CHAPTER VII.

MAP OF THE DISTRICT OF ELBA & HALAIB.Ball. Geography & Geology of South-Eastern Egypt.PLATEXIX.Photo-Metal-Process. Survey Dept. Cairo 1910. (60-190)Gebel Elba,[111]the most northerly mountain of the main group, is cut off from the mountains to the south by the Wadis O Sir Hadal and Serimtai; there is a pass between the heads of these wadis, so that a complete circuit of the mountain can be made, although from almost any aspect Elba appears to be joined on to the other mountains of the group. In plan, Gebel Elba is nearly a square of about fifteen kilometres sides, with its diagonal in the meridian. It is a bristling mass of light-coloured granite peaks, flanked on the south and west by rugged hills of darker rocks. The highest point, the “high peak” of the Admiralty Chart, is in latitude 22° 10′ 3″, longitude 36° 21′ 52″, and 1,435 metres above sea; another peak, slightly lower, but more conspicuous and nearer the centre of the mass, was chosen for the site of the triangulation station. The beacon on this latter peak is 1,428 metres above sea, and has the position latitude 22° 11′ 27″, longitude 36° 20′ 52″. The peak which bears the triangulation station forms a centre from which drainage lines radiate in all directions. The principal of these drainage lines, which are all well wooded, are the Wadi Yahameib, which with its feeders Wadis Akau and Kansisrob drains the north faces of the mountain, and unites with Wadi Aideib, which drains the north-east flanks; Wadi Serimtai, which by its feeder the Wadi O Sir Eirab drains the south part of the mass and then curves round north-eastwards to the sea; and the Wadi Yoider, which drains the western parts of the mountain by its three main heads called respectively Wadi Akwamtra, Wadi Qeirat, and Wadi O Sir Hadal, and then courses northward to reach the sea.The approach to Gebel Elba by the coast-plain from the north-west is said to be difficult, on account of having to cross an extensive tract of sand dunes, called I Hubal, which lies to the north and north-east of Gebel Sul Hamid. The survey expedition reached the mountain by marching eastward from Bir Meheriqa in the Wadi Di-ib. On this road the sand was not found a serious hindrance, thoughprogress was rather slow through O Harbub, a sand-choked wadi which was entered on turning eastwards just after leaving Bir Meheriqa. Skirting the south side of Gebel Sul Hamid over a sandy plain, we continued eastward with a slight northerly bend till the jagged mass of Qash Amir came into view; then striking due east again we entered some low hills and dropped by an easy pass into Wadi Siamtit, a little feeder of Wadi Yoider; crossing the main channel of Yoider, we continued our course eastward across very sandy minor wadis, and turning a little southward we reached Bir Akwamtra, where we found a fairly large Bisharin camp, in a stony wadi full of trees.I had hoped to ascend the mountain by way of Wadi Akwamtra, which heads right under the peak selected for the triangulation station. But on arriving at the well we were still more than six kilometres from the head of the wadi, and further progress for camels was very difficult owing to the closeness of the trees, and the bouldery nature of the wadi floor. Guides sent out to reconnoitre having reported that the ascent could be made with less difficulty from the Wadi Yahameib, we followed a very winding track leading over the Asut Duk pass into Yahameib, and then made our way southward over the sloping bouldery plain, thick with trees and scrub, until the camels could get no farther. The camp was pitched in a slight clearing at the foot of the mountain, three and a quarter kilometres north-west of the beacon, at an altitude of 343 metres above sea, or 1,085 metres below the beacon.The climb to the summit was a long and tiring one, but very interesting. Starting at 6.30 a.m. on April 25, 1908, we first followed up the Wadi Yahameib to its head in a sort of neck between two peaks; this neck, which we reached at 10 a.m., is 1,093 metres above sea. About half way up to the neck, among some large granite blocks, there is a small spring of very pure water; it forms a pool holding about a gallon and a half, which fills as fast as it is emptied. Passing over the neck, we dropped down to a level of 984 metres in crossing the head of Wadi Akwamtra, and then, climbing up the opposite side, we reached the beacon (1,428 metres) at noon. Except the last 150 metres to the summit, which was bare steep granite, the whole climb was through a thick growth of trees, very green and fresh, with a tangled undergrowth of flowering shrubs and some mosses and lichens. The trees grow very near to the summitand give plenty of shady resting-places. Acacia (sellim) trees cease about 350 metres above sea, and new forms take their place. The most remarkable is a large tree calledHohaitby my Arabs; this tree, which I have not seen elsewhere in Egypt, grows in fair abundance to ten metres or more high, with thick woody looking trunk and branches, the foliage being great bunches of aloe-like leaves on the ends of the branches; according to my Arabs, it bears an edible fruit, of which they showed me the stone—a nearly spherical red one, about as big as a pea, very hard.[112]The top of the mountain is narrow and very rough, but narrow sleeping places can be found on ledges. The view from the summit in clear weather is very fine and extensive; the subjoined figure is from a careful sketch which I made of the outlook southwards from the beacon. But, as already remarked, the mountain is frequently shrouded in cloud, and of the ten days I remained on the summit in April and May 1908 only three were clear.Fig. 3.—View from the summit of Gebel Elba.The phenomenon of “glories,” or rainbow-coloured rings round the shadow of one’s head cast on to clouds below when the summit was clear, was well observed in the mornings. Three rings were specially distinct and vividly coloured on April 26, and I was able to measure the diameters with an improvised subtense apparatus; measuring to the middle of the yellow in each case, I found the diameters of the rings to be 4½°, 8¾°, and 13°, so that the diameters increase in arithmetical progression. The shadow cast by one’s head and body was most distinct when the cloud-bank was most opaque; the rings, on the other hand, were most brilliant when there was only a thin film of cloud.The temperatures experienced on the summit were remarkable for their range. On April 25, 26, and 27, 1908, the air was still and full of wet mist, and the days were oppressively hot, while the nights were also warm and damp. On April 28, a cold north-west wind set in, which soon cleared the air; but with the clearness came such a chilling of the air that it was impossible to stand up to the instruments for observations for more than a few minutes at a time; one was glad to take shelter behind rocks from the biting blast, and though we were well within the tropics and the spring was far advanced, we sat shivering with blankets round us even in the sunniest and most sheltered spots we could find. The cold lasted till May 4, when we descended the mountain to be half roasted in the plains below.As already remarked, Gebel Elba is well supplied with water sources. The two chief are Bir Akwamtra and Bir Kansisrob, both situated on the north side of the mountain. Between them is a small spring called Megwel Akau. On the south side of the mountain are two other wells called Bir Salalat O Sir, and Bir Sararat Serimtai. In times of rainfall there must be scores of rock pools along every drainage line.Karam Elbais a granite hill rising to 586 metres above sea, close to the north-east foot of Gebel Elba, from which it is separated by a narrow wadi. Close north of Karam Elba are some low granite hills calledTakrat Riba, while on the south side is another small granite hill calledMikeriba.To the east of Karam Elba are some granite hills which, though of no great height, are conspicuous owing to their position on thecoast-plain, and being used as landmarks by the local Arabs they bear special names. These are:Alafot,Taar Ara,Kreishim,Abai Sis, andO Wota, the last-named being the largest of them all. Some low banks north of Alafot are calledAlafot Onqwab.Qash Amir(“Scragged Hill” of the Admiralty Charts) is an isolated hill rising abruptly from a sandy plain at the head of Wadi Eikwan, about fifteen kilometres west-north-west of Gebel Elba. Qash Amir well deserves the title given to it by the Admiralty surveyors, for it is a mass of sharp granite spikes which my best guides, skilled climbers though they were, could only ascend with the greatest difficulty. Its top, marked by a beacon, is 724 metres above sea-level and has the position latitude 22° 14′ 31″, longitude 36° 12′ 20″. I had intended to occupy the summit as a main station, but the guides who were sent to erect the beacon reported that the summit was so sharp a spike that there was barely room for a beacon to be built, and that it would be impossible to set up a theodolite tripod on it, while there was not even a narrow ledge where one could sleep within several hundred metres of the summit.Gebel el Selais a straggling group of high rugged granite hills rising from the sandy plain to the north-east of Qash Amir. The highest of its peaks reaches to 560 metres above sea-level.Gebel Sul Hamidis an extensive tract of low dark hills, covering some hundred square kilometres or so to the west of Qash Amir. Its highest peak is 572 metres above sea. The north part of the tract is drained by the Wadi Di-it, the eastern part by the Wadi Eikwan, while the southern drainages pass into a very shallow channel which courses westward over a sandy plain towards Wadi Di-ib, but becomes choked with sand at O Harbub before reaching that great trunk wadi.Gebel Balatitdais a group of high hills lying between Gebel Sul Hamid and the Wadi Di-ib. Its highest point is 592 metres above sea-level. Bir Meheriqa is situated at the south-west of the mass, on the east side of Wadi Di-ib. The north flanks of Gebel Balatitda are swathed in blown sand.Gebel O Sir Eirabis really the south part of Gebel Elba; its highest point is 842 metres above sea. Though its name Eirab means “white,” the mountain is composed of dark-coloured rocks. The explanation is that the Arabs always give the names to the wadis first, and the adjacent Wadi O Sir Eirab has a white sandy floor becauseit drains from the granite mass of Elba; the mountain is called after the wadi near it.Gebel Hanqufis a range of mountains some twenty kilometres in length, stretching in a south-easterly direction to the south of Gebel Elba and separating that mountain from Gebel Shendib. Its south-eastern portion, containing the highest peaks, is of granite, while the north-western portion consists of dark rocks. Its highest point is the northerly one of two remarkable peaks near the south end of the range, and rises to 1,465 metres, while another summit near the middle of the range reaches 1,397 metres. The northern part of Gebel Hanquf is drained by the Wadi O Sir Hadal, a tributary of Wadi Yoider; its eastern flanks by the Wadi Serimtai; while the western drainage is to the Wadi Hareitra, which courses from between Gebel Hanquf and Gebel Shendib westwards to join the Wadi Di-ib.Gebel Shendib, which lies close south-west of Gebel Hanquf, is a great mass of very high light-coloured peaks flanked on the west by a tract of moderately high hills of dark colour. The beacon which marks the highest point, 1,912 metres above sea, is in latitude 22° 0′ 48″, longitude 36° 16′ 30″. Shendib is the third highest mountain in Egypt proper, being surpassed in altitude only by El Shayeb and Hamata. Besides the main peak, there are numerous others exceeding 1,600 metres in height; one of these, some two kilometres south-east of the principal summit, reaches to 1,863 metres and marks very nearly the Sudan frontier; its latitude is 21° 59′ 56″, so that it is only some 120 metres south of the 22nd parallel.The north portion of Shendib is drained by the Wadi Hareitra, the south part by Wadi Shendib, both these being tributaries of Wadi Di-ib.Gebel Shendodai(“Castle Hill” of the Admiralty Charts) is a high mountain mass lying east of Gebel Hanquf, from which it is separated by the Wadi Serimtai. Its highest point, a well-marked peak, is in latitude 22° 3′ 1″, longitude 36° 25′ 31″, and rises to 1,529 metres above sea-level. Gebel Shendodai is drained by the Wadis Um Seyal (a tributary of Wadi Serimtai), Mera Kwan, and Shellal.Gebel Shellal, situated close south-east of Gebel Shendodai on the Sudan frontier, is a group of mountains of slightly lower altitude than the foregoing, its highest peak being 1,409 metres above sea-level. Gebel Shellal is drained by the Wadis Shellal and Aqilhoq, the lattercontaining a good well, called Bir Frukit. A tract of low foot-hills, some twelve kilometres broad, fronts Gebels Shendodai and Shellal seawards, leaving a breadth of some twelve kilometres of gently sloping coast-plain between them and the shore. One of the foot-hills of Gebel Shellal, a conspicuous high dark-coloured ridge near Bir Frukit, bears the name ofGebel Balatitda. (It will be noticed that another hill group west of Gebel Elba bears the same name).Gebel Hadarbais a little range of felsite hills with many peaks rising from the coast-plain close to Ras Hadarba (Cape Elba of the Admiralty Charts). A triangulation beacon on one of the highest points is in latitude 22° 2′ 53″, longitude 36° 47′ 23″, at an altitude of 217 metres above sea. Gebel Hadarba is drained by a number of small wadis, most of which empty themselves into the quicksands of Kuatianai which cover the projection of Cape Elba. A high hill at the south-west end of the Hadarba range bears the special name ofWiekorei, while a tract of low red hills on the Sudan frontier a few kilometres south of the Hadarba range, is calledTimaiakwaia; this latter tract is chiefly drained by the Wadi Qabatit.[106]The exception is El Shayeb, in latitude 26° 58′, which attains a height of 2,184 metres.SeeBarronandHume, Topog. and Geology of the Eastern Desert of Egypt (Central Portion). Cairo, 1902. p. 40.[107]Each of the last three vowels is pronounced separately, so that the word has four syllables, with the accent on the penultimate.[108]The position of this cairn is latitude 23° 57′ 46″, longitude 35° 12′ 10″.[109]The position of the cairn is latitude 24° 4′ 41″, longitude 35° 15′ 34″.[110]By measurement with the theodolite I found the average slopes of the mountain to be 35°, and many parts have double this inclination. The vertical angle from my camp to the summit was over 23°.[111]The wordElba(Bishari) means “white mountain.” The designation “Gebel” is thus strictly speaking superfluous, but is convenient as the Bishari tongue is so little known.[112]Prof. Schweinfurth informs me that the tree is the dragon’s-blood tree,Dracaena ombetv.Heuglin; he himself did not see it in the Elba neighbourhood, and its occurrence has not hitherto been recorded further north than the Erkowit district of the Sudan (latitude about 19°), where the native name for the tree isto-ombaort’ombet. SeeBollettino della Società Africana d’Italia: Naples, 1891.CHAPTER VII.WATER SUPPLIES.[113]The sources of water in South-Eastern Egypt, as in the Egyptian deserts generally, may be divided into three main classes:—(1)Springs;(2)Wells;(3)Rock basins.Springs.As springs are classified those water sources where water issues naturally from the rocks, either above or near ground level, without the aid of artificial excavation. As will be seen on looking through the list of water sources onpp. 244to 250, springs are less common than wells and rock basins, but some of the best known water sources, such as those of Abraq, Abu Saafa, Abu Hodeid, and Meneiga, belong to this class. The Arabic word for spring isAin, but the Bedouin seldom use this word, calling springs and wells alikeBir, which properly signifies a well. Small springs are calledMegalby the Ababda, andMegwelby the Bisharin tribes.Springs may occur in any kind of rock, but the rock must be either of a porous nature or must contain fissures. Thus the springs of Abu Saafa and Abraq occur in sandstone, which is itself porous and permits the passage of water through the body of the rock, while the springs of Meneiga occur in a crushed serpentine, which, though not itself a porous rock, is full of fissures and crush-planes, and thus is capable of holding and giving passage to underground waters. It is in consequence of the non-porosity and the comparative fewness of fissures in granitic rocks that springs are seldom seen to issue from rocks of this class.The collecting areas of the Eastern Desert springs are mostly in the immediate neighbourhood of the springs themselves. Thus, for instance, the springs of Abu Saafa and Abraq are fed by the rainfall on the great sandstone plateaux which surround them, while thoseof Meneiga are supplied by the rainfall on the mountain mass of Gebel Gerf. In consequence of the fact that the waters do not travel very far underground before they issue from the springs, the water is generally cool. The yield of the springs is usually small, rarely exceeding ten litres a minute from any individual spring, but it is wonderfully constant; the rocks of the collecting area form a huge reservoir which only parts slowly with its water contents, and thus springs may go on yielding supplies when, after a succession of three or four nearly rainless years, many of the wells and rock basins are quite dry.As a rule, spring waters are very clear and potable. The purest are those which pass through siliceous rocks such as sandstone; where the rocks are rich in lime and magnesia, as serpentines and gabbros, the salt-content of the spring may be fairly considerable, but there is no known spring in this part of Egypt of which the water is so salt as to be disagreable to the taste.[114]It is their constancy combined with the purity of their water that makes the springs the most highly prized of desert water sources.Springs are mostly on or near the main camel roads, for the roads are naturally selected so as to utilise these constant water supplies. Frequently, however, the spring is situated up a lateral valley some little distance from the main track, and is more or less difficult of access. The springs of Abu Saafa are on a main road, where the Wadi Hodein cuts cleanly through the sandstone plateau; but those of Meneiga, being at the head of acul-de-sac, are only approachable by a branch track. At large springs the Arabs generally dig out a series of basins into which the water flows, so that these are always full of water ready for the camels of a caravan to drink. Atmegalsthere is usually no pool, or only a very small one, in sand or detritus; this sand is scooped out and the water is baled from the hole with a tin can. The absence of a pool is probably due to a desire to check evaporation. The flow at amegalis frequently so small that only a few litres per hour can be obtained; the small trickling spring of Sikait, for instance, was yielding only twenty gallons of waterper diemin 1906, but even this small supply was highly prized by the miners working there, on account of its purity as a drinking water.Megalsare more likely to run dry than the larger springs, owing to their smaller collecting area. Any attempt to increase the flowof springs by blasting or excavation would probably only give an increase in yield at the expense of constancy; the throttling of the efflux is doubtless in many cases the chief reason for the perennial character of the yield of a spring, the rainfall being insufficient to maintain greater supplies than the springs yield at present.Wells.The wells of South-Eastern Egypt are mostly shallow excavations in the alluvia of the wadi floors, tapping the drainage waters which slowly percolate underground Nilewards and seawards from the mountain ranges. They are naturally more frequent in the districts near to the mountain ranges than in the lower reaches of the wadis, and the best wells are usually in well-defined trunk wadis which collect the drainage from myriads of smaller valleys. The wells sunk in the wadis at points remote from the mountain ranges are of immense importance to travellers crossing from the Nile, forming as they do the only supplies in an otherwise waterless journey of several days.On an average, water is reached at a depth of eight to ten metres; occasionally, where the wadi is crossed underground by a rocky bar, the natural damming enables water to be reached at very shallow depths. The shafts dug by the Arabs are generally wide and very crooked, in order to permit of a man descending to fill a water-skin. Usually a “well” consists of three or four such shafts sunk in proximity. Occasionally, especially in the Bisharin country, the shafts are lined with rubble masonry, and rough timbers may be stretched across the mouth to facilitate hoisting by ropes. There is never any hoisting gear except at mines; rope is too much prized by the Arabs for it to be possible to leave ropes unguarded at a well, so each caravan uses its own rope and skins. Occasionally, the shaft is so cranked that the water cannot be seen from above. The reason for this is chiefly laziness in excavation; it is easier to deepen a well by driving out laterally a short distance and then sinking a narrow pit, throwing out the excavated material into the larger main shaft, than to hoist all to the surface. Near the wells one usually findshods, or mud basins, into which the Arabs pour the hoisted water for their animals to drink. Frequently there are highhodsfor camels and low ones for sheep and goats.After every considerable rainfall the wells become filled up with stony downwash, and have to be dug out afresh. There is no protective wall to prevent infilling; and, contrary to what might at first be thought, it is not laziness which conditions this circumstance. To the Arab, wells are a last resource. After rain, all thegalts(rock basins) are full of good water. The Arab knows that the supplies in thesegaltswill evaporate, while those in the wells, covered in by alluvium, are safe from loss by this cause. He therefore draws his supplies fromgaltsas long as he can, and only when these are empty does he open the wells. The main wells never fail except after unusually prolonged drought, and then the condition of the Arab is sore indeed. The Bisharin do not drink much water, preferring to nourish themselves on the milk of their flocks and herds; but in times of drought the milk supply falls off because there is not sufficient moist vegetation for the animals to feed on.The quality of water from the wells varies enormously with their situation and at different times. When water is abundant, it is generally good; but as the supply falls off and the wells have to be deepened, the slow infiltration carries abundance of sodium, calcium, and magnesium salts from the rocks, and the water is then often very unpleasant. The following analyses by Mr. Lucas of water-samples from some of the wells in 1906 will give a good general idea of the salts present; the figures give milligrammes per litre (parts per million):—Sikait Well.Bir Masur.Bir Metawit.Bir Abu Hamamid.Bir Shadli[115]Bir Helie.I.II.Total solid matter in solution7,3608804,0201,7202,3802,9804,040Cl1,263571,027225555749323SO32,5302631,0423185407761,447CaO[116]200350330310[116]610MgO[116]291168769[116]211Equivalent of Cl as NaCl2,075941,6873709121,231530Equivalent of SO3as Na2SO41,8501,3774665509601,3772,569Alkalinity to methyl orange calculated as NaHCO3500222550848298260651All the above waters were quite drinkable, though that of the Sikait well was rather disagreably salty.An analysis of the water of one of the Halaib wells in 1895 is given by Dr. Natterer,[117]who found (in parts per million):—Cl336SO4449CO348Dr. Natterer records that the sample, which was clear, tasted slightly alkaline, and contained very distinct traces of nitrites and nitrates, free carbon dioxide, free ammonia, and organic matter. During my stay of four days at Halaib in May 1908, I drank regularly of the local well-water; I found it very hard, and though the Arabs seemed to like it, its action on myself was so strongly aperient that I sent into the mountains to Bir Frukit for purer supplies for use on the long march to Port Sudan.As a rule, it is the magnesium salts which are the most harmful constituents, the sulphate giving a strong purgative character to the water. Such salts are naturally present in greatest quantity where the rocks are gypseous, as for instance along the coast to the south of Halaib, where the wells of Ti Kureitra, sunk in gypsum and lined with blocks of selenite, yield water of so purgative a character that all my Arabs who drank of it became violently ill. In districts where the rocks are of very basic igneous types, such as gabbros and serpentines, the salt-content may also be fairly high. Water from diorite country is somewhat better, that from granite better still, and that from sandstone best of all. There are practically no wells in clayey strata within the region here treated of, but Bir Qoleib, which is on the road from Daraw at about two days’ journey east of the Nile, is sunk at the foot of a clayey scarp, and the water, when I partook of it in 1907, was clouded with clayey matter so finely divided as to be unfilterable through a Berkefeld filter even under strong pressure, while the physiological action of the water was to produce very marked constipation. Wells near the sea coast are liable to be very salty from infiltration of sea water. As a rule, the very salt wells, such as Bir Murra, Bir Muelih, Bir Shalatein, and Ti Kureitra,are used only by camels and sheep. When the Arabs have to drink purgative water for lack of other supplies, they often mix milk with it, and I have found it wise to imitate them in this respect, with liberal addition of brandy in some cases.Wells are generally named after the wadi in which they occur,e.g., Bir Abu Hashim is the well in Wadi Abu Hashim. A bitter well is often called Bir Murra.[118]A deep well is calledSararatby the Bisharin,e.g., Bir Sararat Seyet is the deep well in Wadi Seyet.Questions are often asked as to whether it is not possible to increase the available water supplies by sinking fresh wells. Where it is a question of sinking a new well in the middle of a long waterless stretch, or where the object is to sink a fresh well near an existing salty one in order to obtain a drinkable quality of water (and these are the two most usual cases), success cannot be predicted with any certainty, even in the most likely looking spots. We must remember that though the present Arabs may be lazy, the older tenants of the desert were more active. We have only to look at the old mining centres to see this. The probability is that the old miners were just as much worried by the scarcity of water as we are to-day, and with the cheap convict labour then available we may rest assured that every attempt was made to increase the supply. And it is not probable that the Arabs will have allowed to fall into disuse any existing well on an otherwise waterless road, so that it is likely that most of the wells in the wadis remote from the mountains are at spots specially favourable which have been discovered by a laborious process of trial and error. Confirmation of this view is supplied by the failure of new wells sunk at considerable cost in likely-looking places, as for instance at Abu Rahal, where a well carried down to over sixty metres’ depth failed to find water. Where modern wells have obtained water, they have usually been sunk near to or on the site of existing wells, as for instance near the temple of Seti I and at the different mining centres; in these cases it has sometimes been found possible to increase the supply by going deeper. And with regard to obtaining sweet water by sinking new wells near to old salty ones, no success can be hoped for if the saltiness is due to a general salt-content in thesurrounding rocks; the Mines Department well in Wadi Mellaha[119]yielded no better water than the Arab well in the same wadi, because the alluvium everywhere in the wadi contains abundance of salt. In some cases, it may be, the promotion of a more rapid flow would lead to a slight lessening in the salinity; but if a well becomes salt merely by evaporation resulting from stagnation, that very fact shows that it is not much used by the ordinary traveller; and moreover the rate of flow of the underground water is not as a rule sufficiently rapid to yield large supplies, even from wide excavations.In the south parts of the country, where the rainfall is greater, it is possible, nay, even likely, that many new wells could be sunk with success; but in these localities existing wells are more abundant and the necessity for new wells does not arise.Rock Basins (Galts).The typical rock basin, called agalt[120]by the Arabs, is a smooth-sided cavity in the rocky floor of a steep gorge draining a large mass of high hills. Galts are generally difficult of access, being situated in the higher parts of very stony wadis, so that one has to tramp often over miles of steeply rising stony ground to reach them. Galts abound in all high mountain-masses in South-Eastern Egypt, and furnish the greater portion of the water supply of the population. The capacity of galts varies very much; some hold millions of litres. Often there is a chain of successive galts at intervals along the length of a gorge, and after rain the whole series is filled, while much overflows and runs to waste. The origin of the rocky basins is generally due to pot-holing action on a large scale. Galts may occur in rocks of any hard type, but are most commonly met with in eruptive rocks. Sandstone galts never remain long full, owing to the permeable nature of the rocks. The large Galt el Aguz near Gebel Um Harba, which from the inscriptions near it was evidently known and used in Ptolemaic times, is in sandstone, receiving in fact the superficial run-off from the same high mass of sandstone hills as furnish the collectingarea for feeding by percolation and underground flow the adjacent springs of Bir Abraq and Abu Saafa; but the galt is seldom full for more than a month or two, while the springs are constant.The water supply of galts depends firstly on the rainfall of the district; secondly, on the existing drainage system; thirdly, on the presence and size of eroded basins along the lines of drainage; fourthly, on the nature of the rocks forming the basin, and, lastly, on the degree of exposure to evaporation. The rainfall in the Eastern Desert is often very local. A series of galts full one year may be dry the next, while those of another area may show a reverse state of things. The drainage system most favourable to galts is one formed by the union of long narrow steep-sided gullies into a single gorge. The presence of basins is conditioned by the steepness of the drainage and the hardness of the rocky floor; if the rocks are soft or much crushed, galts are very unlikely to occur. Again, if the basin is formed of permeable though hard rock, there will be rapid loss by infiltration. Evaporation is generally far less rapid at galts than in open country, because being in narrow gorges galts only receive the sun’s rays for a few hours of the day, and are, moreover, sheltered from winds.The quality of galt water varies very much with the interval since rainfall and with the nature of the rocks. Sandstone galts are very pure, because of their short life and the siliceous nature of the rock. Serpentine and diorite galts contain magnesium and other salts, and as the loss by evaporation continues the water may become somewhat bitter and purgative by concentration of these saline constituents, though galts never suffer to the extent that some wells do in this respect.A galt is frequently accompanied by a small spring (megalormegwel); the galt represents the run-off, while the spring receives the percolating water. Thus for months after a galt is empty it may in some cases be possible to obtain water in small quantity by scooping out sand-filled rock cavities close to the basin.Galts are generally named after the mountain in which they occur, though when large and well known they may have special names given to them, as in the case of the Galt el Aguz mentioned above.Remarks on Water Transport.As will be gathered from the map onPlate III,water supplies are seldom more than two days’ march apart in this part of Egypt. For the ordinary traveller it will therefore be usually an ample provision to carry four days’ supply; in special cases, where it is desired to camp for any purpose remote from water sources, special provision will of course have to be made. There is seldom any trouble with the Arabs about their own water, as when their supplies run short one or two camels can always be detached from a caravan to fill their skins from the nearest well, and they are always content to travel day and night for this purpose. With regard to the quantity of water to be carried, I found ten gallons per European per day to be ample, including water for cooking and for one’s personal servants. Water is best carried in rectangular galvanized iron tanks, each holding ten gallons, fitted with a good brass or wooden plug; two of these carried horizontally make a light camel load, and on the march one can add a little in the shape of tents or bedding to the load. I have tried the barrel-shaped galvanised steel tanks used by the mining companies, which hold sixteen gallons each and are easily carried vertically, a pair forming a camel load; but I have found them much more liable to damage than the smaller rectangular tanks, and do not recommend them for regular desert travel.List of Water Sources.In the following list I have summarized all the water sources known to me in order of latitude from north to south. I believe the list contains all sources that are of importance, but it is doubtless far from being complete as regards the rock basins of the mountain areas for two reasons. Firstly, the Arabs are often reluctant to point out the sources, more especially in the more arid parts of the Ababda country; and secondly, as already remarked, since the rock basins depend for their supplies entirely on comparatively recent rainfall around them, they vary very much in yield in different years, so that basins which are of great use in one year may be totally dry the next, andvice-versa, and guides seldom take the trouble to point out a drybasin, even if in some other year it may have held a useful store of water.With regard to the accuracy of the positions given in the list, it may be remarked that in the case of wells actually visited the position is given to seconds, and the localisation may be relied on within at most a few hundred metres; while for wells not actually seen but whose positions were pointed out by guides from some distance, the coordinates are usually only given to minutes, and these positions are uncertain by larger amounts, up to two or three kilometres in extreme cases.It must not be assumed that water supplies canalwaysbe obtained at all the localities named. As already remarked, rock basins will usually only be full if rain has fallen in the district comparatively recently, large rock basins may furnish supplies for a year after rainfall, but the smaller ones last only a few months, weeks, or even days. The reserves are the wells, most of which never run dry except after a succession of rainless years. But when rock basins are full, many of the wells are filled with downwash, and digging must be resorted to in order to re-open them. A traveller arriving at a “well” sometimes finds no evidence whatever of its existence beyond the guides pointing to a spot on the ground with the statement “el bir hena” (the well is here). The explanation is that the well has been filled with alluvial matter washed down the valley by recent rain; but that same rainfall will have filled the rock basins in the hills, and the Arabs leave the digging out of the well until the basins are empty again. In other cases a well may be found to be dry through the water-level having sunk below the depth to which the well was last opened, and by deepening it a foot or so one may obtain a supply.The notes in the column headed “Remarks,” on the quality of the water of the various sources, are mostly based on the observations of a single year, and must therefore only be taken as general guides. Usually, the shorter the interval since rain has fallen, the better are the supplies, both in quantity and quality.List of Water Sources.[121]Name.Latitude N.Longitude E.Remarks.°′″°′″Galt Um Tundeba245525344553Rock basin in ravine, 1 kilometre from Wadi Um Tundeba. Gave good supply of pure water in 1906.Galt in Gebel Ghuel2454034390Large rock basins, yielding a good supply in 1905-1906.Bir Muelih245135335952In Wadi Muelih. Very salt, only drinkable by animals.Hangalia well245027343540Modern well in Wadi Hangalia, sunk by miners. Supply small and of poor quality.Galt Um Karaba (Migif)244848342755Large rock basins, yielding a good supply in 1905-1906. Rather difficult of access for camels.Bir Ghadir24482534470Well in Wadi Ghadir. Filled by downwash in 1906.Megal el Harami244734343415Small spring in ravine on west side of Wadi Nugrus. Yields for some months after rainfall. Water very good.Bir Sibrit2443033580Well in Wadi Sibrit; water about 8 metres down, of good quality. Supply stated to be constant.Bir Murra2441034110Well in Wadi Shait. Water salt, only drinkable by camels.Hamish mine244103460Water in mine shafts, that in the westernmost of three shafts good in 1906. Well in Wadi Hamish, close to mines, 15 metres deep, dry in 1906.Sikait, spring244050344710Tiny trickling spring of good water. Yields only about 50 litres per day, but supply of very good quality and said to be constant.Sikait, north well24401234460Modern well, sunk by miners. Was yielding fair quantity in 1906, but of mediocre quality.Sikait, south well243938344745Similar to last; both wells are in the floor of Wadi Sikait.Bir Um Gubur243703450Well in Wadi Shait. Water about 8 metres down, good and plentiful in 1906.Bir Abu Had2434034360Well in Wadi Abu Had, near its head, at junction of two roads to Sikait. Water salty.Bir Masur2431034130Several wells in floor of small wadi. Water good, about 10 metres down in 1906, but supplies cannot be relied on.Bir el Ranga2426035130Very salt well, close to sea.Galt Um Gerifat242255344020Rock basin in gorge off Wadi Huluz. Was yielding good supply in 1906.Bir Metawit2417034310Well in Wadi Metawit, on road between Bir Shadli and Bir Masur. Said to yield constant supply. Water about 8 metres down, good and clear in 1906.Bir Khashab2416034230Well in Wadi Khashab. Not to be depended on. Dry in spring of 1906, but yielding a small supply of mediocre character in the autumn of the same year.Bir Shadli24123343755Spring or well near tomb of Sheikh. Perennial supply of variable quality and quantity. Favourite meeting place of Ababda Arabs.Bir Abu Hamamid2412034290Well sunk about 7 metres in floor of Wadi Abu Hamamid. Yielding large supplies of rather salty and muddy water in 1906.Amar Spring241003590Spring of good water in diorite hills south-east of Gebel Hamata.Well in Wadi Abu Hamamid247034260Wells sunk in wadi floor. Dry in 1906.Bir Helie245034320Well in Wadi Helie. Excellent water in spring of 1906, but rather salty later on in the year. Quality evidently varies considerably with interval since rainfall.Megal Um Gunud235850351050A smaller rock basin in Gebel Um Gunud, off Wadi Lahami, near to Galt Um Gunud.Galt Um Gunud235810351120Rock basin, in Gebel Um Gunud. Yielded supplies in 1906. Accessible from Wadi Lahami.Megal el Selaia235655345250Small spring in sand at foot of rocks near Gebel Selaia. Yield small and not to be depended on for long after rain.Galt Batoga235120352130Rock basin at foot of Gebel Batoga off Wadi Kalalat. Water good, plentiful, and fairly easy of access in 1907.Galt Um Maiyat23502351815—Galt in Gebel Dahanib23444535950Rock basin in ravine, containing water after rain; about a cubic metre in 1907.Bir Shenshef2344035230Several small wells in Wadi Shenshef near ruins. Water good.Bir Abu Hashim23415634426Several wells in alluvial floor of wadi. Water good and plentiful, about 8 metres down in 1907.Bir Betan, west well2338035315Well in floor of Wadi Betan, about 600 metres lower down than foregoing, close to where Wadi Um Eleiga enters Wadi Betan. Filled by downwash in 1907.Bir Betan, east well23375535335Well in floor of Wadi Betan, near small seyal tree. Filled by alluvium in 1900.Galt near Gebel Abu Dahr2337035520Rock basin in north-west flank of Gebel Abu Dahr. Was yielding a good supply in 1907.Bir Rahaba23333035954Well in alluvium of Wadi Rahaba. Filled by downwash in 1907.Bir Abu Reye233303590—Galt el Aguz23323034350Large rock basin in sandstone, near easy pass over watershed at head of Wadi Arned. Yields excellent water for short time only after rain.Bir el Gahlia233103580—Bir Abu Beid2331034580Well in Wadi Abu Beid. Was yielding a fair quantity of good water in 1906.Bir el Sunta232550344740Spring forming pool at foot of sandstone scarp of Gebel Abraq. Good water.Bir Abu Dibesat23256344710Spring forming small pool at foot of sandstone scarp of Gebel Abraq. Water good.Bir Abraq232456344720Spring forming pool in gully of Gebel Abraq. Supply constant, good, and plentiful.Bir Gumbit2324034490At edge of sandstone hills; probably a spring similar to those of Abraq.Bir Orga232103530Well stated to exist in Wadi Orga el Rayani.Megal near Abu Saafa231930344840Spring? in small wadi off Wadi Hodein. Unimportant, being close to Abu Saafa Springs.Abu Saafa Springs23189344745Four springs yielding constant supply of very pure water, at foot of sandstone scarp in Wadi Hodein. Pools easy of access to camels.Galt in Wadi Gihab23175344810Large rock basin in Wadi Gihab Yakub Abu Derb. Pool of good rain water 6 metres diameter in 1907. Easily accessible to camels.Bir Um Reit23133634353Well sunk in floor of Wadi Um Reit. Water of mediocre quality.Bir Dif231242344955Spring forming two pools in the stony bed of Wadi Dif. Water good.Bir Shalatein2385353628Very salt well near sea at mouth of Wadi Hodein. Drinkable only by camels. Point on administrative boundary between Egypt and the Sudan.Bir Beida, north well22586351810In Wadi Beida, about 500 metres further down than south well, at a bend in the wadi. Good water, yields three years after rainfall, but supply infiltrates slowly.Bir Beida, south well225753351810In Wadi Beida, close to where track to Bir Meneiga leaves it. Dry in 1907.Bir Madi22474635148Well sunk in alluvium of Wadi Madi, at a bend in a narrow gorge at foot of a high granite hill. Plenty of good water in 1907-1908.Bir Meneiga, north spring22478351220Similar to Bir Meneiga, south spring, to which it is very close. Point on administrative boundary between Egypt and the Sudan.Bir Meneiga, south spring224655351215Tiny pool in rocky floor of Wadi Meneiga, which refills as fast as emptied. Easily accessible to camels. Water excellent.Bir Korbiai224655351035Two wells of excellent water in the rocky gorge of Wadi Korbiai. Said to yield for three or four years after rain.Bir Muqur22422635185Trickling spring with pools in serpentine, in Wadi Muqur. Was yielding about five litres per minute in 1908.Bir Sararat Seyet22411035159Deep well in Wadi Seyet; filled by downwash in 1907-1908.Bir Diqdib2241035130Spring? high up in Wadi Diqdib, south part of Gebel Gerf.Bir Adal Deib22403036430Salt well, close to sea.Ti Dabei Hamra Dom223955353840Shallow excavations in alluvium and sand in the hills of Hamra Dom, only yielding supplies for a short time after rainfall.Bir Baaneit223930351840Spring? situated a short distance up Wadi Baaneit. Said to yield constant but limited supplies.Bir Bint el Dreb223403590—Bir Um Rasein222910352020Near Gebel Um Rasein.Bir Nabit222650362150Close to sea. Probably salty.Bir Um Bishtit222633353345In narrow winding gorge off Wadi Um Bishtit. Said to yield good water supplies for a year after rainfall and small supplies longer. Full of downwash in 1908.Galt Osnei222535355040Rock basin in small granite hill; full only after rain.Meis-heit-ar, north galt22224353512Galt in rocky gorge off Wadi Meisah. Yielding good supply in 1908; preferred to Bir Meisah for quality.Bir Abu Hodeid2222035170Large and important spring in Wadi Abu Hodeid.Bir Odis Maaleq2222035160Large and important spring in Wadi Odis, reached by a mountain track from Wadi Delawet.Bir Meisah22218353550Well-known well in Wadi Meisah. Filled by downwash in 1908. Water said to be of only moderate quality.Bir Qidmib2221035290—Bir Abu Ramad222040362650Close to sea. Probably salty.Bir Shinai2220035150—Meis-heit-ar, south galt222115353520Galt in rocky gorge off Wadi Meisah. Yielding good water in 1908.Megwel Adar Aqdeib221750353840—Megwel Um Edwa221650353245Chain of rock basins and small spring in stony gorge on east side of Hadal Aweib Meisah. Rather difficult for camels. Water good.Megwel Didaut221625353710—Megwel Akau221450362110Small spring? on north side of Gebel Elba.Bir Kansisrob22143536220Large well; water good and plentiful. Bisharin camping ground.Megwel Hamida22142535470A tiny trickling spring of saline water in a narrow gorge. Rock basin above it, dry in 1908.Halaib wells221325363840Several wells in village. Water plentiful, strongly purgative to Europeans, though it has no effect on the natives of the place.Bir Akwamtra22131361758An excellent well at the foot of Gebel Elba; important Bisharin camping ground.Bir Hilwit Hasium2213035140—Bir Nubitra221250354620Said to yield only small supply.Megwel Um Ein221230353940—Bir Meheriqa221210355635Spring on east side of Wadi Di-ib. Water rather salty, but drinkable and clear.Bir Kagog2211035160Small well in Wadi Hasium, near its head.Galt in Wadi Kirir2210035190—Bir Sararat Serimtai22850362415—Bir Mashushenai22830354930—Megwel Aqwem228035410—Bir Guqub228034270Galt and spring? Water good but variable in quantity. Was yielding in 1906.Bir Salalat O Sir2272336190—Ti Kureitra22550364640Four wells sunk in gypseous strata near sea; water strongly purgative.Bir Egat225034540—Bir Frukit222036360Well in Wadi Aqilhoq; water good and plentiful.Bir Himeitra220035150—Bir Qabatit215755365117Well in Wadi Qabatit, 1½ kilometres from sea; water salty, but said not to be purgative.

MAP OF THE DISTRICT OF ELBA & HALAIB.Ball. Geography & Geology of South-Eastern Egypt.PLATEXIX.Photo-Metal-Process. Survey Dept. Cairo 1910. (60-190)

MAP OF THE DISTRICT OF ELBA & HALAIB.

Photo-Metal-Process. Survey Dept. Cairo 1910. (60-190)

Gebel Elba,[111]the most northerly mountain of the main group, is cut off from the mountains to the south by the Wadis O Sir Hadal and Serimtai; there is a pass between the heads of these wadis, so that a complete circuit of the mountain can be made, although from almost any aspect Elba appears to be joined on to the other mountains of the group. In plan, Gebel Elba is nearly a square of about fifteen kilometres sides, with its diagonal in the meridian. It is a bristling mass of light-coloured granite peaks, flanked on the south and west by rugged hills of darker rocks. The highest point, the “high peak” of the Admiralty Chart, is in latitude 22° 10′ 3″, longitude 36° 21′ 52″, and 1,435 metres above sea; another peak, slightly lower, but more conspicuous and nearer the centre of the mass, was chosen for the site of the triangulation station. The beacon on this latter peak is 1,428 metres above sea, and has the position latitude 22° 11′ 27″, longitude 36° 20′ 52″. The peak which bears the triangulation station forms a centre from which drainage lines radiate in all directions. The principal of these drainage lines, which are all well wooded, are the Wadi Yahameib, which with its feeders Wadis Akau and Kansisrob drains the north faces of the mountain, and unites with Wadi Aideib, which drains the north-east flanks; Wadi Serimtai, which by its feeder the Wadi O Sir Eirab drains the south part of the mass and then curves round north-eastwards to the sea; and the Wadi Yoider, which drains the western parts of the mountain by its three main heads called respectively Wadi Akwamtra, Wadi Qeirat, and Wadi O Sir Hadal, and then courses northward to reach the sea.

The approach to Gebel Elba by the coast-plain from the north-west is said to be difficult, on account of having to cross an extensive tract of sand dunes, called I Hubal, which lies to the north and north-east of Gebel Sul Hamid. The survey expedition reached the mountain by marching eastward from Bir Meheriqa in the Wadi Di-ib. On this road the sand was not found a serious hindrance, thoughprogress was rather slow through O Harbub, a sand-choked wadi which was entered on turning eastwards just after leaving Bir Meheriqa. Skirting the south side of Gebel Sul Hamid over a sandy plain, we continued eastward with a slight northerly bend till the jagged mass of Qash Amir came into view; then striking due east again we entered some low hills and dropped by an easy pass into Wadi Siamtit, a little feeder of Wadi Yoider; crossing the main channel of Yoider, we continued our course eastward across very sandy minor wadis, and turning a little southward we reached Bir Akwamtra, where we found a fairly large Bisharin camp, in a stony wadi full of trees.

I had hoped to ascend the mountain by way of Wadi Akwamtra, which heads right under the peak selected for the triangulation station. But on arriving at the well we were still more than six kilometres from the head of the wadi, and further progress for camels was very difficult owing to the closeness of the trees, and the bouldery nature of the wadi floor. Guides sent out to reconnoitre having reported that the ascent could be made with less difficulty from the Wadi Yahameib, we followed a very winding track leading over the Asut Duk pass into Yahameib, and then made our way southward over the sloping bouldery plain, thick with trees and scrub, until the camels could get no farther. The camp was pitched in a slight clearing at the foot of the mountain, three and a quarter kilometres north-west of the beacon, at an altitude of 343 metres above sea, or 1,085 metres below the beacon.

The climb to the summit was a long and tiring one, but very interesting. Starting at 6.30 a.m. on April 25, 1908, we first followed up the Wadi Yahameib to its head in a sort of neck between two peaks; this neck, which we reached at 10 a.m., is 1,093 metres above sea. About half way up to the neck, among some large granite blocks, there is a small spring of very pure water; it forms a pool holding about a gallon and a half, which fills as fast as it is emptied. Passing over the neck, we dropped down to a level of 984 metres in crossing the head of Wadi Akwamtra, and then, climbing up the opposite side, we reached the beacon (1,428 metres) at noon. Except the last 150 metres to the summit, which was bare steep granite, the whole climb was through a thick growth of trees, very green and fresh, with a tangled undergrowth of flowering shrubs and some mosses and lichens. The trees grow very near to the summitand give plenty of shady resting-places. Acacia (sellim) trees cease about 350 metres above sea, and new forms take their place. The most remarkable is a large tree calledHohaitby my Arabs; this tree, which I have not seen elsewhere in Egypt, grows in fair abundance to ten metres or more high, with thick woody looking trunk and branches, the foliage being great bunches of aloe-like leaves on the ends of the branches; according to my Arabs, it bears an edible fruit, of which they showed me the stone—a nearly spherical red one, about as big as a pea, very hard.[112]

The top of the mountain is narrow and very rough, but narrow sleeping places can be found on ledges. The view from the summit in clear weather is very fine and extensive; the subjoined figure is from a careful sketch which I made of the outlook southwards from the beacon. But, as already remarked, the mountain is frequently shrouded in cloud, and of the ten days I remained on the summit in April and May 1908 only three were clear.

Fig. 3.—View from the summit of Gebel Elba.

The phenomenon of “glories,” or rainbow-coloured rings round the shadow of one’s head cast on to clouds below when the summit was clear, was well observed in the mornings. Three rings were specially distinct and vividly coloured on April 26, and I was able to measure the diameters with an improvised subtense apparatus; measuring to the middle of the yellow in each case, I found the diameters of the rings to be 4½°, 8¾°, and 13°, so that the diameters increase in arithmetical progression. The shadow cast by one’s head and body was most distinct when the cloud-bank was most opaque; the rings, on the other hand, were most brilliant when there was only a thin film of cloud.

The temperatures experienced on the summit were remarkable for their range. On April 25, 26, and 27, 1908, the air was still and full of wet mist, and the days were oppressively hot, while the nights were also warm and damp. On April 28, a cold north-west wind set in, which soon cleared the air; but with the clearness came such a chilling of the air that it was impossible to stand up to the instruments for observations for more than a few minutes at a time; one was glad to take shelter behind rocks from the biting blast, and though we were well within the tropics and the spring was far advanced, we sat shivering with blankets round us even in the sunniest and most sheltered spots we could find. The cold lasted till May 4, when we descended the mountain to be half roasted in the plains below.

As already remarked, Gebel Elba is well supplied with water sources. The two chief are Bir Akwamtra and Bir Kansisrob, both situated on the north side of the mountain. Between them is a small spring called Megwel Akau. On the south side of the mountain are two other wells called Bir Salalat O Sir, and Bir Sararat Serimtai. In times of rainfall there must be scores of rock pools along every drainage line.

Karam Elbais a granite hill rising to 586 metres above sea, close to the north-east foot of Gebel Elba, from which it is separated by a narrow wadi. Close north of Karam Elba are some low granite hills calledTakrat Riba, while on the south side is another small granite hill calledMikeriba.

To the east of Karam Elba are some granite hills which, though of no great height, are conspicuous owing to their position on thecoast-plain, and being used as landmarks by the local Arabs they bear special names. These are:Alafot,Taar Ara,Kreishim,Abai Sis, andO Wota, the last-named being the largest of them all. Some low banks north of Alafot are calledAlafot Onqwab.

Qash Amir(“Scragged Hill” of the Admiralty Charts) is an isolated hill rising abruptly from a sandy plain at the head of Wadi Eikwan, about fifteen kilometres west-north-west of Gebel Elba. Qash Amir well deserves the title given to it by the Admiralty surveyors, for it is a mass of sharp granite spikes which my best guides, skilled climbers though they were, could only ascend with the greatest difficulty. Its top, marked by a beacon, is 724 metres above sea-level and has the position latitude 22° 14′ 31″, longitude 36° 12′ 20″. I had intended to occupy the summit as a main station, but the guides who were sent to erect the beacon reported that the summit was so sharp a spike that there was barely room for a beacon to be built, and that it would be impossible to set up a theodolite tripod on it, while there was not even a narrow ledge where one could sleep within several hundred metres of the summit.

Gebel el Selais a straggling group of high rugged granite hills rising from the sandy plain to the north-east of Qash Amir. The highest of its peaks reaches to 560 metres above sea-level.

Gebel Sul Hamidis an extensive tract of low dark hills, covering some hundred square kilometres or so to the west of Qash Amir. Its highest peak is 572 metres above sea. The north part of the tract is drained by the Wadi Di-it, the eastern part by the Wadi Eikwan, while the southern drainages pass into a very shallow channel which courses westward over a sandy plain towards Wadi Di-ib, but becomes choked with sand at O Harbub before reaching that great trunk wadi.

Gebel Balatitdais a group of high hills lying between Gebel Sul Hamid and the Wadi Di-ib. Its highest point is 592 metres above sea-level. Bir Meheriqa is situated at the south-west of the mass, on the east side of Wadi Di-ib. The north flanks of Gebel Balatitda are swathed in blown sand.

Gebel O Sir Eirabis really the south part of Gebel Elba; its highest point is 842 metres above sea. Though its name Eirab means “white,” the mountain is composed of dark-coloured rocks. The explanation is that the Arabs always give the names to the wadis first, and the adjacent Wadi O Sir Eirab has a white sandy floor becauseit drains from the granite mass of Elba; the mountain is called after the wadi near it.

Gebel Hanqufis a range of mountains some twenty kilometres in length, stretching in a south-easterly direction to the south of Gebel Elba and separating that mountain from Gebel Shendib. Its south-eastern portion, containing the highest peaks, is of granite, while the north-western portion consists of dark rocks. Its highest point is the northerly one of two remarkable peaks near the south end of the range, and rises to 1,465 metres, while another summit near the middle of the range reaches 1,397 metres. The northern part of Gebel Hanquf is drained by the Wadi O Sir Hadal, a tributary of Wadi Yoider; its eastern flanks by the Wadi Serimtai; while the western drainage is to the Wadi Hareitra, which courses from between Gebel Hanquf and Gebel Shendib westwards to join the Wadi Di-ib.

Gebel Shendib, which lies close south-west of Gebel Hanquf, is a great mass of very high light-coloured peaks flanked on the west by a tract of moderately high hills of dark colour. The beacon which marks the highest point, 1,912 metres above sea, is in latitude 22° 0′ 48″, longitude 36° 16′ 30″. Shendib is the third highest mountain in Egypt proper, being surpassed in altitude only by El Shayeb and Hamata. Besides the main peak, there are numerous others exceeding 1,600 metres in height; one of these, some two kilometres south-east of the principal summit, reaches to 1,863 metres and marks very nearly the Sudan frontier; its latitude is 21° 59′ 56″, so that it is only some 120 metres south of the 22nd parallel.

The north portion of Shendib is drained by the Wadi Hareitra, the south part by Wadi Shendib, both these being tributaries of Wadi Di-ib.

Gebel Shendodai(“Castle Hill” of the Admiralty Charts) is a high mountain mass lying east of Gebel Hanquf, from which it is separated by the Wadi Serimtai. Its highest point, a well-marked peak, is in latitude 22° 3′ 1″, longitude 36° 25′ 31″, and rises to 1,529 metres above sea-level. Gebel Shendodai is drained by the Wadis Um Seyal (a tributary of Wadi Serimtai), Mera Kwan, and Shellal.

Gebel Shellal, situated close south-east of Gebel Shendodai on the Sudan frontier, is a group of mountains of slightly lower altitude than the foregoing, its highest peak being 1,409 metres above sea-level. Gebel Shellal is drained by the Wadis Shellal and Aqilhoq, the lattercontaining a good well, called Bir Frukit. A tract of low foot-hills, some twelve kilometres broad, fronts Gebels Shendodai and Shellal seawards, leaving a breadth of some twelve kilometres of gently sloping coast-plain between them and the shore. One of the foot-hills of Gebel Shellal, a conspicuous high dark-coloured ridge near Bir Frukit, bears the name ofGebel Balatitda. (It will be noticed that another hill group west of Gebel Elba bears the same name).

Gebel Hadarbais a little range of felsite hills with many peaks rising from the coast-plain close to Ras Hadarba (Cape Elba of the Admiralty Charts). A triangulation beacon on one of the highest points is in latitude 22° 2′ 53″, longitude 36° 47′ 23″, at an altitude of 217 metres above sea. Gebel Hadarba is drained by a number of small wadis, most of which empty themselves into the quicksands of Kuatianai which cover the projection of Cape Elba. A high hill at the south-west end of the Hadarba range bears the special name ofWiekorei, while a tract of low red hills on the Sudan frontier a few kilometres south of the Hadarba range, is calledTimaiakwaia; this latter tract is chiefly drained by the Wadi Qabatit.

[106]The exception is El Shayeb, in latitude 26° 58′, which attains a height of 2,184 metres.SeeBarronandHume, Topog. and Geology of the Eastern Desert of Egypt (Central Portion). Cairo, 1902. p. 40.[107]Each of the last three vowels is pronounced separately, so that the word has four syllables, with the accent on the penultimate.[108]The position of this cairn is latitude 23° 57′ 46″, longitude 35° 12′ 10″.[109]The position of the cairn is latitude 24° 4′ 41″, longitude 35° 15′ 34″.[110]By measurement with the theodolite I found the average slopes of the mountain to be 35°, and many parts have double this inclination. The vertical angle from my camp to the summit was over 23°.[111]The wordElba(Bishari) means “white mountain.” The designation “Gebel” is thus strictly speaking superfluous, but is convenient as the Bishari tongue is so little known.[112]Prof. Schweinfurth informs me that the tree is the dragon’s-blood tree,Dracaena ombetv.Heuglin; he himself did not see it in the Elba neighbourhood, and its occurrence has not hitherto been recorded further north than the Erkowit district of the Sudan (latitude about 19°), where the native name for the tree isto-ombaort’ombet. SeeBollettino della Società Africana d’Italia: Naples, 1891.

[107]Each of the last three vowels is pronounced separately, so that the word has four syllables, with the accent on the penultimate.

[108]The position of this cairn is latitude 23° 57′ 46″, longitude 35° 12′ 10″.

[109]The position of the cairn is latitude 24° 4′ 41″, longitude 35° 15′ 34″.

[110]By measurement with the theodolite I found the average slopes of the mountain to be 35°, and many parts have double this inclination. The vertical angle from my camp to the summit was over 23°.

[111]The wordElba(Bishari) means “white mountain.” The designation “Gebel” is thus strictly speaking superfluous, but is convenient as the Bishari tongue is so little known.

[112]Prof. Schweinfurth informs me that the tree is the dragon’s-blood tree,Dracaena ombetv.Heuglin; he himself did not see it in the Elba neighbourhood, and its occurrence has not hitherto been recorded further north than the Erkowit district of the Sudan (latitude about 19°), where the native name for the tree isto-ombaort’ombet. SeeBollettino della Società Africana d’Italia: Naples, 1891.

WATER SUPPLIES.[113]

The sources of water in South-Eastern Egypt, as in the Egyptian deserts generally, may be divided into three main classes:—

(1)Springs;

(2)Wells;

(3)Rock basins.

As springs are classified those water sources where water issues naturally from the rocks, either above or near ground level, without the aid of artificial excavation. As will be seen on looking through the list of water sources onpp. 244to 250, springs are less common than wells and rock basins, but some of the best known water sources, such as those of Abraq, Abu Saafa, Abu Hodeid, and Meneiga, belong to this class. The Arabic word for spring isAin, but the Bedouin seldom use this word, calling springs and wells alikeBir, which properly signifies a well. Small springs are calledMegalby the Ababda, andMegwelby the Bisharin tribes.

Springs may occur in any kind of rock, but the rock must be either of a porous nature or must contain fissures. Thus the springs of Abu Saafa and Abraq occur in sandstone, which is itself porous and permits the passage of water through the body of the rock, while the springs of Meneiga occur in a crushed serpentine, which, though not itself a porous rock, is full of fissures and crush-planes, and thus is capable of holding and giving passage to underground waters. It is in consequence of the non-porosity and the comparative fewness of fissures in granitic rocks that springs are seldom seen to issue from rocks of this class.

The collecting areas of the Eastern Desert springs are mostly in the immediate neighbourhood of the springs themselves. Thus, for instance, the springs of Abu Saafa and Abraq are fed by the rainfall on the great sandstone plateaux which surround them, while thoseof Meneiga are supplied by the rainfall on the mountain mass of Gebel Gerf. In consequence of the fact that the waters do not travel very far underground before they issue from the springs, the water is generally cool. The yield of the springs is usually small, rarely exceeding ten litres a minute from any individual spring, but it is wonderfully constant; the rocks of the collecting area form a huge reservoir which only parts slowly with its water contents, and thus springs may go on yielding supplies when, after a succession of three or four nearly rainless years, many of the wells and rock basins are quite dry.

As a rule, spring waters are very clear and potable. The purest are those which pass through siliceous rocks such as sandstone; where the rocks are rich in lime and magnesia, as serpentines and gabbros, the salt-content of the spring may be fairly considerable, but there is no known spring in this part of Egypt of which the water is so salt as to be disagreable to the taste.[114]It is their constancy combined with the purity of their water that makes the springs the most highly prized of desert water sources.

Springs are mostly on or near the main camel roads, for the roads are naturally selected so as to utilise these constant water supplies. Frequently, however, the spring is situated up a lateral valley some little distance from the main track, and is more or less difficult of access. The springs of Abu Saafa are on a main road, where the Wadi Hodein cuts cleanly through the sandstone plateau; but those of Meneiga, being at the head of acul-de-sac, are only approachable by a branch track. At large springs the Arabs generally dig out a series of basins into which the water flows, so that these are always full of water ready for the camels of a caravan to drink. Atmegalsthere is usually no pool, or only a very small one, in sand or detritus; this sand is scooped out and the water is baled from the hole with a tin can. The absence of a pool is probably due to a desire to check evaporation. The flow at amegalis frequently so small that only a few litres per hour can be obtained; the small trickling spring of Sikait, for instance, was yielding only twenty gallons of waterper diemin 1906, but even this small supply was highly prized by the miners working there, on account of its purity as a drinking water.

Megalsare more likely to run dry than the larger springs, owing to their smaller collecting area. Any attempt to increase the flowof springs by blasting or excavation would probably only give an increase in yield at the expense of constancy; the throttling of the efflux is doubtless in many cases the chief reason for the perennial character of the yield of a spring, the rainfall being insufficient to maintain greater supplies than the springs yield at present.

The wells of South-Eastern Egypt are mostly shallow excavations in the alluvia of the wadi floors, tapping the drainage waters which slowly percolate underground Nilewards and seawards from the mountain ranges. They are naturally more frequent in the districts near to the mountain ranges than in the lower reaches of the wadis, and the best wells are usually in well-defined trunk wadis which collect the drainage from myriads of smaller valleys. The wells sunk in the wadis at points remote from the mountain ranges are of immense importance to travellers crossing from the Nile, forming as they do the only supplies in an otherwise waterless journey of several days.

On an average, water is reached at a depth of eight to ten metres; occasionally, where the wadi is crossed underground by a rocky bar, the natural damming enables water to be reached at very shallow depths. The shafts dug by the Arabs are generally wide and very crooked, in order to permit of a man descending to fill a water-skin. Usually a “well” consists of three or four such shafts sunk in proximity. Occasionally, especially in the Bisharin country, the shafts are lined with rubble masonry, and rough timbers may be stretched across the mouth to facilitate hoisting by ropes. There is never any hoisting gear except at mines; rope is too much prized by the Arabs for it to be possible to leave ropes unguarded at a well, so each caravan uses its own rope and skins. Occasionally, the shaft is so cranked that the water cannot be seen from above. The reason for this is chiefly laziness in excavation; it is easier to deepen a well by driving out laterally a short distance and then sinking a narrow pit, throwing out the excavated material into the larger main shaft, than to hoist all to the surface. Near the wells one usually findshods, or mud basins, into which the Arabs pour the hoisted water for their animals to drink. Frequently there are highhodsfor camels and low ones for sheep and goats.

After every considerable rainfall the wells become filled up with stony downwash, and have to be dug out afresh. There is no protective wall to prevent infilling; and, contrary to what might at first be thought, it is not laziness which conditions this circumstance. To the Arab, wells are a last resource. After rain, all thegalts(rock basins) are full of good water. The Arab knows that the supplies in thesegaltswill evaporate, while those in the wells, covered in by alluvium, are safe from loss by this cause. He therefore draws his supplies fromgaltsas long as he can, and only when these are empty does he open the wells. The main wells never fail except after unusually prolonged drought, and then the condition of the Arab is sore indeed. The Bisharin do not drink much water, preferring to nourish themselves on the milk of their flocks and herds; but in times of drought the milk supply falls off because there is not sufficient moist vegetation for the animals to feed on.

The quality of water from the wells varies enormously with their situation and at different times. When water is abundant, it is generally good; but as the supply falls off and the wells have to be deepened, the slow infiltration carries abundance of sodium, calcium, and magnesium salts from the rocks, and the water is then often very unpleasant. The following analyses by Mr. Lucas of water-samples from some of the wells in 1906 will give a good general idea of the salts present; the figures give milligrammes per litre (parts per million):—

All the above waters were quite drinkable, though that of the Sikait well was rather disagreably salty.

An analysis of the water of one of the Halaib wells in 1895 is given by Dr. Natterer,[117]who found (in parts per million):—

Dr. Natterer records that the sample, which was clear, tasted slightly alkaline, and contained very distinct traces of nitrites and nitrates, free carbon dioxide, free ammonia, and organic matter. During my stay of four days at Halaib in May 1908, I drank regularly of the local well-water; I found it very hard, and though the Arabs seemed to like it, its action on myself was so strongly aperient that I sent into the mountains to Bir Frukit for purer supplies for use on the long march to Port Sudan.

As a rule, it is the magnesium salts which are the most harmful constituents, the sulphate giving a strong purgative character to the water. Such salts are naturally present in greatest quantity where the rocks are gypseous, as for instance along the coast to the south of Halaib, where the wells of Ti Kureitra, sunk in gypsum and lined with blocks of selenite, yield water of so purgative a character that all my Arabs who drank of it became violently ill. In districts where the rocks are of very basic igneous types, such as gabbros and serpentines, the salt-content may also be fairly high. Water from diorite country is somewhat better, that from granite better still, and that from sandstone best of all. There are practically no wells in clayey strata within the region here treated of, but Bir Qoleib, which is on the road from Daraw at about two days’ journey east of the Nile, is sunk at the foot of a clayey scarp, and the water, when I partook of it in 1907, was clouded with clayey matter so finely divided as to be unfilterable through a Berkefeld filter even under strong pressure, while the physiological action of the water was to produce very marked constipation. Wells near the sea coast are liable to be very salty from infiltration of sea water. As a rule, the very salt wells, such as Bir Murra, Bir Muelih, Bir Shalatein, and Ti Kureitra,are used only by camels and sheep. When the Arabs have to drink purgative water for lack of other supplies, they often mix milk with it, and I have found it wise to imitate them in this respect, with liberal addition of brandy in some cases.

Wells are generally named after the wadi in which they occur,e.g., Bir Abu Hashim is the well in Wadi Abu Hashim. A bitter well is often called Bir Murra.[118]A deep well is calledSararatby the Bisharin,e.g., Bir Sararat Seyet is the deep well in Wadi Seyet.

Questions are often asked as to whether it is not possible to increase the available water supplies by sinking fresh wells. Where it is a question of sinking a new well in the middle of a long waterless stretch, or where the object is to sink a fresh well near an existing salty one in order to obtain a drinkable quality of water (and these are the two most usual cases), success cannot be predicted with any certainty, even in the most likely looking spots. We must remember that though the present Arabs may be lazy, the older tenants of the desert were more active. We have only to look at the old mining centres to see this. The probability is that the old miners were just as much worried by the scarcity of water as we are to-day, and with the cheap convict labour then available we may rest assured that every attempt was made to increase the supply. And it is not probable that the Arabs will have allowed to fall into disuse any existing well on an otherwise waterless road, so that it is likely that most of the wells in the wadis remote from the mountains are at spots specially favourable which have been discovered by a laborious process of trial and error. Confirmation of this view is supplied by the failure of new wells sunk at considerable cost in likely-looking places, as for instance at Abu Rahal, where a well carried down to over sixty metres’ depth failed to find water. Where modern wells have obtained water, they have usually been sunk near to or on the site of existing wells, as for instance near the temple of Seti I and at the different mining centres; in these cases it has sometimes been found possible to increase the supply by going deeper. And with regard to obtaining sweet water by sinking new wells near to old salty ones, no success can be hoped for if the saltiness is due to a general salt-content in thesurrounding rocks; the Mines Department well in Wadi Mellaha[119]yielded no better water than the Arab well in the same wadi, because the alluvium everywhere in the wadi contains abundance of salt. In some cases, it may be, the promotion of a more rapid flow would lead to a slight lessening in the salinity; but if a well becomes salt merely by evaporation resulting from stagnation, that very fact shows that it is not much used by the ordinary traveller; and moreover the rate of flow of the underground water is not as a rule sufficiently rapid to yield large supplies, even from wide excavations.

In the south parts of the country, where the rainfall is greater, it is possible, nay, even likely, that many new wells could be sunk with success; but in these localities existing wells are more abundant and the necessity for new wells does not arise.

The typical rock basin, called agalt[120]by the Arabs, is a smooth-sided cavity in the rocky floor of a steep gorge draining a large mass of high hills. Galts are generally difficult of access, being situated in the higher parts of very stony wadis, so that one has to tramp often over miles of steeply rising stony ground to reach them. Galts abound in all high mountain-masses in South-Eastern Egypt, and furnish the greater portion of the water supply of the population. The capacity of galts varies very much; some hold millions of litres. Often there is a chain of successive galts at intervals along the length of a gorge, and after rain the whole series is filled, while much overflows and runs to waste. The origin of the rocky basins is generally due to pot-holing action on a large scale. Galts may occur in rocks of any hard type, but are most commonly met with in eruptive rocks. Sandstone galts never remain long full, owing to the permeable nature of the rocks. The large Galt el Aguz near Gebel Um Harba, which from the inscriptions near it was evidently known and used in Ptolemaic times, is in sandstone, receiving in fact the superficial run-off from the same high mass of sandstone hills as furnish the collectingarea for feeding by percolation and underground flow the adjacent springs of Bir Abraq and Abu Saafa; but the galt is seldom full for more than a month or two, while the springs are constant.

The water supply of galts depends firstly on the rainfall of the district; secondly, on the existing drainage system; thirdly, on the presence and size of eroded basins along the lines of drainage; fourthly, on the nature of the rocks forming the basin, and, lastly, on the degree of exposure to evaporation. The rainfall in the Eastern Desert is often very local. A series of galts full one year may be dry the next, while those of another area may show a reverse state of things. The drainage system most favourable to galts is one formed by the union of long narrow steep-sided gullies into a single gorge. The presence of basins is conditioned by the steepness of the drainage and the hardness of the rocky floor; if the rocks are soft or much crushed, galts are very unlikely to occur. Again, if the basin is formed of permeable though hard rock, there will be rapid loss by infiltration. Evaporation is generally far less rapid at galts than in open country, because being in narrow gorges galts only receive the sun’s rays for a few hours of the day, and are, moreover, sheltered from winds.

The quality of galt water varies very much with the interval since rainfall and with the nature of the rocks. Sandstone galts are very pure, because of their short life and the siliceous nature of the rock. Serpentine and diorite galts contain magnesium and other salts, and as the loss by evaporation continues the water may become somewhat bitter and purgative by concentration of these saline constituents, though galts never suffer to the extent that some wells do in this respect.

A galt is frequently accompanied by a small spring (megalormegwel); the galt represents the run-off, while the spring receives the percolating water. Thus for months after a galt is empty it may in some cases be possible to obtain water in small quantity by scooping out sand-filled rock cavities close to the basin.

Galts are generally named after the mountain in which they occur, though when large and well known they may have special names given to them, as in the case of the Galt el Aguz mentioned above.

As will be gathered from the map onPlate III,water supplies are seldom more than two days’ march apart in this part of Egypt. For the ordinary traveller it will therefore be usually an ample provision to carry four days’ supply; in special cases, where it is desired to camp for any purpose remote from water sources, special provision will of course have to be made. There is seldom any trouble with the Arabs about their own water, as when their supplies run short one or two camels can always be detached from a caravan to fill their skins from the nearest well, and they are always content to travel day and night for this purpose. With regard to the quantity of water to be carried, I found ten gallons per European per day to be ample, including water for cooking and for one’s personal servants. Water is best carried in rectangular galvanized iron tanks, each holding ten gallons, fitted with a good brass or wooden plug; two of these carried horizontally make a light camel load, and on the march one can add a little in the shape of tents or bedding to the load. I have tried the barrel-shaped galvanised steel tanks used by the mining companies, which hold sixteen gallons each and are easily carried vertically, a pair forming a camel load; but I have found them much more liable to damage than the smaller rectangular tanks, and do not recommend them for regular desert travel.

In the following list I have summarized all the water sources known to me in order of latitude from north to south. I believe the list contains all sources that are of importance, but it is doubtless far from being complete as regards the rock basins of the mountain areas for two reasons. Firstly, the Arabs are often reluctant to point out the sources, more especially in the more arid parts of the Ababda country; and secondly, as already remarked, since the rock basins depend for their supplies entirely on comparatively recent rainfall around them, they vary very much in yield in different years, so that basins which are of great use in one year may be totally dry the next, andvice-versa, and guides seldom take the trouble to point out a drybasin, even if in some other year it may have held a useful store of water.

With regard to the accuracy of the positions given in the list, it may be remarked that in the case of wells actually visited the position is given to seconds, and the localisation may be relied on within at most a few hundred metres; while for wells not actually seen but whose positions were pointed out by guides from some distance, the coordinates are usually only given to minutes, and these positions are uncertain by larger amounts, up to two or three kilometres in extreme cases.

It must not be assumed that water supplies canalwaysbe obtained at all the localities named. As already remarked, rock basins will usually only be full if rain has fallen in the district comparatively recently, large rock basins may furnish supplies for a year after rainfall, but the smaller ones last only a few months, weeks, or even days. The reserves are the wells, most of which never run dry except after a succession of rainless years. But when rock basins are full, many of the wells are filled with downwash, and digging must be resorted to in order to re-open them. A traveller arriving at a “well” sometimes finds no evidence whatever of its existence beyond the guides pointing to a spot on the ground with the statement “el bir hena” (the well is here). The explanation is that the well has been filled with alluvial matter washed down the valley by recent rain; but that same rainfall will have filled the rock basins in the hills, and the Arabs leave the digging out of the well until the basins are empty again. In other cases a well may be found to be dry through the water-level having sunk below the depth to which the well was last opened, and by deepening it a foot or so one may obtain a supply.

The notes in the column headed “Remarks,” on the quality of the water of the various sources, are mostly based on the observations of a single year, and must therefore only be taken as general guides. Usually, the shorter the interval since rain has fallen, the better are the supplies, both in quantity and quality.

List of Water Sources.[121]

Back to Index Next