the spurs of Elba, and north of the granite hills of O Wota and Abai Sis to reach the sea ten kilometres north-west of Halaib. About twenty-five kilometres up from its mouth, Wadi Serimtai contains a well called Bir Sararat Serimtai, which has, however, not been visited. The Wadi O Sir Eirab, an important tributary of Serimtai, drains the south flanks of Gebel Elba, coursing at first south-west and then turning sharply eastward. At the turn is a well in the wadi floor called Bir Salalat O Sir, 440 metres above sea-level, close to which is an easy pass leading into the head of Wadi O Sir Hadal, a tributary of Wadi Yoider. From its entry into Egypt to its mouth, Wadi Serimtai has a length of forty-five kilometres, and an average slope of twelve and a half metres per kilometre. It contains plenty of trees and scrub, especially in its upper parts.

Mera Kwan is a wadi draining north-eastward from Gebel Shendodai and entering the sea a little north of Halaib. It has not been surveyed in detail, but as it drains from high mountains it doubtless contains plenty of vegetation, especially in its upper parts. The lower half of its course is rather sandy, passing among low hills on to the coast-plain.

Halaib, the only permanent village on the Red Sea coast of Egypt south of Qoseir,[102] is situated in latitude 22° 13′ 25″ N., longitude[160] 36° 38′ 56″ E.[103] The name of the place is pronounced locally Oleiyib, and though I have retained the established European spelling as given on the charts, none of the natives would recognise the name if pronounced in its Europeanised form. Its most conspicuous buildings, and the only ones composed of masonry in any form, are a fort and a block-house; there are a few rude wooden shanties, mostly built of timber which has been cast up on the beach, but the bulk of the population live in little reed huts and tents of matting. Halaib is the headquarters of a small police force under the command of a moawen, the men being lodged in the fort. The fort, which stands about forty metres from the sea on low ground, is an irregular octagon in plan, about ten metres in diameter by six and a half metres high. As its top is only eight metres above the sea and there are low banks west of it, the fort is not very conspicuous as one approaches it from the landward side, but being whitewashed and open to the sea it is a good landmark for sailors in the neighbourhood. It has two flagstaffs, from which the British and Egyptian flags are flown on Fridays. The fort is entered by a ladder, the floor forming the police quarters being about three metres above ground. Below are water tanks, and above a trap door gives access to the roof, which is carried on iron rails and plastered over with stucco. The roof vibrates too much for it to be used as a triangulation station, and observations here were taken from an eccentric point on the ground and afterwards reduced to centre. The block-house is a smaller rectangular structure, whitewashed, situated on a low bank about 400 metres south-west of the fort. A small jetty, built of coral, runs out from near the fort far enough for a small boat to get alongside.

There are five wells at Halaib, all within a few hundred metres of the fort. The water is very hard, and exerts a very strongly aperient action on those unused to it, though the Arabs of the place consider it very good. A small Government garden near the fort contains a few small date palms, but there is no other cultivation. There is a sort of bazaar, where one can buy clothes, sugar, dates, fat, etc., but the supplies are small and there was no flour to be got when I was there. Eggs can be purchased from the Arabs, who possess a few fowls, and excellent fish can be got very cheaply from the fishermen. For a daily wage of eight piastres a fisherman supplied me with as much fresh[161] fish daily as I and my men could eat. Sheep can be got from the hills at a day’s notice, a good fat one costing L.E. 1. Firewood has to be brought in from the mountains, and any European making a stay at the place would do well to send to Bir Kansisrob or Bir Frukit for pure water at the same time. The people are very friendly, but only a few speak Arabic. There is a kuttab where boys learn to read and write Arabic under the tuition of a sheikh from Suakin, so that Arabic may perhaps be more spoken after another generation.

There are two islands a little north of Halaib, both low and sandy. The larger one, called Geziret Halaib el Kebir, is nearly triangular, with sides about three and a half kilometres long. It can be reached easily by wading across a narrow channel in low states of the sea. On it is the grave, marked by a wooden cross, of Lieut. Stewart, R.N., who lost his life in a fight with Dervishes here in 1886. The smaller island lies further north; it is called Geziret Kwolala[104] on account of its nearly circular shape.

Halaib possesses an excellent harbour, though it is sometimes difficult of access to sailing vessels owing to the direction of its entrance.[105] It is visited occasionally by Coast Guard cruisers as well as by small trading boats from Suakin. On enquiry of the local sailors, I found most of the names given on the Admiralty Charts of this district to be unknown to them. For example, Abu Dara, Sherm Alueda, Ras Abu Fatma, Elba Island, Ras Jazriyal, and Cape Elba were all unknown. Abu Dara was called by the natives Shekra el Delam, while Elba Island was called Geziret el Dibia, and Cape Elba is locally known as Ras Hadarba. I obtained the following names for the small anchorages north and south of Halaib, though I could not locate them exactly on the maps, as the sailors could not read a map sufficiently well, and the harbours themselves are mere gaps through the outer coral reef, not visible indentations of the actual coast-line. Starting from Bir Adal Deib and going southward, Mersa Abu el Qâsim is near the mouth of Wadi el Kiraf; a big tree forms a landmark for entering it. Further on is Mersa Harâba, then Mersa Abu Naam with an island opposite to it, then, after passing Ras Unbilat, comes Mersa Yoider, at the mouth of Wadi Yoider, where there is a well called Bir Nabit. Passing Abu[162] Ramad well in Wadi Aideib, and Suakin el Qadim, one comes to Mersa Aqwetit, then to Mersa Serimtai, at the mouth of Wadi Serimtai, opposite the island of Kwolala, and then to Mersa Halaib itself. South of Halaib the principal anchorage is Mersa Shellal, at the mouth of Wadi Shellal. The cape in latitude 22° 10′ is called Ras Qubet Isa. A small anchorage south of Ras Hadarba (Cape Elba) appears to be called indifferently Mersa Hadarba (from the hills near it) or Mersa Qabatit (from the wadi and well near it); but I could not make quite sure if these are one and the same, or two separate anchorages.

Wadi Shellal heads between the high mountain masses of Gebels Shendodai and Shellal, and courses north-east for about thirty kilometres to reach the coast about four kilometres south-east of Halaib. In its lower part, where it crosses the coast-plain, it is a broad shallow drainage channel full of scrub. Its upper parts, which have not been explored, are doubtless well supplied with trees, and are stated to be the principal habitat of the Hamedorab Arabs.

Wadi Aqilhoq, which drains the eastern parts of Gebel Shellal, courses about parallel to Wadi Shellal a few kilometres further south. It contains a well, Bir Frukit, about twenty kilometres up from its mouth, near some dark conspicuous foot hills called Gebel Balatitda. This well yields a constant supply of very good water, and is the place where I sent for my water supplies in commencing my return march to Port Sudan. The position of the well as shown on the map is only approximate, but its direction having been pointed out with the alidade by guides from two plane-table stations, I believe the location is pretty nearly correct.

Wadi Aqwei drains east of north from among the foot-hills east of Gebel Shellal, and enters the sea four kilometres west of Ras Qubet Isa. Where I crossed it two kilometres from its mouth it was a broad shallow wadi with plenty of scrub, dividing round a low but conspicuous gravel bank before reaching the sea.

Kreit-reit-or is a similar wadi to that last mentioned, coursing north-eastward over the plain from among low hills, and entering the sea five kilometres south-east of Ras Qubet Isa. About two kilometres south of Kreit-reit-or, at a distance of three and a half kilometres from the coast, and thirty metres above sea-level, are the bitter wells of Ti Kureitra. These are four wells, sunk about twelve metres deep in the gypseous strata which here underlie the sand and gravel of the coast-plain.[163] The wells are lined with slabs of selenite. The water is so strongly purgative that a number of my Arabs who drank of it were made extremely unwell, and the wells are chiefly used for watering the flocks of sheep which graze in the neighbouring valleys.

From the group of conspicuous though not very high hills called Gebel Hadarba, ten kilometres west of Ras Hadarba (Cape Elba) many drainage channels cross the coast-plain towards the sea in a direction north of east. Some of the drainage lines form the north side of the hills reach the sea east of Ti Kureitra wells; but others lose themselves in a quicksand called Kuatianai, or “the devourer,” which covers a large triangular space of about twenty square kilometres about the cape. At the actual cape, rocks are visible at the coast, and the quicksand, so far as I could judge from a distance, appears to be really a lagoon, filled with the sand washed down from the hills. The Arabs state that camels wandering on this sand get swallowed up; the colour of its surface is distinctly darker than the rest of the plain.

On either side of the 22nd parallel, near the sea are low gravel-covered banks of calcareous grit, seventy metres high in places, and through these pass several broad wadis draining from the low hill country further west. The chief of these wadis, called Wadi Qabatit, enters the sea at a well defined inlet of the coast called Mersa Qabatit. A well, Bir Qabatit, is situated in the bed of another drainage channel a little south of the main wadi, one and a half kilometres south-east of the mersa and 3·85 kilometres south of the 22nd parallel. The ground at the well is only five metres above the sea. The well is a big excavation in the wadi floor, and its water surface is about at sea-level. To me the water tasted decidedly salt, but the Arabs say it does not purge them.

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[164]CHAPTER VI.

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THE MOUNTAINS AND HILLS.

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It has been already mentioned (p. 19) that the principal mountain masses are divisible into ten main groups as follows:—

i.	The Migif — Hafafit — Nugrus — Hangalia — Zabara group;
ii.	The Abu Hamamid — Hamata — Abu Gurdi group;
iii.	The Um Gunud — Dahanib — Batoga group;
iv.	The Abu Dahr — Orga — Um Tenebda group;
v.	The Faraid group;
vi.	The Awamtib — Abraq — Dif — Aqab el Negum — Mishbih group;
vii.	The Gerf — Korabkansi — Abu Hodeid group;
viii.	The Meisah — Adar Qaqa — Is group;
ix.	The mountains of the Alaqi basin west of Gebel Adar Qaqa;
x.	The Elba — Shendib group;

while there are numerous more or less isolated mountains and hills lying outside these principal masses. In the present chapter a more detailed account will be given of each of the main groups, taking them in order from north to south, the principal outlying hill-masses being considered along with the mountain group to which they are in greatest proximity. It may be remarked that the geographical positions of all the principal peaks are tabulated in Chapter III.

The Migif — Hafafit — Nugrus — Hangalia — Zabara Group.

The highest mountains of the group (see the detailed map on Plate VI) form a close cluster, round Gebel Nugrus (1,505 metres) as a centre, between latitudes 24° 40′ and 24° 55′, while other more or less detached masses are scattered to the north and west. A striking feature of the central cluster is the tendency to extension in a north-west and south-east direction, which is specially marked in the Hafafit and Hangalia ranges.

[165]Gebel Nugrus, the central and highest mountain of this northerly group, is a great boss of red granite rising to a height of 1,505 metres among schists and gneisses. It is an almost isolated mass, for though the Hangalia and Hafafit ranges close in on it from either side, there are passes both east and west of it by which a circuit of the mountain can be made. In plan, it is a pear-shaped mass, about fourteen kilometres in length by six kilometres in width, having its long axis north-west and south-east. Gebel Nugrus is on the main watershed; its north parts are drained Nilewards by the Wadi Hangalia and other feeders of Wadi Gerf, while the drainage from its south portion passes by the Wadi Nugrus and Wadai el Nom to the Wadi Gemal and thence to the sea. The ascent of the mountain was made from a camp about four kilometres west of the summit, at the top of the pass leading into the stony head of Wadi Nugrus. The divide here is flat and sandy, at an altitude of 691 metres above sea-level, so that the ascent from camp to summit was 814 metres. Striking eastwards over the lower ridges which flank the main back-bone of the mountain, the summit was reached after a climb of nearly four hours. When ascended from this side, there appear to be two main peaks, of which the further one, marked by a beacon, is the triangulation point; the best way up is between the two peaks, as the passage from one to the other is very rough and steep. Though tiring, the climb is not very difficult. The top of the mountain (see Plate VII) is a mass of great rounded knobs of granite, on which a suitable place for setting up instruments was only found after some searching. The beacon, in latitude 24° 48′ 34″, longitude 34° 35′ 47″, is on a rounded eminence not large enough to receive an instrument, so that eccentric observations were necessary; the distance between the eccentric point of observation and the beacon had to be found by a subtense method, as the roughness of the mountain top rendered any process of chaining or taping impossible. The view from the summit is very fine. To the west, one sees the pinnacles of Migif and the nearer long range of Hafafit; to the north-east is the black cone of Atut; northward, seen over a sea of hills, is Igli; to the east is the high ridge of Hangalia, culminating to the south in Gebel Zabara.

The sea is visible to the north-east and east, but the sea horizon was obscured during the three days I spent on the summit by banks of clouds. These cloud banks simulated the sea horizon very closely,[166] their upper surface appearing perfectly horizontal. They caused a peculiar phenomenon at sunrise, producing the optical effect of two suns rising one after the other owing to the refraction through the cloud. The first thing seen was a blood-red image of the sun rising over the true sea horizon, which was only thus discovered, the sun being seen through the cloud; about three minutes later, when a little more than half the blood-red disc had risen, the true sun rays flashed out from another and much brighter segment appearing over the top of the cloud, so that parts of two sun disks were seen at once, quite separately, one over the other.

Before descending from the mountain, I went along the ridge south-east and north-west of the highest point to get plane-table stations; in either direction progress along the top is extremely difficult. To the north-west it appeared as though the way would be easier by keeping on the east side of the ridge, but in reality this was not so, as the slope was so steep and smooth that some stretches could only be got over by wriggling along with as much as possible of one’s body in contact with the rock. The descent from the north-west end of the ridge to camp was difficult and rather dangerous in places. It is possible that a better way up the mountain could be found from the pass at the head of Wadi Hangalia, on the opposite side to where I started; that pass is 120 metres higher than the west one, so that the total climb would be lessened by that amount, and the horizontal distance is about the same.

Gebel Hafafit is a very long range, chiefly of gneiss, running in a nearly straight line south-eastward for over thirty kilometres. Its highest peaks are at its north end, where they are not very much lower than those of Gebel Nugrus; the heights decrease gradually further south. Half way down the range is a very conspicuous peak called Um Moghar, 860 metres above sea, while another well marked summit, the only one which I climbed, exists near the south end and rises to 744 metres. This last-named point is marked by a beacon, in latitude 24° 35′ 32″, longitude 34° 45′ 22″. On either side of the main back-bone of Hafafit are high flanking ridges. The drainage of Hafafit practically all flows seaward by the Wadi Gemal; the west faces are drained by Wadi Hafafit, and the east ones by Wadi Nugrus.

East of the south part of Gebel Hafafit are some remarkable bosses of granite, of which the chief, Gebel Abu Had, rises to 633[167] metres above sea, and is a landmark for Bir Abu Had. Another remarkable hill, closer in to Hafafit and the Wadi Gemal, is shaped like a bell with a handle on the top; this hill, which forms a good landmark, is called Gebel Um Regeba, and its summit is 571 metres above the sea.

Gebel Migif is a very spiky gneiss mass situated about thirteen kilometres west of Gebel Nugrus. It has several summits of about equal height, fairly close together, but separated by deep clefts. The triangulation beacon is on the western peak, in latitude 24° 47′ 23″, longitude 34° 27′ 30″, 1,199 metres above sea-level. The foliation planes of the rock dip to the north, and the only safe means of ascent is up the resulting north slopes. The south aspect is precipitous. When ascending the mountain, I pitched my camp 2·7 kilometres north of the beacon, in a gully draining into Wadi Shait, west of another gully containing the water holes called Galt Um Karaba, at an altitude of 607 metres above sea-level. The ascent, of 592 metres, took two hours steady climbing, and was not difficult. I kept on the west side of the gorge till near the top, and this is the best way up the mountain, for I found the gorge itself to be steep and abounding in impassable precipices. The view from Gebel Migif is shut in to the east by the high masses of Gebels Hafafit and Nugrus; Gebels Atut and Igli are conspicuous to the north; to the south-east, one overlooks the great sandy basin of Wadi Hafafit; while to the south-west is more open country in which the two remarkable cones of El Nahud, the sharp peak of Gebel Abu Khrug, the ridge of Gebel Hamrat Selma, and closer in the ranges called Gebel Dweig, are striking features. On a clear day, the huge mountains of Hamata and Abu Hamamid, eighty kilometres to the south-south-east, can be discerned. The photographs on Plate VIII will give an idea of the views looking towards Gebels Nugrus and Dweig respectively. In the upper view Gebel Nugrus is seen behind the Hafafit range; in the lower, the masses close in are Gebel Dweig, while in the distance, to the right of the centre, is Gebel Hamrat Selma, and behind it on the horizon the spike of Gebel Abu Khrug. The precipitous nature of the south side of Gebel Migif is evident in both views.

The north and west sides of Gebel Migif are drained by the Wadi Shait, which passes the foot of the mountain; the steep south face drains into Wadi Dweig, a tributary of Shait; while the eastern face, flanked by low hills, is drained by Wadi Hafafit.

[168]Gebel Dweig is a small group of high hills close to the south of Gebel Migif, with which it combines to form a cul-de-sac round the head of Wadi Dweig. Gebel Dweig resembles Gebel Migif in character, except that it is lower; the hill on the south side of the narrow opening by which Wadi Dweig leaves the cul-de-sac is 864 metres above sea, and this is believed to be the highest of the group. The eastern part of the mass is a curiously curved range sweeping round nearly in a semicircle.

Gebel Hamrat Selma is a high ridge rising from the plain about fifteen kilometres south-west of Gebel Migif. I did not approach it closely, but fixed the position of its highest point, which is 761 metres above sea-level, by triangulation.

El Nahud (the breasts) is the name given to two very remarkable conical hills of volcanic rock rising from the plain on the north side of Wadi Natash to the south of Gebel Hamrat Selma. The two hills are about five kilometres apart, one being south-east of the other. The north-eastern cone is the sharper of the two, but they have both the same altitude of 662 metres above the sea and rise about 130 metres above the surrounding country.

Gebel Abu Khrug is a granite hill-mass with a remarkably sharp high peak, about twenty-five kilometres south-west of Gebel Migif. The summit, which is surmounted by a triangulation beacon, in latitude 24° 38′ 57″, longitude 34° 16′ 19″, has an altitude of 870 metres above sea-level. Abu Khrug, from its striking Matterhorn-like shape and its situation in fairly open country, is a conspicuous landmark for great distances. The Arabs who were sent to erect the beacon stated that the ascent was very difficult.

Gebel Sufra is a mass of rather flat-topped high hills, partly of volcanic origin, about eighteen kilometres west of Abu Khrug, on the north side of Wadi Shait. The triangulation beacon on the summit is in latitude 24° 38′ 42″, longitude 34° 4′ 13″, at a height of 690 metres above sea-level, and 340 metres above the well of Um Gubur, which is in the Wadi Shait about three kilometres to the south-east.

Gebels Nazla and Um Serg are moderately high hills lying to the south of Gebels Sufra and Abu Khrug, between the Wadis Shait and Natash.

Gorf el Natash is a syenite hill on the south side of Wadi Natash, about five kilometres south-west of Bir Masur, while Gebels Muktil[169] (470 metres), Derera, and Um Goraf, are prominent hills lying still further south near Wadi Antar.

Gebel Ras Shait is a group of high rugged-looking reddish hills, probably of granite, at the head of Wadi Shait, near Gebels Nugrus and Migif. Its highest peak rises to 1,019 metres above sea. The west face drains directly into Shait, while the eastern and northern slopes drain into Wadi Gerf, which joins Shait far to the south-west. Between Gebels Migif and Ras Shait is a small range of hills dividing Wadi Shait from the head of Wadi Hafafit; across the south end of this range, which is composed of dark schists with white granite at its western foot, there runs a zigzag pass, fairly easy for camels, to the head of Wadi Nugrus.

Gebel Mudergeg is a high range of reddish hills, which with Gebels Ras Shait and Migif encloses the heads of Wadi Shait. Its highest point is 1,086 metres above sea. To the east of it are several other lower ranges, some of white and others of black aspect, which have not been approached closely.

Gebel Hangalia is a great mountain ridge running south-south-east for about twelve kilometres, from Gebel Ghuel to Gebel Zabara, consisting chiefly of schists. Its highest peak is 1,241 metres above sea-level. Its western faces are drained partly to the Nile by the Wadi Hangalia (a tributary of Wadi Gerf) and partly to the sea by the Wadai el Nom (a tributary of Wadi Nugrus); its eastern faces, which are flanked by high ridges, drain into the various feeders of Wadi Ghadir.

Gebel Zabara, a mountain mass rising to 1,361 metres above sea-level, forms a southward extension of the Hangalia range. The cairn on its summit is in latitude 24° 45′ 21″, longitude 34° 41′ 53″. The mountain is drained on the north and east sides by feeders of the Wadi Ghadir, while its western flanks are partly drained by the Wadai el Nom. Gebel Zabara is chiefly composed of schists of various types. The ancient emerald mines of Zabara are in the north-east part of the mountain, about two and a half kilometres from its summit. A triangulation beacon marks the highest point of the mountain, but this was only used as an intersection point. I ascended some of the flanking ridges near the old mines; these consisted of splintery schists, and though the climbing is steep and rough (see Plate IX), the schists give a good foothold so that the ascent to the top is probably not very difficult.[170] The ruins in the Wadi Zabara, near the old mines, are at 514 metres above sea-level; the climb from them to the summit is thus one of 857 metres. Due south of Gebel Zabara is a high ridge, the north-west end of which is 1,104 metres above sea-level; this ridge is the most conspicuous of a mass of high hills flanking Gebel Zabara to the south, which have not been seen except from a distance, but which are probably drained by the Wadi Nugrus.

Gebel Ghuel, which forms a northward extension of Gebel Hangalia, is likewise composed of schists. Its highest point, the south end of a conspicuous high ridge, is 1,104 metres above sea. Its eastern faces are drained by the Wadis Ghuel and Fegas, both tributaries of Wadi Ghadir, while its western flanks drain into the heads of Wadi Um Khariga. High hills flank the main ridge on both sides, especially the east, and through these the drainage channels form deep gloomy gorges. Wadi Ghuel contains important water holes.

Gebel Um Khariga is the name given to several high hill ranges on either side of the Wadi Um Khariga. Two of these ranges, one on either side of the upper part of the wadi, form like Gebel Ghuel north extensions of the high ridge of Hangalia; the western range can be crossed at a gap by an easy pass, 773 metres above sea-level, which separates the heads of Wadi Gerf from those of Wadi Um Khariga. These two ranges shut in the wadi on either side for some ten kilometres of its northward course, beyond which the country becomes more open and the wadi curves round to the north-east, passing the north end of a third range of high hills which is likewise called Gebel Um Khariga. This third range extends northward for about ten kilometres from Gebel Ghuel, from which it is separated by a pass forming a good road over the head of Wadi Ghadir. Its most conspicuous feature is a twin peak at its north end, 674 metres above sea-level. The main ridge is flanked by high hills, especially on the east side. Only the north and west flanks of this range are drained by Wadi Um Khariga, the eastern side being cut up by feeders of Wadi Sukari. Besides the pass separating it from Gebel Ghuel, there are two other passes, one round its north end into Wadi Sukari, and another at its south end between Wadi Ghadir and Wadi Sukari, so that a complete circuit of this range can be made by camels. Some of the hills composing the mass consist of highly magnetic schists, and compass readings in the region may be disturbed by many degrees.

[171]Gebel Igli el Iswid is a rather rugged mountain mass rising among a sea of lower hills, thirty kilometres north of Gebel Nugrus. Its highest point, marked by a triangulation beacon, in latitude 25° 4′ 6″, longitude 34° 36′ 16″, is 975 metres above sea-level. The mountain forms a tripartite watershed between the basins of Wadi Um Khariga (draining the south slopes), Wadi Dabur (draining the north and west slopes), and Wadi Igli (draining the eastern face), each of which three wadis courses separately to the sea. In occupying the triangulation station on the summit, I placed my camp in a gully draining to Wadi Um Khariga, about two kilometres south-south-west of the summit at an altitude of 605 metres above sea. The climb of 370 metres to the top from this camp was not difficult, and occupied only a little over an hour and a half. The mountain consists of very hard grey siliceous rocks, which ring under the hammer, and are probably crushed and devitrified felsites (see p. 281). There are galts in some of the gullies draining from this mountain, hence it is sometimes called Igli el Rayani. At the time of my visit (December 1905) there was said to be a little water in a galt on the west side of the mass; but the rock basins in the gully which I ascended were empty.

Gebel Igli el Ahmar, sometimes called El Atshani, is a lower hill mass of granite some ten kilometres north-east of Igli el Iswid.

Gebel Atut is a high black conical hill thirty kilometres north-west of Gebel Nugrus. Rising considerably above the hills which immediately surround it, Atut is visible from a great distance from the west, and its conical form renders it easy of recognition. Its summit, marked by a beacon, in latitude 25° 0′ 56″, longitude 34° 23′ 49″, is 908 metres above sea-level and 300 metres above the branches of the Rod el Atut which encircle its base. A camp can be placed close to the foot of the cone, and the ascent is easily made in about an hour. The rock of Gebel Atut is olivine gabbro (see p. 302), of great hardness, and the whole surface of the mountain is formed of great blocks, rounded and boulder-like below, but angular higher up. The blocks have rusty-looking surfaces, but are perfectly sound rock inside, and they ring like bells under the hammer. The upper illustration on Plate X shows a view of the summit of Gebel Atut, from which its blocky nature will be evident. The view from Gebel Atut is a very extensive one. To the west and north (see the lower illustration on Plate X) one can see the peaks of Gebels Muelih, Haggar Dungash,[172] Iteima, Abu Diab, and Hamrat Wogud; to the south-east are the masses of Migif and Nugrus, while eastward one looks over a great expanse of hills towards Gebels Dabur and Um Khariga, with the sea beyond.

The hills of Um el Huetat, the highest of which rise over 200 metres above the wadis round them, are situated about eight kilometres due west of Gebel Atut; they are composed of schists of various types, and contain some old mines, mostly in talc schist. They are drained by the Rod el Farag, a tributary of Wadi Gerf.

On the other side of the Rod el Farag, i.e., further west of Gebel Atut, are numerous scattered hills, the higher of which bear the names of Hamrat Mastura, El Hamra, and Um Himar. These are of granite, gneiss, and schists, with some coarse gabbro and numerous quartz veins.

Still further west is the remarkable ridge called Erf el Fahid, a great quartz vein ten metres wide and two kilometres long, rising nearly one hundred metres above the Wadi Muelih. A beacon on its highest point, 579 metres above sea-level, marks the triangulation station, its position being latitude 25° 0′ 5″, longitude 34° 11′ 52″. South-east of Erf el Fahid is a line of similar but smaller ridges, also formed of great quartz veins rising through diorites and schists. Still further down the Wadi Muelih is a curious horse-shoe-shaped hill of aplite, called Marwot Rod el Ligaia, round which the hills of crushed diorite are penetrated with a network of quartz veins running in various directions.

Gebel Muelih is a great boss of white granite situated close to the north side of Wadi Muelih in longitude 34°. Its summit, marked by a beacon, in latitude 24° 52′ 44″, longitude 34° 0′ 37″, is 707 metres above sea and 350 metres above the wadi which courses round its south flank, and from which it is easily climbed. The upper view on Plate XI gives an idea of its appearance as seen from the base line camp in the wadi six kilometres east of it.

Gebel Hagar Dungash is a great mass of high hills situated north of Gebel Muelih. The beacon on its highest point, in latitude 24° 59′ 12″, longitude 34° 2′ 33″, is 815 metres above sea-level. In the hills which flank the main mass are numerous sharp peaks, one of the most conspicuous of which, eight and a half kilometres south-west of the beacon, is called Gebel Um Dalalil. A ridge five kilometres due east[173] of the beacon bears the name of Erf Rod Um Rashid. The rocks of Haggar Dungash are chiefly dark schists.

Gebel Iteima is a group of high granite hills rising from the plain fifteen kilometres north of Erf el Fahid. Its highest peak is 849 metres above the sea. It is drained southwards by the Wadi Muelih.

Gebel Hamrat Wogud, which is likewise of granite, is a higher mountain mass fifteen kilometres east of Iteima. Its highest point, marked by a beacon, is in latitude 25° 9′ 34″, longitude 34° 20′ 0″, and 1,103 metres above sea. It is drained southwards by the Rod Um el Farag, a tributary of Wadi Gerf.

Between Gebels Muelih and Mudergeg is a sandy plain with low hills, the more conspicuous of which bear special names; among them are Marwot Rod el Ligah, Erf Sagur, and Khusa el Faraon, the last-named being a group of small but very remarkable black hills eleven kilometres due south of Erf el Fahid. Marwot Rod el Ligah is a triangulation point; its beacon is 514 metres above sea-level.

Gebel Sukari is a very craggy high ridge of granitic rock twenty-two kilometres north of Gebel Zabara. Its highest point, which is at its north end, is 630 metres above sea-level, but the triangulation beacon was erected on a lower part of the ridge further south, in latitude 24° 56′ 50″, longitude 34° 42′ 50″, at an altitude of 476 metres, in order to be near to the extensive old mines and ruins which exist in the locality. Gebel Sukari is drained by various feeders of Wadi Sukari.

Kurdeman is the name of a low hilly district on the east side of Wadi Ghadir, thirteen kilometres north of Gebel Zabara. It is interesting as containing some ancient mines, doubtless worked for gold. A triangulation beacon has been erected on a hill just above the workings, in latitude 24° 52′ 35″, longitude 34° 41′ 35″, at an altitude of 526 metres above sea, or about fifty metres above the wadi.

Gebel Sabahia is a craggy felsite hill five kilometres south-east of Kurdeman, rising to 520 metres above sea, or about ninety metres above the wadi. It is drained by the Wadi Sabahia, a tributary of Wadi Ghadir. In the heads of the Wadi Sabahia, north-east of the hill, are some old gold mines.

Gebel Um Tundeba is a high granite hill near the head of Wadi Um Tundeba. Its summit is 550 metres above the sea. It forms[174] a landmark for the water hole called Galt Um Tundeba, which is situated in a small gully, three kilometres west of the summit of the hill.

Gebel Amba-ut, seven kilometres south of the foregoing, is likewise believed to be of granite; the southern hill of this group is of a red colour and very conspicuous as one passes from Um Tundeba to Ghadir.

Gebel Ghadir, the summit of which, in latitude 24° 50′ 9″, longitude 34° 47′ 22″, and 636 metres above sea, is marked by a triangulation beacon, is thirteen kilometres north-east of Gebel Zabara. I ascended it from a camp 424 metres above sea-level in one of the gullies draining westward to Wadi Ghadir. The ascent is easy. The rocks are greenish serpentines and ophicalcites below, with a white quartz felsite above.

Gebel Allawi, situated on the south side of the Wadi Allawi, is a diorite hill rising to 515 metres above sea. It is best approached by ascending a small feeder of Wadi Allawi, in which a camp can be placed within a kilometre of the summit and 160 metres below it. There are some interesting old gold mines in the quartz veins just below the beacon on the summit of the hill, and a band of graphitic schist crops out near the north foot of the hill. The position of the beacon is latitude 24° 46′ 42″, longitude 34° 49′ 39″.

Gebel Lewewi is a dark craggy hill range eight kilometres east-south-east of Gebel Zabara, between Wadi Allawi and its tributary Wadi Lewewi. Its highest point, marked by a cairn, is 654 metres above sea-level. There are some old mines in the lower hills two and half kilometres south-east of Gebel Lewewi, and others a little further off in the same direction.

Gebel Sikait is a rugged ridge of schists and serpentine situated in the midst of hilly country fourteen kilometres south-east of Gebel Zabara. The triangulation beacon which marks its summit is in latitude 24° 39′ 55″, longitude 34° 48′ 5″, and 771 metres above sea-level, and 330 metres above the wadi which skirts its western foot. Gebel Sikait is of interest from the abundant ruins and old emerald mines which exist near it, as well as from the variety of minerals present in its rocks. It is the Sicily of the Eastern Desert. Beryl, tourmaline, actinolite, various micas, chlorite, talc and crystals of calcite are amongst the commoner minerals found. The serpentine[175] which abounds in its upper parts is highly magnetic, and the compass was found to be disturbed by no less than 40° near the triangulation point. Gebel Sikait is drained from the west by the Wadi Sikait, a tributary of Wadi Nugrus, and from the east by the Wadi Um Gamil. The best place to climb it from is the Wadi Sikait, and the ascent, not a difficult one, is rendered interesting by the ruins and old mines encountered; part of the way one passes over an ancient made road, now broken in many places by the downwash from the hill.

Gebel Ras Um Gamil and Gebel Um Gamil are two high hill ranges south-east of Sikait, which have only been sketched from a distance.

Madaret Um Gamil is a conspicuous double-topped hill on the north side of the Wadi Gemal, seventeen kilometres south-east of Sikait. The beacon which marks its highest point is in latitude 24° 34′ 52″, longitude 34° 56′ 28″, and 454 metres above sea. It is best ascended by a very winding tributary of the Wadi Gemal; this gully, up which there is a road, leads past the south-west foot of the hill, and the climb is only one of some 200 metres. The rocks round Madaret Um Gamil are mostly schists, but the top of the hill is a hard gabbro like that of Gebel Atut, weathered into rusty looking blocks. A good view seawards is obtained from the summit, some very red granite forming a conspicuous feature in the low hills between it and the coast.

The Abu Hamamid — Hamata — Abu Gurdi Group.

This group of mountains is remarkable both for its extent and for the loftiness of many of its peaks, some of which are among the highest in Egypt. It is a mass of rugged ridges and peaks, covering about a quarter of a square degree of the earth’s surface between latitudes 24° 0′ and 24° 30′, in which the two dominant summits, Abu Hamamid (1,747 metres) and Hamata (1,978 metres) are the most conspicuous features in the west and east portions respectively, while Abu Gurdi (1,562 metres) forms the great terminal peak of a south-easterly extension of the mass. Plate XII shows two typical views in this rugged region.

Gebel Abu Hamamid is a great ridge of hard greenish schists towering above the surrounding mountains to a height of 1,747 metres[176] above sea. Its crest is broken into a number of separate summits, which appear from most aspects of almost a sugar loaf form; the beacon is on the most northerly and highest of these, its position being latitude 24° 14′ 41″, longitude 34° 47′ 38″. The mountain is best ascended from the Wadi Um Semiuki, a tributary of Huluz, which drains its north-east face. By ascending this wadi till camels could go no higher owing to its increasingly rough and stony floor, I was able to pitch a camp at 865 metres above sea-level and two and a quarter kilometres north-east of the summit, leaving an ascent of 882 metres to be made on foot. The ascent, which occupied four hours, was free from difficulty till within about one hundred metres of the top, but the last portion was extremely steep and was only negotiated with considerable trouble; it represents pretty nearly the limit of possibility in getting instruments up difficult places. Once the top was reached, however, the magnificence of the view obtainable, and the excellence of the point as a station for triangulating the principal peaks among the thousands visible, seemed an ample recompense for the trouble of reaching it. The top of the ridge (see Plate VII, p. 166) is very rough and narrow, only a little over a metre wide, and it is difficult to find a spot near the summit where one can spread one’s blankets for the night with even a slight approach to comfort. The eight nights of enforced bivouacking which I was obliged to spend on the top of Abu Hamamid in February 1906, before I could complete my observations, belong to the least pleasant of my experiences in the desert. A little work only was possible the first day, owing to haze obscuring the more distant peaks. On the second day clouds enveloped us in a wet drizzle, and a bitterly cold north wind blew with great violence; a rude rubble shelter which my men built on the summit, covered with a blanket, was a very poor protection, and I found it better to throw a rubble embankment across a steep gully on the lee side, forming a small level platform where we were sheltered from the biting wind. For the next five days, we were alternately wrapped in clouds or left free under a brilliant blue sky with clouds covering all the surrounding country. It was curious on these days to look over the surface of the clouds, as over a boundless level sea, with only the highest peaks projecting sharp and black above the white surface, and to see the sun rise and set exactly as though one were on the ocean. Then at last the clouds began to disappear, and[177] on the first clear day a very large amount of triangulation was accomplished, all the more prominent peaks within a radius of about sixty kilometres being observed. Gebel Abu Hamamid forms a culminating point on the Nile — Red Sea watershed, its eastern parts draining to Wadi Huluz and its western ones to Wadi Abu Hamamid, a tributary of Wadi Kharit.

Gebel Um Semiuki is a sharp cone rising to 1,283 metres above the sea among a mass of lower hills three kilometres north-east of Gebel Abu Hamamid. It is of a reddish aspect, due to a film which covers the weathered surface of the green and grey hornfels of which it is composed. It is drained by the Wadi Um Semiuki.

Gebel Abu Argub is a very conspicuous mountain, almost conical in shape, seven and a half kilometres south-south-west of Gebel Abu Hamamid, from which it is separated by lower hills. To the south, Gebel Abu Argub overlooks the plain of Selaia. Its peak, 1,690 metres above sea-level, is a good landmark from the south and west.

Gebel Kahfa is a many-peaked mountain of granite rising abruptly to a height of 1,018 metres above sea from among lower hills of dark schists, nineteen kilometres south-west of Gebel Abu Hamamid. It is detached from the main mountain-mass, being separated from it by the heads of Wadi Um Retba. Its faces are in many places sheer precipices of several hundred metres (see Plate XIII), but the ascent of it from the north is not very difficult. In occupying Kahfa as a station I approached it from Bir Shadli by a well-marked track which skirts the western foot-hills and leads to the Wadi Helie. Leaving this track where it crosses Wadi Um Hargal some six kilometres from Bir Shadli, I ascended the Wadi Um Hargal and crossed the pass at its head into the head of Wadi Um Retba, where I pitched my camp at an altitude of 563 metres, at the foot of Gebel Kahfa 1·3 kilometres north-north-east of the beacon on its summit. The climb of 455 metres from this camp to the top occupied three hours. There is good bivouacking ground close east of the summit, between two ridges. The beacon which marks the triangulation point is in latitude 24° 8′ 18″, longitude 34° 38′ 55″. A walk round the top is full of interest; one can reach many points overlooking tremendous precipices, and the forms assumed by the granite peaks are very remarkable. On the west side of the mountain is a rather[178] large open space forming the head of Wadi Helie, but elsewhere one is surrounded by low hills. The principal drainers of Kahfa are the Wadis Um Hargal and Um Retba (tributaries of Wadi el Sheikh) to the north, and Helie and Abu Hashim (tributaries of Wadi Kharit) to the south.

Gebel Medsus is a small group of high hills rising among lower ones between Gebel Abu Hamamid and Bir Shadli.

Gebel Metawit is a high granite hill rising conspicuously among much lower hills thirteen kilometres north-west of Bir Shadli. A track leading from Bir Shadli to Bir Metawit and other wells further north-west passes close east of the hill. Gebel Metawit is a good landmark for Bir Metawit, which is situated in the wadi of the same name about three kilometres north-west of it. The summit is 741 metres above sea-level or about 295 metres above the wadi floor at the well.

Gebel Hamrat Mukbud is a great red granite mass rising from the plain about twenty-five kilometres west of Bir Shadli. Its isolated character and great altitude (892 metres above the sea and about 450 metres above the surrounding country) render Hamrat Mukbud one of the finest and best known landmarks in this part of the desert. A cairn on its summit marks the triangulation point, in latitude 24° 9′ 53″, longitude 34° 23′ 17″. Its ascent is a matter of some difficulty, owing to its great steepness.

El Hamra is another red granite mass, much smaller than Hamrat Mukbud, lying about half-way between that mountain and Bir Shadli, and separating the Wadi Abu Hamamid from the Wadi el Sheikh.

Gebel Homr Akarim is a hill about thirty-three kilometres west of Gebel Hamrat Mukbud, close to the north of Wadi el Khashab. Its summit, 490 metres above sea, is marked by a triangulation cairn.

Gebel Marasan is a range of mountains north-west of Abu Hamamid. It is cut through by an important pass over the main watershed, 685 metres above sea-level, connecting the Wadis Huluz and Abu Hamamid by their respective tributaries Marasan and Marasani, which drain north-east and south-west from the pass. The highest peak of the mountains south of the pass is 1,261 metres above sea-level, while those to the north are lower. The name Gebel Marasan is, however, commonly given only to the peaks north of the pass, as[179] they rise more abruptly from it, while those to the south are unnamed or regarded as part of Gebel Hamamid because the Wadi Abu Hamamid drains their southern flanks.