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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7111-8.txt b/7111-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6fb62c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/7111-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9483 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Land of Midian, Vol. 1, by Richard Burton +#23 in our series by Richard Burton + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Land of Midian, Vol. 1 + +Author: Richard Burton + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7111] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 11, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF MIDIAN, VOL. 1 *** + + + + +Produced by JC Byers and proofread by MaryAnn Short. + + + + + The Land of Midian (Revisited). + + By Richard F. Burton. + + In Two Volumes. + + Vol. I. + + C. Kegan Paul & Co. + London: + + 1879. + + + + + + To the Memory of My Much Loved Niece, + Maria Emily Harriet Stisted, + Who Died at Dovercourt, + November 12, 1878. + + + + + + "Gold shall be found, and found + In a land that's not now known." + MOTHER SHIPTON, A.D. 1448. + + + + + + PREFACE. + + + +A few pages by way of "Forespeache." + +The plain unvarnished tale of the travel in Midian, undertaken by +the second Expedition, which, like the first, owes all to the +liberality and the foresight of his Highness Ismail I., Khediv of +Egypt, forms the subject of these volumes. During the four months +between December 19, 1877, and April 20, 1878, the officers +employed covered some 2500 miles by sea and land, of which 600, +not including by-paths, were mapped and planned; and we brought +back details of an old-new land which the civilized world had +clean forgotten. + +The public will now understand that one and the same subject has +not given rise to two books. I have to acknowledge with gratitude +the many able and kindly notices by the Press of my first volume +("The Gold Mines of Midian," etc. Messrs. C. Kegan Paul & Co., +1878). But some reviewers succeeded in completely +misunderstanding the drift of that avant courier. It was an +introduction intended to serve as a base for the present more +extensive work, and--foundations intended to bear weight must be +solid. Its object was to place before the reader the broad +outlines of a country whose name was known to "every schoolboy," +whilst it was a vox et praeterea nihil, even to the learned, +before the spring of 1877. I had judged advisable to sketch, with +the able assistance of learned friends, its history and +geography; its ethnology and archaeology; its zoology and +malacology; its botany and geology. The drift was to prepare +those who take an interest in Arabia generally, and especially in +wild mysterious Midian, for the present work, which, one foresaw, +would be a tale of discovery and adventure. Thus readers of "The +Land of Midian (Revisited)" may feel that they are not standing +upon ground utterly unknown; and the second publication is +shortened and lightened--perhaps the greatest advantage of +all--by the prolegomena having been presented in the first. + +The purpose of the last Expedition was to conclude the labours +begun, during the spring of 1877, in a mining country unknown, or +rather, fallen into oblivion. Hence its primary "objective" was +mineralogical. The twenty-five tons of specimens, brought back to +Cairo, were inspected by good judges from South Africa, +Australia, and California; and all recognized familiar +metalliferous rocks. The collection enabled me to distribute the +mining industry into two great branches--(1) the rich silicates +and carbonates of copper smelted by the Ancients in North Midian; +and (2) the auriferous veins worked, but not worked out, by +comparatively modern races in South Midian, the region lying +below the parallel of El-Muwaylah. It is, indeed, still my +conviction that "tailings" have been washed for gold, even by men +still living. We also brought notices and specimens of three +several deposits of sulphur; of a turquoise-mine behind Ziba; of +salt and saltpetre, and of vast deposits of gypsum. These are +sources of wealth which the nineteenth century is not likely to +leave wasted and unworked. + +In geography the principal novelties are the identification of +certain ruined cities mentioned by Ptolemy, and the "Harrahs" or +plutonic centres scattered over the seaboard and the interior. I +venture to solicit the attention of experts for my notes on +El-Harrah, that great volcanic chain whose fair proportions have +been so much mutilated by its only explorer, the late Dr. Wallin. +Beginning with Damascan Trachonitis, and situated, in the +parallel of north lat. 28 degrees, about sixty direct miles east +of the Red Sea, it is reported to subtend the whole coast of +North-Western Arabia, between El-Muwaylah (north lat. 27 degrees +39') and El-Yambu' (north lat. 24 degrees 5'). Equally noticeable +are the items of information concerning the Wady Hamz, the +"Land's End" of Egypt, and the most important feature of its kind +in North-Western Arabia. Its name, wrongly given by Wallin, is +unknown to the Hydrographic Chart, and to the erudite pages of my +friend Professor Aloys Sprenger, who, however, suspects with me +that it may be the mouth of the celebrated Wady el-Kura. For +further topographical details the reader is referred to the +"Itineraries" of the Expedition, offered to the Royal +Geographical Society of London. + +Some of the principal sites were astronomically determined by +Commanders Ahmed Musallam and Nasir Ahmed, of the Egyptian navy. +The task of mapping and planning was committed to the two young +Staff-lieutenants sent for that purpose. They worked well in the +field; and their sketches were carefully executed whilst under my +superintendence. But it was different when they returned to +Cairo. The maps sent to the little Exposition at the Hippo-drome +(see conclusion) were simply a disgrace to the Staff-bureau. My +departure from Egypt caused delay; and, when the chart reached +me, it was far from satisfactory: names had been omitted, and +without my presence it could not have been printed. With the able +assistance of Mr. William J. Turner, of the Royal Geographical +Society, who found the work harder than he expected, it has been +reduced to tolerable shape. Still, it is purely provisional; and, +when mining operations shall begin, a far more careful survey +will be required. + +As regards archaeology, the second Expedition visited, described, +and surveyed eighteen ruins of cities and towns, some of +considerable extent, in North Midian, besides seeing or hearing +of some twenty large Mashghal, apparently the ateliers of vagrant +Gypsy-like gangs. This total of thirty-eight is not far short of +the forty traditional Midianite settlements preserved by the +mediaeval Arab geographers. Many others are reported to exist in +the central or inland region; and fifteen were added by the South +Country, including the classical temple or shrine, found upon the +bank of the Wady Hamz before mentioned. The most interesting +sites were recommended to M. Lacaze, whose portfolio was soon +filled with about two hundred illustrations, in oil and +water-colours, pencil croquis and "sun-pictures." All, except the +six coloured illustrations which adorn this volume, have been +left in Egypt. His Highness resolved to embody the results of our +joint labours in a large album, illustrated with coloured +lithographs, maps, and plans, explained by letter-press, and +prepared at the Citadel, Cairo. + +The Meteorological Journal was kept by myself, assisted at times +by Mr. Clarke. Mr. David Duguid, engineer of the Mukhbir, whose +gallant conduct will be recorded (Chap. VIII.), and Commander +Nasir Ahmed, of the Sinnar, obliged me by registering +simultaneous observations at sea-level. The whole was reduced to +shape by Mr. W. J. Turner, of the Royal Geographical Society. + +My private collection of mineralogical specimens was deposited +with Professor M. H. N. Story-Maskelyne. The spirit-specimens of +zoology filled three large canisters: and the British Museum also +received a hare and five birds (Mr. R. B. Sharpe); four bats +(Rhinopoma) and a mouse; six reptiles, five fishes, thirty-five +crustaceans, and about the same number of insects; five +scorpions, six leeches, sixty molluscs, four echinoderms, and +three sponges. Dr. A. Gunther (Appendix III.) determined and +named two new species of reptiles. Mr. Frederick Smith (Appendix +III.) took charge of the insects. Mr. Edward J. Miers, F. L.S., +etc., described the small collection of crustaceae (Annals and +Magazine of Natural History for November, 1878). Finally, Edgar +A. Smith examined and named the shells collected on the shores of +the 'Akabah Gulf and the north-eastern recess of the Red Sea. + +The main interest of the little hortus siccus was the Alpine +Flora, gathered at an altitude of five thousand feet above +sea-level. The plants were offered to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, +of Kew; and Professor D. Oliver, of the Herbarium, has kindly +furnished me with a list of the names (Appendix IV.). Mr. William +Carruthers and his staff also examined the spirit-specimens of +fleshy plants (Appendix IV.). + +Mr. Reginald Stuart Poole, Keeper of Coins and Medals, and Mr. +Barclay V. Head were good enough to compare with their rich +collections the coins of ancient Midian found (Chap. III.), for +the first time, at Maghair Shu'ayb[EN#1]. Some years ago, Mr. +Robert Ready, of the British Museum, had bought from a Jew, Yusuf +Kalafat (?), a miscellaneous collection, which included about +sixty of the so-called Midianitic coins. But the place of +discovery is wholly unknown. The Assistant Keeper read a paper +"On Arabian Imitations of Athenian Coins," Midianitic, +Himyaritic, and others, at a meeting of the Numismatic Society +(November 21, 1878); and I did the same at the Royal Asiatic +Society, December 16, 1878. The little "find" of stone +implements, rude and worked; and the instruments illustrating the +mining industry of the country, appeared before the +Anthropological Section of the British Association, which met at +Dublin (August, 1878), and again before the Anthropological +Institute of London, December 10, 1878. + +Finally, the skulls and fragments of skulls from Midian were +submitted to Professor Richard Owen, the Superintendent of +Natural History; and my learned friend kindly inspected the +Egyptian and Palmyrene crania which accompanied them. The whole +was carefully described by Dr. C. Carter Blake, Ph.D., before the +last-named seance of the Anthropological Institute (December 10, +1878). + +The tons of specimens brought to Cairo were, I have said, +publicly exhibited there, and created much interest. But the +discovery of a mining-country, some three hundred miles long, +once immensely wealthy, and ready to become wealthy once more, is +not likely to be accepted by every one. Jealous and obstructive +officials "did not think much of it." Rivals opposed it with even +less ceremony. A mild "ring" in Egypt attempted in vain to run +the Hamamat and Dar-For mines (Chap. III.) against Midian. +Consequently the local Press was dosed with rumours, which, +retailed by the home papers, made the latter rife in +contradictory reports. To quote one case only. The +turquoise-gangue from Ziba (Chap. XII.) was pronounced, by the +inexpert mineralogists at the Citadel, Cairo, who attempted +criticism, to be carbonate of copper, because rich silicates of +that metal were shown at the Exposition. No one seemed to know +that the fine turquoises of Midian have been sold for years at +Suez, and even at Cairo. + +There was, indeed, much to criticise in the collection, which had +been made with a marvellous carelessness. But we must not be hard +upon M. Marie. He is an engineer, utterly ignorant of mineralogy +and of assaying: he was told off to do the duty, and he did it as +well as he could--in other words, very badly. He neglected to +search for alluvial gold in the sands. Every Wady which cuts, at +right angles, the metalliferous maritime chains, should have been +carefully prospected; these sandy and quartzose beds are natural +conduits and sluice-boxes. But the search for "tailings" is +completely different from that of gold-veins, and requires +especial practice. The process, indeed, may be called purely +empirical. It is not taught in Jermyn Street, nor by the Ecole +des Mines. In this matter theory must bow to "rule of thumb:" the +caprices of alluvium are various and curious enough to baffle +every attempt at scientific induction. Thus the "habits" of the +metal, so to speak, must be studied by experiment with patient +labour, the most accomplished mineralogist may pass over rich +alluvium without recognizing its presence, where the rude +prospector of California and Australia will find an abundance of +stream-gold. Evidently the proportion of "tailings" must +carefully be laid down before companies are justified in +undertaking the expensive operation of quartz-crushing. Hence M. +Tiburce Morisot, a practical digger from South Africa, introduced +at Cairo by his compatriot, M. Marie, to my friend M. Yacoub +Artin Bey, found a fair opportunity of proposing to his Highness +the Khediv (October, 1878) a third Expedition in search of +sand-gold. The Viceroy, however, true to his undertaking, refused +to sanction any "interloping." + +The highly distinguished M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, when en route +to Paris, kindly took charge of some cases of specimens for +analysis. But the poorest stuff had been supplied to him by M. +Marie; and the results, of which I never heard, were probably +nil. The samples brought to England, by order of his Highness the +Khediv, were carefully assayed. The largest collection was +submitted to Dr. John Percy, F.R.S. Smaller items were sent to +the well-known houses, Messrs. Johnston and Matthey, of Hatton +Garden, and Messrs. Edgar Jackson and Co., Associates of the +Royal School of Mines (fourteen samples). Finally, special +observations were made by Mr. John L. Jenken, of Carrington, +through Mr. J. H. Murchison, of "British Lead Mines," etc., etc., +etc.; by Lieut.-Colonel Ross, the distinguished author of +"Pyrology;" and by Lieut.-Colonel Bolton, who kindly compared the +rocks with those in his cabinet. M. Gastinel-Bey's analysis of +the specimens brought home by the first Expedition will be found +at the end of Chap. VIII. + +The following is the text of Dr. Percy's report:-- + +Metallurgical Laboratory, Royal School of Mines, +Jermyn Street, London Dec 13 1878. + +Dear Sir, + +I now send the results of the analytical examination of the specimens +which you submitted to me for that purpose. The examination has been +conducted with the greatest care, in the metallurgical laboratory of the +Royal School of Mines, by Mr. Richard Smith, who, for the last thirty +years, has been constantly engaged in such work; and in whose accuracy I +have absolute confidence. It is impossible that any one should have taken +greater interest in, or have devoted himself with greater earnestness to, +the investigation. I have almost entirely confined myself to a statement +of facts, as I understand that was all you required for the guidance of +his Highness the Khedive. + + Section 1. + +Examination of the mineral specimens contained in the boxes marked as +under. + +(An average representative sample of each specimen, of about six pounds +in weight, was prepared for examination from portions broken off, or +otherwise taken, by Mr. Richard Smith at the Victoria Docks.[EN#2] + +No. 1. "Box 22," Quartz from Mugnah (Makna). Quartz coloured black and +red-brown with oxides of iron. These were of two varieties, marked 22a +and 22b respectively. + +No. 2. The magnetic ironstone (22a) was examined and found to contain of-- + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . .85.29 + Protoxide of iron (per cent.) . . . 9.83 + Silica (quartz)(per cent.). . . . . 3.28 + +The oxides of iron together contain of metallic iron 66.8 per cent. + +No. 3. The micaceous ironstone (22b) was examined and found to contain of– + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . . 91.0 + Silica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.52 + + The peroxide of iron contains of metallic iron 63.7 per cent. + +No. 4. "Box No. 14," Quartz from Mugnah, gave no results. + +No. 5. "Box No. 27," Iron from Mugnah, proved to be haematite (which is +magnetic), with some red-brown oxide of iron and quartz. It was found to +contain of-- + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . .75.46 + Protoxide of iron (per cent.) . . . 4.69 + +The oxides of iron together contain of metallic iron 56.4 per cent. + +No. 6. "Box No. 7," Conglomerate from Mugnah, yielded no results. + +No. 7 "Box No. 25," Quartz from Mugnah. This quartz, veined and coloured +black and red-brown with oxides of iron, was assayed with the following +results:-- + Gold and Silver . . . . . . . None[EN#3] + +Nos. 8 and 9. "Boxes Nos. 50 and 37,"[EN#4] Quartz and red dust from +Mugnah, yielded no results. + +No. 10. "Box No. 37a," Sulphur from Mugnah. Lumps of sulphur, +crystallized and massive, irregularly distributed through a white, dull, +porous rock. The latter was examined, and found to be hydrated sulphate +of lime (gypsum), with a small quantity of magnesia; some of the lumps of +rock were coloured with oxides of iron, and others intermixed with sand. + +Nos. 11. and 12. "Boxes Nos. 3 and 6," Black quartz and white quartz from +the Jebel el-Abyaz, gave no results except a small portion of copper +pyrites in a lump of quartz (Box No. 6). + +No. 13. "Box No. 47," Quartz from El-Wedge (Wijh), gave only oxide of +iron.[EN#5] + +No. 14. "Box No. 5," Red quartz from El-Wedge, a quartz with red-brown +oxide of iron and earthy substances, was assayed with the following +results:-- + Gold (per statute ton = 3240 lbs.)2 dwts. 15 grs. + Silver. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traces. + +No. 15. "Box No. 16," Mica schist from El-Wedge. This mica-schist +undergoing decomposition from weathering action, mixed with small lumps +of quartz, was assayed with the following results :-- + Gold (per statute ton). . . . .6 grains. + Silver. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traces. + +No. 16. "Box No. 32," White quartz from El-Wedge. This quartz coloured with +red-brown oxide of iron, mixed with mica-schist, was assayed with the +following results:-- + Gold (per statute ton). .3 dwts. 22 grs. + Silver. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traces. + +No. 17. "Box No. 48,"[EN#6] Red sulphur from Sharm Yaharr, was found to +have the following composition, while it was free from "native sulphur":-- + + Peroxide of iron (per cent. ) . . .44.36 + Sand, clay, carbonates and sulphates of lime and + magnesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14.90 + Salts soluble in water, chiefly alkaline + chlorides and chlorites, and sulphates of lime + and magnesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.70 + Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11.40 + _______ + 100.00 + +No. 18. "Box No. 48a," Gypsum from Sharm Yaharr. Partly semi-transparent +and granular, and partly dull white and opaque. It was found to be +hydrated sulphate of lime, or gypsum, with carbonate of lime, and some +sand, magnesia, and chloride of sodium. + +No. 19 "Box No. 35," Dust and stones from Sharma, yielded no results. + + Section 2. + +Examination of the mineral specimens contained in a box sent from Egypt. +As the specimens were unlabelled, they were marked A, B, C, D, E, F, G, +H, and I, respectively. + +No. 21. A. "Copper ore." A fair average specimen was prepared for +examination from the several lumps of ore and marked a. + +a. It was submitted to analysis, and found to contain carbonates of lime +and magnesia; silica, alumina, and oxides of iron; and of-- + Copper (metallic) . . . .5.72 per cent. +b. A portion of the copper mineral, from which the rock or vein-stuff had +been detached as far as practicable, was found to consist of impure +hydrated silicate of copper (bluish-green chrysocolla) and carbonate of +copper. It was assayed and found to contain of-- + Copper (metallic) . . . .23.14 per cent. + +No. 22. "B." A lump of soft, ochrey red-brown ironstone, coated with a thin +layer of greyish white substance. A fair average sample, inclusive of this +external layer, was prepared for examination, and was found to consist of– + Peroxide of iron (per cent. ) . . .81.14 + Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.50 + Silica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.07 + Sulphuric acid, lime, magnesia, alumina 4.29 + _____ + 100.00 + +The peroxide of iron contains 56.8 per cent. of metallic iron. The +greyish white substance was found to consist of silica, alumina, sulphate +of lime, and a little oxide of iron and magnesia. + +No. 23. "C." Lump of red ironstone associated with sand and earthy +substances, containing + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . 68.09 + Water of iron (per cent.) . . . . . 1.93 + Silica and sand . . . . . . . . . .18.17 + Lime, magnesia (in small quantity), alumina, + carbonic acid, sulphuric acid (traces) .11.81 + ______ + 100.00 +The peroxide of iron contains 47.66 of metallic iron. + +No. 24. "D." Lump of white quartz said to contain visible gold. I did not +observe any, but found a few minute specks of pyrites, and partially +resembling mica. + +No. 25. Lump of quartz associated with red-brown oxide of iron. It +yielded no results. + +No. 26. Lump of rock in which the "turquoise" occurs. There was a thin +layer of greenish blue turquoise mineral on one surface, and minute seams +of a similar substance throughout the specimen. + +a. The layer of turquoise mineral, from which the rock or vein-stuff had +been detached as far as practicable, was found to contain phosphoric +acid, alumina, oxide of copper, oxide of iron, and water; which occur in +turquoise. + +b. After the layer a had been separated, a fair average sample of the +rock was found to contain 1.69 per cent. of metallic copper. It was also +assayed and found to be free from silver[EN#7] and gold. + +No. 27. "G." A variety of jasper, having a somewhat polished, and +irregular and deeply indented surface, the result of sand-action. The +fractured surface was red, with patches of yellow. It was found to +consist chiefly of silica, coloured with oxides of iron. + +No. 28. "H." Lump of "sard," of a pale-red flesh colour. A variety of +chalcedony. It was found to consist almost entirely of silica[EN#8]. + +No. 29. "I." Lumps of pure ironstone. + +A small lump of metal[EN#9], supposed to contain antimony[EN#10] and +platinum, was brought for examination by Captain R. F. Burton. It was +submitted to analysis, and found to be iron and combined carbon, or white +cast-iron, containing small quantities of lead, copper, and silver, and +free from antimony, platinum, and gold. It is evidently the product of a +fusion operation. A few "shots" of lead were attached to the surface of +the metal[EN#11]. + +Dr. Percy concludes the assays in these words:-- + +Three of the specimens (Nos. 14, 15, and 19) from the same +locality contain gold. The amount of gold, however, is small. I +consider these indications of the presence of the precious metal +not altogether unsatisfactory; and certainly to justify further +exploration. My conviction is, that the ancients were adepts in +the art of extracting gold, and that, owing to the small value of +human labour, they could get out as much of the metal as could +now be done. They knew perfectly what was worth working and what +was not; and I think it likely that what you have brought home, +had been rejected by the ancients as unworkable[EN#12]. Further +search may lead to the discovery of workable stuff; but would +doubtless require a good deal of time, unless lucky accident +should intervene. + +The specimens Nos. 2, 3, 5, 22, and 23 contain sufficient iron to +render them available as iron ores, provided they occur in large +quantity. The copper present in No. 21a is too small in amount to +render it available as a source of that metal [Footnote: Analyses +of copper ore from Midian at the Citadel, Cairo, gave in certain +cases forty percent.]. If it is practicable on a large scale, by +hand-labour or other means, to separate the "copper mineral" (as +in b), it would be sufficiently rich in copper, provided the cost +of the transit were not too great. + +The specimen No. 17 is only of scientific interest, as it gives +off an acid vapour when heated; and this substance may have been +used by the ancients in the separation of silver from gold by the +process termed "cementation." + +I remain, dear Sir, yours very truly, + +(Signed) JOHN PERCY, M.D., F.R.S. +Lecturer on Metallurgy at the Royal School of Mines, London. + +Capt. R. F. Burton, etc. + +Upon this able report I would offer the following observations. +We, who have travelled through a country like Midian, finding +everywhere extensive works for metallurgy; barrages and +aqueducts, cisterns and tanks ; furnaces, fire-bricks, and +scoriae; open mines, and huge scatters of spalled quartz, with +the remains of some eighteen cities and towns which apparently +fell to ruin with the industry that founded and fed them;--we, I +say, cannot but form a different and a far higher idea of its +mineral capabilities than those who determine them by the simple +inspection of a few specimens. The learned Dr. Percy at once hits +the mark when he surmises that worthless samples were brought +home; and this would necessarily occur when no metallurgist, no +practical prospector, was present with the Expedition. As will +appear from the following pages, all the specimens were collected +a ciel ouvert, and wholly without judgment. + +I therefore expect that future exploration will develop Midian as +it has done India. The quartzose outcrop called the "Wynaad reef" +(Madras Presidency) produced only a few poor penny-weights per +ton, two and seven being the extremes, while much of it was +practically unproductive. Presently, in February, 1878, the +district was visited by Sir Andrew Clarke, of Australian +experience, member of the Viceregal Council. He invited Mr. +Brough Smyth, of Victoria, to explore and test the capabilities +of the country; and that eminent practical engineer discovered, +in an area of twenty-five by thirteen miles, ninety outcrops, +some yielding, they say, two hundred ounces per ton of gold, fine +and coarse, "with jagged pieces as large as peas." And British +India now hopes to draw her gold coinage from Wynaad. + +I conclude this abstract of the book, which would have been +reduced in size had the mass of matter permitted, with the +heartfelt hope that the grand old Land of Midian will not be +without attraction to the public of Europe. + +RICHARD F. BURTON. + +ATHENAEUM CLUB, + +December 16. + + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + + PART I. + The March Through Madyan Proper + (North Midian). + +Chapter I. Preliminary--from Trieste to Midian +Chapter II. The Start--from El Muwaylah to the "White + Mountain" and 'Aynunah +Chapter III. Breaking New Ground to Maghair Shu'ayb +Chapter IV. Notices of Precious Metals in Midian--the Papyri + and the Mediaeval Arab Geographers +Chapter V. Work At, and Excursions From, Maghair Shu'ayb +Chapter VI. To Makna, and Our Work There--the Magani or + Maknawis +Chapter VII. Cruise from Makna to El'akabah +Chapter VIII. Cruise from El'akabah to El Muwaylah--the + Shipwreck Escaped--resume of the Northern Journey + + + PART II + The March Through Central and Eastern Midian. + +Chapter IX. Work in and Around El Muwaylah +Chapter X. Through East Midian to the Hisma + + + + + + PART I. + The March Through Madyan Proper + (North Midian). + + + + + + Chapter I. + Preliminary--from Trieste to Midian. + + + +Throughout the summer of 1877 I was haunted by memories of +mysterious Midian. The Golden Region appeared to me in the glow +of primaeval prosperity described by the Egyptian hieroglyphs; as +rich in agriculture and in fertility, according to the old +Hellenic travellers, as in its Centres of civilization, and in +the precious metals catalogued by the Sacred Books of the +Hebrews. Again I saw the mining works of the Greek, the Roman, +and the Nabathæan, whose names are preserved by Ptolemy; the +forty cities, mere ghosts and shadows of their former selves, +described in the pages of the mediaeval Arab geographers; and the +ruthless ruin which, under the dominion of the Bedawin, gradually +crept over the Land of Jethro. The tale of her rise and fall +forcibly suggested Algeria, that province so opulent and splendid +under the Masters of the World; converted into a fiery wilderness +by the representatives of the "gentle and gallant" Turk, and +brought to life once more by French energy and industry. And such +was my vision of a future Midian, whose rich stores of various +minerals will restore to her wealth and health, when the two +Khedivial Expeditions shall have shown the world what she has +been, and what she may be again. + +I was invited to resume my exploration during the winter of +1877-78, by the Viceroy of Egypt, Ismail I., a prince whose +superior intelligence is ever anxious to develop the resources of +his country. His Highness was perhaps the only man in his own +dominions who, believing in the buried wealth of Midian, had the +perspicacity to note the advantages offered by its exploitation. +For the world around the Viceroy pronounced itself decidedly +against the project. My venerable friend, Linant Pasha, suggested +a comparison with the abandoned diggings of the Upper Nile; +forgetting that in at least half of Midian land, only the +"tailings" have been washed: whereas in the Bishárí country, and +throughout the "Etbaye," between the meridians of Berenike and +Sawákín, the very thinnest metallic fibrils have been shafted and +tunnelled to their end in the rock by those marvellous labourers, +the old Egyptians. In the Hamámát country, again, the excessive +distances, both from the Nile and from the Red Sea, together with +the cost of transport, must bar all profit. Even worse are the +conditions of Fayzoghlú and Dár-For; whilst the mines of Midian +begin literally at the shore. + +Another Pasha wrote to me from Alexandria, congratulating me upon +having discovered, during our first Expedition, "a little copper +and iron." Generally, the official public, knowing that I had +brought back stones, not solid masses of gold and silver, loudly +deplored the prospective waste of money; and money, after the +horse-plague, the low Nile, and the excessive exigencies of the +short-sighted creditor, was exceptionally scarce. The truly +Oriental view of the question was taken by an official, whom I +shall call Árif Pasha--the "Knowing One." When told that M. +George Marie, the Government engineer detailed to accompany the +first Expedition, had sent in official analyses with sample tubes +of gold and silver, thus establishing the presence of auriferous +and argentiferous rocks on the Arabian shore, Son Excellence +exclaimed, "Imprudent jeune homme, thus to throw away the chances +of life! Had he only declared the whole affair a farce, a flam, a +sell, a canard, the Viceroy would have held him to be honest, and +would have taken care of his future." + +Still, through bad report the Khediv, who had mastered, with his +usual accuracy of perception and judgment, the subject of Midian +and her Mines, was staunch to his resolve; and when one of his +European financiers, a Controleur Général de Dépenses, the normal +round peg in the square hole, warned him that there were no +public funds for such purpose, his Highness warmly declared, on +dit, that the costs of the Expedition should be defrayed at his +own expense. + +Meanwhile I had passed the summer of 1877 in preparation for the +work of the ensuing winter. A long correspondence with many +learned friends, and a sedulous study of the latest geographers, +especially German, taught me all that was known of mining in +Arabia generally, and particularly in Midian. During my six +months' absence from Egypt my vision was fixed steadily upon one +point, the Expedition that was to come; and when his Highness was +pleased to offer me, in an autograph letter full of the kindest +expressions, the government of Dár-For, I deferred accepting the +honour till Midian had been disposed of. + +Unhappily, certain kindly advisers persuaded me to make well +better by a visit to Karlsbad, and a course of its alkaline +"Fountains of Health." Never was there a greater mistake! The air +is bad as the water is good; the climate is reeking damp, like +that of Western Africa; and, as in St. Petersburg, a plaid must +be carried during the finest weather. Its effects, rheumatic and +neuralgic, may be judged by the fact that the doctors must walk +about with pocketed squirts, for the hypodermal injection of +opium. Almost all those whom I knew there, wanting to be better, +went away worse; and, in my own case, a whole month of Midian +sun, and a sharp attack of ague and fever were required to burn +out the Hexenschuss and to counteract the deleterious effects of +the "Hygeian springs." + +At last the happy hour for departure struck; and on October 19, +1877, the Austro-Hungarian Espero (Capitano Colombo) steamed out +of Trieste. On board were Sefer Pasha, our host of Castle +Bertoldstein; and my learned friends, the Aulic Councillor Alfred +von Kremer, Austrian Commissioner to Egypt, and Dr. Heinrich +Brugsch-Bey. The latter gave me a tough piece of work in the +shape of his "Ægypten," which will presently be quoted in these +pages. It would be vain to repeat a description of the little +voyage described in "The Gold-Mines of Midian." The Dalmatian, or +first day; the second, or day of Corfu loved and lost; and the +third, made memorable by Cephalonia and the glorious Canale, all +gave fine smooth weather. But the usual rolling began off +still-vexed Cape Matapan. It lasted through the fourth day, or of +Candia, this insula nobilis et amæna-- + +"Crete, the crown of all the isles, flower of Levantine waters" + +--while the fifth, or Mediterraneo-Alexandrian day, killed two of +the seventeen fine horses, Yuckers and Anglo-Normans, which Sefer +Pasha was conveying to Cairo. + +On Thursday morning (October 25), after rolling through the night +off the old port Eunostus, which now looks brand-new, we landed, +and the next day saw me at Cairo. Such was my haste that I could +pay only a flying visit to the broken beer-bottles, the burst +provision-tins, the ice-plants, and the hospitable society of +Ramleh the Sand-heap; and my many acquaintances had barely time +to offer their congratulations upon the prospects of my "becoming +an Egyptian." + +My presence at the capital was evidently necessary. A manner of +association for utilizing the discoveries of the first Expedition +had been formed in London by the Messieurs Vignolles, who knew +only the scattered and unofficial notices; issued, without my +privity, by English and continental journals. Their +representative, General Nuthall, formerly of the Madras army, had +twice visited Cairo, in August and October, 1877, seeking a +concession of the mines, and offering conditions which were +perfectly unacceptable. The Viceroy was to allow, contrary to +convention, the free importation of all machinery; to supply +guards, who were not wanted; and, in fact, to guarantee the +safety of the workmen, who were perfectly safe. In return, ten +per cent. on net profits, fifteen being the royalty of the Suez +Canal, was the magnificent inducement offered to the viceregal +convoitise. I could not help noting, by no means silently, this +noble illustration of the principle embodied in Sic vos non +vobis. I was to share in the common fate of originators, +discoverers, and inventors: the find was mine, the profits were +to go--elsewhere. General Nuthall professed inability to regard +the matter in that light; while to all others it appeared in no +other. However, after a few friendly meetings, the representative +left Egypt, with the understanding that possibly we might work +together when the exploration should have been completed. His +Highness, who had verbally promised me either the concession or +four per cent. on gross produce, acted en prince, simply +remarking that the affair was in my hands, and that he would not +interfere with me. + +I must not trouble the reader with the tedious tale of the pains +and the labour which accompany the accouchement of such an +Expedition. All practicals know that to organize a movement of +sixty men is not less troublesome--indeed, rather more so--than +if it numbered six hundred or six thousand. The Viceroy had +wisely determined that we should not only carry out the work of +discovery by tracing the precious metals to their source; but, +also, that we should bring back specimens weighing tons enough +for assay and analysis, quantitive and qualitive, in London and +Paris. Consequently, miners and mining apparatus were wanted, +with all the materials for quarrying and blasting: my spirit +sighed for dynamite, but experiments at Trieste had shown it to +be too dangerous. The party was to consist of an escort numbering +twenty-five Súdán soldiers of the Line, negroes liberated some +two years ago; a few Ma'danjiyyah ("mine-men"), and thirty +Haggárah ("stone-men" or quarrymen). + +The Government magazines of Cairo contain everything, but the +difficulty is to find where the dispersed articles are stored: +there is a something of red-tapeism; but all is plain sailing, +compared with what it would be in Europe. The express orders of +his Highness Husayn Kámil Pasha, Minister of Finance and Acting +Minister of War, at once threw open every door. Had this young +prince not taken in the affair a personal interest of the +liveliest and most intelligent nature, we might have spent the +winter at Cairo. And here I cannot refrain from mentioning, +amongst other names, that of Mr. Alfred E. Garwood, C.E., +locomotive superintendent; who, in the short space of four +months, has introduced order and efficiency into the chaos known +as the Bulák magazines. With his friendly cooperation, and under +his vigorous arm, difficulties melted away like hail in a +tropical sun. General Stone (Pasha), the Chief of Staff, also +rendered me some assistance, by lending the instruments which +stood in his own cabinet de travail.[EN#13] + +Poor Cairo had spent a seedy autumn. The Russo-Turkish campaign, +which had been unjustifiably allowed, by foreign Powers, to drain +Egypt of her gold and life-blood--some 25,000 men since the +beginning of the Servian prelude--not only caused "abundant +sorrow" to the capital, but also frightened off the stranger-host, +which habitually supplies the poorer population with sovereigns +and napoleons. The horse-pest, a bad typhus, after raging in 1876 +and early 1877, had died out: unfortunately, so had the horses; +and the well-bred, fine-tempered, and high-spirited little +Egyptians were replaced by a mongrel lot, hastily congregated +from every breeding ground in Europe. The Fellahs, who had +expected great things from the mission of MM. Goschen and +Joubert, asked wonderingly if those financiers had died; while a +scanty Nile, ten to twelve feet lower, they say, than any known +during the last thousand years, added to the troubles of the +poor, by throwing some 600,000 feddans (acres) out of gear, and +by compelling an exodus from the droughty right to the left bank. +Finally, when the river of Egypt did rise, it rose too late, and +brought with it a feverish and unwholesome autumn. Briefly, we +hardly escaped the horrors of Europe-- + + "Herbstesahnung! Triste Spuren + In den Wäldern, auf den Fluren! + Regentage, böses Wetter," etc. + +Meanwhile, in the Land of the Pharaohs, whose scanty interest +about the war was disguised by affected rejoicings at Ottoman +successes, the Prophet gallantly took the field, as in the days +of Yúsuf bin Ishák. This time the vehicle of revelation was the +learned Shayhk (má? ) Alaysh, who was ordered in a dream by the +Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) to announce the victory of +the Moslem over the Infidel; and, as the vision took place in +Jemádi el-Akhir (June), the first prediction was not more +unsuccessful than usual. Shortly afterwards, the same reverend +man again dreamt that, seeing two individuals violently +quarreling, with voies de fait, he had hastened, like a true +believer, to separate and to reconcile them. But what was his +surprise when the brawlers proved to be the Sultan and the Czar, +the former administering condign personal punishment to his +hereditary foe. This, the enlightened Shaykh determined, was a +sign that in September the Osmanli would be gloriously +triumphant. Nor was he far wrong. The Russians, who had begun the +campaign, like the English in India, with a happy contempt both +for the enemy and for the elementary rules of war, were struck +with a cold fit of caution: instead of marching straight upon and +intrenching themselves in Adrianople, they vainly broke their +gallant heads against the improvised earthworks of Plevna. And +ignorant Europe, marvelling at the prowess of the "noble Turk," +ignored the fact that all the best "Turkish" soldiers were Slavs, +originally Christians, renegades of old, unable to speak a word +of Turkish; preserving their Bosniac family-names, and without +one drop of Turkish blood in their veins. Sulayman Pashás army +was about as "Turkish" as are the Poles or the Hungarians. + +Not the less did Cairo develop the normal season-humours of the +Frank. Among the various ways of "doing the Pyramids," I +registered a new one: Mr. A---- , junior, unwilling wholly to +neglect them, sent his valet with especial orders to stand upon +the topmost plateau. The "second water" of irrigation made +November dangerous; many of the "Shepheards" suffered from the +Ayán el-Mulúk, the "Evil of Kings" (gout), in the gloomy form as +well as the gay; and whisky-cum-soda became popular as upon the +banks of the Thames and the Tweed. As happens on dark days, the +money-digger was abroad, and one anecdote deserves record. Many +years ago, an old widow body had been dunned into buying, for a +few piastres, a ragged little manuscript from a pauper Maghrabi. +These West Africans are, par excellence, the magicians of modern +Egypt and Syria; and here they find treasure, like the Greeks +upon the shores of the Northern Adriatic. Perhaps there may be a +basis for the idea; oral traditions and written documents +concerning buried hoards would take refuge in remote regions, +comparatively undisturbed by the storms of war, and inhabited by +races more or less literary. At any rate, the Maghrabi Darwaysh +went his ways, assuring his customer that, when her son came of +age, a fortune would be found in the little book. And true +enough, the boy, reaching man's estate, read in its torn pages +ample details concerning a Dafi'nah (hoard) of great value. He +was directed, by the manuscript, to a certain spot upon the +Mukattam range, immediately behind the Cairene citadel, where the +removal of a few stones would disclose a choked shaft: the latter +would descend to a tunnel, full of rubbish, and one of the many +sidings would open upon the golden chamber. The permission of +Government was secured, the workmen began, and the directions +proved true--"barring" the treasure, towards which progress was +still being made. Such was the legend of Cairo, as recounted to +me by my good friend, Yacoub Artin Bey; I can only add to it, +Allaho A'alam!--Allah is all-knowing! + +The sole cause of delay in beginning exploration was the want of +money; and this, of course, even the Prince Minister of Finance +could not coin. Egypt, the fertile, the wealthy, the progressive, +was, indeed, at the time all but insolvent. At the suggestion of +foreigners, "profitable investments," which yielded literally +nothing, had been freely made for many a year, and the sole +results were money difficulties and debt. The European financiers +had managed admirably for their shareholders; but, having assumed +the annual national income at a maximum, instead of a minimum, +they had brought the goose of the golden eggs to the very verge +of death. The actionnaires were to receive, with a punctuality +hardly possible in the East, the usurious interest of six per +cent., not including one per cent. for sinking fund. Meanwhile, +the officers and officials, military, naval, and civil, had been +in arrears of salary for seven to fifteen months; and even the +Jews refused to cash at any price their pay certificates. + +Nothing could be more unwise or unjust than the exactions of the +creditors. Men must live; if not paid, they perforce pay +themselves; and thus, of every hundred piastres, hardly thirty +find their way into the treasury. Ten times worse was the +condition of the miserable Felláhín, who were selling for three +or four napoleons the bullocks worth fifteen per head. Thus they +would tide over the present year; but a worse than Indian famine +was threatened for the following. And the "Bakkál," at once petty +trader and money-lender, whose interest and compound interest +here amount, as in Bombay, to hundreds per cent., would complete +the ruin which the "low Nile" and the Christian creditor had +begun. + +A temporary reduction of interest to three per cent., with one +per cent of amortization, should content the greedy shareholder, +who seeks to combine high profits with perfect security. During +November, 1877, there were five M.P.'s at Shepheard's; and all +cried shame upon the financial condition of the country. Sir +George Campbell opened the little game. In his "Inside View of +Egypt" (Fortnightly Review, Dec., 1877) he drew a graphic picture +of the abnormal state of poor Egypt; he expressed the sensible +opinion that, in the settlement, the claims of the bond-holders +have been too exclusively considered, and he concluded that no +more payments of debt-interest should be made until official +arrears are discharged. + +At last the Phare d'Alexandrie (November 29, 1877), doubtless +under official inspiration, put forth the following article, +greatly to the satisfaction of the unfortunate employés:-- + +"Si nos renseignements particuliers sont exacts, le comité des +finances vient de prendre une excellente décision. Elle consiste +en ce que, aussitôt l'argent pour le paiement du prochain coupon, +préparé, le ministe're, avant tout autre, procédera au paiement +des appointements arriérés des employés. + +"Nous apprenons, on outre, que S. A. le ministre des finances, +même, a déclaré, molu proprio, que jusqu'au complet paiement des +arriérés dûs aux employés, et dans le cas oú il se présenterait +une dépense de grande importance, prévue même par le budget, de +ne pas en ordonner le paiement sans, au préalable, le sommettre à +l'adhésion du comité. + +"Nous applaudissons de toutes nos forces à cette bonne nouvelle +d'abord, parcequ'elle affirme une fois de plus la scrupuleuse +exactitude qu'on apporte au paiement des coupons, ensuite elle +prouve le vif intérèt qu' inspire au gouvernement la situation de +ses nombreux employés, enfin elle nous fait espérer qu'après +avoir songé à eux, on s'occupera aussi à payer les autres sommes +portées et pre'vues au budget de l'année." + +Accordingly, on December 2nd, the Prince Minister of Finance took +heart of grace, and distributed among the officials one month's +pay, with a promise that all arrears should presently be made +good. On the same day his Highness issued to the Expedition 2000 +napoleons, in addition to the 620 already expended upon +instruments and provisions. This was the more liberal, as I had +calculated the total at 1500: the more, however, the better. In +such work it is money versus time, the former saving the latter; +and we were already late in the year--it had been proposed to +start on November 15th, and we had lost three precious weeks of +fine autumnal weather. The stores were equally abundant: I wanted +one forge, and received three. + +Of course, many details had been forgotten; e.g., a farrier and +change of mule-irons, a tinsmith and tinning tools, a +sulphur-still, boots for the soldiers and the quarrymen, small +shot for specimens, and so forth. I had carried out my idea of a +Dragoman with two servants; and the result had been a model +failure, especially in the most important department. The true +"Desert cook" is a man sui generis; he would utterly fail at the +Criterion, and even at Shepheard's; but in the wilderness he will +serve coffee within fifteen minutes, and dish the best of dinners +within the hour after the halt. + +Mr. Clarke and Lieutenant Amir worked with a will; and they were +ably seconded by Colonel Ali Bey Robi and Lieutenant-Colonel (of +the Staff) Mohammed Bey Báligh. But the finishing touch to such +preparations must be done by the master hand; and my unhappy +visit to Karlsbad rendered that impossible. The stores and +provisions were supplied by MM. Voltéra Brothers, of Cairo: I +cannot say too much in their praise; and the packing was as good +as the material. M. Gross, of Shepheard's, was good enough to let +me have a barrel of claret; which improved every week by +travelling, and which cost only a franc a bottle: it began as a +bon ordinaire, and the little that returned to Cairo ranked with +a quasi-grand vin, at least as good as the four-shilling Medoc. +Finally, Dr. Lowe, of Cairo, kindly prepared for us a medicine +chest, containing about £10 worth of the usual drugs and +appliances--calomel, tartar emetic, and laudanum; blister, +plaster, and simple ointment.[EN#14] + +A special train was made ready for Thursday, December 6th; and, +at ten a.m., after taking leave of their Highnesses, who +courteously wished me good luck and God-speed, the Expedition +found itself under weigh. We were accompanied to the station by +many kind friends: my excellent kinsman Lord Francis, and Lady F. +Conyngham, Yacoub Artin Bey, General Stone, and MM. George, +Garwood, Girard, and Guillemine. + +The change from the damp air of Cairo to the drought of the +Desert was magical: light ailments and heavy cares seemed to fall +off like rags and tatters. We halted at Zagázig, remarking that +this young focus of railway traffic has become the eastern key of +Lower Egypt, as Benhá is to the western delta; and prophesying +that some day, not far distant, will see the glories of Bubastis +revived. Here we picked up my old friend Haji Wali, whom age--he +declares that he was born in the month Mízán of 1797--had made +only a little fatter and greedier. We gave a wide berth to the +future Alexandria, Ismailíyyah, whose splendid climate has been +temporarily spoilt by the sweet-water canal of the same name. The +soil became literally sopped; and hence the intermittent fevers +which have lately assailed it. A similar disregard for drainage +has ingeniously managed to convert into pest-houses Simla and +other Himalayan sanitaria. + +The day ended with running the train into the Suez Docks, so as +to embark all our impediments on the next morning; and I fondly +expected Saturday to see us sail. But the weather-wise had been +true in their forecasts. Friday opened with howling, screaming +gusts of southerly wind; and, during the night we were treated to +a fierce display of storm,--thunder and lightning, and rain. The +gale caused one collision on the Canal, and twenty-five steamers +were delayed near the Bitter Lake; it broke down the railway and +sanded it up for miles, and it levelled fifty English and forty +Egyptian telegraph-posts--an ungentle hint to prefer the +telephone. Saturday, the beginning of winter, opened with a cold +raw souther and a surging sea, which washed over the Dock-piers; +in such weather it was impossible to embark ten mules without +horse-boxes. On Sunday the waves ran high, but the gale fell +about sunset to a dead calm; as usual in the Gulf, the breakers +and white horses at once disappeared; and the slaty surface, +fringed with dirty yellow, immediately reassumed its robes of +purple and turquoise blue. The ill wind, however, had blown us +some good by deluging with long-hoped-for rain the now barren +mountains of Midian. + +This "Fortuna," according to the people, sets in with the fourth +Coptic month, Kayhak,[EN#15] which begins the first Arba'ín +("Forty-day period"); and the fourth day is known as the Imtizáj +el-Faslayn, or "Mixture of the two Seasons"--autumn and winter. +The storm is expected to blow three days from the Azyab +(south-east) or from the Shirs (south-west). The qualities of the +several winds are described in the following distich:-- + + "Mirísi Shaytán, wa Gharbi Wazírhu; + Tiyáb Sultán, wa Sharki Nazírhu." + + "The south-wester's a Satan, and the wester's his minister; + The norther's a Sultan, and the easter's his man." + +On the other hand, fair weather was predicted after the first +quarter of the moon (December 12th), according to the saying of +the Arab sailor:-- + + "When the moon sleeps, the seaman may sleep; + When the moon stands, the seaman must stand." + +The "sleeping" moon--náim or rákid, also called Yemáni--is that +of the first quarter, which we mark concave to the left; the +"standing" moon is that of the last. + +Our stay at Suez was saddened by the sudden death of Marius +Isnard, who had acted cook to the first Khedivial Expedition. The +poor lad, aged only eighteen, had met us at the Suez station, +delighted with the prospect of another journey; he had neglected +his health; and, after a suppression of two days, which he madly +concealed, gangrene set in, and he died a painful death at the +hospital during the night preceding our departure. + +On December 10th we ran down from Suez Quay in the Bird of the +Sea (Tayr el-Bahr), the harbour mouche, or little steam-launch, +accompanied by the Governor, Sa'íd Bey, who has not yet been made +a Pasha; by Mr. Consul West; by the genial Ra'íf Bey, Wakíl +el-Komandaníyyah or acting commodore of the station; by Mr. +Willoughby Faulkner, my host at Suez; by the Messieurs Levick, +and by other friends. In the highest spirits we boarded our +"gun-carriage," the aviso Mukhbir (Captain Mohammed Siráj); and, +after many mutual good wishes, we left the New Docks at 6.10 p.m. + +Nothing could be more promising than the weather, a young moon +mirrored in a sea smooth as oil. The "Giver of Good News" +(El-Mukhbir), however, for once failed in her mission. She had +lately conducted herself well upon a trial trip round the Zenobia +lightship ("Newport Rock").[EN#16] But the two Arab firemen who +acted engineers, worn-out grey-beards that hated the idea of four +months on the barbarous Arabian shore, had choked the tubes with +wastage, and had filled the single boiler, taking care to plug +up, instead of opening, the relief-pipe. The consequence was that +the engines sweated at every pore; steam instead of water +streamed from the sides; and the chimney discharged, besides +smoke, a heavy shower of rain. The engine (John Jameson, +engineer, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1866), a good article, in prime +condition as far as a literally rotten boiler would allow, +presently revenged itself by splitting the air-pipe of the +condenser from top to bottom; and after two useless halts the +captain reported to me that we must return to Suez. What a +beginning! The fracture somewhat relieved the machinery; we did +better work after than before the accident, but we were ignobly +towed into dock by the ship's boats. + +A telegram with a procès-verbal was at once sent off to the +Prince; Sa'íd Bey and Ra'íf Bey hastened to our aid, and Mr. +Williams, superintending engineer of the Khedivíyyah line, with +the whole of his staff, stripped and set to work at the peccant +tubes and air-pump. They commenced with extinguishing a serious +fire which burst from the waste-room--by no means pleasant when +close to kegs of blasting-powder carefully sewn up in canvas. +They laboured with a will, and before sunset Mr. Williams +informed us that he would guarantee the engines for eight days, +when we were starting on a dangerous cruise for four months. He +also supplied us with an Egyptian boiler-maker and with eleven +instead of sixty new tubes: we lost forty-two of the old ones +between Suez and El-Muwaylah. Before sunset we made a trial trip, +the wretched old kettle acting tant bien que mal; we returned to +re-embark the soldiers and the mules, and we set out for the +second time at 5.30 p.m. + +The Mukhbir, 130 feet long, 380 tons, and 80 to go horse-power, +under charge of the English or rather Scotch engineer, Mr. David +Duguid, who had taken the place of the two Arab firemen, began +with 7 1/2 knots an hour, 68 revolutions per minute, and a +pressure of 9 lbs. to the square inch. The condenser-vacuum was +26 inches (30 being complete)--13 lbs. Next morning the rate +declined to six miles in consequence of the boiler leaking, and +matters became steadily worse. As a French writer says of the +genre humain, we were placed, not entre le bien et le mal, but +entre le mal et le pire. After sundry narrow escapes in the Gulf +of 'Akabah, we were saved, as will be seen, by a manner of +miracles. Briefly, the Mukhbir caused us much risk, heartburn, +and loss of time. + +Seven a.m. (December 11th) found us crossing the Birkat +Fara'ún--Pharaoh's Gulf--some sixty miles from the great port. +Its horrors to native craft I have already described in my +"Pilgrimage." Between this point and Ras Za'faránah, higher up, +the wind seems to split: a strong southerly gale will be blowing, +whilst a norther of equal pressure prevails at the Gulf-head, and +vice versâ. Suez, indeed, appears to be, in more ways than one, a +hydrographical puzzle. When it is low water in and near the +harbour, the flow is high between the Straits of Jobal and the +Daedalus Light; and the ebb tide runs out about two points across +the narrows, whilst the flood runs in on a line parallel with it. +Finally, when we returned, hardly making headway against an angry +norther, Suez, enjoying the "sweet south," was congratulating the +voyagers upon their weather. + +The loss of a good working day soon made itself felt. The north +wind rose, causing the lively Mukhbir, whose ballast, by-the-by, +was all on deck, to waddle dangerously for the poor mules; and it +was agreed, nem. con., to put into Tor harbour. We found +ourselves at ten a.m. (December 12th) within the natural pier of +coralline, and we were not alone in our misfortune; an English +steamer making Suez was our companion. This place has superseded +El Wijh as the chief quarantine station for the return +pilgrimage; and I cannot sufficiently condemn the change.[EN#17] +The day lagged slowly, as we + + "Walked in grief by the merge of the many-voiced + sounding sea." + +But we looked in vain for our "tender," a Sambúk of fifty tons, +El-Musahhil (Rais Ramazan), which Prince Husayn had thoughtfully +sent with us as post-boat. She disappeared on the evening of the +11th, and she did not make act of presence until the 16th, when +her master was at once imprisoned in the fort of El-Muwaylah. +Moreover, the owner, Mohammed Bukhayt, of Suez, who had received +£90 as advance for three months--others said £60 for +four--provided her with only a few days' provisions, leaving us +to ration his crew. + +A wintry norther in these latitudes is not easily got rid of. +According to the people, here, as in the 'Akabah Gulf, it lasts +three days, and dies after a quiet noon; whereas on the 13th, +when we expected an escape, it rose angrily at one p.m. I was +much cheered by the pleasant news of M. Bianchi, the local +Deputato di Sanità, who assured us that a pernicieuse was raging +at El-Muwaylah, and that it was certain death to pass one night +in the fort. The only fire that emitted all this smoke was the +fact that during the date-harvest of North-Western Arabia, July +and August, agues are common; and that at all seasons the well +water is not "honest," and is supposed to breed trifling chills. +In the Prairies of the Far West I heard of a man who rode some +hundreds of miles to deliver himself of a lie. Nothing like +solitude and the Desert for freshening the fancy. Another +individual who was much exercised by our journey was Khwájeh +Konstantin, a Syrian-Greek trader, son of the old agent of the +convent, whose blue goggles and comparatively tight pantaloons +denoted a certain varnish and veneer. It is his practice to visit +El-Muwaylah once every six months; when he takes, in exchange for +cheap tobacco, second-hand clothes, and poor cloth, the coral, +the pearls fished for in April, the gold dust, the finds of coin, +and whatever else will bring money. Such is the course and custom +of these small monopolists, who, at "Raitha" and elsewhere, much +dislike to see quiet things moved. + +At length, after a weary day of far niente, when even le sommeil +se faisait prier, we "hardened our hearts," and at nine p.m., as +the gale seemed to slumber, we stood southwards. The Mukhbir +rolled painfully off Ras Mohammed, which obliged us with its own +peculiar gusts; and the 'Akabah Gulf, as usual, acted wind-sail. +A long détour was necessary in order to spare the mules, which, +however, are much less liable to injury, under such +circumstances, than horses, having a knack of learning to use +sea-legs. + +The night was atrocious; so was the next morning; but about noon +we were cheered by the sight of the glorious mountain-walls of +well-remembered Midian, which stood out of the clear blue sky in +passing grandeur of outline, in exceeding splendid dour of +colouring, and in marvellous sharpness of detail. Once more the +"power of the hills" was on us. + +Three p.m. had struck before we found ourselves in broken water +off the fort of El-Muwaylah, where our captain cast a single +anchor, and where we had our first escape from drifting upon the +razor-like edges of the coralline reefs. In fact, everything +looked so menacing, with surging sea around and sable +storm-clouds to westward, that I resolved upon revisiting our old +haunt, the safe and dock-like Sharm Yáhárr. Here we entered +without accident; and were presently greeted by the Sayyid 'Abd +el-Rahím, our former Káfilah-báshi, who had ridden from +El-Muwaylah to receive us. The news was good: a truce of one +month had been concluded between the Huwaytát and the Ma'ázah, +probably for the better plundering of the pilgrims. This year the +latter were many: the "Wakfah," or standing upon Mount Ararat, +fell upon a Friday; consequently it was a Hajj el-Akbar, or +"Greater Pilgrimage," very crowded and very dangerous, in more +ways than one. + +I had given a free passage to one Sulaymán Aftáhi, who declared +himself to be of the Beni 'Ukbah, when he was a Huwayti of the +Jeráfín clan. After securing a free passage and provision gratis, +when the ship anchored, he at once took French leave. On return I +committed him to the tender mercies of the Governor, Sa'íd Bey. +The soldiers, the quarry-men, and the mules were landed, and the +happy end of the first stage brought with it a feeling of intense +relief, like that of returning to Alexandria. Hitherto everything +had gone wrong: the delays and difficulties at Cairo; at Suez, +the death of poor Marius Isnard and the furious storm; the +break-down of the engine; the fire in the wasteroom; and, lastly, +the rough and threatening gale between the harbour and +El-Muwaylah. What did the Wise King mean by "better is the end of +a thing than the beginning thereof"? I only hope that it may be +applicable to the present case. In the presence of our working +ground all evils were incontinently forgotten; and, after the +unusual dankness of the Egyptian capital, and the blustering +winds of the Gulf and the sea, the soft and delicate air of the +Midian shore acted like a cordial. For the first time after +leaving Alexandria, I felt justified in taper de l'oeil with the +clearest of consciences. + +The preliminary stage ended with disembarking at the Fort, +El-Muwaylah, all our stores and properties, including sundry +cases of cartridges and five hundred pounds of pebble-powder, +which had been stored immediately under the main cabin and its +eternal cigarettes and allumettes. The implements, as well as the +provisions, were made over to the charge of an old Albanian, one +Rajab Aghá, who at first acted as our magazine-man for a +consideration of two napoleons per month, in advance if possible. +This done, the Mukhbir returned into the dock Yáhárr, in order to +patch up her kettle, which seemed to grow worse under every +improvement. We accompanied her, after ordering a hundred camels +to be collected; well knowing that as this was the Bairam, 'Id, +or "Greater Festival," nothing whatever would be done during its +three days' duration. + +The respite was not unwelcome to me; it seemed to offer an +opportunity for recovering strength. At Cairo I had taken the +advice of a learned friend (if not an "Apostle of Temperance," at +any rate sorely afflicted with the temperance idea), who, by +threats of confirmed gout and lumbago, fatty degeneration of the +heart and liver, ending in the possible rupture of some valve, +had persuaded me that man should live upon a pint of claret per +diem. How dangerous is the clever brain with a monomania in it! +According to him, a glass of sherry before dinner was a poison, +whereas half the world, especially the Eastern half, prefers its +potations preprandially; a quarter of the liquor suffices, and +both appetite and digestion are held to be improved by it. The +result of "turning over a new leaf," in the shape of a phial of +thin "Gladstone," was a lumbago which lasted me a long month, and +which disappeared only after a liberal adhibition of "diffusible +stimulants." + +It required no small faith in one's good star to set out for a +six weeks' work in the Desert under such conditions. My +consolation, however, was contained in the lines attributed to +half a dozen who wrote good English:-- + + "He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch, + To gain or lose it all." + +This time, however, Mind was tranquil, whatever Matter might +suffer. As the novelist says, "Lighting upon a grain of gold or +silver betokens that a mine of the precious metal must be in the +neighbourhood." It had been otherwise with my first Expedition: a +forlorn hope, a miracle of moral audacity; the heaviest of +responsibilities incurred upon the slightest of justifications, +upon the pinch of sand which a tricky and greedy old man might +readily have salted. It reminds me of a certain "Philip sober," +who in the morning fainted at the sight of the precipice which he +had scaled when "Philip drunk." I look back with amazement upon +No. I. + +NOTE. + +The second Khedivial Expedition to Midian was composed of the +following officers and men. The European staff numbered four, not +including the commander, viz.:-- + +M. George Marie, of the État-Major, Egyptian army, an engineer +converted into a geologist and mineralogist; he was under the +orders of his Highness Prince Husayn Pasha. + +Mr. J. Charles J. Clarke, telegraphic engineer, ranking as major +in Egypt, commissariat officer. + +M. Émile Lacaze, of Cairo, artist and photographer. + +M. Jean Philipin, blacksmith. + +Besides these, Mr. David Duguid,--not related to "Hafed, Prince +of Persia,"--chief engineer of the gunboat Mukhbir (Captain +Mohammed Síráj), accompanied us part of the way on temporary +leave, and kindly assisted me in observing meteorology and in +making collections. + +The Egyptian commissioned officers numbered six, viz.:-- + +Ahmed Kaptán Musallam, commander in the navy, and ranking as +Sakulághási (major). He had been first officer in the Sinnár, and +he was sent to make astronomical observations; but he proved to +be a confirmed invalid. + +Of the Arkán-Harb (Staff) were:-- + +Lieutenant Amir Rushdi, who had accompanied me before. + +Lieutenant Yusuf Taufik. + +Lieutenant Darwaysh Ukkáb, of the Piyédah or infantry. He was +also a great sufferer on a small scale. + +Sub-Lieutenant Mohammed Farahát, of the Muhandism (Engineers), in +charge of the Laggámgiyyah or Haggárah (blasters and quarrymen). +He ended by deserting his duty on arrival at Cairo. + +The non-commissioned officers, all Egyptians, amounted to +seven:-- + +Bulúk-amín (writer) Mohammed Sharkáwi (infantry). + +Chawush (serjeant) 'Atwah El-Ashírí (infantry). + +Chawush (serjeant) Mabrúk Awadh (quarryman); deserted at Cairo. + +Onbáshi (corporal) Higázi Ammár (Staff). + +Onbáshi (corporal) Mohammed Sulaymán (infantry) : also our +barber, and a good man. + +Onbáshi (corporal) Mahmu'd Abd el-Rahmán (infantry): I had to put +him in irons. + +Onbáshi (corporal) Ibráhím Hedíb. + +There were three Nafar (privates) of the Staff:-- + +'Ali 'Brahim Ma'danji, generally known as Ali Marie, from the +officer whom he served; a hard-working man, over-devoted to his +master. I recommended him for promotion. + +Ramazán Ramazán. + +Hasan Mohammed. He proved useful, as he brought with him all the +necessary tools for mending saddles. + +The twenty-five privates of infantry were emancipated negroes, a +few being from the Súdán; composed of every tribe, it was a +curious mixture, good, bad, and indifferent. Some were slaves who +had been given, in free gift, by their owners to the Mírí +(Government), and men never part with a good "chattel," except +for a sufficient cause. As will be seen, many of the names are +"fancy":-- + +Sayyid Ahmed El-Tawíl. + +Yúsuf Faragallah (Faraj-Allah). + +Farag 'Ali. + +Sa'íd Hasan Básha'. His owner was a Fellah called Hasan +Báshá--peasants often give this title as a name to a boy who is +born under fortunate circumstances. Sa'íd was a fat, jolly +fellow, a Sidi Bháí from the Mrímá, or mainland of Zanzibar, who +had wholly forgotten his Kisawáhílí. Corporal Mahmúd was punished +for keeping him eighteen hours on guard. He was one of the very +few to whom I gave "bakhshísh" after returning to Cairo. + +Sa'íd El-Sa'id. + +Mirsal Ginaydi. + +Mabrúk Rizk. + +Abdullah Mohammed Zaghúl. + +Sa'íd Katab. + +Faragallah Sharaf el-Dín. + +Farag Sálih. + +Surúr Mustafá. + +Salámat el-Nahhás; an excellent and intelligent man, who was +attached to the service of M. Lacaze. He distinguished himself by +picking up antiques, until his weakness, the Dá el-Faranj, found +him out. + +Farag Ahmed Bura'í. + +Farag Mohammed Amín. + +Mirgán Sulaymán. + +'Abd el-Maulá. + +Mohammedayn. + +Mabrúk Hasan Osmán. + +Khayr Ramazán, a large and sturdy negro, from Dár-Wadái, with +long cuts down both sides of his face; a hard-working and +intelligent soldier, who naturally took command of his fellows. I +made him an acting corporal, and on return recommended him for +promotion. + +Fadl 'Allah 'Ali el-Kholi, a Shillúk, one of the worst tribes of +the Upper Nile, whom it is forbidden to enlist. He began by +refusing to obey an order, he pushed an officer out of his way, +and he struck an Arab Shaykh. Consequently, he passed the greater +part of the time in durance vile at the fort of El-Muwaylah. + +Mirgán Yúsuf; flogged for insolence to his officer, January 19. + +Abdullah Ibráhím. + +Ibráhím Kattáb. + +Mabrúk Mansúr Agwah. + +The Boruji (bugler) Mersál Abú Dunyá, a "character" who retires +for practice to lonely hills and vales. His progress is not equal +to his zeal and ambition. + +The thirty quarrymen were all Egyptians, and it would be hard to +find a poorer lot; they never worked, save under compulsion, and +they stole whatever they could. I examined their packs during the +homeward cruise, and found that many of them had secreted +Government gunpowder:-- + + Ahmed Ashiri. + + Ahmed Badr. + + Ahmed el-Wakíl. + + Omar Sharkáwi. + +5. Mustafá Husayn. + + Ismaíl el-Wa'í. + + ‘Ali Zalat. + + Ali 'Abd el-Rahmán. + + Mustafá Sálim. + +10. 'Alí Bedawi. + + Hanná Bishá'i. + + Hamed Hanafi. + + Hamed Wahlah. + + Mustafá Sa'dáni (died of fever at El-Muwaylah). + +15. Mahmu'd Gum'ah., + + Abú Zayd Hassá'nah. + + Ismaíl Dusúki. + + Sukk el-Fakíh. + + Isá el-Dimíkí. + +20. 'Ali Atwadh. + + Mohammed Sulaymán. + + Ibra'hi'm 'Ali Mohammed. + + 'Ali Isá. + + Mohammed 'Abd el-Záhir. + +25. 'Ali Wahish. + + Abbási Mansúr (a tinman by trade, but without tools). + + Gálút Ali. + + Usmán Ámir. + + Alewá Ahmed. + +30. Mohammed Ajízah. + +And lastly (31), the carpenter, 'Ali Sulaymán; a "knowing +dodger," who brought with him a little stock-in-trade of tobacco, +cigarette-paper, and similar comforts. + +There were five soldiers, or rather matchlock-men, engaged from +the fort-garrison, El-Muwaylah:-- + +Husayn Bayrakdár; a man who has travelled, and has become too +clever by half. He was equally remarkable as a liar and as a +cook. + +Bukháyt Ahmed, generally known as El-Ahmar from his red coat; a +Dinká slave, some sixty years old, and looking forty-five. He was +still a savage, never sleeping save in the open air. + +Bukhayt Mohammed, popularly termed El-Aswad; a Foráwi +(Dár-Forian) and a good man. He was called "The Shadow of the +Bey." + +Ahmed Sálih; a stout fellow, and the worst of guides. + +Sálim Yúsuf. + +The head of the caravan was the Sayyid' Abd el-Rahím, accountant +at the Fort el-Muwaylah, of whom I have spoken before. He was +subsequently recommended by me to his Highness for the post of +Názir or commandant. + +Haji Wali, my old Cairene friend, who lost no time in bolting. + +There were also generally three Bedawi Shaykhs, who, by virtue of +their office, received each one dollar (twenty piastres) per +diem. + +The servants and camp followers were:-- + +Anton Dimitriadis, the dragoman; a Bakkál or small shopkeeper at +Zagázig, and a tenant of Haji Wali. + +Giorgi (Jorgos) Sifenus, the cook, whose main disadvantage was +his extreme and ultra-Greek uncleanliness. + +Petro Giorgiadis, of Zante; a poor devil who has evidently been a +waiter in some small Greek café which supplies a cup per hour. + +These three men were a great mistake; but, as has been said, poor +health at Cairo prevented my looking into details. + +Yúsuf el-Fazi, Dumánji or quartermaster from the Mukhbir, acting +servant to Captain Ahmed, and a thoroughly good man. He was also +recommended for promotion. + +Ahmed, the Saís or mule-groom; another pauvre diable, rascally +withal, who was flogged for selling the mules' barley to the +Bedawin. He was assisted by the Corporal (and barber) Mohammed +Sulaymán and by five quarrymen. + +Husayn Ganínah; a one-eyed little Felláh, fourteen years old, +looking ten, and knowing all that a man of fifty knows. He was +body-servant to Lieutenant Yusuf. + +As usual, the caravan was accompanied by a suttler from +El-Muwaylah, one Hamad, who sold tobacco, coffee, clarified +butter, and so forth. He was chaffed with the saying, Hamad fi' +bayt ak--"Thy house is a pauper." + +Finally, there were two dogs: Juno, a Clumber spaniel, young and +inexperienced; Páikí, a pariah, also a pup. + +Besides these two permanents, various "casuals," the dog 'Brahim, +etc., attached themselves to our camp. + + + + + + Chapter II. +The Start--from El-muwaylah to the "White Mountain" and 'Aynúah. + + + +I landed at El-Muwaylah, described in my last volume,[EN#18] on +the auspicious Wednesday, December 19, 1877, under a salute from +the gunboat Mukhbir, which the fort answered with a rattle and a +patter of musketry. All the notables received us, in line drawn +up on the shore, close to our camp. To the left stood the +civilians in tulip-coloured garb; next were the garrison, a dozen +Básh-Buzuks en bourgeois, and mostly armed with matchlocks; then +came out quarrymen in uniform, but without weapons; and, lastly, +the escort (twenty-five men) held the place of honour on the +right. The latter gave me a loud "Hip! hip! hurrah!" as I passed. +The tents, a total of twenty, including two four-polers for our +mess and for the stores, with several large canvas sheds--páls, +the Anglo-Indian calls them--gleamed white against the dark-green +fronds of the date-grove; and the magnificent background of the +scene was the "Dibbagh" block of the Tiha'mah, or lowland +mountains. + +The usual "palaver" at once took place; during which everything +was "sweet as honey." After this pleasant prelude came the normal +difficulties and disagreeables--it had been reported that I was +the happy possessor of £22,000 mostly to be spent at El-MuwayIah. +The unsettled Arabs plunder and slay; the settled Arabs slander +and cheat. + +A whole day was spent in inspecting the soldiers and mules; in +despatching a dromedary-post to Suez with news of our +unexpectedly safe arrival, and in conciliating the claims of +rival Bedawin. His Highness the Viceroy had honoured with an +order to serve us Hasan ibn Salim, Shaykh of the Beni 'Ukbah, a +small tribe which will be noticed in a future page. Last spring +these men had carried part of our caravan to 'Aynúnah; and they +having no important blood-feuds, I had preferred to employ them. +But 'Abd el-Nabi, of the Tagayát-Huwaytát clan, had been spoilt +by over-kindness during my reconnaissance of 1877; besides, I had +given him a bowie-knife without taking a penny in exchange. In my +first volume he appears as a noble savage, with a mixture of the +gentleman; here he becomes a mere Fellah-Bedawi. + +The claimants met with the usual ceremony; right hands placed on +the opposite left breasts--this is not done when there is bad +blood--foreheads touching, and the word of peace, "Salám," +ceremoniously ejaculated by both mouths. Then came the screaming +voices, the high words, and the gestures, which looked as if the +Kurbáj ("whip") were being administered. The Huwayti stubbornly +refused to march with the other tribe, whom, moreover, he grossly +insulted: he professed perfect readiness to carry me and mine +gratis, the while driving the hardest bargain; he spoke of "our +land," when the country belongs to the Khediv; he openly denied +his allegiance; he was convicted of saying, "If these Christians +find gold, there will be much trouble (fitneh) to us Moslems;" +and at a subsequent time he went so far as to abuse an officer. I +had "Shaykh'd" him (Shayyakht-uh), that is, promoted him in rank, +said the Sayyid 'Abd el-Rahím; and the honour had completely +changed his manners. "Nasaggharhu" (We will "small" him), was my +reply. The only remedy, in fact, was to undo what had been done; +to cut down, as Easterns say, the tree which I had planted. So he +was solemnly and conspicuously disrated; the fee, one dollar per +diem, allotted as travelling and escort-allowance to the chiefs, +was publicly taken from him, and he at once subsided into an +ignoble Walad ("lad"), under the lead of his uncle, Shaykh +'Aláyan ibn Rabí. The latter is a man of substance, who can +collect at least two thousand camels. Though much given to +sulking, on the whole, he behaved so well that, the Expedition +ended, I recommended him to his Highness the Viceroy for +appointment to the chieftainship of his tribe, and the usual +yearly subsidy. With him was associated his cousin, Shaykh +Furayj, an excellent man, of whom I shall have much to say; and +thus we had to fee three Bedawi chiefs, including Hasan. The +latter was a notable intriguer and mischief-maker, ever breeding +bad blood; and his termper was rather violent than sullen. When +insulted by a soldier, he would rush off for his gun, +ostentatiously light the match, walk about for an hour or two +threatening to "shyute," and then apparently forget the whole +matter. + +All wanted to let their camels by the day, whereas the custom of +Arabia is to bargain for the march. Thus, the pilgrims pay one +dollar per stage of twelve hours; and the post-dromedary demands +the same sum, besides subsistence-money and "bakhshi'sh." But our +long and frequent halts rendered this proceeding unfair to the +Bedawin. I began by offering seven piastres tariff, and ended by +agreeing to pay five per diem while in camp, and ten when on the +road.[EN#19] Of course, it was too much; but our supply of money +was ample, and the Viceroy had desired me to be liberal. In the +Nile valley, where the price of a camel is some £20, the average +daily hire would be one dollar: on the other hand, the animal +carries, during short marches, 700 lbs. The American officers in +Upper Egypt reduced to 300 lbs. the 500 lbs. heaped on by the +Súdáni merchants. In India we consider 400 lbs. a fair load; and +the Midianite objects to anything beyond 200 lbs. + +I have no intention of troubling the reader with a detailed +account of our three first stages from El-Muwaylah to the Jebel +el-Abyaz, or White Mountain.[EN#20] On December 21st, leaving +camp with the most disorderly of caravans--106 camels instead of +80, dromedaries not included--we marched to the mouth of the Wady +Tiryam, where we arrived before our luggage and provisions, +lacking even "Adam's ale." The Shaykhs took all the water which +could be found in the palm-boothies near the shore, and drank +coffee behind a bush. This sufficed to give me the measure of +these "wall-jumpers." + +Early next morning I set the quarrymen to work, with pick and +basket, at the north-western angle of the old fort. The latter +shows above ground only the normal skeleton-tracery of coralline +rock, crowning the gentle sand-swell, which defines the lip and +jaw of the Wady; and defending the townlet built on the northern +slope and plain. The dimensions of the work are fifty-five mètres +each way. The curtains, except the western, where stood the Báb +el-Bahr ("Sea gate"), were supported by one central as well as by +angular bastions; the northern face had a cant of 32 degrees east +(mag.); and the northwestern tower was distant from the sea +seventy-two me'tres, whereas the south-western numbered only +sixty. The spade showed a substratum of thick old wall, untrimmed +granite, and other hard materials. Further down were various +shells, especially bénitiers ( Tridacna gigantea) the harp (here +called "Sirinbáz"), and the pearl-oyster; sheep-bones and palm +charcoal; pottery admirably "cooked," as the Bedawin remarked; +and glass of surprising thinness, iridized by damp to rainbow +hues. This, possibly the remains of lachrymatories, was very +different from the modern bottle-green, which resembles the old +Roman. Lastly, appeared a ring-bezel of lapis lazuli; +unfortunately the "royal gem," of Epiphanus was without +inscription. + +Whilst we were digging, the two staff-officers rode to the +date-groves of Wady Tiryam, and made a plan of the ancient +defences--the results of the first Khedivial Expedition had +either not been deposited at, or had been lost in, the Staff +bureau, Cairo. They found that the late torrents had filled up +the sand pits acting as wells; and the people assured them that +the Fiumara had ceased to show perennial water only about five or +six years ago. + +The second march was disorderly as the first: it reminded me of +driving a train of unbroken mules over the Prairies; the men were +as wild and unmanageable as their beasts. It was every one's +object to get the maximum of money for the minimum of work. The +escort took especial care to see that all their belongings were +loaded before ours were touched. Each load was felt, and each box +was hand-weighed before being accepted: the heaviest, rejected by +the rich, were invariably left to the poorest and the lowest +clansmen with the weakest and leanest of animals. All at first +especially objected to the excellent boxes--a great comfort--made +for the Expedition[EN#21] at the Citadel, Cairo; but they ended +with bestowing their hatred upon the planks, the tables, and the +long tent-poles. As a rule, after the fellows had protested that +their camels were weighted down to the earth, we passed them on +the march comfortably riding--for "the 'Orbán can't walk." And no +wonder. At the halting-place they unbag a little barley and +wheat-meal, make dough, thrust it into the fire, "break bread," +and wash it down with a few drops of dirty water. This copious +refection ends in a thimbleful of thick, black coffee and a pipe. +At home they have milk and Ghí (clarified butter) in plenty +during the season, game at times, and, on extraordinary +occasions, a goat or a sheep, which, however, are usually kept +for buying corn in Egypt. But it is a "caution" to see them feed +alle spalle altrui. + +Nothing shabbier than the pack-saddles; nothing more rotten than +the ropes. As these "Desert ships" must weigh about half the +sturdy animals of Syria and the Egyptian Delta, future +expeditions will, perhaps, do well to march their carriage round +by El-'Akabah. The people declare that the experiment has been +tried, but that the civilized animal sickens and dies in these +barrens; they forget, however, the two pilgrim-caravans. + +At this season the beasts are half-starved. Their "kitchen" is a +meagre ration of bruised beans, and their daily bread consists of +the dry leaves of thorn trees, beaten down by the Makhbat, a +flail-like staff, and caught in a large circle of matting +(El-Khasaf). In Sinai the vegetation fares even worse: the +branches are rudely lopped off to feed the flocks; only "holy +trees" escape this mutilation. With the greatest difficulty we +prevented the Arabs tethering their property all night close to +our tents: either the brutes were cold; or they wanted to browse +or to meet a friend: every movement was punished with a wringing +of the halter, and the result may be imagined. + +We slept that night at Wady Sharmá. Of this ruined town a plan +was made for "The Gold-Mines of Midian," by Lieutenant Amir, who +alone is answerable for its correctness. We afterwards found +layers of ashes, slag, and signs of metal-working to the +north-east of the enceinte, where the furnace probably stood. The +outline measures 1906 metres, not "several kilometres;" and +desultory digging yielded nothing but charcoal, cinders, and +broken pottery. It was not before nine a.m. on the next day that +I could mount my old white, stumbling, starting mule; the delay +being caused by M. Marie's small discovery, which will afterwards +be noticed. We crossed both branches of the Sharmá water; and, +ascending the long sand-slope of the right bank, we again passed +the Bedawi cemetery. I sent Lieutenants Amir and Yusuf to +prospect certain stone-heaps which lay seawards of the graves; +and they found a little heptangular demi-lune, concave to the +north; the curtains varying from a minimum length of ten to a +maximum of eighty me'tres, and the thickness averaging two +metres, seventy-five centimetres. It was possibly intended, like +those above Wady Tiryam, to defend the western approach; and, +superficially viewed, it looks like a line of stones heaped up +over the dead, with that fine bird's-eye view of the valley which +the Bedawi loves for his last sleeping-place. + +Thence we passed through the dry Báb ("sea gap"), cut by a +torrent in the regular line of the coralline cliff, the opening +of the Wady Melláh, off which lay our Sambúk. Marching up the +Wady Maka'dah, our experienced eyes detected many small outcrops +of quartz, formerly unobserved, in the sole and on the banks. The +granite hills, here as throughout Midian, were veined and dyked +with two different classes of plutonic rock. The red and pink are +felsites or fine-grained porphyries; the black and bottle-green +are the coarse-grained varieties, easily disintegrating, and +forming hollows [Illustration with caption: Fortification on the +cliff commanding the right bank of Wady Sharma'.] in the harder +granite. The ride was made charming by the frontage of +picturesque Jebel 'Urnub, with its perpendicular Pinnacles upon +rock-sheets dropping clear a thousand feet; its jutting bluffs; +its three huge flying Buttresses, that seemed to support the +mighty wall-crest; and its many spits and "organs," some capped +with finials that assume the aspect of logan-stones. There was no +want of animal life, and the yellow locusts were abroad; one had +been seized by a little lizard which showed all the violent +muscular action of the crocodile. There were small long-eared +hares, suggesting the leporide; sign of gazelles appeared; and +the Bedawin spoke of wolves and hyenas, foxes and jackals. + +We camped upon the old ground to the southwest of the Jebel +el-Abyaz; and at the halt our troubles forthwith began. The +water, represented to be near, is nowhere nearer than a two +hours' march for camels; and it is mostly derived from +rain-puddles in the great range of mountains which subtends +maritime Midian. But this was our own discovery. The half-Fellah +Bedawin, like the shepherds, their predecessors, in the days of +Abimelech and Jethro, are ever chary of their treasure; the only +object being extra camel-hire. After eating your salt, a rite +whose significance, by-the-by, is wholly ignored throughout +Midian and its neighbourhood, they will administer under your +eyes a silencing nudge to an over-communicative friend. 'The very +children that drive the sheep and goats instinctively deny all +knowledge of the Themáil ("pits") and holes acting as wells. + +At the head of the Wady el-Maka'dah we halted six days (December +24--30); this delay gave us time to correct the misapprehensions +of our flying visit. The height of the Jebel el-Abyaz, whose +colour makes it conspicuous even from the offing when sailing +along the coast, was found to be 350 (not 600) feet above the +plain. The Grand Filon, which a mauvais plaisant of a reviewer +called the "Grand Filou," forms a "nick" near the hill-top, but +does not bifurcate in the interior. The fork is of heavy greenish +porphyritic trap, also probably titaniferous iron, with a trace +of silver,[EN#22] where it meets the quartz and the granite. +Standing upon the "old man" with which we had marked the top, I +counted five several dykes or outcrops to the east (inland), and +one to the west, cutting the prism from north to south; the +superficial matter of these injections showed concentric circles +like ropy lava. The shape of the block is a saddleback, and the +lay is west-east, curving round to the south. The formation is of +the coarse grey granite general throughout the Province, and it +is dyked and sliced by quartz veins of the amorphous type, +crystals being everywhere rare in Midian (?) The filons and +filets, varying in thickness from eight metres to a few lines, +are so numerous that the whole surface appears to be quartz +tarnished by atmospheric corrosion to a dull, pale-grey yellow; +while the fracture, sharp and cutting as glass or obsidian, is +dazzling and milk-white, except where spotted with +pyrites--copper or iron. The neptunian quartz, again, has +everywhere been cut by plutonic injections of porphyritic trap, +veins averaging perhaps two metres, with a north-south strike, +and a dip of 75 degrees (mag.) west. If the capping were removed, +the sub-surface would, doubtless, bear the semblance of a +honeycomb. + +The Jebel el-Abyaz is apparently the centre of the quartzose +outcrop in North Midian (Madyan Proper). We judged that it had +been a little worked by the ancients, from the rents in the reef +that outcrops, like a castle-wall, on the northern and eastern +flanks. There are still traces of roads or paths; while heaps, +strews, and scatters of stone, handbroken and not showing the +natural fracture, whiten like snow the lower slopes of the +western hill base. They contrast curiously with the hard +felspathic stones and the lithographic calcaires bearing the +moss-like impress of metallic dendrites; these occur in many +parts near the seaboard, and we found them in Southern as well as +in Northern Midian. The conspicuous hill is one of four mamelons +thus disposed in bird's-eye view; the dotted line shows the +supposed direction of the lode in the Jibál el-Bayzá, the +collective name. + +On the plain to the north of the Jebel el-Abyaz also, I found +curdles of porphyritic trap, and parallel trap-dykes, cutting the +courses of large-grained grey granite: as many as three outcrops +of the former appeared within fourteen yards. This convinced me +that the whole of the solid square, thirty kilometres (six by +five), where the quartz emerges, is underlaid by veins and +veinlets of the same rock. Moreover, I then suspected, and +afterwards ascertained, that the quartz of the Jibál el-Bayzá, as +the Bedawin call this section, is not a local peculiarity. It +everywhere bursts, not only the plain between the sea and the +coast-range, but the two parallels of mountain which confine it +on the east. In fact, throughout our northern march the Arabs, +understanding that its object was "Marú," the generic name for +quartz,[EN#23] brought us loads of specimens from every +direction. Nothing is easier than to work the purely superficial +part. A few barrels of gunpowder and half a dozen English miners, +with pick and crowbar, suffice. Even our dawdling, feckless +quarrymen easily broke and "spelled" for camel loading some six +tons in one day. + +Our short se'nnight was not wasted; yet I had an uncomfortable +feeling that the complication of the country called for an +exploration of months and not hours. Every day some novelty +appeared. The watercourses of the Gháts or coast-range were +streaked with a heavy, metallic, quartzose black sand which M. +Marie vainly attempted to analyze. We afterwards found it in +almost every Wady, and running north as far as El-'Akabah; +whilst, with few exceptions, all our washings of red earth, +chloritic sand, and bruised stone, yielded it and it only. It is +apparently the produce of granite and syenite, and it abounds in +African Egypt. I was in hopes that tungsten and titaniferous iron +would make it valuable for cutlery as the black sand of New +Zealand. Experiments in the Citadel, Cairo, produced nothing save +magnetic iron with a trace of lead. But according to Colonel +Ross, the learned author of "Pyrology, or Fire Chemistry,"[EN#24] +it is iserine or magnetic ilmenite, titaniferous iron-sand, +containing eighty-eight per cent. of iron (oxides and +sesquioxides), with eleven per cent. of titanic acid. + +The Arabs brought in fine specimens of hematite and of copper ore +from Wady Gharr or Ghurr, six miles to the south of camp. Here +were found two water-pits in a well-defined valley; the nearer +some ten miles south-west of the Jebel el-Abyaz, the other about +two miles further to the north-west; making a total of twelve. +About the latter there was, however, no level ground for tents. A +mile and a half walking almost due north led to a veinlet of +copper 30 metres long by 0.30 thick, with an east-west strike, +and a dip of 45 degrees south. This metal was also found in the +hills to the south. Crystalline pyroxene and crystallized +sulphates of lime apparently abound, while the same is the case +with carbonate of manganese, and other forms of the metal so +common in Western Sinai. Briefly, our engineer came to the +conclusion that we were in the very heart of a mining region. + +We made a general reconnaisance (December 27th) of a place whence +specimens of pavonine quartz had come to hand. Following the Wady +'Ifriyá round the north and east of the White Mountain, we fell +into the Wady Simákh (of "Wild Sumach"), that drains the great +gap between the Pinnacles and the Buttresses of the +'Urnub-Tihámah section. After riding some two miles, we found to +the south-east fragments of dark, iridescent, and metallic +quartz: they emerge from the plain like walls, bearing +north-south, with 36 degrees of westing and a westward dip of 15 +degrees to 20 degrees--exactly the conditions which Australia +seeks, and which produced the huge "Welcome Nugget" of Ballarat. +They crop out of the normal trap-dyked grey granite, and select +specimens show the fine panaché lustre of copper. M. Marie +afterwards took from one of the geodes a pinch of powder weighing +about half a gramme, and cupelled a bright dust-shot bead +weighing not less than two centigrammes. Without further +examination he determined it to be argentiferous, when it was +possibly iron or antimony. On the other hand, the silver +discovered in the Grand Filon by so careful and conscientious an +observer as Gastinel Bey, and the fact that we are here on the +same line of outcrop, and at a horizon three hundred feet lower, +are reassuring. + +This vein, which may be of great length and puissance, I took the +liberty of calling the "Filon Husayn," from the prince who had so +greatly favoured the Expedition. Here we had hit upon the +Negros,[EN#25] or coloured quartzose formations of Mexico, in +which silver appears as a sulphure; and we may expect to find the +Colorado, or argillaceous, that produces the noble metal in the +forms of chlorure, bromure, and iodure. The former appears +everywhere in Midian, but our specimens are all superficial, +taken à ciel ouvert. To ascertain the real value and the extent +of the deposits required exposure of the veins at a horizon far +lower than our means and appliances allowed us to reach. If the +rock prove argentiferous I should hope to strike virgin silver in +the capillary or aborescent shape below. Above it, as on the +summit of the Jebel el-Abyaz, and generally in the "Marú" hills +and hillocks of North Midian, the dull white quartz is +comparatively barren; showing specks of copper; crystals of +pyrites, the "crow-gold" of the old English miner, and dark dots +of various metals which still await analysis. + +Thus, I would divide the metalliferous quartzes of this +North-Midianite region into two chief kinds: those stained green +and light blue, whose chief metallic element is copper, with its +derivatives; and the iridescent Negro, which may shelter the +Colorado. In South Midian the varieties of quartz are +incomparably more numerous, and almost every march shows a new +colour or constitution. + +About the Jebel el-Abyaz, as in many mining countries, water is a +serious difficulty. The principal deposit lies some three miles +east of the camping ground in a Nakb or gorge, El-Asaybah, +offsetting from the great Fiumara, "El-Simákh;" and apparently it +is only a rain-pool. Throughout Midian, I may say, men still +fetch water out of the rock. M. Philipin, whilst pottering about +this place, saw two Beden (ibex) with their young, which suggests +a permanent supply of drink.[EN#26] + +However that may be, Norton's Abyssinian pumps, for which I had +vainly applied at Cairo, would doubtless discover the prime +necessary in the Wadys, many of the latter being still damp and +muddy. Moreover, the crible continue à grilles filtrantes, the +invention of MM. Huet and Geyler, introduced, we are told, into +the mechanical treatment of metals, a principle which greatly +economizes fluid. Founded upon the fact that sands of nearly the +same size, but of different densities, when mixed in liquid and +subjected to rapid vertical oscillation, range themselves by +order of weight, the heavier sinking and not allowing passage to +lighter matter, the new sieve offers the advantages of a single +and simple instrument, with increased facility for treating poor +"dirt." Finally, as I shall show, the country is prepared by +nature to receive a tramway; and the distance to the sea does not +exceed fourteen miles, liberally computed.[EN#27] + +Either the rain-water affected the health of the party, or it +suffered from the excessive dryness and variations of the +atmosphere, eight to nine hundred feet above sea-level (aner. +29.10), ranging in the tents between 92 degrees by day and 45 +degrees at night, a piercing, killing temperature in the Desert. +Moreover, the cold weather is mostly the unwholesome season in +hot lands, and vice versâ: hence the Arab proverb, Harárat +el-Jebel, wa lá Bard-há ("The heat of the hills and not their +cold"). Old Haji Wali lost his appetite, complained of +indigestion, and clamoured to return home; Ahmed Kaptán suffered +from Sulb ("lumbago") and bad headache; whilst Lieutenant Yusuf +was attacked by an ague and fever, which raised the mouth +thermometer to 102 degrees--103 degrees, calling loudly for +aconite. These ailments affected the party more or less the whole +way, but it was not pleasant to see them begin so soon. When our +work of collecting specimens--three tons from the Jebel el-Abyaz, +and three from the Filon Husayn--was finished, I resolved upon +returning to the coast and treating our loads at the Sharmá +water. We reached the valley mouth on December 30th, and we +greatly enjoyed the change from the harshness of the inland to +the mildness of the seaboard air. + +We stayed at Sharmá, much disliking its remarkably monotonous +aspect, for another week, till January 7, 1878. Yule, "the +wheel," despite the glorious tree-logs and roaring fires, had +been a failure at the White Mountain. The Dragoman had killed our +last turkey, and had forgotten to bring the plum-pudding from +El-Muwaylah: there was champagne, but that is not the stuff +wherewithal to wash down tough mutton. New Year's Day, on the +other hand, had all the honours. Its birth was greeted with a +flow of whisky-punch, wherein wine had taken the place of water; +and we drank the health of his Highness, the Founder of the +Expedition, in a bottle of dry Mumm. The evening ended with music +and dancing, by way of "praying the Old Year out and the New Year +in." Mersál, the Boruji, performed a wild solo on his bugle; and +another negro, Ahmed el-Shinnáwi, played with the Nái or +reed-pipe one of those monotonous and charming minor-key airs--I +call them so for want of a word to express them--which extend +from Midian to Trafalgar, and which find their ultimate +expression in the lovely Iberian Zarzuela.[EN#28] The boy Husayn +Genínah, a small cyclops in a brown felt calotte and a huge +military overcoat cut short, caused roars of laughter by his +ultra-Gaditanian style of dancing. I have also reason to suspect +that a jig and a breakdown tested the solidity of the plank +table, while a Jew's harp represented Europe. In fact, throughout +the journey, reminiscences of Mabille and the Music Halls +contrasted strongly with the memories of majestic and mysterious +Midian. And, to make the shock more violent, some friend, malè +salsus, sent me copies of the cosmopolitan Spectator and the +courteous Mayfair, which at once became waste paper for Bedawi +cartridges. + +Our Rosh há Shanah ("New Year's Day") was further distinguished +by the discovery of a vein and outcrop of metalliferous quartz, +about half an hour's walk, and bearing nearly east (80 degrees +mag.) from camp. We followed the Wady Sharmá, and found above its +"gate" the masonry-foundation of a square work; near it lay the +graves of the Wild Men, one with the normal awning of palm-fronds +honoris causâ. There were signs of stone-quarrying, and at one +place a road had been cut in the rock. Leaving on the north the +left side of the watercourse, with its rushes (Scirpus), and +huge-headed reeds (Arundo donax), its dates and Daums--the two +latter often scorched and killed by the careless Bedawi--we +struck into a parallel formation, the Wady el Wuday, bone-dry and +much trodden by camels. Arrived at the spot, we found that the +confused masses of hill subtending the regular cliff-line of the +old coast, are composed of grey granite, seamed with snowy +quartz, and cut by the usual bands of bottle-coloured porphyritic +trap, which here and there becomes red. Some of the heights are +of greenish-yellow chloritic felspar, well adapted for +brick-making. The surface of the land is scattered with fragments +of white silex and fine red jasper, banded with black oligistic +iron: this rock, close, hard, and fine enough to bear cutting, +appears everywhere in scatters and amongst the conglomerates. +Only one fossil was picked up, a mould so broken as to be quite +useless. + +We also followed out M. Marie's find, to which he had been guided +by a patch of red matter, conspicuous on the road from Tiryam to +Sharmá. For forty minutes we skirted the seaward face of the old +cliff, a line broken by many deep water-gashes and buttressed by +Goz, or high heaps of loose white sand. We then turned eastwards +or inland, ascended a Nakb ("gorge"), and saw, as before, the +corallines and carbonates of lime altered, fused, scorified, and +blackened by heated injections; the grey granite scored with +quartz veins, running in all rhumbs; and the porphyritic trap +forming crests that projected from the sands. The cupriferous +stone struck east-west, with a dip to the south; the outcrops, +visible without digging, measured fifteen to twenty metres long, +by one to one and a half in breadth. + +New Year's Day also restored to us the pup "Páijí." When quite a +babe, it had walked up to me in the streets of Cairo, evidently +claimed acquaintanceship, and straightway followed me into +Shepheard's, where; having a certain sneaking belief in +metempsychosis, I provided it with bed and board. During our +third march to the White Mountain, being given to violent yelps, +which startled both mules and camels, the small thing had been +left to walk, and had apparently made friends with an Arab +goatherd. After nine days' absence without leave, "Páijí" +reappeared, with dirty rags tied round its bony back and wasted +waist, showing an admirable skeleton, and making the most frantic +demonstrations of joy. The loss of the poor little brute had +affected all our spirits: we thought that the hyenas and the +ravens had seen the last of it; and it received a warm welcome +home. + +M. Lacaze, unlike the rest, took a violent fancy for the Wady +Sharmá: the water-scenery enchanted him. His sketches were almost +confined to the palm-growth, and to the greenery so unexpected in +arid Midian, where, according to the old and exploded opinion, +Moses wrote the Book of Job. The idea of Arabia is certainly not +associated with flowing rills, and waving trees, and rustling +zephyrs. Every morning I used to awake surprised by the song of +the Naiad, the little runnel whimpling down its bed of rushes, +stone, and sand; and the response of the palms making music in +the land-breeze. + +Finally, on New Year's Day, Lieutenant Amir, guided by Shaykh +Furayj, and escorted by soldiers and miners, made a three days' +trip to the Wady 'Urnub. There he surveyed a large isolated +"Mará," or quartz-hill, some twenty-two to twenty-five direct +miles south-east of the main outcrop; thus giving a considerable +extent to the northern mining-focus. This feature is described as +being four or five times larger than the Jebel el-Abyaz (proper); +and the specimens of quartz and grey granite proved it to be of +the same formation. It showed a broken outline, with four great +steps or dykes, which had apparently been worked. In the basal +valleys, and spread over the land generally, was found a heavy +yellow sand, calcareous and full of silex: the guide called it +Awwal Hismá (the "Hismá frontier"). + +Our travellers returned by a parallel line, southerly and more +direct. In the Wady 'Urnub, the Ma'ázah of the Salímát clan +received them with apparent kindness, inwardly grumbling the +while at their land being "spied out;" and they especially +welcomed Furayj, who, being a brave soldier, is also noted as a +peacemaker. All the men were armed, and wore the same dress as +the Huwaytát; like these, they also breed camels and asses--that +is, they are not cow-Arabs. Certain travellers on the Upper Nile +have distributed the Bedawin into these two groups; add +horse-Arabs and ass-Arabs, and you have all the divisions of the +race as connected with the so-called "lower animals." About three +hours (= eleven miles) from Sharmá camp, some pyramids of sand +were pointed out in the Wady Rátiyah: the Bedawin call one of +them the Goz et-Hannán ("Moaning Sand-heap"). They declare that +when the Hajj-caravan passes, or rather used to pass, by that +way, before the early sixteenth century, when Sultán Selim laid +out his maritime high-road, a Naubah ("orchestra") was wont to +sound within its bowels. This tale, which, by-the-by, is told of +two other places in Midian, may have been suggested by the Jebel +el-Nákús ("Bell Mountain") in Sinai-land; but as the Arabs +perform visitation and sacrifice to the "Moaning-heap," the +superstition probably dates from ancient days. Ruins are also +reported to exist in the Jebel Fa's, the southern boundary of the +'Urnub valley; and, further south, in the Jebel el-Harb, I was +told by some one whose name has escaped me, of a dolmen mounted +upon three supports. Lieutenant Amir also brought copper ore from +the Wady 'Urnub, and from the Ras Wady el-Mukhbir specimens of a +metal which the Arabs use as a kohl or collyrium. It proved, +however, iron, not antimony; and the same mistake has been made +in the Sinaitic Peninsula. + +At Wady Sharmá we rigged up, under the superintendence of M. +Philipin, a trough and a cradle for washing the black sands, the +pounded quartz of the Jebel el-Abyaz, and the red sands; these +latter had shown a trace of silver (1/10000) to the first +Expedition. We mixed it with mercury and amalgamed it in +goatskins; the men moved them to and fro; but, of course, the +water evaporated, and the mass speedily became dry. The upper or +superficial white yielded only, as far as our engineer could +judge, a little copper and bright knobs of pyrites. The Negros, +or iridized formations, of the "Filon Husayn" on a lower horizon, +gave the dubious result already alluded to. All the experiments +were conducted in the rudest way. Of course, a quantity of metal +may have escaped notice; and a fair proportion of the powdered +stone was reserved for scientific treatment in Europe. + +During our first trip we had found, upon the right jaw of the +Wady Sharmá, a ruined village of workmen, probably slaves, whose +bothans measured some twelve feet by eight. They differ from the +Nawámis, or "mosquito-huts," as the word is generally translated, +only in shape--the latter are circular, with a diameter of ten +feet--and they perfectly resemble the small stone hovels in the +Wady Mukattab, which Professor Palmer ("Desert of the Exodus," p. +202) supposes to have been occupied by the captive miners and +their military guardians. This time we ascended the coralline +ridge which forms the left jamb. At its foot a rounded and half +degraded dorsum of stiff gravel, the nucleus of its former self, +showed a segment of foundation-wall, and the state of the stone +suggested the action of fire. Possibly here had been a furnace. +The summit also bears signs of human occupation. The southern +part of the buttress-crest still supports a double concentric +circle with a maximum diameter of about fifteen feet; the outside +is of earth, apparently thrown up for a rampart behind a moat, +and the inside is of rough stones. Going south along the dorsum, +we found remains of oval foundations; a trench apparently cut in +the rock, pottery often an inch and more thick, and broken +handmills made of the New Red Sandstone of the Hismá. Finally, at +the northernmost point, where the cliff-edge falls abruptly, with +a natural arch, towards the swamp, about one kilometre broad at +the Báb, we came upon another circle of rough stones. We were +doubtful whether these rude remains were habitations or old +graves; nor was the difficulty solved by digging into four of +them: the pick at once came upon the ground-rock. Hitherto these +ruins have proved remarkably sterile; the only products were +potsherds, fragments of hand-mills, and a fine lump of white +marble (Rukhám), supposed to come from the Jebel el-Lauz. + +Amongst our followers was a "Kázi of the Arabs," one Jabr bin +'Abd el-Nabi, who is a manner of judge in civil, but not in +criminal matters. Before the suit begins the plaintiff, or his +surety, deposits a certain sum in coin, corn, or other valuables, +and lays his damages at so much. The defendant, if inclined to +contest the claim, pays into court the disputed amount, and the +question is settled after the traditional and immemorial customs +of the tribe. This man, covetous as any other disciple of +Justinian, was exceedingly anxious to obtain the honorarium of a +Shaykh, and he worked hard to deserve it. Shortly before our +departure from Sharmá, he brought in some scoriae and slag, +broken and streaked with copper--in fact, ekvolades. They are +thinly scattered over the seaward slope of the left jaw, where +the stone nowhere shows a trace of the mineral in situ. As, +however, the Expedition had found native copper in three places, +more or less near the Jebel el-Abyaz, it was decided that the ore +had been brought from the interior. + +We were again much puzzled concerning the form of industry which +gave rise to such a large establishment as Sharmá. Agriculture +was suggested and rejected; and we finally resolved that it was a +branch-town that supplied ore to the great smelting-place and +workshop of the coast, 'Aynúnah, and possibly carbonate of lime +to serve for flux. + +The distance along the winding Wady, between the settlement and +the sea westward, where the watercourse ends in sand-heaps, is +seven to eight miles, and the coast shows no sign of harbour or +of houses. About three miles, however, to the northwest is the +admirable Bay of 'Aynu'nah, unknown to the charts. Defended on +both sides by sandspits, and open only between the west and the +north-west, where reefs and shoals allow but a narrow passage, +its breadth across the mouth from east to west measures at least +five thousand metres, and the length inland, useful for refuge, +is at least three thousand. At the bottom of this noble Límán, +the Kolpos so scandalously abused by the ancients, are three +sandy buttresses metalled with water rolled stones, and showing +traces of graves. Possibly here may have been the site of an +ancient settlement. The Arabs call the southern anchorage, marked +by a post and a pit of brackish water, El-Musaybah or Musaybat +Sharmá. Its only present use seems to be embarking bundles of +rushes for mat-making in Egypt. The north-eastern end of the +little gulf is the Gád (Jád), or Mersá of El-Khuraybah, before +described as the port of 'Aynu'nah. + +At the Musaybah I stationed our tender, the Sambúk El-Musahhil, +which carried our heavy goods, specimens by the ton; rations and +stores; forge, planks, and crowbars. The sailors lost no time in +showing their rapacity. Every day they dunned us for tobacco; and +when we made a counter-demand for the excellent fish which was +caught in shoals, they simply asked, "What will you pay for it?" +I imprudently left my keg of specimen-spirits on board this +ignoble craft, and the consequence was that it speedily became +bone-dry. The Musaybah bight is a direct continuation of the Wady +el-Melláh, which, joining that of El-Maka'dah, runs straight up +to the Jebel el-Abyaz and to the Filon Husayn. These +metalliferous quartzes cannot be further from the coast than a +maximum distance of fourteen miles, and the broad, smooth +watercourse, with its easy gradients, points it out as the site +of the future tramway. I should prefer a simpler form of the +"Pioneer Steam Caravan or Saddleback-Railway System," patented by +Mr John L. Haddan, C.E., formerly of Damascus.[EN#29] He +recommends iron as the best material for the construction; and +the cost, delivered at Alexandria, would not exceed £1200, +instead of £3000 to £20,000 per kilometre, including the rolling +stock. As the distance from the port is nothing, £300 per +kilometre would be amply sufficient for "fixing up;" but I should +reduce the price to £500 for the transport of some 50 tons per +diem. By proper management of the rails or the main rail, it +would be easy for trained camels to draw the train up the Wady; +and the natural slope towards the sea would give work only to the +brake where derailments are not possible. + +At Sharmá we saw the crescent, when the Englishmen turned their +money in their pockets, and the Egyptian offficers muttered a +blessing upon the coming moon. Every day we waxed more weary of +the place; possibly the memories of the first visit were not +pleasant. Many in camp still suffered; and an old Bedawi, uncle +to Shaykh 'Alayan, died and was buried at 'Aynúnah. The number of +servants also made us uncomfortable. The head Dragoman, whose +memory was confined to his carnet, forgot everything; and, had we +trusted to him, half the supplies would have returned to Suez, +probably for the benefit of his own shop at Zagázig. I soon found +his true use, and always left him behind as magazine-man, +storekeeper, and guardian of reserve provisions. He was also a +dangerous, mischief-making fellow; and such men always find +willing ears that ought to know better. Petros, the Zante man, +was the model of a tipotenios (an "anybody"), who seemed to have +been born limp, without bones or brains. He was sent back as soon +as possible to Cairo. The worst point of these worthies was, that +they prevented, for their own reasons, the natives working for +us; while they preferred eternal chatter and squabbles to working +themselves. So the Greek element was reduced to George the cook, +a short, squat, unwashed fellow, who looked like a fair-Hercules +out of luck; who worked like three, and who loudly clamoured for +a revolver and a bowie-knife. His main fault, professionally +speaking, was that he literally drenched us with oil till the +store happily ran out. His complexion was that of an animated +ripe olive, evidently the result of his own cookery. His surprise +when I imperatively ordered plain boiled rice, instead of a mess +dripping with grease; and when told to boil the fish in sea water +and to serve up the bouillon, was high comedy. Doubtless he has +often, since his return, astounded his "Hellenion" by describing +our Frankish freaks and mad eccentricities. + +The stationary camp also retained Lieutenant Yusuf and MM. Duguid +and Philipin, with thirteen soldiers and sixteen miners. The six +camels were placed under Gabr, Kázi el-'Orbán; and all the +stay-behinds were charged with washing the several earths, with +scouring the country for specimens, and with transporting sundry +tons of the black sand before mentioned. Old Haji Wali, probably +frightened by the Arabs, and maddened by the idea that, during +his absence in the thick of the cotton season, the Fellahs of +Zagázig would neglect to pay their various debts, began to +"malinger" with such intensity of purpose, that I feared lest he +would kill himself to spite us. The venerable Shylock, who ever +pleaded poverty, had made some £300 by lending a napoleon, say, +on January 1st, which became a sovereign on February 1st; not to +speak of the presents and "benevolences" which the debtor would +be compelled to offer his creditor. So he departed for +El-Muwaylah, whence some correspondent had warned him that a +pilgrim boat was about to start; declaring that he was dying, and +trotting his mule as hard as it would go, the moment a safe +corner was turned. He stayed two days on board the gunboat, and +straightway returned to Egypt and the cotton season:--we had the +supreme satisfaction, however, to hear that he had gone through +the long quarantine at Tor. Yet after our return he reproached +me, with inimitable coolness and effrontery, for not having +behaved well to him. + +On the morning of January 7th, a walk of two hours and twenty +minutes (= seven miles) northwards, and mostly along the shore of +the noble "Musaybat Sharmá," transferred us to well-remembered +'Aynúnah. The sea in places washed over slabs of the fine old +conglomerates which, in this country, line the banks and soles of +all the greater Wadys: these are the Cascalho of the Brazil, a +rock which is treated by rejecting the pebbles and by pounding +the silicious paste. The air was softer and less exciting than +that of Sharmá; and, although the vegetation was of the crapaud +mort d'amour hue--here a sickly green, there a duller brown than +April had showed--the scene was more picturesque, the "Gate" was +taller and narrower, and the recollection of a happy first visit +made me return to it with pleasure. Birds were more abundant: +long-shanked water-fowl with hazel eyes; red-legged rail; the +brown swallow of Egypt; green-blue fly-catchers; and a black +muscivor, with a snowy-white rump, of which I failed to secure a +specimen. We also saw the tern-coloured plover, known in Egypt as +Domenicain and red kingfishers. The game species were fine large +green mallard; dark pintail; quail, and red-beaked brown +partridge with the soft black eye. + +New formations began to develop themselves, and the sickly hues +of the serpentines and the chlorites, so rich in the New World, +appeared more charming than brow of milk or cheek of rose.[EN#30] +There were few changes. A half-peasant Bedawi had planted a strip +of barley near the camping place; the late floods had shifted the +course of the waters; more date-trees had been wilfully burned; a +big block of quartz, brother to that which we had broken, had +been carried off; and where several of the old furnaces formerly +stood, deep holes, dug by the "money-hunter," now yawned. I again +examined the two large fragments of the broken barrage, and found +that they were of uncut stone, compacted with fine cement, which +contained palm-charcoal. + +At 'Aynúnah we gave only one day to work. While M. Lacaze +sketched the views, we blasted with gunpowder more than half +charcoal the Ma'dan el-Fayrúz ("turquoise mine"), as the Arabs +called it, on the right side of the Wady. The colour and texture +were so unlike the true lapis Pharanitis that we began to +suspect, and presently we ascertained from the few remaining +fragments, it had been worked for copper,--the carbonates and the +silicates which characterize Cyprus. Presently good specimens of +the latter were brought to us from the Jebel el-Fará by a Bedawi +pauper, 'Ayd of the Tagaygát-Huwaytát tribe. These half-naked +shepherds and goatherds, who know every stone in the land, are +its best guides; not the Shaykhs, who, as a rule, see little or +nothing outside their tents. From our camp the direction, as +reported by Ahmed Kaptán, was 102 degrees (mag.), and the +distance three miles. I afterwards sent Lieutenant Yusuf from +El-Muwaylah to make a detailed plan.[EN#31] + +We also dug in an old pit amongst the Christian graves to the +south-east of the camp, and below the left jamb of the "Gate." +Here also the Bedawin had been at work; and, when unable to work +deep enough, they told us wonderful tales of an alabaster slab, +which doubtless concealed vast treasures. In Arabia, as in +Africa, one must look out for what there is not, as well as for +what there is. After spending a morning in sinking a twelve-feet +shaft, we came upon a shapeless coralline-boulder, which in old +times had slipped from the sea-face of the cliff to the left of +the valley. I ascended this height, and saw some stones disposed +by the hand of man; but there were no signs of a large +slave-miner settlement like that on the other side of the Báb. + +In the afternoon Mr. Clarke led a party of quarrymen across the +graveyards to El-Khuraybah, the seaport of 'Aynúnah, and applied +them to excavating the floor of a cistern and the foundations of +several houses; a little pottery was the only result. It was a +slow walk of forty minutes; and thus the total length of the +aqueducts would be three miles, not "between four and five +kilometres." I had much trouble and went to some expense in +sending camels to fetch a "written stone" which, placed at the +head of every newly buried corpse, is kept there till another +requires it. It proved to be a broken marble pillar with a modern +Arabic epitaph. In the Gád el-Khuraybah, the little inlet near +the Gumruk ("custom-house"), as we called in waggery the shed of +palm-fronds at the base of the eastern sandspit, lay five small +Sambúks, which have not yet begun fishing for mother-of-pearl. +Here we found sundry tents of the Tagaygát-Huwaytát, the half +Fellahs that own and spoil the once goodly land; the dogs barked +at us, but the men never thought of offering us hospitality. We +had an admirable view of the Tihámah Mountains--Zahd, with its +"nick;" the parrot-beak of Jebel el-Shátí; the three +perpendicular Pinnacles and flying Buttresses of Jebel 'Urnub; +the isolated lump of Jebel Fás; the single cupola of Jebel Harb; +the huge block of Dibbagh, with its tall truncated tower; the +little Umm Jedayl, here looking like a pyramid; and the four +mighty horns of Jebel Shárr. + +I left 'Aynúnah under the conviction that it has been the great +Warshah ("workshop") and embarking-place of the coast-section +extending from El-Muwaylah to Makná; and that upon it depended +both Wady Tiryam and Sharmá, with their respective establishments +in the interior. Moreover, the condition of the slag convinced me +that iron and the baser metals have been worked here in modern +times, perhaps even in our own, but by whom I should not like to +say. + + + + + Chapter III. + Breaking New Ground to Magháir Shu'ayb. + + + +On January 9th we left 'Aynúnah by the Hajj-road, and passed +along the Quarry Hill visited during my first journey: the crest +has old cuttings and new cuttings, the latter still worked for +Bedawi headstones. The dwarf pillar with the mysterious cup is +reflected by the Nubians, who hollow out the upper part of the +stela to a depth of eight or ten inches without adding any +ornament. Hence, perhaps, the Sawahíli custom of the inserted +porcelain-plate. + +After issuing from the stony and sandy gorge which forms the +short cut, we regained the Hajj-road, and presently sighted a +scene readily recognized. Fronting us, the northern horizon was +formed by the azure wall of Tayyib Ism,[EN#32] the "Mountain of +the Good Name," backed by the far grander peaks of Jebel +Mazhafah: the latter rises abruptly from the bluer Gulf of +El-Akabah, and both trend to their culminating points inland or +eastward. On our right followed the unpicturesque metalliferous +heap of Jebel Zahd or 'Aynúnah Mountain, whose Brèche de Roland +seems to show from every angle; its chocolate-coloured heights +contain, they say, furnaces and "Mashghal," or ateliers, where +the Marú ("quartz") was worked for ore. In places it is backed by +the pale azure peaks of Jebel el-Lauz. This "Mountain of Almonds" +is said to take its name from the trees, probably bitter, which +flourish there as within the convent-walls of St. Catherine, +Sinai. They grow, I was told, high up in the clefts and valleys; +and here, also, are furnaces both above and below. Of its white, +sparkling, and crystallized marble, truly noble material, a +tombstone was shown to me; and I afterwards secured a slab with a +broken Arabic inscription, and a ball apparently used for rubbing +down meal. The Lauz appears to be the highest mountain in +Northern Midian-land; unfortunately, it is to be reached only viâ +Sharaf, two long stations ahead, and I could not afford time for +geographical research to the prejudice of mineralogical. Its +nearer foot-hill is the Jebel Khulayf; and this feature contains, +according to the Bedawin, seven wells or pits whose bottom cannot +be seen. Between the "Almond Block" and its northern +continuation, Jebel Munífah, we saw a gorge containing water, and +sheltering at times a few tents of the 'Amírát Arabs; in the same +block we also heard of a Sarbút or rock said to be written over. + +The regular cone of El-Maklá' ends the prospect in the +north-eastern direction. Looking westward, we see the ghastly +bare and naked Secondary formation, the Rughám of the Bedawin, +not to be confounded with Rukhám ("alabaster or saccharine +marble"). We afterwards traced this main feature of the 'Akabah +Gulf as far south as the Wady Hamz. It is composed of the +sulphates of lime--alabaster, gypsum, and the plaster with which +the Tertiary basin of Paris supplies the world; and of the +carbonates of lime--marble, chalk, kalkspar, shells, and eggs. +The broken crests of the Jibál el-Hamrá, the red hills backing +Makná,[EN#33] and the jagged black peaks of their eastern +parallel, the Kalb el-Nakhlah, look like plutonic reefs or +island-chains emerging from the Secondary sea. The latter, whose +bleached and skeleton white is stained, here and there, by +greenish-yellow sands, chlorite and serpentine, stands boldly out +from the chaos of purpling mountains composing Sinai, and ending +southwards in the azure knobs of three-headed Tirán Island. The +country, in fact, altogether changed: quartz had disappeared, and +chlorite had taken its place. + +We passed the night at El-'Usaylah, a Ghadir (or "hollow") +without drainage, which the sinking of water cakes with mud and +covers with an irregular circle of salsolaceous trees, a patch of +dark metallic green. This "'Usaylah" is eaten by camels, but +rejected by mules. Here our post reached us from Suez on the +seventh day, having started on the 2nd inst. A dollar was offered +to the Bedawi, who eyed the coin indignantly, declaring that it +ought to be a ginni (guinea). I had also given him some tobacco, +and repented, as usual, my generosity. + +Next day we finished the last and larger part of the second +pilgrim-stage from El-Muwaylah. Our Arabs had been "dodging;" +and, much disappointed about converting a two days' into a three +days' march, they punished us by feeding their camels on the +road, and by not joining us till the evening. As before, there +was no game till we approached the springs; yet tufts and +scatters of tamarisks, Samur (Inga unguis) and Arák (Salvadora), +looked capable of sheltering it. And now, beyond the level and +monotonous Desert, we began to see our destination;--palms and +tufty trees at the mouth of a masked Wady. This watercourse runs +between a background of reddish-brown rock, the foot-hills and +sub-ranges of the grand block, "El-Zánah," to the north; and a +foreground of pale-yellow, stark-naked gypsum, apparently +tongue-shaped. Above the latter tower two sister-quoins of ruddy +material, the Shigdawayn, to which a tale hangs. + +Presently we fell into and ascended the great Wady 'Afár, which +begins in the Hismá, or Red Region, east of the double +coast-range. After receiving a network of Secondary valleys that +enable it to flow a torrent, as in France, every ten to twelve +years, it falls into the Mínat el-'Ayánát, a little port for +native craft, which will presently be visited. We left this Wady +at a bend, some two hundred metres wide, called the "Broad of the +Jujube," from one of the splendid secular trees that characterize +North Midian. Near the camping-ground we shall find another +veteran Zizyphus, whose three huge stems, springing from a single +base, argue a green old age. Here both banks of the Fiumara are +lined with courses of rough stone, mostly rounded and rolled +boulders, evidently the ruins of the water-conduits which served +to feed the rich growth of the lower 'Afa'l. The vegetation of +the gorge-mouth developed itself to dates and Daums, tamarisks +and salsolaceæ, out of which scuttled a troop of startled +gazelles. We turned the right-hand jamb of the "Gate," and found +ourselves at the water and camping-ground of Magháir Shu'ayb. + +The general appearance of the station-basin is novel, +characteristic, and not without its charms, especially when the +sunset paints the plain with the red, red gold, and washes every +barren peak with the tenderest, loveliest rosy pink. Under an +intensely clear sapphire-coloured sky rises a distant rim of +broken and chocolate-coloured trap-hills, set off by pale +hillocks and white flats of gypsum, here and there crystallized +by contact with the plutonics. The formation mostly stands up +either in stiff cones or in long spines and ridges, whose +perpendicular wall-like crests are impossible to climb. The snowy +cliffs rest upon shoulders disposed at the "angle of rest," and +the prevailing dull drab-yellow of the base is mottled only where +accidental fracture or fall exposes the glittering salt-like +interior. The gashes in the flank made by wind and rain disclose +the core--grey granite or sandstone coloured by manganese. The +greater part of the old city was built of this +alabaster-like[EN#34] material. When new, it must have been a +scene in fairy-land; Time has now degraded it to the appearance +and the consistence of crumbling salt. The quoin-shaped hills of +the foreground, all uptilted and cliffing to the north, show the +curious mauve and red tints of the many-coloured clays called in +the Brazil Tauá. Even the palms are peculiar. Their tall, upright +crests of lively green fronds, their dead-brown hangings, and +their trunks charred black by the careless Bedawi, form a quaint +contrast with the genteel, nattily dressed, and cockneyfied +brooms of Egypt and the Hejaz. And that grandeur may not be +wanting to the view, on the east rise the peak and pinnacles of +the Almond Mountain (Jebel el-Lauz), whilst northwards the Jebel +el-Za'nah, a huge dome, forms the horizon. + +This place, evidently the capital of Madyan Proper, is the <Greek +word> which Ptolemy (vi. 7) places amongst his "Mesogeian +towns" in north lat. 28 degrees 15 minutes;[EN#35] and it +deserves more than the two pages of description which Ruppell +bestowed upon it.[EN#36] We will notice its natural features +before proceeding to the remains of man. Here the Wady 'Afár +takes the name of "El-Badá." Sweeping from west to east, it is +deflected to a north-south line, roughly speaking, by the gate of +the Shigdawayn, twin-hills standing nearly east and west of one +another. Now become a broad, well-defined, tree-dotted bed, with +stiff silt banks, here and there twenty to twenty-five feet high, +it runs on a meridian for about a mile, including the +palm-orchard and the camping-ground. It then turns the west end +of the Jebel el-Safrá, a mass of gypsum on the left bank, and it +bends to the east of south, having thus formed a figure of Z. +After escaping from the imprisoning hills, the Fiumara bed, now +about three-quarters of a mile broad, is bisected longitudinally +by a long and broken lump of chloritic or serpentine sandstone; +and rises in steps towards the right bank, upon which the +pilgrims camp. Reaching the plain, the Wady flares out wildly, +containing a number of riverine islands, temporary, but sometimes +of considerable size. It retains sufficient moisture to support a +clump of palms--that which we saw from afar;--it bends to the +south-east, and, lastly, it trends seaward. + +The "Water of Bada'" springs from the base of the hill El-Safrá, +oozing out in trickling veins bedded in soft dark mud. It can be +greatly increased by opening the fountains, and economized by a +roofing of mat: we tried this plan, which only surprised the +unready Arab. After swinging to the left bank and running for a +few yards, it sinks in the sand; yet on both sides there are +signs of labour, showing that, even of late years, the valley has +seen better days. Long leats and watercourses have been cut in +the clay, and are still lined with the white-flowered "Rijlah," +whose nutritive green leaf is eaten, raw or boiled, by the +Fellahs of Egypt: the wild growth, however, is mostly bitter. On +both sides are little square plots fenced against sheep and goats +by a rude abattis of stripped and dead boughs, Jujube and acacia. +Young dates have been planted in pits; some are burnt and others +are torn; for the Bedawi, mischievous and destructive as the +Cynocephalus, will neither work nor allow others to work. The +'Ushash or frond-and-reed huts, much like huge birds'-nests, are +scattered about in small groups everywhere except near the water. +Wherever a collection of bones shows a hyena's lair, the hunters +have built a screen of dry stone. + +In fact, Magháir Shu'ayb was spoken of as an Arab "Happy Valley." +But its owners, the Masá'íd, a spiritless tribe numbering about +seventy tents, are protégés of the Tagaygát. This Huwayti clan is +on bad terms with Khizr and 'Brahim bin Makbúl; and the brother +Shaykhs of the 'Imrán, recognized by the Egyptian Government, +claim the land where they have only the right of transit. Bedawi +clans and sub-tribes always combine against stranger families; +but when there is no foreign "war," they amuse themselves with +pilling and plundering, sabring and shooting one another. I +believe that the palms were roasted to death by the 'Imrán, +although the Shaykhs assured me that the damage was done this +year, by a careless Mas'údi when cooking his food. The tribe +appears to be Egypto-Arab, like the Huwayta't and the Ma'ázah, +having congeners at Ghazzah (Gaze) and at Ras el-Wady, near +Egyptian Tell el-Kebir. Consequently Rüppell is in error when he +suspects that die Musaiti are ein Judenstamm. The unfortunates +fled towards the sea and left the valley desolate about seven +months ago. Their Shaykh is dead, and a certain Agíl bin +Muhaysin, a greedy, foolish kind of fellow, mentioned during my +First Journey, aspires to the dignity and the profit of +chieftainship. He worried me till I named a dog after him, and +then he disappeared. + +The ruins, of large extent for North Midian, and equal to those +of all the towns we have seen put together, begin with the +palm-orchard on the left bank. The Jebel el-Safrá shows the +foundations of what may have been the arx. It is a double quoin, +the taller to the south, the lower to the north, and both bluff +in the latter direction. The dip is about 45 degrees; the upper +parts of the dorsa are scatters of white on brown-yellow stone; +and below it, where the surface has given way, appear +mauve-coloured strata, as if stained by manganese. Viewed in +profile from the west, the site of El-Muttali'[EN#37], as the +Arabs call the hauteville, becomes a tall, uptilted wedge; +continued northwards by the smaller feature, and backed by a long +sky-line, a high ridge of plaster, pale coloured with glittering +points. + +This isolated "Yellow Hill," a "horse" in Icelandic parlance, +rising about two hundred feet above the valley-sole, is separated +by a deep, narrow gorge from the adjacent eastern range. The +slopes, now water-torn and jagged, may formerly have declined in +regular lines, and evidently all were built over to the crest +like those of Syrian Safet. The foundations of walls and rock-cut +steps are still found even on the far side of the eastern +feature. The knifeback is covered with the foundations of what +appears to be a fortified Laura or Palace; a straight street +running north-south, with 5 degrees west (mag.). It serves as +base for walls one metre and a half thick, opening upon it like +rooms: of these we counted twenty on either side. At the northern +end of the "horse," which, like the southern, has been weathered +to a mere spur, is a work composed of two semicircles fronting to +the north and east. A bastion of well-built wall in three +straight lines overhangs the perpendicular face of the eastern +gorge: in two places there are signs of a similar defence to the +south, but time and weather have eaten most of it away. The +ground sounds hollow, and the feet sink in the crumbling heaps: +evidently the whole building was of Rughám (gypsum); and in the +process of decay it has become white as blocks of ice, here and +there powdered with snow. + +On the narrow, flat ledge, between the western base of this Safrá +and the eastern side of the Bada' valley, lie masses of ruin now +become mere rubbish; bits of wall built with cut stone, and +water-conduits of fine mortar containing, like that of the +Pyramids, powdered brick and sometimes pebbles. We carried off a +lump of sandstone bearing unintelligible marks, possibly intended +for a man and a beast. We called it "St. George and the Dragon," +but the former is afoot--possibly the Bedawin stole his steed. +There was a frustum or column-drum of fine white marble, hollowed +to act as a mortar; like the Moslem headstone of the same +material, it is attributed to the Jebel el-Lauz, where ancient +quarries are talked of. There were also Makrákah ("rub-stones") +of close-grained red syenite, and fragments of the basalt +handmills used for quartz-grinding. Part of a mortar was found, +made of exceedingly light and porous lava. + +South-east of the hauteville falls in the now rugged ravine, +Khashm el-Muttalí, "Snout of the high" (town). It leads to the +apex of the coralline formations, scattered over with fragments +of gypsum, here amorphous, there crystalline or talc-like, and +all dazzling white as powdered sugar. Signs of tent foundations +and of buildings appear in impossible places; and the heights +bear two Burj or "watchtowers," one visible afar, and dominating +from its mamelon the whole land. The return to the main valley +descends by another narrow gorge further to the south-east, +called Sha'b el-Darak, or "Strait of the Shield:" the tall, +perpendicular, and overhanging walls, apparently threatening to +fall, would act testudo to an Indian file of warriors. High up +the right bank of this gut we saw a tree-trunk propped against a +rock by way of a ladder for the treasure-seeker. The Sha'b-sole +is flat, with occasional steps and overfalls of rock, polished +like mirrors by the rain-torrents; the mouth shows remains of a +masonry-dam some fourteen feet thick by twenty-one long; and +immediately below it are the bases of buildings and watercourses. + +Walking down the left bank of the great Wady, and between these +secondary gorges that drain the "Yellow Hill," we came upon a +dwarf mound of dark earth and rubbish. This is the Siyághah +("mint and smiths' quarter"), a place always to be sought, as +Ba'lbak and Palmyra taught me. Remains of tall furnaces, now +level with the ground, were scattered about; and Mr. Clarke, long +trained to find antiques, brought back the first coins picked up +in ancient Midian. The total gathered, here and in other parts of +Magháir Shu'ayb, was 258, of which some two hundred were carried +home untouched; the rest, treated with chloritic and other acids, +came out well. One was a silver oval which may or may not have +been a token. Eleven were thick discs, differing from the normal +type; unfortunately the legends are illegible. The rest, inform +bits of green stuff, copper and bronze, were glued together by +decay, and apparently eaten out of all semblance of money until +the verdigris of ages is removed. + +All are cast like the Roman "as", before B.C. 217, and some show +the tail. The distinguishing feature is the human eye; not the +outa of Horus,[EN#38] so well known to those who know the +Pyramids, but the last trace of Athene's profile. Two are Roman: +a Nerva with S.C. on the reverse; and a Claudius Augustus, +bearing by way of countermark a depressed oblong, of 20/100 by +14/100 (of inch), with a raised figure, erect, draped, and +holding a sceptre or thyrsus. There is also a Constantius struck +at Antioch. The gem of the little collection was a copper coin, +thinly encrusted with silver, proving that even in those days the +Midianites produced "smashers": similarly, the Egyptian miners +"did" the Pharaoh by inserting lead into hollowed gold. The +obverse shows the owl in low relief, an animal rude as any +counterfeit presentment of the <Greek words> +ever found in Troy. It has the normal olive-branch, but without +the terminating crescent (which, however, is not invariably +present) on the proper right, whilst the left shows a poor +imitation of the legend <Greek word> (NH). The silvering of +the reverse has been so corroded that no signs of the goddess's +galeated head are visible. My friend, Mr. W. E. Hayns, of the +Numismatic Society, came to the conclusion that it is a barbaric +Midianitish imitation of the Greek tetradrachm, which in those +days had universal currency, like the shilling and the franc. The +curious bits of metal, which also bear the owl, may add to our +knowledge of the Nabathaean coins, first described, I believe, by +the learned Duc de Luynes.[EN#39] + +Another interesting "find" was a flat-bottomed, thick-walled clay +crucible of small size (2 10/16 inches high by 2 4/16 inches +across the mouth), exactly resembling the article picked up at +Hamámát. The latter, however, contains a remnant of litharge, +possibly showing that the old Egyptians worked the silver, which +may have been supplied by the Colorado quartz. + +I would here crave leave to make a short excursus to the ancient +Ophirs of Egypt Proper, where, we are told by an inscription in +the treasury of Ramses the Great (fourteen centuries before +Christ), the gold and silver mines yielded per annum a total of +32,000,000 minæ = £90,000,000. Dr. H. Brugsch-Bey first drew +attention to Hamámát, where, as he had learned from Diodorus (i. +49--iii 12) and from the papyri, the precious metals had been +extensively worked. The "Wells of Hama'ma't" lie between Keneh on +the Nile and Kusayr (Cosseir) on the Red Sea; and the land is +held by the Abábdah Arabs, who have taken charge, from time +immemorial, of the rich commercial caravans. The formation of the +country much resembles that of Midian; and the metalliferous +veins run from northeast to south-west. In Arabia, however, the +filons are of unusual size; in Africa they are small, the +terminating fibrils, as it were, of the Asiatic focus; while the +Dark Continent lacks that wealth of iron which characterizes the +opposite coast. + +By the courtesy of Generals Stone and Purdy I was enabled, after +return to Cairo in May, 1878, to inspect the collection. +Admirably arranged in order of place, and poor as well disposed, +it is, nevertheless, useful to students; and it was most +interesting to us. The only novelty is asbestos produced in the +schist: the raw material is now imported by the United States, +and used for a variety of purposes. It is said to exist in Mount +Sinai; we found none in Midian, where the schist formations are +of great extent, probably because we did not look for it. The +collection was made by Colonel Colston; and Mr. L. H. Mitchell, a +mining engineer attached to the Egyptian Staff, spent several +weeks spalling sundry tons of quartz. After finding a speck of +gold, the work was considered to be done. General Stone, however, +sensibly deprecated any attempt to exploit the minerals: the +country lacks wood and water, and the expense of camel-transport +from Hamámát to Kusayr, and thence in ships to Suez, would +swallow up all the profits. + +That Egypt was immensely rich in old days we know from several +sources. Appian tells us that the treasury of Ptolemy +Philadelphus contained 740,000 talents; and assuming with +Ebers[EN#40] the Egyptian at half the Æginetan, we have the +marvellous sum of £83,250,000. According to Diodorus (i. 62), the +treasury of Rhampsinit, concerning which Herodotus (ii. 121, 122) +heard a funny story from his interpreter, contained 4,000,000 +talents, equal to at least £450,000,000. This rich king's +treasure-house has been found portrayed in the far-famed Temple +of Medinat Habú: the mass of wealth, gold, silver, copper, and +spices, is enormous; and, while the baser metals are in bars, the +precious are stored in heaps, sacks, and vases. + +The gold-mines of the old Coptos-plain, the modern Kobt, south of +Keneh, are preserved to all time by the earliest known map. It +has survived; whilst those of the Milesian Anaximander (B.C. 610- +547), of Hekataeus (ob. B.C. 4 76), also from Miletus and called +the "Father of Geography" (Ebers), and of Ptolemy the Pelusian +are irretrievably lost. A papyrus in the Turin Museum contains a +plan of the mineral region spoken of in two stelœ, those of +Radesiyyah and Kuban, describing the supply of drinking-water +introduced into the desert between Kuban and the Red Sea. +Chabas[EN#41] has published a coloured facsimile of this map: the +gold-containing mountains are tinted red, and the words "Tu en +nub" (Mons aureus) are written over them in hieratics. + +The only modern gold-workings of Egypt are in the Mudíriyyat +(Nomos) of Famaka, the frontier town, better known as Fayzoghlú +from its adjacent heights. The washings were visited lately +(March, 1878) by my enterprising friend, Dr. P. Matteucci, and M. +Gessi. In old days this local Cayenne had a very bad name; +convicts were deported here with a frightful mortality. It is +still a station for galley-slaves, and it has a considerable +garrison, but we no longer hear of an abnormal fatality. The +surface was much turned over by the compulsory miners, and +European geologists and experts were sent to superintend them; at +last the diggings did not pay and were abandoned. But the natives +do by "rule of thumb," despite their ignorance of mineralogy, +without study of ground, and lacking co-ordination of labour, +what the Government failed to do. They have not struck the chief +vein' if any exist; but, during the heavy rains of the Kharif +("autumn") in the valley of the Túmát river, herds of slaves are +sent yearly to wash gold, and they find sufficient to supply the +only known coin--bars or ingots. + +Beyond the Siyághah, the left bank is gashed by the ravines +draining the south-eastern prolongation of the "Yellow Hill." +Water cuts through this rotten formation of rubbish like a knife +into cheese; forming deep chasms, here narrow, there broad, with +walls built up, as it were, of fragments, and ready to be +levelled by the first rains. The lines of street and the outlines +of tenements can be dimly traced, while revetments of rounded +boulders show artificial watercourses and defences against the +now dried-up stream. The breadth of this, the eastern settlement, +varies with the extent of the ledge between the gypsum-hills and +the sandy Wady; the length may be a kilometre. The best preserved +traces of crowded building end with the south-eastern spur of the +Jebel el-Safrá. Beyond them is a huge cemetery. The ancient +graves are pits in the ground; a few still uncovered, the many +yawning wide, and all of them ignoring orientation. Those of the +moderns, on the contrary, front towards Meccah. The Bedawin of +this country seem ever to prefer for their last homes the most +ancient sites; they place the body in a pit, covered with a large +slab or a heap of stones, but they never fill in the hollow, as +is usual among Moslems, with earth. The arrangements suit equally +well the hyena and the skull-collector; and thus I was able to +make a fair collection of Bedawi crania. + +At the south-eastern end of the outliers projected by the Jebel +el-Safrá, where a gentle slope of red earth falls towards the +valley-bank, is the only group of building of which any part is +still standing. The site may be old, but the present ruins are +distinctly mediæval, dating probably from the days of the +Egyptian "Mameluke" Sultans. Beginning from below and to the +south-west is a Hauz, or "cistern," measuring twenty-six by +nineteen and a half metres, with a depth of nine to ten feet. The +material is cut sandstone, cemented outside with mortar +containing the normal brick-crumbs and pebbles, and inside mixed +with mud. At the north-eastern and south-western corners are +retaining buttresses in two steps, exactly like those in the +inland fort of El-Wijh; at the two other angles are flights of +stairs, and the sole is a sheet of dried silt. To the south-east +lies the remnant of a small circular furnace, and on the +north-north-east a broken wall shows where stood the Bayt +el-Saghir, or smaller reservoir. A narrow conduit of cut stone +leads, with elaborate zigzags, towards two Sakiyah ("draw-wells") +hollowed in the gypsum. The Southern, an oval of five metres ten +centimetres, is much dilapidated; and its crumbling throat is +spanned by a worn-out arch of the surrounding Secondary rock. +Close to the north-west is the other, revetted with cut stone, +and measuring six metres in diameter. It is an elaborate affair; +with a pointed arch and a regular keystone, circular Sadúd, or +"walls for supporting the hauling-apparatus," and minor +reservoirs numbering three. On a detached hillock, a few paces to +the north, stands the Fort which defended the establishment. The +short walls of the parallelogram measure fifteen metres forty +centimetres; and the long, eighteen metres sixty centimetres: the +gate, choked by ruins, leads to a small hall, with a masked +entrance opening to the right. There is a narrow room under the +stone steps to the west, and two others occupy the eastern side. +This Fort is to be restored for the better protection of +pilgrims; and shortly after our departure an Egyptian engineer, +Sulayman Effendi, came from Suez to inspect and report upon it. + +According to local modern tradition this scatter of masonry was +the original site of the settlement, called after the builder Bir +el-Sa'idáni--"the Well of Sa'ídán." For watering each caravan the +proprietor demanded a camel by way of fee; at last a Maghribí, +that is, a magician, refused to "part;" betook himself to the +present camping ground, sank pits, and let loose the copious +springs. The old wells then dried up, and the new sources gave to +this section of the great Wady 'Afál its actual name, Wady +el-Badá--"of the innovation," so hateful to the conservative +savage. Hence Rüppell's "Beden," which would mean an ibex. + +On the opposite or right bank of the broad and sandy bed, the +traces of ancient buildings extend to a far greater distance, at +least to two kilometres. They have been a continuous line of +forts, cisterns, and tenements, still marked out by the bases of +long thick walls; the material is mostly gypsum, leprous-white as +the skin of Gehazi. But here, and indeed generally throughout +Midian, the furious torrents, uncontrolled during long ages by +the hand of man, have swept large gaps in the masses of homestead +and public buildings. Again the ruins of this section are +distributable into two kinds--the City of the Living, and the +City of the Dead. + +The former, of considerable extent, hugs the watercourse, and +crowns all the natural spurs that buttress the bed. Beginning +from the north lie two blocks of building considerable in extent: +the southern, called by the Arabs El-Malká, is a broken +parallelogram. Further down stream the bank is a vast strew of +broken pottery; and one place, covered with glass fragments, was +named by our soldiers El-Khammárah--"the tavern" or "the hotel." +As in ancient Etruria, so here, the people assemble after heavy +rains to pick up what luck throws in the way. It is said that +they often gather gold pieces, square as well as round, bearing +by way of inscription "prayers" to the Apostle of Allah. Some of +us, however, had a shrewd suspicion that the Tibr, or "pure +gold-dust," is still washed from the sands, and cast probably in +rude moulds. + +Behind, inland or westward of this southern town, lies the City +of the Dead. Unlike the pitted graveyard to the north-east, the +cemetery is wholly composed of catacombs, which the Bedawin call +Magháir ("caves") or Bíbán ("doors"). The sites are the sides and +mouths of four little branch-valleys which cut through the +hillocks representing the Wady-bank. The northernmost is known as +Wady el-Khurayk, because it drains a height of that name: the +others bear the generic term Wady el-Safrá, so called, like the +hauteville hill, from the tawny-yellow colour of the rocks. The +catacombs, fronting in all directions, because the makers were +guided by convenience, not by ceremonial rule, are hollowed in +the soft new sandstone underlying the snowy gypsum; and most of +the façades show one or more horizontal lines of natural +bead-work, rolled pebbles disposed parallelly by the natural +action of water. In the most ruinous, the upper layer is a +cornice of hard sandstone, stained yellow with iron and much +creviced; the base, a soft conglomerate of the same material, is +easily corroded; and the supernal part caves in upon the +principle which is destroying Niagara. At each side of the +doorways is a Mastabah ("stone bench"), also rock-hewn, and with +triple steps. The door-jambs, which have hollowings for hinges +and holes for bars, are much worn and often broken; they are +rarely inclined inwards after the fashion of Egypt. A few have +windows, or rather port-holes, flanking the single entrance. The +peculiarities and the rare ornaments will be noticed when +describing each receptacle; taken as a whole, they are evidently +rude and barbarous forms of the artistic catacombs and +tower-tombs that characterize Petra and Palmyra. + +The "Magháir" may roughly be divided into four topical groups. +These are--the northern outliers; the "Tombs of the Kings," so +called by ourselves because they distinguish themselves from all +the others; the "buttressed caves" (two sets); and the southern +outliers. The first mentioned begin with a ruin on the right jaw +of the Khurayk gorge: it is dug in strata dipping, as usual, from +north-west to south-east; it faces eastward, and the entrance +declines to the south. All external appearance of a catacomb has +disappeared; a rude porch, a frame of sticks and boughs, like the +thatched eaves of a Bulgarian hut, stands outside, while inside +signs of occupation appear in hearths and goat-dung, in smoky +roof, and in rubbish-strewn floor. Over another ruin to the west +are graffiti, of which copies from squeezes and photographs are +here given: there are two loculi in the southern wall; and in the +south-eastern corner is a pit, also sunk for a sarcophagus. A +hill-side to the south of this cave shows another, dug in the +Tauá or coloured sandstone, and apparently unfinished: part of it +is sanded up, and its only yield, an Egyptian oil-jar of modern +make, probably belonged to some pilgrim. Crossing the second +dwarf gorge we find, on the right bank, a third large ruin of at +least fourteen loculi; the hard upper reef, dipping at an angle +of 30 degrees, and striking from north-west to southeast, fell in +when the soft base was washed away by weather, and the anatomy of +the graves is completely laid bare. Higher up the same Wady is a +fourth Maghárah, also broken down: the stucco-coating still shows +remnants of red paint; and the characters **--possibly Arab +"Wasm," or tribe-marks--are cut into an upright entrance-stone. + +The precipitous left bank of the third gorge contains the three +finest specimens, which deserve to be entitled the "Tombs of the +Kings." Of these, the two facing eastward are figured by Rüppell +(p. 220) in the antiquated style of his day, with fanciful +foreground and background.[EN#42] His sketch also places solid +rock where the third and very dilapidated catacomb of this group, +disposed at right angles, fronts southwards. Possibly the façades +may once have been stuccoed and coloured; now they show the bare +and pebble-banded sandstone. + +The southernmost, which may be assumed as the type, has an +upright door, flanked by a stone bench of three steps. Over the +entrance is a defaced ornament which may have been the bust of a +man: in Rüppell it is a kind of geometrical design. The frontage +has two parallel horizontal lines, raised to represent cornices. +Each bears a decoration resembling crenelles or Oriental ramparts +broken into three steps; the lower set numbers eight, including +the half ornaments at the corners, and the higher seven. The +interior is a mixture of upright recesses, probably intended for +the gods or demons; and of horizontal loculi, whose grooves show +that they had lids. There is no symmetry in the niches, in the +sarcophagi, or in the paths and passages threading the graves. +The disposition will best be understood from the ground-plans +drawn by the young Egyptian officers: their sketches of the +façades are too careless and incorrect for use; but the want is +supplied by the photographs of M. Lacaze. + +Above these three "Tombs of the Kings" are many rock-cavities +which may or may not have been sepulchral. Time has done his +worst with them. We mounted the background of a quoin-shaped hill +by a well-trodden path, leading to the remnants of a rude Burj +("watch-tower"), and to a semicircle of dry wall, garnished with +a few sticks for hanging rags and tatters. The latter denotes the +Musallat Shu'ayb, or praying-place of (prophet) Jethro; and here +our Sayyid and our Shaykh took the opportunity of applying for +temporal and eternal blessings. The height at the edge of the +precipice which, cliffing to the north, showed a view of our camp +and of Yubú and Shu'shú' Islands, was in round numbers 450 feet +(aner. 29.40--28.94). From this vantage-ground we could +distinctly trace the line of the Wady Makná, beginning in a round +basin at the western foot of the northern Shigd Mountain and its +sub-range; while low rolling hills, along which we were to +travel, separated it from the Wady Bada'-‘Afál to the south. + +Two other important sets of catacombs, which I will call the +"buttressed caves," are pierced in the right flank of the same +gorge, at the base of a little conical hill, quaintly capped with +a finial of weathered rock. The material is the normal silicious +gravel-grit, traversed and cloisonné by dykes of harder stone. +Beginning at the south, we find a range of three, facing eastward +and separated from one another by flying buttresses of natural +rock. No. 1 has a window as well as a door. Next to it is a +square with six open loculi ranged from north to south. No. 3 +shows a peculiarity--two small pilasters of the rudest +(Egyptian?) Doric, the only sign of ornamentation found inside +the tombs; a small break in the south-western wall connects it +with the northernmost loculus of No. 2. Furthest north are three +bevel-holes, noting the beginning of a catacomb; and round the +northern flank of the detached cone are six separate caves, all +laid waste by the furious northern gales. + +The second set is carved in the bluff eastern end of an adjoining +reef that runs away from the Wady; it consists of four sepulchres +with the normal buttresses. They somewhat resemble those of the +Kings, but there are various differences. No. 2 from the south is +flanked by pilasters with ram's-horn capitals, barbarous forms of +Ionic connected by three sets of triglyphs: the pavement is of +slabs; there is an inner niche, and one of the corners has +apparently been used as an oven. On a higher plane lies a sunken +tomb, with a deep drop and foot-holes by way of ladder; outside +it the rocky platform is hollowed, apparently for graves. The +other three facades bear the crenelle ornaments; the two to the +north show double lines of seven holes drilled deep into the +plain surface above the door, as if a casing had been nailed on; +while the northernmost yielded a fragmentary inscription on the +southern wall. These are doubtless the "inscribed tablets on +which the names of kings are engraved," alluded to in the +Jihan-numá of Haji Khahífah.[EN#43] Rounding the reef to the +north, we found three catacombs in the worst condition: one of +them showed holes drilled in the façade. + +The southern outliers lie far down the Wady 'Afál, facing east, +and hewn in the left flank of a dwarf gulley which falls into the +right bank not far from the site called by our men "the tavern." +The group numbers three, all cut in the normal sandstone, with +the harder dykes which here stand up like ears. The principal +item is the upper cave, small, square, and apparently still used +by the Arabs: in the middle of the lintel is a lump looking like +the mutilated capital of a column. The two lower caves show only +traces. + +There is a tradition that some years ago a Frank (Rüppell?), +after removing his Arab guides, dug into the tombs, and found +nothing but human hair. Several of the horizontal loculi +contained the bones of men and beasts: I did not disturb them, as +all appeared to be modern. The floors sounding hollow, gave my +companions hopes of "finds;" but I had learned, after many a +disappointment, how carefully the Bedawi ransack such places. We +dug into four sepulchres, including the sunken catacomb and the +(southern) inscribed tomb. Usually six inches of flooring led to +the ground-rock; in the sarcophagi about eight inches of tamped +earth was based upon nine feet of sand that ended at the bottom. +The only results were mouldering bones, bits of marble and +pottery, and dry seeds of the Kaff Maryam, the Rose of Jericho +(Anastatica), which here feeds the partridges, and which in Egypt +supplies children with medicine, and expectant mothers with a +charm. As the plant is bibulous, opening to water and even to the +breath, it is placed by the couch, and its movement shows what is +to happen. The cave also yielded specimens of bats (Rhinopoma +macrophyllum), with fat at the root of their spiky tails. + +I have described at considerable length this ruined Madiáma, +which is evidently the capital of Madyan Proper, ranking after +Petra. In one point it is still what it was, a chief station upon +the highway, then Nabatí, now Moslem, which led to the Ghor or +Wady el-'Arabah. But in all others how changed! "The traveller +shall come; he that saw me in my beauty shall come: his eyes +shall search the field; they shall not find me." + + + + + + Chapter IV. +Notices of Precious Metals in Midian--the Papyri and the Mediæval + Arab Geographers. + + + +In my volume on "The Gold-Mines of Midian," the popular Hebrew +sources of information--the Old Testament and the Talmud--were +ransacked for the benefit of the reader. It now remains to +consult the Egyptian papyri and the pages of the mediæval Arab +geographers: extracts from the latter were made for me, in my +absence from England, by the well-known Arabist, the Rev. G. +Percy Badger.[EN#44] I will begin with the beginning. + +Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey, whose "History of Egypt"[EN#45] is the +latest and best gift to Egyptologists, kindly drew my attention +to an interesting passage in his work, and was good enough to +copy for me the source of his information, tile Harris Papyrus +(No. 1) in the British Museum. + +The first king of the twentieth Dynasty, born about B.C. 1200, +and residing at Thebes, was Rameses III., whose title, Ramessu +pa-Nuter (or Nuti), "Ramses the god," became in the hands of the +Greeks Rhampsinitos. This great prince, ascending the throne in +evil days, applied himself at once to the internal and external +economy of his realm; he restored the caste-divisions, and +carried fire and sword into the lands of his enemies. He +transported many captives to Egypt; fortified his eastern +frontier; and built, in the Gulf of Suez, a fleet of large and +small ships, in order to traffic with Pun and the "Holy +Land,"[EN#46] and to open communication with the +"Incense-country" and with the wealthy shores of the Indian +Ocean. + +"Not less important," says our author (p. 594), "for Egypt, which +required before all things the copper applied to every branch of +her industry, was the sending of commissioners, by land (on +donkey back!) and by sea, to explore and exploit the rich +cupriferous deposits of 'Atháka (in the neighbourhood of the +'Akabah Gulf?). This metal, with the glance of gold, was there +cast in brick-shape, and was transported by sea to the capital. + +"The king also restored his attention to the treasures of the +Sinaitic Peninsula, which had excited the concupiscence of the +Egyptians since the days of King Senoferu[EN#47] (B.C. 3700). +Loaded with rich presents for the sanctuary of the goddess +Hathor, the protectress of Mafka-land, chosen employés were +despatched on a royal commission to the peninsula, for the +purpose of supplying the Pharaoh's treasury with the highly +prized blue-green copper-stones (Mafka, Turkisen?[EN#48])." + +These lines were published by Dr. Brugsch-Bey before he had heard +of my discoveries of metals and of a modern turquoise-digging in +the Land of Midian. He had decided that "'Atháka" lay to the east +of Suez, chiefly from the insistence laid upon the shipping; +sea-going craft would certainly not be required for a sail of +three or four hours. Moreover, as I have elsewhere shown, Jebel +'Atakáh, the "Mountain of Deliverance," at the mouth of the Wady +Musá, was referred to the Jews at some time after the Christian +era, and probably during the fourth and fifth centuries, when +pilgrimages to the apocryphal Mounts Sinai became the fashion. + +During the summer of 1877, Dr. Brugsch-Bey was kind enough to +copy and to translate the original document, upon which he +founded his short account of the "'Atháka" copper-mines. I offer +it to the reader in full. + +The order of the alphabet is that adopted by Dr. Brugsch-Bey. It +relies for the first letter upon the authority of Plutarch, who +asserts that the Egyptian abecedarium numbered the square of five +(twenty-five); and that it opened with --<Greek>--, which also +expresses the god Thoth;--this is the case with --<hieroglyph>-- +the leaf of some water-plant. The sequence of the letters has been +suggested by a number of minor considerations: we begin with the +vowels, and proceed to the labial, the liquids, and so +forth.[EN#49] + +The sense of the highly interesting inscription, in its English +order, would be:-- + +"I have sent my commissioners to the land 'Atháka; to the (those)[EN#50] +great mines of copper (or coppers)[EN#51] which are in this place +('Atháka); and their (i.e. the commissioners') ships[EN#52] were loaded, +carrying them (the metals); while other (commissioners were sent and) +marched on their asses. No! one never (ter-tot) had heard, since the +(days of the olden) kings, that these (copper) mines had been +found.[EN#53] The loads (i.e. of the ships and the asses) carried copper; +the loads were by myriads for their ships, which went thence (i.e. from +the mines) to Egypt. (After) happily arriving, the loads were landed, +according to royal order, under the Pavilion,[EN#54] in form of copper- +bricks;[EN#55] they were numerous as frogs (in the marsh),[EN#56] and in +quality they were gold (Nub) of the third degree.[EN#57] I made them +admired (by) all the world as marvellous things." + +The following lines upon the subject of Midian are from the notes +(p. 143) of Jacob Golius in "Alferganum" (small 4to. Amsterdam, +1669), a valuable translation with geographical explanations. +Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Kathír el-Fargháni derived his "lakab" or +cognomen from the province of Farghán (Khokand), to the +north-east of the Oxus; he wrote a work upon astronomy, and he +flourished about A.H. 184 (= A.D. 800). + +"Ibidem (<Arabic> Madyan) Medjan sive Midjan, Antiqui nominis oppidum in +Maris Rubri littore, sub 29 degrees grad. latitudine; ad ortum brumalem +deflectens à montis Sinæ extremitate: ubi feré site Ptolemæi Modiana, +haud dubié eadem cum Midjan. A Geographorum Orientalium quibusdam ad +Ægyptum refertur; à plerisq; omnibus ad Higiazam: quod merito et recté +factum. Nullus enim est, qui Arabibus non annumeret Madianitas; et Sinam, +quæ Madjane borealior, montem Arabiæ facit D. Paulus Gal. iv. Midjan +autem fuit Abrahami ex Kethura filius: unde tribus illa et ab hac urbs +nomen habent. Quam quidem tribum coaluisse, sedibus ut puto et affinitate +in unam cum Ismaëlitis, innuere videntur Geneseos verba. Nam +conspirantibus in Josephi exitium fratribus dicuntur supervenisse +Ismaëlitae; transivisse Midjanite; ipse v ditus ab Ismaëlitis. Ceterum +urbem Midjan Arabes pro ea habent, quæ in Corano vocatur (<Arabic> +Madínat Kúsh): Xaib[EN#58] enim illis idem est, qui Jethro dicitur Exod. +iii. cujus filiam Sipporam Moses uxor duxit, cum ex Ægpto profugisset in +terram Midjan; ubi Jethro princeps erat et Sacerdos. Autonomosia illa +Arabibus familiaris. Ita Hanoch (<Arabic> Aknúkh) appelatus, Abraham (El- +Khalíl), Rex Saul (<Arabic> Tálút), etc., licet eorundem propria etiam +usurpentur nomina. Et in ipsis Sacris Libris non uno nomine hic Jethro +designatur. Loci illius puteum[EN#59] Scriptores memorant fano circum +extructo Arabibus sacrum, persuasis Mosem ibi Sipporam et sorores à +pastorum injuriis vindicasse; prout Exod., cap. ii., res describitur. Sed +primis Muhammedici regni bellis universa fere, quae rune extabat, urbs +vastata fuit." + +El-Fargháni is followed by the Imám Abú 'Abbás Ahmed bin Yáhyá +bin Jábir, surnamed and popularly known as El-Balázurí, who +flourished between A.H. 232 and 247 (= A.D. 846 to 861), and +wrote the Futú'h el-Buldán, or the "Conquests of Countries." His +words are (pp. 13-14, M. J. de Goeje's edition; Lugduni +Batavorum, 1866)--"It was related to me by Abú Abíd el-Kásim bin +Sallám; who said he was told by Ishák bin Isa, from Malík ibn +Anas and from Rabíat, who heard from a number of the learned, +that the Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) gave in feoff +(Iktá'at) to Bilál bin el-Háris el-Muzni, mines (Ma'ádin, i.e. of +gold) in the district of Furú' (variant, Kurú'). Moreover, it was +related to me by Amrú el-Nákid, and by Ibn Saham el-Antáki (of +Antioch), who both declared to have heard from El-Haytham bin +Jamíl el-Antáki, through Hammád bin Salmah, that Abú Makín, +through Abú Ikrimah Maulá Bilál bin el-Háris el-Muzni, had +averred 'The Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) enfeoffed the +said Bilál with (a bit of) ground containing a mountain and a +(gold) mine; that the sons of Bilál sold part of the grant to one +'Umar bin 'Abd el-'Azíz, when a (gold) mine or, according, to +others, two (gold) mines were found in it; that they said to the +buyer, Verily we sold to thee land for cultivation, and we did +not sell thee (gold) mining-ground; that they brought the letter +of the Apostle (upon whom be peace!) in a (bound) volume: that +'Umar kissed it and rubbed it upon his eyes, and said, Of a truth +let me see what hath come out of it (the mine) and what I have +laid out upon it.' Then he deducted from them the expenses of +working and returned to them the surplus. . . . And I was told by +Musa'b el-Zubayri, from Malik ibn Anas, that the Apostle of Allah +(upon whom be peace!) gave in feoff to Bilál bin Háris mines in +the district of Fara' (sic). There is no difference of opinion +among our learned men on this subject, nor do I know any of our +companions who contradicts (the statement) that the (gold) mine +paid one-fourth per ten (= 2 1/2 per cent.) royalty (to the Bayt +el-Mál, or Public Treasury). Musa'b further relates, from +El-Zahri, that the (gold) mine defrayed the Zakát or poor-rate: +he also said that the proportion was one-fifth (= 2 per cent.); +like that which the people of El-Irák (Mesopotamia) take to this +day from the (gold) mines of El-Fara' (sic), and of Nejrán, and +of Zúl-Marwah, and of Wady El-Kura[EN#60] and others. Moreover, +the fifth is also mentioned by Safáin el-Thauri, and by Abú +Hanífah and Abú Yúsuf, as well as by the people of El-'Irák." + +Follows on my list the celebrated Murúj el-Dahab, or "Meads of +Gold," by El-Mas'údi, who died in A.H. 346 (= A.D. 957), and +whose book extends to A.H. 332 (= A.D. 943). Unable to find the +translation of my friend Sprenger, I am compelled to quote from +"Maçoudi. Les Prairies d'Or," texte et traduction par C. Barbier +de Meynard et Pavet de Courteille. Société Asiatique, Paris, +1864, vol. iii. pp. 301-305. + +"Les théologians ne sont pas d'accord sur la question de savoir à +quel peuple appartenait Choâïb (Shu'ayb), fils de Nawil, fils de +Rawaïl, fils de Mour, fils d'Anka, fils de Madian, fils +d'Abraham, l'ami de Dieu, quoiqu'il soit certain que sa langue +était l'arabe. Les uns pensent qu'il appartenait aux races arabes +éteintes, aux nations qui ont disparu, à quelque une de ces +générations passées dont nous avons parlé. Suivant d'autres, il +s'agirait ici des descendants d'el-Mahd, fils de Djandal, fils de +Yâssob, fils de Madian, fils d'Abraham, dont Choâïb etait frére +par la naissance. De cette race sortit un grand nombre de rods +qui s'étaient dispersés dans des royaumes contigus les uns aux +autres ou sépare's. Parmi ces rods il faut distinguer ceux qui +étaient nommés Aboudjed, Hawaz, Houti, Kalamoun, Çafas et +Kourichat,[EN#61] tous, comme nous venons de le dire, fils +d'el-Mahd, fils de Djandal. Les lettres de l'alphabet sont +représentées précisément par les noms de ces rois, oú l'on +retrouve les vingt-quatre lettres sur lesquelles roule +l'Aboudjed.[EN#62] Il a e'te' dit beaucoup d'autres choses à +propos de ces lettres, comme nous l'avons fait remarquer dans cet +ouvrage; mais il n'entre pas dans notre sujet de rapporter ici +tous les systèmes contradictoires imaginés pour l'expliquer la +signification des lettres.[EN#63] Aboudjed fut roi de la Mecque +et de la partie du Hédjaz qui y confine. Hawaz et Houti régnérent +conjointement dans le pays de Weddj (El-Wijh), qui est le +territoire de Tayif, et la portion du Nedjd qui lui est contigue. +Kalamoun exerçait la suzeraineté sur le royaume de Madian; il y a +même des auteurs qui pensent que son autorité s'étendait +conjointement sur tous les princes et les pays que nous venons de +nommer. Le châtiment du jour de la nuée (Koran, xxvi. 189) eut +lieu sous le re'gne de Kalamoun. Choâïb appelant ces impies à la +pénitence, ils le traitèrent de menteur. Alors il les mena,ca du +châtiment du jour de la nuée, à la suite de quoi une porte du feu +du ciel fut ouverte sur eux. Choâïb se retire, avec ceux qui +avaient cru, dans l'endroit connu sous le nom d'el Aïkah, qui est +un fourré dans la direction de Madian. Cependant, lorsque lcs +incrédules sentirent les effets de la vengeance céleste, et que, +consumés par une chaleur terrible, ils comprirent enfin la +vérité, ils se mirent à la recherche de Choâïb et de ceux qui +avaient cru en lui. Ils les trouvérent abrités sous un nuage +blanc, doucement rafraichi par le zéphire, et ne ressentant en +rien les atteintes de la douleur. Ils les chassèrent de cet +asile, s'imaginant qu'ils y trouveraient eux-mêmes un refuge +contre le fléau qui les poursuivait. Mais Dieu changea cette nuée +en un feu qui se précipita sur leurs têtes. Mountassir, fils +d'el-Moundir el-Médéni, a parlé de ce peuple et a déploré son +triste sort dans des vers où il dit: + +"Les rois des enfants de Houti et de Çafas, qui vivaient dans +l'opulence, et ceux de Hawaz, qui possédaient des palais et des +appartements somptueux, + +"Régnaient sur la contrée du Hédjaz, et leur beauté était +semblable à celle des rayons du soleil ou à l'éclat de la rune; + +"Ils habitaient l'emplacement de la maison sainte, ils +adoucissaient les moeurs de leurs compatriotes et gouvernaient +avec illustration et honneur.... + +"Rien de plus curieux que l'histoire de ces rois, le ré'cit de +leurs guerres, de leurs actes, de la manière dont ils +s'emparèrent de ces contrées et établirent leur domination, apres +en avoir exterminé les premières possesseurs. Ceux-ci étaient des +peuples dont nous avons parlé dans nos précédents ouvrages, en +traitant ce sujet; nous appelons l'attention dans ce livre sur +nous premiers écrits, et nous engageons le lecteur à les +consulter." + +The next in order of seniority is the well-known Idrísí (A.H. 531 += A.D. 1136). Dr. Badger's Arabic copy not being paged, he has +forwarded to me extracts from the French translation by M. P. +Amadée Jaubert (Paris, 1836), having first compared them with the +original:-- + +Tome 1 p. 5: "De cette mer de la Chine dérive encore le golfe de +Colzoum (Kulzum), qui commence à Bab el-Mandeb,[EN#64] au point +ou se termine la mer des Indes. Il s'étend au nord, en inclinant +un peu vers l'occident, en longeant les rivages occidentales de +l'Iemen, le Téháma, l'Hédjaz, jusqu'au pays de Madian, d'Aila +(El-'Akabah), et de Faran; et se termine à la ville de Colzoum, +dont il tire son nom." + +P. 142: "Les districts fortifiés, dependents de la Mecque, sont . +. . Ceux qui sont sous la dépendance de Médine sont . . . +Madyan." + +P. 328: "Pour aller de Misr (Cairo) à' Yetrib (sic pro Yathrib), +on passe par les lieux suivants, Aïlah (Aylah) Madian," etc. + +P. 333: "Sur les bords de la mer Colzoum est la ville de Madian +(in orig. Madiyan) plus grande qui Tabouk (Tabúk), et le puits ou +Moïse (sur qui soit le salut!) abreuva le troupeau de Jethro +(E1Shu'ayb). On dit que ce puits est (maintenant) à sec [Note at +foot: Je lis Mu'attilah comme porte le MS. B., et non +Mu'azzamah,[EN#65] leçon donnee par le MS. A.]; et qu'on a élevé +audessus une construction. L'eau nécéssaire aux habitants +provient de sources. Le nom de Madiyan (sic) de'rive de celui de +la tribu à laquelle Jethro appartenait. Cette ville offre trés +peu de ressources et le commerce y est misérable." + +The following notice of Madyan is taken from the Kitáb el-Buldán +("Book of Countries"),[EN#66] by Ahmed ibn Abí Ya'kúb bin Wádhih, +surnamed El-Ya'kúbí and El-Kátib (the writer); according to the +Arabic colophon it was completed on the morning of Saturday, +Shawwál 21, A.H. 607 (= A.D. 1210). The author gives (p. 129, T. +G. J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1861) a description of the +route from Misr (Egypt, here Cairo) to Meccah. The first ten +stages are--1. Jubb el-'Umayrah; 2. El-Kerkirah (variant, +Karkírah); 3. 'Ajrúd, the well-known fort on the direct +Suez-Cairo line; 4. Jisr el-Kulzum, where the Gulf was crossed; +and, lastly, six Desert marches (Maráhil) to Aylah.[EN#67] The +latter station is described as a fine city upon the shore of the +Salt Sea, the meeting-place of the pilgrim-caravans from +Syria,[EN#68] Egypt, and the Maghrib (West Africa). It has +merchandise in plenty, and its people are a mixed race (Akhlát +min el-Nás).[EN#69] Here also are sold the fine cloaks called +Burdu habaratin, and also known as the Burd of the Apostle of +Allah[EN#70] (upon whom be peace!). He resumes, "And from Aylah +you march to Sharaf el-Baghl, and from the latter to Madyan, +which is a large and populous city, with abundant springs and +far-flowing streams of wholesome water; and gardens of +flower-beds. Its inhabitants are a mixed race (Akhlát min +el-Nás).[EN#71] The traveller making Meccah from Aylah takes the +shore of the Salt Sea, to a place called 'Aynúná (variant, 'Uyún, +plural of 'Ayn, an eye of water, a fountain): here are buildings +and palm clumps, and seeking-places (Matalib: see Lane for the +authorities), in which men search for gold." Dr. Badger draws my +attention to the last sentence, which seems also to have been +noticed by Sprenger (Alt. Geog. p. 32).[EN#72] + +The following is from the Kitáb Asár el-Bitad ("Book of the +Geographical Traditions of Countries"), by the far-famed +Zakariyyá bin Mohammed bin Mahmúd, surnamed El-Kazwíní, who died +A.H. 653 = A.D. 1255:--"Madyan" (p. 173, edidit. F. Wustenfeld, +Göttingen, 1848) "is a city of the tribe (Kaum) of Shu'ayb upon +whom be peace!): it was founded by Madyan, son of Ibrahim, the +Friend (of Allah), the grandfather of Shu'ayb. It exports the +merchandise of Tabúk between El-Medinah and El-Shám (Damascus). +In it is the well whence Musá (upon whom be peace!) watered the +flocks of Shu'áyb, and it is said that the well is of great +depth; and that over it is a building visited by (pious) men. +This settlement Madyan is subject to the district of Tabaríyyah +(Tiberias); and near it is the well, and at it a rock which Moses +uprooted,[EN#73] and which remains there to the present day." + +The Imám Abú'l-Abbás Ahmed ibn 'Ali Takiyy el-Dín, better known +as "El-Makrízi," wrote his book El-Mawáiz w'el-I'tibár fi' Zikr +el-Khitat w'el-'Asár ("The Admonition and Examples in +Commemorating Habitations and Traditions") in A.H. 825 (= A.D. +1421), during the latter part of the second Mamlúk dynasty; and +he brings down the history to the reign of Kansu Ghori, whose +fort we shall see at El-'Akabah. He tells us (edition of +Gottingen, 1848, Sahífah 48), "The loftiest mountain in Madyan +is called Zubayr.[EN#74] . . . It is also related that amongst +the settlements of the (Madyanite) tribe are the villages of +Petræa (<Arabic>), namely, the Kúrat (circuit) of El-Tor, and +Fárán (Pharan), and Ráyeh, and Kulzum, and Aylah (El-'Akabah) +with its surroundings; Madyan with its surroundings; and Awíd and +Haurá (Leukè-Kóme) with their surroundings, and Badá[EN#75] and +Shaghab."[EN#76] He speaks of many ruined cities whose +inhabitants had disappeared: forty, however, remained; some with, +and others without, names. Between El-Hejaz and Egypt-Syria were +sixteen cities, ten of them lying towards Palestine. The most +important were El-Khalasah,[EN#77] with its idol-temple destroyed +by Mohammed, and El-Sani'tah, whose stones had been removed to +build Ghazzah (Gaza). The others were El-Mederah, El-Minyah, +El-A'waj, El-Khuwayrak, El-Bírayn, El-Máayn, El-Sebá, and +El-Mu'allak.[EN#78] + +The Marásid el-Ittílá 'alá Asmá el-Amkanat w'el-Buká' +("Observations of Information on the Names of Places and +Countries"), which contains two dates in the body of the work, +viz. A.H. 997 ( = A.D. 1589) and A.H. 1168 (A.D. = 1755), and +which is probably compiled from El-Kazwíní, says sub voce Madyan, +after giving the "movement" of the word: "It is a city of the +tribe of Shu'ayb, opposite Tabúk, and upon the sea of El-Kulzum, +six stages (Maráhil) separating the two. It is larger than Tabúk, +and in it is the well whence Moses watered the flocks of +Shu'ayb." Finally, it repeats that Madyan is under the district +of "Tabariyyá" or Tiberias[EN#79] (vol. iii. p. 64, edidit. T. G. +J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1854, e duobus Codd. MSS.). + +I conclude this unpopular chapter with some remarks by Dr. Badger +concerning the apparent connection of Jethro and +El-Medínah:[EN#80] "It struck me when studying 'Madyan,' which is +the name of a place as well as of a man,[EN#81] that 'Yáthrib,' +the ancient term of al-Madínah, might have served the same double +purpose. At all events, it was singular to find a Yáthrib +somewhere near Madyan, and that the word was not far removed from +the <Hebrew> (Yithro), the name given in Hebrew to Moses' +Midianite father-in-law. I also note that the Septuagint renders +the Hebrew Yithro by <Greek> Peshito by <Arabic> (Yathrûn), +which the new Arabic version of the Bible, published at Bairu't +(Syria), follows; making it <Arabic> (Yáthrûn). The name in +Hebrew (Exod. iv. 18) is also written <Hebrew> (Yether). + +"My theory is this. Firstly, there is no dependence to be placed +on the Masoretic points, especially when affixed to names of +places. Secondly, we have no certain knowledge of the language +used by the Midianites in those ancient times. Their territory +extended northwards towards Palestine, and from their very +intimate relations with the Israelites, as friends and as +enemies, both nations appear to have understood each other +perfectly. May not their language, then, have been a dialect of +the Aramean?[EN#82] If so, the <Hebrew> (Yithro) of the Bible +might have been <Hebrew> (Yithrab, Yathrib, etc.). Instances of +the apocopated <Hebrew> (b) are common in the Chaldean or +Syro-Chaldaic at the present day; e.g. <Arabic> (Yáheb Alaha) is +pronounced Yáu-Alaha; <Arabic> (Yashuá'-yaheb) becomes +Yashuá-yau, etc., the final Beth <Arabic> (b) or the <Arabic> +(heb) being converted into a <Arabic> (w). Hence why may not +<Hebrew> (Yithro) have been originally <Hebrew> (Yithrab or +Yathrib)? Of course, this is only a conjecture of mine." + +Mr. E. Stanley Poole (loc. cit.) says that the Arabs dispute +whether the name "Medyen" be foreign or Arabic; and whether +"Medyen" spoke Arabic. He considers the absurd enumeration of the +alphabetical kings (El-Mas'údi, quoted above) to be curious, as +possibly containing some vague reference to the language of +Midian. When these kings are said contemporaneously to have ruled +over Meccah, Western Nejd, Yemen, "Medyen," Egypt, etc., it is +extremely improbable that Midian ever penetrated into Yemen, +notwithstanding the hints of Arab authors to the contrary. Yákút +el-Hamawi (born A.H. 574 or 575 = A.D. 1178-79, and died A.H. 626 += A.D. 1228), in the Mu'jam el-Buldán (cited in the Journ. of the +Deutsch. Morgen. Gesellschaft), declares that a South Arabic +dialect is of Midian, and El-Mas'údi (apud Schultens, pp. +158-159) inserts a Midianite king among the rulers of Yemen. The +latter, however, is more probable than the former; it may be an +accidental and individual, not a material occurrence. + +The following list of ruins, some cities, others towns, were all, +with two exceptions (Nos. 2 and 18), visited or explored by the +second Khedivial Expedition. The Mashghal, ateliers or subsidiary +workshops, were in cases learned only by hearsay:-- + +1. Old 'Akabah (Aylah) Mashghal, up Valley el-Yitm. 3. + +2. El-Hakl (pronounced "Hagul"), the <Greek> of Ptolemy: it +was seen from the sea, and notes were taken of its ruins and +furnaces. + +3. Nakhil Tayyib Ism, in mountain of the same name: its ruined +dam (?) and buildings were surveyed by Lieutenant Amir. + +4. Makná. Twice visited. + +5. Magháir Shu'ayb. Two ateliers inspected, and one heard of on +the Jebel el-Lauz: total, 3. + +6. 'Aynúnah. In Jebel Zahd (ruins and furnaces). 1. + +7. Sharmá. An atelier on the Jebel Fás, and another on the Jebel +Harb, both high up: total, 2. + +8. Tiryam. An atelier in the Wady Urnub. 1. + +9. Abu Hawáwít, near El-Muwaylah. Scoriæ found about the fort of +El-Muwaylah and near Sharm Yáhárr. 2. + +10. Zibayyib in Wady Surr. Atelier Sayl Umm Laban (Wady Sadr). 1. + +11. Khulasah.[EN#83] Saw specimens of worked metal from Wady +Kh'shabríyyah, and the upper Wady Surr; also ruins in the Sayl +Abú Sha'r, south-west and seawards of the Shárr block. + +12. Ma' el-Badá, alias Diyár el-Nasárá, in the upper Wady Dámah. + +13. Shuwák, the <Greek> of Ptolemy. Atelier in Jebel +el-Sání. 1. + +14. Shaghab, another large city mentioned by El-Makrízi. + +15. Ruins of El-Khandakí. Broken quartz, and made road at +El-Kutayyifah; two other ateliers in Wady Ruways to the west: +total, 3. + +16. Umm Amil. Near it an atelier still called El-Dayr, or the +Convent. 1. + +17. Ziba', old town; Umm Jirmah to the north. 1. + +18. Majirmah (pronounced M'jirmah), one day's march south of +Zibá. Large ruins, supposed to have been the classical +Rhaunathos. + +Thus, besides a total of eighteen ruins, more or less extensive, +twenty ateliers were seen or heard of; making up a total of +thirty-eight--not far removed from the forty traditional +settlements of the mediæval Arab geographers. + +In the plateau of New Red Sandstone called El-Hismá, ruins and +inscriptions are said to be found at the Jebel Rawiyán, whose +Wady is mentioned by Wallin (p. 308); at Ruáfá, between the two +hills El-Rakhamatayn; and at sundry other places, which we were +unable to visit. Beyond the Hisma' I also collected notices of +El-Karáyyá, large ruins first alluded to by Wallin (p. +316).[EN#84] + +During our exploration of the region below El-Muwaylah (my +Southern Midian), and our cruise to El-Haura', the following +sites were either seen or reported:-- + +1. Ruins in the Wady Dukhán, south of the Wady el-Azlam: north of +El-Wijh. + +2. El-Nabaghah, in the Wady el-Marrah: north of El-Wijh. + +3. Ruins, furnaces and quartz-strews, in the Fara't Lebayyiz. + +4. El-Wijh, the port of Strabo's "Egra" (?). + +5. Inland fort of El-Wijh; an old metal-working ground. + +6. The great mine and ruins, Umm el-Karayya't, everywhere +surrounded by ateliers. + +7. El-Kubbah, a small isolated ruin to the east of No. 6. + +8. El-Khaur, a working-place to the west of No. 6. + +9. The large works called Umm el-Hara'b, with two ruined ateliers +near them. + +10. Aba'l-Gezáz, a working-place in the watercourse of the same +name, an upper branch of the Wady Salbah. + +11. The fine plain of Bada', with the Mashghal el-'Arayfát heard +of to the north. + +12. Marwát, ruins on a ridge near Badá, and signs of a settlement +in the valley. In the Wady Laylah, remains also spoken of. + +13. Aba'l-Marú, probably the Zu'l-Marwah of Bilázurí; extensive +remains of buildings; a huge reef of quartz, carefully worked, +and smaller ruins further down the valley. + +14. The classical temple or tomb on the left bank of the great +Wady Hamz, dividing Southern Midian from El-Hejaz in the Turkish +dominions. + +15. Large remains, in two divisions, at El-Haurá.[EN#85] + +Concerning the ateliers, details will be found in the following +pages. Many of them suggest a kind of compromise between the +camps and settlements of the Stone Age, where, e.g. at Pressigny +and Grimes' Graves, the only remnant of man is a vast strew of +worked silexes; and the wandering fraternity of Freemasons who +hutted themselves near the work in hand. And I would here lay +special stress upon my suspicion that the ancestors of the +despised Hutaym may have been the Gypsy-caste that worked the +metals in Midian. + +For the date of the many ruins which stud the country, I will +assume empirically that their destruction is coeval with that of +the Christian Churches in Negeb, or the South Country,[EN#86] +that adjoins Midian Proper on the north-west. It may date from +either the invasion of Khusrau Anúshírawán, the conquering +Sassanian King Chosroes (A.D. 531-579); or from the expedition, +sent by the Caliph Omar and his successors, beginning in A.D. +651. But, as will appear in the course of these pages, there was +a second destruction; and that evidently dates from the early +sixteenth century, when Sultán Selim laid out his maritime road +for the Hajj-caravan. Before that time the Egyptian caravans, as +will be seen, marched inland, and often passed from Midian to +El-Hijr. + + + + + + Chapter V. + Work At, and Excursions From, Magháir Shu'Ayb. + + + +By the blessing of Nebi Shu'ayb and a glance from his eyrie, I at +once suspected that the western Shigd was the "Mountain on a +mountain" alluded to by Haji Wali;[EN#87] and, on January 12, +1878, I ascertained that such was the case. The old man had given +me a hand-sketch of the most artless, showing a gorge between two +rocks, a hill of two stages to the left or west, and a couple of +Wadys draining it to the sea; one (Wady Makná) trending +northwest, and the other (Wady 'Afál) south-west. The word +"Ishmah," affixed to the northern part of the route, is evidently +the Hismá plateau, and not, as I had supposed it to be, the Jebel +Tayyib Ism. + +Nor had we any difficulty in discovering Haji Wali's tree, a +solitary Mimosa to the right of the caravan-track, springing from +the sands of the Shigdawayn gorge. The latter is formed by the +sister-blocks before alluded to. The western Shigd, on the right +of the Wady 'Afál, is composed of carbonate of lime and +sandstones dyed with manganese, the whole resting upon a core of +grey granite; the formation is the same as the eastern feature, +but the lines of the latter are gentler, and the culminating +tower is wanting. + +The western Shigd, indeed, is sufficiently peculiar. It is the +southern apex of a short range, numbering some four heads: the +eastern flank discharges the Wady Kizáz, which feeds the 'Afál; +and the western the Wady Makná. The summit of the broken and +spiny cone is a huge perpendicular block, apparently inaccessible +as a tower, and composed of the dull yellow ferruginous +conglomerate called "El-Safrá:" the tint contrasts strongly with +a long line of bright white Rugham (gypsum), bisecting the head +of the Wady Makná. Below the apex is a thick stratum of +manganese-stained rock: the upper line, with a dip of 15 deg. +towards the main valley, looks much like a row of bulwarks which +had slipped from the horizontal, while still bluff between the +north-east and east. Indeed, the shape is so regular that M. +Lacaze, at first sight, asked if it was une construction. + +As soon as the washing-trough was brought up from Sharmá, we +opened operations by digging a trench, at least twelve feet deep, +in the re-entering angle of the bed close to the Mimosa tree. The +sand, pink above and chloritic yellow below, ended in a thick bed +of water-rolled pebbles, not in ground-rock; nor did it show the +couch of excellent clay which usually underlies the surface, and +which, I have said, is extracted through pits to make sun-dried +brick, swish, and other building materials. We also secured some +of the blood-red earth from the eastern tail of the northern +"Shigh," the manganese-stained Tauá and the gravelly sand washed +out of the Cascalho-gravel, the latter very promising. The result +of our careless working, however, was not successful; the normal +ilmenite, black sand of magnetic iron, took the place of +gold-dust. And this unlooked-for end again made us suspicious of +my old friend's proceedings: the first occasion was that of his +notable "malingering." Had he bought a pinch of "Tibr" (pure +gold) from the Bedawin, and mixed it with the handful of surface +stuff ? Had the assayer at Alexandria played him a trick ? Or had +an exceptionally heavy torrent really washed down auriferous +"tailings"? I willingly believe the latter to have been the case; +and we shall presently see it is within the range of possibility. +Traces of gold were found by Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. Ross, +through his pyrological process, in the sandy clays brought from +the mouth of Wady Makná. + +Meanwhile, despite our magnificent offers, the Arabs managed to +keep inviolate their secret--if they had one. An old man, now a +rich merchant and householder at Suez, had repeatedly declared to +Mr. A. G. K. Levick, that in his young days the Bedawin washed +gold in Midian, till the industry fell into disrepute. During my +last visit he was unfortunately absent upon a pilgrimage; after +our return he asserted that he had sent for specimens of the +sand, but that it paid too little even for transport. This 'Abd +el-Hámid el-Shámi, interviewed, after our return, by Mr. Clarke, +declared more than once, and still declares, that many years ago +he obtained from the Wady Zibá, behind the settlement, a certain +quantity of reddish sand which appeared auriferous. He roasted +and washed the contents of three small baskets called +"Coffas"[EN#88] by Europeans; and this yielded a pinch of "what +looked like pure gold." + +In camp our men spoke freely of Tibr stored in quills, carried +behind the ear, and sold at Suez--not at Cairo for fear of +consequences. Yet neither promises nor bribes would persuade the +poorest to break through the rule of silence. The whole might +have been a canard: on the other hand, there was also a valid +reason for reticence; the open mouth would not long have led to a +sound throat. So our many informants contented themselves with +telling us frequent tales of gold ornaments picked up after rain; +they showed us a ring made from a bit found on the Tabúk road, +and they invariably assure us that we shall find wondrous +things--about the next station. + +At Magháir Shu'ayb we wasted a whole fortnight (January 11-24, +1878) in vain works; and I afterwards bitterly repented that the +time had not been given to South Midian. Yet the delay was +pleasant enough, after the month which is required to acquire, or +to recover, the habit of tent-life. The halting-day was mostly +spent as follows: At six a.m., and somewhat later on cold +mornings, the Boruji sounds his réveillé--Kum, yá Habíbí, sáh +el-Naum ("Rise, friend! sleep is done"), as the Egyptian officers +interpret the call. A curious business he makes of it, when his +fingers are half frozen; yet Bugler Mersál Abú Dunya is a man of +ambition, who persistently, and despite the coarse laughter of +Europeans, repairs for quiet practicing to the bush. We drink tea +or coffee made by Engineer Ali Marie, or by Quartermaster Yusuf, +not by Europeans; two camels supply us with sweet milk; butter we +have brought; and nothing is wanted for complete comfort but +bread. + +We then separate to our work, after telling off the quarrymen to +their several tasks. Inveterate idlers and ne'er-do-weels, their +only object in life is not to labour; a dozen of them will pass a +day in breaking ten pounds' weight of stone. They pound in the +style of the Eastern tobacconist, with a very short stroke and a +very long stay. At last they burst the sieves in order to enjoy a +quieter life. They will do nothing without superintendence; +whilst the officer is absent they sit and chat, smoke, or lie +down to rest; and they are never to be entrusted with a +water-skin or a bottle of spirits. The fellows will station one +of their number on the nearest hill, whilst their comrades enjoy +a sounder sleep; they are the greatest of cowards, and yet none +would thus have acted sentinel even in the presence of the enemy. +These useful articles all expect a liberal "bakhshísh" when the +journey is done, with the usual Asiatic feeling: they know that +they deserve nothing, but my "dignity" obliges me to largess. On +this occasion it did not. + +Those told off to dig prefer to make a deep pit, because fewer +can work together at it, rather than scrape off and sift the two +feet of surface which yield "antíka's." They rob what they can: +every scrap of metal stylus, manilla, or ring is carefully +tested, scraped, broken or filed, in order to see whether it be +gold. Punishment is plentifully administered, but in vain; we +cannot even cure their unclean habits of washing in and polluting +the fountain source. Three Europeans would easily do the work of +these thirty poor devils. + +Mr. Clarke is our camp-manager in general: he is also our jäger; +he shoots the wild poultry, duck and partridge, sand-grouse, and +"Bob White" the quail, for half our dinners; and the Arabs call +him the "Angel of Death belonging to the Birds." He failed to +secure a noble eagle in the Wady 'Afál, whose nest was built upon +an inaccessible cliff: he described the bird as standing as high +as our table, and with a width of six to seven feet from wing to +wing. He also brought tidings of a large (horned?) owl, possibly +the same species as the fine bird noted at Sinai. The Arabs call +it classically Búmah, and vulgarly Umm Kuwayk ("Mother of +Squeaking"): the Fellahin believe that it sucks out children's +eyes, and hence their name, "Massásah." Here, as in the Sinaitic +Peninsula, "the owl and the hyena are used as charms; and the +burnt feathers of the former, and the boiled flesh of the latter +(superior filth!), are considered as infallible specifics for +numerous disorders." In other parts of Arabia the hooting of the +owl portends death; and the cry, Fát--fát, is interpreted, "He is +gone, gone." + +The two Staff-officers make plans and sketches of the new places, +or they protract their field-books, working very hard and very +slowly. I have but little confidence in their route-surveys: +sights are taken from mule-back, and distances are judged by the +eye. True, the protractions come out well, but this is all the +worse, suggesting the process commonly called "doctoring." For +the style of thing, however, "dead reckoning" did well enough. + +M. Lacaze is the most ardent. Accompanied by his favourite +orderly, Salámat el-Nahhás, an intelligent negro from Dár-For, he +sets out after breakfast with a bit of bread, a flagon of water, +a tent-umbrella, and his tools, which he loses with remarkable +punctuality, to spend the whole day sketching, painting, and +photographing. M. Philipin is our useful man: he superintends the +washing-cradle; he wanders far and wide, gun in hand, bringing us +specimens of everything that strikes the eye; and he is great at +his forge: the Bedawin sit for hours, gazing attentively as he +converts a file into a knife, and illustrating the reverence with +which, in early days, men regarded Vulcan and Wayland Smith. + +At eleven a.m. the bugle sounds Tijrí taakul! ("Run and feed"), a +signal for déjeuner à la fourchette. It is a soup, a stew, and a +Puláo ("pilaff") of rice and meat, sheep or goat, the only +provisions that poor Midian can afford, accompanied by onions and +garlic, which are eaten like apples, washed down with bon +ordinaire; followed by cheese when we have it, and ending with +tea or coffee. George the cook proves himself an excellent man +when deprived of oil and undemoralized by contact with his fellow +Greeks. After feeding, the idlers, who have slumbered, or rather +have remained in bed, between eight p.m. and six to seven a.m., +generally manage a couple of hours' siesta, loudly declaring that +they have been wide awake. One of the party seems to live by the +blessing of him who invented sleep, and he is always good for +half of the twenty-four hours--how they must envy him whose +unhappy brains can be stupefied only by poisonous chloral! + +At two p.m., after drinking tea or coffee once more, we proceed +to another four hours' spell of work. As sunset and the cold +hours draw near, all assemble about the fire, generally two or +three huge palm trunks, whose blaze gladdens the soul of the +lonely night-sentinel; and, assembling the Shaykhs of the Arabs, +we gather from them information geographical, historical, and +ethnological. The amount of invention, of pure fancy, of airy +lying, is truly sensational; while at the same time they conceal +from us everything they can; and, more especially, everything we +most wish to know. Firstly, they do not want us to spy out the +secrets of the land; and, secondly, they count upon fleecing us +through another season. During the whole day, but notably at this +hour, we have the normal distractions of the Arabian journey. One +man brings, and expects "bakhshísh" for, a bit of broken metal or +some ridiculous stone; another grumbles for meat; and a third +wants tobacco, medicine, or something to be had for the asking. I +am careful to pay liberally, as by so doing the country is well +scoured. + +Dinner, at seven p.m., is a copy of what was served before noon. +It is followed by another sitting round the fire, which is built +inside the mess tent when cold compels. At times the conversation +lasts till midnight; and, when cognac or whisky is plentiful, I +have heard it abut upon the Battle of Waterloo and the +Immortality of the Soul. Piquet and écarté are reserved for life +on board ship. Our only reading consists of newspapers, which +come by camel post every three weeks; and a few "Tauchnitz," +often odd volumes. I marvel, as much as Hamlet ever did, to see +the passionate influence of the storyteller upon those full-grown +children, bearded men; to find them, in the midst of this wild +new nature, so utterly absorbed by the fictitious weal and woe of +some poor creature of the author's brain, that they neglect even +what they call their "meals ;" allow their "teas" to cool, and +strain their eyesight poring over page after page in the dim +light of a rusty lantern. Thus also the Egyptian, after sitting +in his café with all his ears and eyes opened their widest, +whilst the story-teller drones out the old tale of Abú Zayd, will +dispute till midnight, and walk home disputing about what, under +such and such circumstances, they themselves would have done. To +me the main use of "Tauchnitz" was to make Arabia appear the +happier, by viewing, from the calm vantage-ground of the Desert, +the meanness and the littlenesses of civilized life--in novels. + +The marching-day is only the halting-day in movement. By seven +a.m. in winter and four a.m. in spring, we have breakfasted and +are ready to mount mule or dromedary; more generally, however, we +set out, accompanied by the Sayyid and the Shaykhs, for a morning +walk. The tents and, most important of all, the tent-table are +left to follow under the charge of the Egyptian officers, who +allow no dawdling. With us are the cook and the two +body-servants, riding of course: they carry meat, drink, and +tobacco in my big tin cylinder intended to collect plants; and +they prefer to give us cold whilst we fight for hot breakfasts. +After resting between ten a.m. and noon in some shady spot, +generally under a thorn, we ride on to the camping-ground, which +we reach between two and three p.m. This is the worst part of the +day for man and beast, especially for the mules--hence the +necessity of early rising. + +The average work rarely exceeds six hours (= eighteen to twenty +miles). Even this, if kept up day after day, is hard labour for +our montures, venerable animals whose chests, galled by the +breast-straps, show that they have not been broken to the saddle. +Accustomed through life to ply in a state of semi-somnolence, +between Cairo and the Citadel, they begin by proving how +unintelligent want of education can make one of the most +intelligent of beasts. They trip over every pebble, and are +almost useless on rough and broken ground; they start and swerve +at a man, a tree, a rock, a distant view or a glimpse of the sea; +they will not leave one another, and they indulge their pet +dislikes: this shies at a camel, that kicks at a dog. Presently +Tamaddun, as the Arabs say, "urbanity," or, more literally, being +"citified," asserts itself, as in the human cockney; and at last +they become cleverer and more knowing than any country-bred. They +climb up the ladders of stone with marvellous caution, and slip +down the slopes of sand on their haunches; they round every +rat-hole which would admit a hoof; and they know better than we +do where water is. They are not always well treated; the +"galloping griff" is amongst us, who enjoys "lambing" and +"bucketing" even a half-donkey. Of course, the more sensible +animal of the two is knocked up; whilst the rider assumes the +airs of one versed in the haute école. The only difficulty, by no +fault of the mules, was the matter of irons: shoeless they could +travel only in sand; and, as has been said, the farrier was +forgotten. + +Amongst our recreant Shaykhs I must not include Furayj bin Rafí'a +el-Huwaytí, a man of whom any tribe might be proud, and a living +proof that the Bedawi may still be a true gentleman. A short +figure, meagre of course, as becomes the denizen of the Desert, +but "hard as nails," he has straight comely features, a clean +dark skin, and a comparatively full beard, already, like his +hair, waxing white, although he cannot be forty-five. A bullet in +the back, and both hands distorted by sabre-cuts, attempts at +assassination due to his own kin, do not prevent his using sword, +gun, and pistol. He is the 'Agíd of the tribe, the African +"Captain of War;" as opposed to the civil authority, the Shayhk, +and to the judicial, the Kázi. At first it is somewhat startling +to hear him prescribe a slit weasand as a cure for lying; yet he +seems to be known, loved, and respected by all around him, +including his hereditary foes, the Ma'ázah. He is the only Bedawi +in camp who prays. Naturally he is a genealogist, rich in local +lore. He counteracts all the intrigues by which that rat-faced +little rascal, Shaykh Hasan el-'Ukbi, tries to breed mischief +between friends. He is a walking map; it would be easy to draw up +a rude plan of the country from his information. He does not know +hours and miles, but he can tell to a nicety the comparative +length of a march; and, when ignorant, he has the courage to say +M'adri, "don't know." He never asked me for anything, nor told a +lie, nor even hid a water-hole. Willing and ready to undertake +the longest march, the hardest work, his word is Házir--"I'm +here"--and he will even walk to mount a tired man. Seated upon +his loud-voiced little Hijn,[EN#89] remarkable because it is of +the noble Bishári strain, bred between the Nile and the Red Sea, +he is ever the guide in chief. At last it ends with Nádi Shaykh +Furayj!--"Call Shaykh Furayj"--when anything is to be done, to be +explained, to be discovered. I would willingly have recommended +him for the chieftainship of his tribe, but he is not wealthy; he +wisely prefers to see the dignity in the hands of his cousin +'Alayán, who, by-the-by, is helpless without him. He remained +with us to the end: he seemed to take a pride in accompanying the +expedition by sea to El-Haurá, and by land to the Wady Hamz, far +beyond the limits of his tribe. When derided for mounting a pair +of Government "bluchers," tied over bare feet, with bits of +glaring tassel-string from his camel-saddle, he quoted the +proverb, "Whoso liveth with a people forty days becomes of them." +We parted after the most friendly adieu, or rather au revoir, and +he was delighted with some small gifts of useful weapons:--I +wonder whether Shaykh Furayj will prove "milk," to use Sir Walter +Scott's phrase, "which can stand more than one skimming." + +In such wild travel, the traveller's comfort depends mainly upon +weather. Usually the air of Magháir Shu'ayb was keen, pure, and +invigorating, with a distinct alternation of land-breeze by +night, and of sea-breeze by day. Nothing could be more charming +than the flushing of the mountains at sunrise and sunset, and the +magnificence of the windy, wintry noon. The rocky spires, +pinnacles, and domes, glowing with gorgeous golden light, and the +lower ranges, shaded with hazy blue, umber-red, and luminous +purple, fell into picture and formed prospects indescribably pure +and pellucid. But the average of the aneroid (29.19) gave an +altitude of eight hundred feet; and even in this submaritime +region, the minimum temperature was 42 deg. F., ranging to a +maximum of 85 deg F. in the shade. These are extremes which the +soft Egyptian body, reared in the house or the hut, could hardly +support. + +Darwaysh Effendi followed suit after Yusuf Effendi; it was a +study to see him swathed to the nose, bundled in the thickest +clothes, with an umbrella opened against the sun, and with a +soldier leading his staid old mule. Bukhayt Ahmar and several of +the soldiers were laid up; Ahmed Kaptán was incapacitated for +work by an old and inveterate hernia, the effect, he said, of +riding his violent little beast; and a sound ague and fever, +which continued three days, obliterated in my own case the last +evils of Karlsbad. We had one night of rain (January 15), +beginning gently at 2.30 a.m., and ending in a heavy +downfall--unfortunately a pluviometer was one of the forgotten +articles. Before the shower, earth was dry as a bone; shortly +after it, sprouts of the greenest grass began to appear in the +low places, and under the shadow of the perennial shrubs. The +cold damp seemed to make even the snakes torpid: for the first +time in my life I trod upon one--a clairvoyante having already +warned me against serpents and scorpions. There were also bursts +of heat, ending in the normal three grey days of raw piercing +norther; and followed by a still warmer spell. Upon the Gulf of +El-'Akabah a violent gale was blowing. On the whole the winter +climate of inland Midian is trying, and a speedy return to the +seaboard air is at times advisable, while South Midian feels like +Thebes after Cairo. The coast climate is simply perfect, save and +except when El-Aylí, the storm-wind from 'Akabat Aylah, is +abroad. My meteorological journal was carefully kept, despite the +imperfection of the instruments. Mr. Clarke registered the +observations during my illness; Mr. Duguid and Násir Kaptán made +simultaneous observations on board the ships; and Dr. Maclean +kindly corrected the instrumental errors after our return to +Cairo.[EN#90] + +I had proposed to march upon the Hismá, or sandy plateau to the +east, which can be made from Magháir Shu'ayb without the +mortification of a Nakb, or ladder of stone. Thereupon our +Tagaygát-Huwaytát Shaykhs and camel-men began to express great +fear of the 'Imran-Huwaytát, refusing to enter their lands +without express leave and the presence of a Ghafír ("surety"). +Our caravan-leader, the gallant Sayyid, at once set off in search +of 'Brahim bin Makbúl, second chief of the 'Imrán, and recognized +by the Egyptian Government as the avocat, spokesman and +diplomatist, the liar and intriguer of his tribe. This man was +found near El-Hakl (Hagul), two long marches ahead: he came in +readily enough, holding in hand my kerchief as a pledge of +protection, and accompanied by three petty chiefs, Musallam, +Sa'd, and Muhaysin, all with an eye to "bakhshísh." In fact, +every naked-footed "cousin," a little above the average clansman, +would call himself a Shaykh, and claim his Musháhirah, or monthly +pay; not a cateran came near us but affected to hold himself +dishonoured if not provided at once with the regular salary. +'Brahim was wholly beardless, and our Egyptians quoted their +proverb, Sabáh el-Kurúd, wa lá Sabán el-'Ajrúd--"Better (see +ill-omened) monkeys in the morning than the beardless man." As +the corruption of the best turns to the worst, so the Bedawi, a +noble race in its own wilds, becomes thoroughly degraded by +contact with civilization. I remember a certain chief of the Wuld +Ali tribe, near Damascus, who was made a Freemason at Bayrút, and +the result was that "brother" Mohammed became a model villain. + +By way of payment for escort and conveyance to the Hismá, 'Brahim +expected a recognition of his claim upon the soil of Magháir +Shu'ayb, which belongs to the wretched Masá'id. He held the true +Ishmaelitic tenet, that as Sayyidná (our Lord) Ádam had died +intestate, so all men (Arabs) have a right to all things, +provided the right can be established by might. Hence the saying +of the Fellah, "Shun the Arab and the itch." Thus encouraged by +the Shaykhs, the "dodges" of the clansmen became as manifold as +they were palpable. They wanted us to pay for camping-ground; +they complained aloud when we cut a palm-frond for palms, or used +a rotten fallen trunk for fuel. They made their sheep appear fat +by drenching them with water. The people of the Fort el-Muwaylah, +determined not to déroger, sent to us, for sale, the eggs laid by +our own fowls. And so forth. + +Presently 'Brahim brought in his elder brother, Khizr bin Makbúl, +about as ill-conditioned a "cuss" as himself. Very dark, with the +left eye clean gone, this worthy appeared pretentiously dressed +in the pink of Desert fashion--a scarlet cloak, sheepskin-lined, +and bearing a huge patch of blue cloth between the shoulders; a +crimson caftan, and red morocco boots with irons resembling +ice-cramps at the heels. Like 'Brahim, he uses his Bákúr, or +crooked stick, to trace lines and dots upon the ground; +similarly, the Yankee whittles to hide the trick that lurks in +his eyes. Khizr tents in the Hismá, and his manners are wild and +rough as his dwelling-place; possibly manly, brusque certainly, +like the Desert Druzes of the Jebel Haurán. He paid his first +visit when our Shaykhs were being operated upon by the +photographer: I fancied that such a novelty would have attracted +his attention for the moment. But no: his first question was, +Aysh 'Ujratí?--"What is the hire for my camels?" Finally, these +men threw so many difficulties in our way, that I was compelled +to defer our exploration of the eastern region to a later day. + +After a week of washing for metals at Magháir Shu'ayb, it was +time to move further afield. On January 17th, the Egyptian +Staff-officers rode up the Wady 'Afál, and beyond the two +pyramidal rocks of white stone, which have fallen from the +towered "Shigd," they found on its right bank the ruins of a +small atelier. It lies nearly opposite the mouth of the Wady +Tafrígh, which is bounded north by a hill of the same name; and +south by the lesser "Shigd." Beyond it comes the Wady Nimir, the +broad drain of the Jibál el-Nimir, "Hills of the Leopard," +feeding the 'Afál: the upper valley is said to have water and +palms. After a "leg" to the north-east (45 deg. mag.), they found +the 'Afál running from due north; and one hour (= three miles) +led them to other ruins on the eastern side of the low hills that +prolong to the north the greater "Shigd." The names of both sites +were unknown even to Shaykh Furayj. The foundations of uncut +boulders showed a semicircle of buildings measuring 229 paces +across the horseshoe. They counted eleven tenements--probably +occupied by the slave-owners and superintendents--squares and +oblongs, separated by intervals of from forty-five to +ninety-seven or a hundred paces. On the north-north-east lay the +chief furnace, a parallelogram of some twenty-three paces, built +of stone and surrounded by scatters of broken white quartz and +scoriæ. These two workshops seem to argue that the country was +formerly much better watered than it is now. Moreover, it +convinced me that the only rock regularly treated by the +ancients, in this region, was the metallic Marú (quartz). + + +I had heard by mere chance of a "White Mountain," at no great +distance, in the mass of hills bounding to the north the +Secondary formations of Magháir Shu'ayb. On January 21st, M. +Marie and Lieutenant Amir were detached to inspect it. They were +guided by the active Furayj and a Bedawi lad, Hamdán of the +Amírát, who on receiving a "stone dollar" (i.e. silver) could not +understand its use. Travelling in a general northern direction, +the little party reached their destination in about three hours +(= nine miles). They found some difficulty in threading a mile +and a quarter of very ugly road, a Nakb, passing through rocks +glittering with mica; a ladder of stony steps and overfalls, with +angles and zigzags where camels can carry only half-loads. The +European dismounted; the Egyptian, who was firm in the saddle, +rode his mule the whole way. We afterwards, however, explored a +comparatively good road, viâ the Wady Murákh, to the seaboard, +which will spare the future metal-smelter much trouble and +expense. + +The quartz mountain is, like almost all the others, the expanded +mushroom-like head of a huge filon or vein; and minor filets +thread all the neighbouring heights. The latter are the +foot-hills of the great Jebel Zánah, a towering, dark, and +dome-shaped mass clearly visible from Magháir Shu'ayb. This +remarkable block appeared to me the tallest we had hitherto seen; +it is probably the "Tayyibat Ism, 6000," of the Hydrographic +Chart. The travellers ascended the Jebel el-Marú, trembling the +while with cold; and from its summit, some fifteen hundred feet +above sea-level, they had a grand view of the seaboard and the +sea. They brought home specimens of the rock, and fondly fancied +that they had struck gold: it was again that abominable +"crow-gold" (pyrites), which has played the unwary traveller so +many a foul practical joke. + +During our stay at Magháir Shu'ayb the camp had been much excited +by Bedawi reports of many marvels in the lands to the north and +the north-east. The Arabs soon learned to think that everything +was worth showing: they led M. Lacaze for long miles to a rock +where bees were hiving. A half-naked 'Umayri shepherd, one Suwayd +bin Sa'íd, had told us of a Hajar masdúd ("closed stone") about +the size of a tent, with another of darker colour set in it; the +Arabs had been unable to break it open, but they succeeded with a +similar rock in the Hismá, finding inside only Tibn ("tribulated +straw") and charcoal. Another had seen a Kidr Dahab ("golden +pot"), in the 'Aligán section of the Wady el-Hakl (Hagul) where +it leaves the Hismá; and a matchlock-man had brought down with +his bullet a bit of precious metal from the upper part. This +report prevails in many places: it may have come all the way from +"Pharaoh's Treasury" at Petra, or from the Sinaitic Wady Lejá. At +the mouth of the latter is the Hajar el-Kidr ("Potrock"), which +every passing Arab either stones or strikes with his staff, +hoping that the mysterious utensil will burst and shed its golden +shower. Moreover, a half-witted Ma'ázi, by name Masá'í, had +tantalized us with a glorious account of the "House of 'Antar" in +the Hismá, and the cistern where that negro hero and poet used to +water his horses. Near its massive walls rises a Hazbah ("steep +and solitary hillock") with Dims or layers of ashlar atop: he had +actually broken off a bit of greenstone sticking in the masonry, +and sold it to a man from Tor (Khwájeh Kostantin?) for a large +sum--two napoleons, a new shirt, and a quantity of coffee. A +similar story is found in the Bádiyat el-Tíh, the Desert north of +the Sinaitic Peninsula. At the ruined cairns of Khara'bat Lussán +(the ancient Lysa), an Arab saw a glimmer of light proceeding +from a bit of curiously cut stone. "This he carried away with him +and sold to a Christian at Jerusalem for three pounds."[EN#91] + +Shaykh 'Brahím had also heard of this marvel; but he called it +the Haráb 'Antar ("Ruin of 'Antar"), and he placed it in the Wady +el-Hakl, about an hour's ride south of the Wady 'Afál. Finally, a +tablet in the Wady Hawwayi', adorned with a dragon and other +animals, was reported to me; and the memory of inscriptions +mentioned in the Jihan-numá was still importunate. Evidently all +these were mere fancies; or, at best, gross distortions of facts. +The Bedawin repeat them in the forlorn hope of "bakhshísh," and +never expect action to be taken: next morning they will probably +declare the whole to be an invention. Yet it is never safe to +neglect the cry of "wolf": our most remarkable discovery, the +Temple at the Wady Hamz, was made when report promised least. + +Accordingly, on January 24th, I despatched, with Shaykhs Khizr +and 'Brahím as guides, Mr. Clarke and the two Staff-lieutenants +towards El-Rijm, the next station of the pilgrim-caravan. Riding +up the Wady 'Afál, they reached, after an hour and +three-quarters, the ruins known as Igár Muás--a name of truly +barbarous sound. The settlement had occupied both banks, but the +principal mass was on the left: here two blocks, separated by a +hillock, lay to north-east and south-west of each other. +Apparently dwelling-places, they were composed of a +masonry-cistern and of fourteen buildings, detached squares and +oblongs, irregular both in orientation and in size; the largest +measuring eighty by fifty metres, and the smallest five by four. +The material was of water-rolled boulders, huge pebbles without +mortar or cement. There were no signs of a furnace, nor were the +usual fragments of glass and pottery strewed about. To the north +and running up the north-north-eastern slope stood a line of wall +two metres broad and three hundred long: it ended at the +south-western extremity in five round towers razed to their +foundations. It was suggested that this formed part of a street, +laid out on the plan of the Jebel el-Safrá, the hauteville of +Magháir Shu'ayb. On the right bank of the Wady appeared a heap of +stones suggesting a Burj. Fine, hard, compact, and purple-blue +slate was collected in the ruins; and the red conglomerates on +either side of the watercourse suggested that Cascalho had been +worked. + +After riding their dromedaries some three hours, halts not +included, the travellers were asked why they had not brought +their tents. "Because we expect to return to camp this evening!" +Then it leaked out that they had not reached half-way to the +"closed stone," while the dragon-tablet would take a whole day. +Unprepared for a wintry night in the open, some twelve hundred +feet above sea-level, they rode back at full speed, greatly to +the disgust of the Arabs, who, at this hungry season, rarely push +their lean beasts beyond three and a half to four miles an hour. +Lieutenant Amir, who is invaluable in the field, would have +pressed forward: not so the European. + +I did not see Shaykhs Khizr or 'Brahím for many a day; nor did we +attempt any more reconnaissances to the north of Magháir Shu'ayb. + +Not the least pleasant part of our evening's work was collecting +information concerning the origin of the tribes inhabiting modern +Midian; and, as on such occasions a mixed multitude was always +present, angry passions were often let rise. As my previous +volume showed, the tribes in this Egyptian corner of +North-Western Arabia number three--the Huwaytát, the Maknáwi, and +the Beni 'Ukbah; the two former of late date, and all more or +less connected with the Nile Valley. Amongst them I do not +include the Hutaym or Hitaym, a tribe of Pariahs who, like the +Akhdám ("serviles") of Maskat and Yemen, live scattered amongst, +although never intermarrying with, their neighbours. As a rule +the numbers of all these tribes are grossly exaggerated, the +object being to impose upon the pilgrim-caravans, and to draw +black-mail from the Government of Egypt. The Huwaytát, for +instance, modestly declare that they can put 5000 matchlocks into +the field: I do not believe that they have 500. The Ma'ázah speak +of 2000, which may be reduced in the same proportion; whilst the +Baliyy have introduced their 37,000 into European books of +geography, when 370 would be nearer the mark. I anticipate no +difficulty in persuading these Egypto-Arabs to do a fair day's +work for a fair and moderate wage. The Bedawin flocked to the +Suez Canal, took an active part in the diggings, and left a good +name there. They will be as useful to the mines; and thus shall +Midian escape the mortification of the "red-flannel-shirted +Jove," while enjoying his golden shower. + +I first took the opportunity of rectifying my notes on the origin +of the Huwayta't tribe.[EN#92] According to their own oral +genealogists, the first forefather was a lad called 'Alayán, who, +travelling in company with certain Shurafá ("descendants of the +Apostle"), and ergò held by his descendants to have been also a +Sherif, fell sick on the way. At El-'Akabah he was taken in +charge by 'Atíyyah, Shaykh of the then powerful Ma'ázah tribe, +who owned the land upon which the fort stands. A "clerk," able to +read and to write, he served his adopted father by superintending +the accounts of stores and provisions supplied to the Hajj. The +Arabs, who before that time embezzled at discretion, called him +El-Huwayti' ("the Man of the Little Wall") because his learning +was a fence against their frauds He was sent for by his Egyptian +friends; these, however, were satisfied by a false report of his +death: he married his benefactor's daughter; he became Shaykh +after the demise of his father-in-law; he drove the Ma'ázah from +El-'Akabah, and he left four sons, the progenitors and eponymi of +the Midianite Huwaytát. Their names are 'Alwán, 'Imrán, Suway'id, +and Sa'id; and the list of nineteen tribes, which I gave in "The +Gold-Mines of Midian," is confined to the descendants of the +third brother. + +The Huwaytát tribe is not only an intruder, it is also the +aggressive element in the Midianite family of Bedawin; and, of +late years, it has made great additions to its territory. If it +advances at the present rate it will, after a few generations, +either "eat up," as Africans say, all the other races or, by a +more peaceful process, assimilate them to its own body. + +We also consulted Shaykh Hasan and his cousin Ahmed, alias Abú +Khartúm, concerning the origin of his tribe, the Beni 'Ukbah. +According to our friend Furayj, the name means "Sons of the Heel" +('Akab) because, in the early wars and conquests of El-Islám, +they fought during the day by the Moslems' side; and at night, +when going over to the Nazarenes, they lost the "spoor" by +wearing their sandals heel foremost, and by shoeing their horses +the wrong way. All this they indignantly deny; and they are borne +out by the written genealogies, who derive them from "Ukbah, the +son of Maghrabah, son of Heram," of the Kahtániyyah (Joctanite) +Arabs, some of the noblest of Bedawi blood. They preserve the +memory of their ancestor 'Ukbah, and declare that they come from +the south; that is, they are of Hejázi descent, consequently far +more ancient than the Huwaytát. At first called "El-Musálimah," +they were lords of all the broad lands extending southward +between Shámah (Syria) and the Wady Dámah below the port of Zibá; +and this fine valley retains, under its Huwayti occupants, the +title of 'Ukbíyyah--'Ukbah-land. Thus they still claim as Milk, +or "unalienable property," the Wadys Gharr, Sharmá, 'Aynúnah, and +others; whilst their right to the ground upon which Fort +el-Muwaylah is built has never been questioned. + +The first notable event in the history of the Beni 'Ukbah was a +quarrel that arose between them and their brother-tribe, the Beni +'Amr. The 'Ayn el-Tabbákhah,[EN#93] the fine water of Wady +Madyan, now called Wady Makná, was discovered by a Hutaymi +shepherd of the Beni 'Ali clan, while tending his flocks; others +say that the lucky man was a hunter following a gazelle. However +that may be, the find was reported to the Shaykh of the Musálimah +(Beni 'Ukbah), who had married 'Ayayfah, the sister of Ali ibn +Nejdi, the Beni 'Amr chief, whilst the latter had also taken his +brother-in-law's sister to wife. The discoverer was promised a +Jinu or Sabátah ("date-bunch") from each palm-tree; and the +rivals waxed hot upon the subject. The Musálimah declared that +they would never yield their rights, a certain ancestor, +'Asaylah, having first pitched tent upon the Rughámat Makná, or +white "horse" of Makná. A furious quarrel ensued, and, as usual +in Arabia as in Hibernia, both claimants prepared to fight it +out. + +To repeat the words of our oral genealogist, Furayj: "Now, when +the wife of the Shaykh of the Musálimah had heard and understood +what Satan was tempting her husband to do against her tribe, she +rose up, and sent a secret message to her brother of the Beni +'Amr, warning him that a certain person (Fulán) was about to lay +violent hands on the beautiful valley of El-Madyan. Hearing this, +the Beni 'Amr mustered their young men, and mounted their horses +and dromedaries, and rode forth with jingling arms; and at +midnight they found their opponents asleep in El-Khabt,[EN#94] +the beasts being tied up by the side of their lords. So they cut +the cords of the camels, they gagged the hunter who guided the +attack, they threatened him with death if he refused to obey, and +they carried him away with them towards Makná. + +"When the Musálimah awoke, they discovered the deceit, they +secured their beasts, and they hastened after the enemy, +following his track like Azrail. Both met at Makná, when a battle +took place, and Allah inclined the balance towards the Beni 'Amr. +The Musálimah, therefore, became exiles, and took refuge in +Egypt. And in the flow of days it so happened that the Shaykh of +the Beni' Amr awoke suddenly at midnight, and heard his wife, as +she sat grinding at the quern, sing this quatrain:-- + + 'If the handmill (of Fate) grind down our tribe + We will bear it, O Thou (Allah) that aidest to bear! + But if the mill grind the foeman tribe, + We will pound and pound them as thin as flour.' + +"Whereupon the Shaykh, in his wrath, seized a stone, and cast it +at his wife, and knocked out one of her front teeth. She said +nothing, but she took the tooth and wrapped it in a rag, and sent +it with a message to her brother, the Shaykh of the Musálimah. +Now, this chief was unable to revenge his sister single-handed, +so he travelled to Syria, and threw himself at the feet of the +great Shaykh of the Wuhaydi tribe, who was also a Sherif. + +"The Wuhaydi despatched his host together with the warriors of +the Musálimah, and both went forth to do battle with the Beni +'Amr. The latter being camped in a valley near 'Aynúnah, tethered +their dogs and, some say, left behind their old people,[EN#95] +and lit huge bonfires; whence the name of the place is Wady Umm +Nírán ('the Mother of Fires') to this day. Before early dawn they +had reached in flight the Wady 'Arawwah of the Jibál el-Tihámah. +In the morning the Musálimah and the Wuhaydi, finding that a +trick had been practiced upon them, followed the foe, and beat +him in the Wady 'Arawwah, killing the Shaykh. And the chief of +the Musálimah gave his widowed sister as wife to the Wuhaydi, and +settled with his people in their old homes. The Beni 'Amr fled to +the Hismá, and exiled themselves to Kerak in Syria, where they +still dwell, owning the plain called Ganán Shabíb. There is now +peace between the Beni 'Ukbah and their kinsmen the Beni 'Amr." + +The second event in the history of the tribe, the "Tale of Abú +Rísh,"[EN#96] shall also be told in the words of Furayj:--"After +the course of time the Beni 'Ukbah, aided by the Ma'ázah, made +war against the Shurafá, who were great lords in those days, and +plundered them and drove them from their lands. The victors were +headed by one Salámah, a Huwayti who dwelt at El-'Akabah, and who +had become their guest. In those ages the daughters of the tribe +were wont to ride before the host in their Hawádig +('camel-litters'), singing the war-song to make the warriors +brave. As Salámah was the chief Mubáriz ('champion in single +combat'), the girls begged him to wear, when fighting, a white +ostrich feather in his chain-helmet, that they might note his +deeds and chant in his name. Hence his title, Abú Rísh--the +'Father of a Feather.' The Sherifs, being beaten, made peace, +taking the lands between Wady Dámah and El-Hejaz; whilst the Beni +'Ukbah occupied Midian Proper (North Midian), between 'Dámah' and +'Shámah' (Syria). + +"Abú Rísh, who was a friend to both victor and vanquished, +settled among the Sherifs in the Sirr country south of Wady +Dámah. He had received to wife, as a reward for his bravery, the +daughter of the Shaykh of the Beni 'Ukbah; and she bare him a +son, 'Id, whose tomb is in the Wady Ghál, between Zibá and +El-Muwaylah. On the Yaum el-Subúh ('seventh day after birth'), +the mother of 'Id followed the custom of the Arabs; and, after +the usual banquet, presented the babe to the guests, including +her father, who made over Wady 'Aynúnah in free gift to his +grandson. Now, 'Id used to lead caravans to Cairo, for the +purpose of buying provisions; and he was often plundered by the +Ma'ázah, who had occupied by force the Wadys Sharmá, Tiryam, and +Surr of El-Muwaylah. + +"This 'Id ibn Salámah left, by a Huwayti woman, a son 'Alayán, +surnamed Abú Takíkah ('Father of a Scar') from a sabre-cut in the +forehead: he was the founder of the Tugaygát-Huwaytát clan, and +his descendants still swear by his name. Once upon a time, when +leading his caravan, he reached the Wady 'Afál, and he learned +that his enemies, the Ma'ázah, and the black slaves who +garrisoned El-Muwaylah, were lurking in the Wady Marayr. So he +placed his loads under a strong guard; and he hastened, with his +kinsmen of the Huwaytát, to the Hismá, where the Ma'ázah had left +their camels undefended: these he drove off, and rejoined his +caravan rejoicing. The Ma'ázah, hearing of their disaster, +hurried inland to find out the extent of the loss, abandoning the +black slaves, who, nevertheless, were still determined to plunder +the Káfilah. 'Alayán was apprized of their project; and, reaching +the Wady Umm Gehaylah, he left his caravan under a guard, and +secretly posted fifty matchlock-men in El-Suwayrah, east of the +hills of El-Muwaylah. He then (behold his cunning!) tethered +between the two hosts, at a place called Zila'h, east of the tomb +of Shaykh Abdullah,[EN#97] ten camel-colts without their dams. +Roused by the bleating, the negro slaves followed the sound and +fell into the ambush, and were all slain. + +"'Alayán returned to the Sirr country, when his tribe, the +Huwaytát, said to him, 'Hayya (up!) to battle with these Ma'ázah +and Beni 'Ukbah; either they uproot us or we uproot them!' So he +gathered the clan, and marched to a place called El-Bayzá,[EN#98] +where he found the foe in front. On the next day the battle +began, and it was fought out from Friday to Friday; a truce was +then made, and it was covenanted to last between evening and +morning. But at midnight the enemy arose, left his tents pitched, +and fled to the Hismá. 'Alayán followed the fugitives, came up +with them in the Wady Sadr, and broke them to pieces. Upon this +they took refuge in Egypt and Syria. + +"After a time the Beni 'Ukbah returned, and obtained pardon from +'Alaya'n the Huwayti, who imposed upon them six conditions. +Firstly, having lost all right to the land, they thus became +'brothers' (i.e. serviles). Secondly, they agreed to give up the +privilege of escorting the Hajj-caravan. Thirdly, if a Huwayti +were proved to have plundered a pilgrim, his tribe should make +good the loss; but if the thief escaped detection, the Beni +'Ukbah should pay the value of the stolen property in coin or in +kind. Fourthly, they were bound not to receive as guests any +tribe (enumerating a score or so) at enmity with the Huwaytát. +Fifthly, if a Shaykh of Huwaytát fancied a dromedary belonging to +one of the Beni 'Ukbah, the latter must sell it under cost price. +And, sixthly, the Beni 'Ukbah were not allowed to wear the 'Abá +or Arab cloak."[EN#99] + +The Beni 'Ukbah were again attacked and worsted, in the days of +Sultan Selim, by their hereditary foe, the Ma'ázah. They +complained at Cairo; and the Mamlúk Beys sent down an army which +beat the enemy in the Wady Surr. They had many quarrels with +their southern neighbours, the Baliyy: at last peace was made, +and the land was divided, the Beni 'Ukbah taking the tract +between Wadys Da'mah and El-Muzayrib. Since that time the tribe +has been much encroached upon by the Huwayta't. It still claims, +however, as has been said, all the lands between El-Muwaylah and +Makná, where they have settlements, and the Jebel Harb, where +they feed their camels. They number some twenty-five to thirty +tents, boasting that they have hundreds; and, as will appear, +their Shaykh, Hasan el-'Ukbi, amuses himself by occasionally +attacking and plundering the wretched Maknáwis, or people of +Makná, a tribe weaker than his own. + + + + + + Chapter VI. + To Makná, and Our Work There--the Magáni or Maknáwis. + + + +After a silly fortnight at old Madiáma, I resolved to march upon +its seaport, Makná, the <Greek> of Ptolemy, which the people +call also "Madyan."[EN#100] We set out at seven a.m. (January +25th); and, after a walk of forty-five minutes, we were shown by +Furayj a Ghadír, or shallow basin of clay, shining and bald as an +old scalp from the chronic sinking of water. In the middle stood +two low heaps of fine white cement, mixed with brick and gravel; +while to the west we could trace the framework of a mortared +Fiskíyyah ("cistern"), measuring five metres each way. The ruin +lies a little south of west (241 deg. mag.) from the greater +"Shigd;" and it is directly under the catacombed hill which bears +the "Praying-place of Jethro." A tank in these regions always +presupposes a water-pit, and there are lingering traditions that +this is the "Well of Moses," so generally noticed by mediæval +Arab geographers. It is the only one in the Wady Makná, not to +mention a modern pit about an hour and a half further down the +valley, sunk by the Bedawin some twenty feet deep: the walls of +the latter are apparently falling in, and it is now bone-dry. But +the veritable "Moses' Well" seems to have been upon the coast; +and, if such be the case, it is clean forgotten. True, Masá'íd, +the mad old Ma'ázi, attempted to trace a well inside our camp by +the seashore; but the Beni 'Ukbah, to whom the land belongs, had +never heard of it. + +After marching about six miles, we entered a gorge called Umm +el-Bíbán, "the Mother of Gates," formed by the stony spurs of the +Wady bank: the number of birds and trees, especially in the +syenitic valleys, showed that water could not be far off. At +10.10 a.m. a halt was called at the half-way place, a bay or +hollow in the left cliff, El-Humayrah--"the Little Red"--an +overhanging wall of ruddy grit some eighty feet high, with strata +varying in depth from a few lines to as many fathoms, all +differing in colour, and all honeycombed, fretted, and sculptured +by wind and rain. Above the red grit, weathered into a thousand +queer shapes, stood strata of chloritic sand, a pale +yellow-green, and capping it rose the usual dull-brown carbonate +of lime. Large fossil oysters lay in numbers about the base, +suggesting a prehistoric feast of the Titans. Amongst them is the +monstrous Tridacna (gigantea), which sometimes attains a growth +of a yard and a half; one of these is used as a bénitier at the +church of Saint Sulpice, Paris. Amongst the layers were wavy +bands of water-rolled crystals, jaspers, bloodstones, +iron-revetted pebbles, and "almonds," which, in the Brazil, +accompany and betray the diamond.[EN#101] We had no time to make +a serious search; but, when the metals shall be worked, it will, +perhaps, be advisable to import a skilled prospecter from the +Brazil or the Cape of Good Hope. + +At noon we met the "heaven-sent, life-sustaining sea-breeze;" and +now the broad and well-marked Wady Makná, with its rosy-pink +sands, narrowed to a gut, flanked and choked on both sides, north +and south, by rocks of the strangest tricolour, green-black, +yellow-white, and rusty-red. The gloomy peak, which had long +appeared capping the heights ahead, proved to be the culmination +of a huge upthrust of porphyritic trap. Bottle-green when seen +under certain angles, and dull dead sable at others, it was +variegated by cliffs and slopes polished like dark mirrors, and +by sooty sand-shunts disposed at the natural slope. Crumbling +outside, the lower strata pass from the cellular to the compact, +and are often metalliferous when in contact with the quartz: at +these Salbandes the richest mineral deposits are always found. +Set in and on the black flanks, and looking from afar like the +gouts of a bloodstone, are horizontal beds, perpendicular spines, +and detached blocks of felsitic porphyry and of rusty-red +syenite, altered, broken, and burnt by plutonic heat. In places, +where the trap has cut through the more modern formations, it has +been degraded by time from a dyke to a ditch, the latter walled +by the ruddy rocks, and sharply cut as a castle-moat. And already +we could see, on the right of the Wady, those cones and crests of +ghastly, glaring white gypsum, which we had called "the Hats." + +These gloomy cliffs, approaching the maritime plain, sweep away +to the south, and melt into the "Red Hills" visited on our first +excursion. They are known as the Jebel el-'Abdayn--"of the Two +Slaves:" this, perhaps, is the Doric pronunciation of the Bedawin +for Abdín--"slaves." Presently we sighted the familiar features +of the seaboard, described in my first volume, especially the +Rughámat el-Margas to the north; and westward the Gulf of +'Akabah, looking cool and blue in the Arabian glare. After five +hours and thirty minutes (= seventeen miles and a half) in the +saddle we reached Makná. + +I had thought of encamping near the "Praying-place of Moses," a +fine breezy site which storms would have made untenable. As at +Sharmá, camels must turn off to the right over the banks when +approaching the mouth of the Wady Madyan, whose bed is made +impassable by rocks and palm-thicket. We then proposed to pitch +the tents upon the valley sands within the "Gate," but this was +overruled by the Sayyid, who told grisly tales of fever and ague. +Finally, we returned to our former ground, near the old +conglomerates and the mass of new shells, which ledge the shore +of the little harbour. Approaching it, we were delighted to see +the gunboat Mukhbir steaming up, despite the contrary wind, from +Sharm Yáhárr; she was towing the Sambúk, which brought from +'Aynúnah Bay our heavy gear, rations, and tools. This was a +stroke of good luck: already we were on half rations, and provant +for men and mules threatened to run short. + +Our week at Makná (January 25--February 2) justified the pleasant +impression left by the first visit, and enabled us to correct the +inaccuracies of a flying survey. + +This "Valley of Waters," with its pink and yellow (chloritic) +sands, is bounded on the right near the sea by a sandbank about +one hundred feet high, a loose sheet thinly covering the dykes of +syenite and the porphyritic trap which in places peep out. +Possibly it contains, like the left flank, veins of quartz, +lowered by corrosion, and concealed by the sand-drift spread by +the prevalent western winds. The high-level abounds in detached +springs, probably the drainage of the Rughámat Makná, the huge +"horse" or buttress of gypsum bearing north-east from the +harbour. The principal veins number three. The uppermost and +sweetest is the Ayn el-Tabbákhah; in the middle height is +El-Túyuri (Umm el-Tuyúr), with the dwarf cataract and its +tinkling song; whilst the brackish 'Ayn el-Fara'í occupies the +valley sole. Besides these a streak of palms, perpendicular to +the run of the Wady, shows a rain-basin, dry during the droughts, +and, higher up, the outlying dates springing from the arid sands, +are fed by thin veins which damp the rocky base. Hence, probably, +Dr. Beke identified the place with the "Elim" of the Exodus: his +artist's sketch from the sea (p. 340) is, however, absolutely +unrecognizable. + +The high-level spring and the middle water rise in sandy basins; +course down deeply furrowed beds of grit; and, after passing +through a tangle of vegetation, a dense forest of palms, alive +and dead, and open patches sown with grain, wilfully waste their +treasures in the upper slope of the right bank. This abundance of +water has developed a certain amount of industry; although the +Bedawin tear to pieces the young male-dates, whose tender green +growth, at the base of the fronds, supplies them with a "chaw." A +number of artificial runners has been trained to water dwarf +barley-plots, whose fences of date-fronds defend them from sheep +and goats; and further down the bank are the fruit trees which +first attracted our attention. + +The low-level water consists of two springs. The upper is the +'Ayn el-'Aryánah, springing from the sands under the date-trees +which line the right and left sides: apparently it is the +drainage of a gypsum "hat," called El-Kulayb, "the Little +Dog"--in their Doric the Bedawin pronounce the word Galáib. +Further down the bed, and divided by a tract of dry sand, is the +'Ayn el-Fara'i, which also rises from both banks, forms a single +stream, sleeps in deep pellucid pools like fairy baths among the +huge boulders of grey granite, and finally sinks before reaching +the shore. When these waters shall again be regulated, as of old, +they will prove amply sufficient for the vegetable and the +mineral. Anton, the Greek, who everywhere saw the shop, was so +charmed with the spot, that he at once laid out his +establishment: here shall be the hotel; there the billiard and +gambling room, and there the garden, the kiosk, the buvette--in +fact, he projected a miner's paradise. + +On the crest of this right bank, above the vegetation, lies the +traditional Musallat Musá ("Moses' Oratory"), of which the +foundations, or rather the base-stones, are in situ. The larger +enceinte measures, without including two walls projecting from +the north-east and north-west angles, an oblong of thirty-seven +by twenty-five feet; and, as usual with Midianite ruins, it has +been built of all manner of material. The inner sanctum opens to +the west, the northern and southern basement-lines only +remaining: the former is composed of eight blocks of gypsum +resembling alabaster, five being larger than the others; and the +southern of three. Upon these the Bedawin still deposit their +simple ex-votos, oyster and other shells, potsherds, and coloured +pebbles.[EN#102] + +The left or opposite bank, which wants water, is formed by the +tall conglomerate-capped cliffs, which support the "Muttali'" or +hauteville, and by the warty block called Jebel el-Fahísát. In +"The Gold-Mines of Midian" (Chap. XII.) it is called El-Muzayndi, +an error of my informants for El-Muzeúdi: the latter is the name +of the small red hill north of our camp. I again visited the high +town, which is about a hundred feet above the valley: presently +it will disappear bodily, as its base is being corroded, like the +Jebel el-Safrá of Magháir Shu'ayb. The walls still standing form +a long room running north-south; and the two adjoining closets +set off to the north-east and south-east. This sadly shrunken +upper settlement covers the remnant of the rocky plateau to the +east: there are also traces of building on the southern slopes. +Ruined heaps of the usual material, gypsum, dot and line the +short broad valley to the north, which rejoices in the neat and +handy name, Wady Majrá Sayl Jebel el-Marú. Here, however, they +are hardly to be distinguished from the chloritic spines and +natural sandbanks that stud the bed. The only antiquities found +in the "Muttali"' were a stone cut into parallel bands, and the +fragment of a basalt door with its pivot acting as hinge in the +upper part: it reminded me of the Græco-Roman townlets in the +Haurán, where the credulous discovered "giant Cities" and similar +ineptitudes. Our search for Midianite money was in vain; Mr. +Clarke, however, picked up, near the sea, a silver "Taymúr," the +Moghal, with a curiously twisted Kufic inscription. (A.H. 734). + +The 'Ushash or frond-huts of the Maknáwi and the Beni 'Ukbah were +still mostly empty. At this season, all along the seaboard of +North-Western Arabia, the Bedawin are grazing their animals in +the uplands, and they will not return coastwards till July and +August supply the date-harvest. The village shows the +inconséquence of doors and wooden keys to defend an interior made +of Cadjan, or "dry date-fronds," which, bound in bundles, make a +good hedge, but at all times a bad wall. One of its peculiar +features is what looks like a truncated and roofless oven; in +this swish cylinder they pound without soaking the date-kernels +that feed their camels, sheep, and goats. A few youths, however, +who remained in this apology for a "deserted village," assisted +us in night-fishing with the lantern; and they brought from the +adjoining reefs the most delicate of shell and scale fish. The +best were the langoustes (Palinurus vulgaris), the clawless +lobsters called crawfish (crayfish) in the United States, and the +agosta or avagosta of the Adriatic: it was confounded by the +Egyptian officers with "Abú Galambo,"[EN#103] the crab (Cancer +pelagicus). The echinidae of various species, large-spined and +small-spined, the latter white as well as dull-red, were +preserved in spirits.[EN#104] Amongst the excellent fish, the +Marján (a Sciœna) the Sultan el-Bahr, the Palamita (Scomber), the +Makli (red mullets, Mugil cephalus), and the Búri, were monstrous +animals, with big eyes and long beaks like woodcocks; some of +these were garnished with rows of ridiculously big teeth. I +failed to procure live specimens of small turtle, and yet the +huts were full of carapaces, all broken and eight-ribbed. One +species, the Sakar, supplies tortoise-shell sold at Suez for 150 +piastres per Ratl or pound; the Bísa'h, another large kind +without carapace, is used only for eating: both are caught off +the reefs and islets. An eel-like water-snake (Marrína = Murœna +Ophis) showed fight when attacked. The Arabs do not eat it, yet +they will not refuse the Shaggah, or large black land-snake. + +The enforced delay at Makná gave us the opportunity of making +careful reconnaissances in its neighbourhood. During the last +spring I had heard of a Jebel el-Kibí't ("sulphur-hill") on the +road to 'Aynúnah, but no guide was then procurable. Shortly after +our return, a Bedawi named Jázi brought in fine specimens of +brimstone, pure crystals adhering to the Secondary calcaire, and +possibly formed by decomposition of the sulphate of lime. If this +be the case we may hope to find the mineral generally diffused +throughout these immense formations; of course, in some places +the yield will be richer and in others poorer. Further +investigation introduced us, as will be seen, to two southern +deposits, without including one heard of in Northern Sinai. All +lie within a short distance of the sea, and all are virgin: the +Bedawin import their sulphur from the "Barr el-'Ajam," the +popular name for Egypt, properly meaning Persia or any non-Arab +land. Thus, in one important article Midian rivals, if not +excels, the riches of the opposite African shore, where for a +single mine thirty millions of francs have been demanded by way +of indemnity. + +Betimes on January 26th, a caravan of four camels, for the two +quarrymen and the guide, set off southwards, carrying sacks, +tools, and other necessaries. They did not return till the +morning of the third day; Jázi had lost the road, and the Bedawin +rather repented of having been so ready to disclose their +treasures. Of course, our men could not ascertain the extent of +the deposits; but they brought back rich specimens which +determined me to have the place surveyed. Unfortunately I had +forgotten a sulphur-still; and the engineer vainly attempted to +extract the ore by luting together two iron mortars, and by +heating them to a red heat. The only result was the diffusion of +the sulphur crystals in the surrounding gypsum. This discovery +gave me abundant trouble; the second search-party was a failure; +and it was not till February 18th that I could obtain a +satisfactory plan of the northern Jebel el-Kibrít. + +At Makná I was much puzzled by the presence of the porous basalt, +which had yielded to the first Expedition a veinlet of +"electron"--gold and silver mixed by the hand of Nature. The +plutonic rock, absent from the Wady Makná, appears in scatters +along the shore to the north. Our friend Furayj knew nothing +nearer than El-Harrah, the volcanic tract bounding the Hismá on +the east, and distant some five days' march. This was going too +far; querns of the same material, found in all the ruins, +suggested a neighbouring outcrop. Moreover, during the last +spring, I had heard of a mining site called Nakhil Tayyib Ism, +the "Palm-orchard (of the Mountain) of the Good Name," in the +so-called range to the north of Makná. + +Lieutenant Amir was despatched (January 27th) to seek for basalt, +with a small dromedary-caravan, under the lead of Shaykh Furayj. +After winding for about two hours along the shore, which is cut +by the broad mouths of many a Wady; and whose corallines, grits, +and limestones are weathered into the strangest shapes; he left +to the right (east) the light-coloured Jebel Sukk. On the +southern side of the Wady (Sukk) which drains it to the sea, a +hill of the porous stone which the Arabs call "Hajar el-Harrah" +appeared. The specimens brought home, si vera sunt exposita, if +they be really taken from an outcrop, prove that volcanic +centres, detached, sporadic, and unexpected, like those found +further north, occur even along the shore. As will afterwards +appear, another little "Harrah" was remarked by Burckhardt +("Syria," p. 522), about one hour and a quarter north of Sinaitic +Sherm. He says, "Here for the first and only time, I saw volcanic +rocks," and he considers that their extension towards Ras Abú(?) +Mohammed may have given rise to the name <Greek>. + +Wellsted,[EN#105] who apparently had not read Burckhardt, makes +the same remark. The many eruptive centres in the limestones of +Syria and Palestine were discovered chiefly by my late friend, +the loved and lamented Charles F. Tyrwhitt-Drake. It would be +interesting to ascertain the relation which they bear to tile +great lines of vulcanism in the far interior, the Haura'n and the +Harrah, subtending the coast mountains. And Dr. Beke, another +friend now no more, would have been delighted to know that his +"True Mount Sinai" was not unconnected with a volcanic outbreak. + +Beyond the Wady Sukk, a bad rough path leads along the base of +the Tayyih Ism Mountain; then the cliffs fall sheer into the sea, +explaining why caravans never travel that way. Yet there was a +maritime road, for we know that Abú Sufyán, on his way from Syria +to fight the battle of "Bedr" (A.H. 2), passed by a roundabout +path for safety, along the shore of Midian. Thus compelled, the +track bends inland, and enters a Nakb, a gash conspicuous from +the Gulf, an immense cañon or couloir that looks as if ready to +receive a dyke or vein. Curious to say, a precisely similar +formation, prolonged to the south-west, cuts the cliffs south of +Marsá Dahab in the Sinaitic Peninsula. The southern entrance to +the gorge bears signs of human habitation: a parallelogram of +stones, 120 paces by 91, has been partially buried by a land-slip +(?); and there are remnants of a dam measuring about a hundred +metres in length (?). About three hundred yards higher up, water +appears in abundance, and palm clumps grow on both sides of it. +Here, however, all trace of man is wanting; the winter torrents +must be dangerous; and there is no grass for sheep. The crevasse +now becomes very wild; the Pass narrows from fifty to ten paces, +and, in one section, a loaded camel can hardly squeeze through; +whilst the cliff-walls of red and grey granite (?) tower some two +thousand feet above the thread of path.[EN#106] Water which, as +usual, sinks in the sand, is abundant enough in three other +places to supply a large caravan; and two date-clumps were +passed. Hence, if all here told be true, the "Nakhil +(palm-plantation) Tayyib Ism" reported to the first Expedition. + +After covering sixteen miles in five hours, the caravan had not +made more than half the distance to the Bir el-Máshi, where a +small Marsá, or anchorage-ground, called El-Suwayhil ("the Little +Shore") nestles in the long sand-slope between the mountain +Tayyib Ism and its huge northern neighbour, the Mazhafah block. +From this "Well of the Walker," a pass leads to the Wady Marsha', +where, according to certain Bedawin, are found extensive ruins +and Bíbán ("doors"), or catacombs. The whole is, however, an +invention; our Sayyid had ridden down the valley during his +journey to El-Hakl. + +On the next day another reconnaissance was made. I had been shown +fine specimens of quartz from the Eastern highlands; moreover, a +bottle of "bitter" or sulphur-water from the Wady Mab'úg, the +"oblique" or "crooked" valley, mentioned in "The Gold-Mines of +Midian,"[EN#107] had been brought to us with much ceremony. Those +who tasted it, indeed, were divided as to whether it smacked more +of brimstone or of ammonia. Accordingly, Mr. Clarke and +Lieutenant Yusuf walked up the Wady Makná, and ascended the +Mab'úg, where the mineral spring proved to be a shallow pool of +rain-water, much frequented by animals, camels included. Search +for the "Marú" was more successful: they found a network of veins +in the sandstone grits (?) of the Jebel Umm Lasaf; and they thus +established the fact that the "white stone" abounds to the east +as well as to the south of Makná. + +Meanwhile we were working hard at the Jebel el-Fahísát, the great +discovery of the northern journey. I had been struck by the name +of the watercourse to the north of the hauteville, Wady Majrá +Sayl Jebel el-Marú--"the Nullah of the Divide of the Torrent +(that pours) from the Mountain of Quartz." Moreover, a Makna'wi +lad, 'Id bin Mohsin, had brought in fine specimens of the Negro +or iridescent variety, offering to show the place. Lastly, other +Bedawi had contributed fine specimens of Marú, with the grey +copper standing out of it in veins. On the evening of January +27th we walked up the picturesque mouth of the Makná valley. +After passing the conglomerate "Gate," and the dwarf plantations +on both sides above it, we reached in forty-five minutes the spot +where the lower water, 'Ayn el-Fara'í, tumbles over rocks of grit +and granite. On the left bank, denoted by a luxuriant growth of +rushes, is an influent called Sha'b el-Kázi, or "the Judge's +Pass."[EN#108] Ascending it for a few paces, we struck up the +broad and open Fiumara, which I shall call for shortness "Wady +Majrá." The main trunk of many branches, it is a smooth incline, +perfectly practicable to camels; with banks and buttresses of +green-yellow chloritic sands, and longitudinal spines outcropping +from the under surface. It carries off the surplus water from the +north-western slopes of that strange wavelike formation, the +Jebel el-Fahísát, which bounds the right (southern) bank of the +Wady Makná. Presently we sighted the Jebel el-Maru', the +strangest spectacle. The apex of the gloomy porphyritic trap is a +long spine of the tenderest azure-white, filmy as the finials of +Milan Cathedral, and apparently melting into thin air. Its crest +seems abnormally tall and distant; and below it a huge grey vein, +horizontal and wavy, cuts and pierces the peaklet of red rock; +and is cut and pierced, in its turn, by two perpendicular dykes +of porphyritic trap, one flanking the right and the left +shoulders of the low cone. When standing upon the hauteville +during my first visit, I had remarked this "white Lady" of a +vein, without, however, attaching to it any importance. + +After a quarter of an hour's walk up the Wady Majrá, we came to +the sandy base of the rocky Fahísát; and climbed up a +torrent-ladder with drops and stiff gradients, which were +presently levelled for the convenience of our quarrymen. A few +minutes' "swarming" placed us upon the narrow knife-like ridge of +snowy quartz, so weathered that it breaks under the hand: this is +the aerial head which from below appears so far. The summit, +distant from our camp about one direct mile and a quarter, gives +355 degrees to the Gypsum-hill, Ras el-Tárah, on the shore; 358 +degrees to the palm-clump nearest the sea, and due north (360 +degrees, all magnetic) to the tents, which are well in sight. The +altitude is about six hundred feet (aner. 29.40). + +The view from this summit of the Fahísát is charming as it is +extensive. Westward and broad stretching to the north-west lies +the fair blue gulf that shows, on its far side, the broken +mountains of the Sinaitic Peninsula. Northwards, at our feet, +stretch the palm-groves of Makná, a torrent of verdure pouring +towards the shore. A little to the left, sheltered from the +boreal wind by the white gypseous ridge, Ras el-Târah ("the Head +that surrounds"), and flanked at both ends by its triangular +reefs, the Sharm Makná, the past and future port of the mines, +supports the miniature gunboat no larger than a "cock," and the +Sambúk dwarfed to a buoy. Beyond the purpling harbour, along the +glaring yellow shore, cut by broad Wady-mouths and dotted here +and there with a date-clump, the corallines, grits, and +sandstones are weathered to the quaintest forms, giant pins and +mushrooms, columns and ruined castles. These maritime lowlands +are bounded on the north by heights in three distinct planes: the +nearest is the Jebel Sukk, low and white; farther rises Tayyib +Ism, a chocolate-coloured mass studded with small peaks; while +the horizon is closed by the grand blue wall, the Jebel +el-Mazhafah. In places their precipices drop bluff to the sea; +but the huge valley-mouths separating the two greater ridges, +have vomited a quantity of sand, forming the tapering tongue and +tip known as the "Little Shore." Turning to the east and the +south-east we have for horizon the Wady el-Kharaj (El-Akhraj?), +backed by its immense right bank of yellow gypsum, which dwarfs +even the Rughámat Makná, and over it we catch sight of the dark +and gloomy Kalb el-Nakhlah, a ridge which, running parallel with +and inland of the Fahísát, will be worked when the latter is +exhausted. + +We at once recognized the value of this discovery when, reaching +the tents, we examined the quartz, and found it seamed and pitted +with veins and geodes containing Colorado, earthy and crumbling +metallic dust, chlorure, iodure, and bromure of silver, with +various colours, red, ochre-yellow, and dark chocolate-brown. It +stained the fingers, and was suspiciously light--n'importe. I +must regret that here, as indeed throughout the exploration, all +our specimens were taken from the surface: we had not time to dig +even a couple of feet deep. The lad 'Id almost fainted with joy +and surprise when the silver dollars were dropped into his hand, +one by one, with the reiteration of "Here's another for you! and +here's another!" This lavishness served to stimulate cupidity, +and every day the Bedawin brought in specimens from half a dozen +different places. But the satisfaction was at its height when the +crucible produced, after cupellation, a button of "silver" +weighing some twenty grammes from the hundred grammes of what the +grumbling Californian miners had called, in their wrath, "dashed +black dust;"[EN#109] and when a second experiment yielded +twenty-eight grammes (each fifteen grains and a half) and ten +centigrammes from 111 grammes, or about a quarter of a pound +avoirdupois. In the latter experiment also, the culot came away +without the litharge, which almost always contains traces of +silver and antimony. Hence we concluded that the proportions were +30:110--a magnificent result, considering that 12-1/2:100 is held +to be rich ore in the silver mines of the Pacific States.[EN#110] +The engineer was radieux with pride and joy. The yellow tint of +the "buttons" promised gold--two per cent.? Three per cent.? +Immense wealth lay before us: a ton of silver is worth 250,000 +francs. Meanwhile--and now I take blame to myself--no one thought +of testing the find, even by a blow with the hammer. + +Alas! THE "SPLENDID BUTTONS" PROVED TO BE IRON, CONTAINING ONLY TWO AND A +HALF GRAMMES OF SILVER TO ONE HUNDRED KILOGRAMMES.[EN#111] + +I can afford to make merry on the absurd mistake, which at the +time filled the camp with happiness. The Jebel el-Fahísát played +us an ugly trick; yet it is, not the less, a glorious +metalliferous block, and I am sure of its future. + +The rest of our time at Makná was given to the study of this +discovery. The great quartz-wall or vein runs nearly due north +and south, with a dip of 5 degrees west; it has pierced the +syenite, forming a sheet down one peak, spanning a second, and +finally appearing in an apparently isolated knob, that bore from +the apex 215 degrees (mag.) The upper part, like that of the +Jebel el-Abyaz, is apparently sterile: at a lower horizon it +becomes panaché; and at last almost all is iridescent--in fact, +it is the Filon Husayn, still richer in veins and geodes. The +filets and fibrils of dust are exposed to sight in the flanks, +and near the base of the great quartz-vein: we should never have +been able to remove the barren upper capping. + +Every day's work brought with it some novelty. The Jebel el-Mará, +the centre or focus of the formation, was found to push out veins +to the north, extending within a few yards of the Wady Makná's +mouth. Here, however, the quartz imbedded in grey granite appears +cupriferous, producing fine grey copper (?); and the same is the +case to the east of the Fahísát block. Other green-tinged veins +were found bearing 205 degrees (mag.) from our camp. There is +also a quartz-hill whose valley-drain, about a mile and a third +long, leads down to the sea, about two minutes' walk south of the +southern clump of "tabernacles" occupied by the Maknáwis. The +dust is richest, as usual, at the walls where the vein is in +immediate contact with the heat-altered granites, whose red +variety, containing very little mica, becomes quasi-syenitic. +Certain of the Expedition thought that the Fahísát showed signs +of having been worked by the ancients: my eyes could see nothing +of the kind. And here, as in other parts of our strange country, +there is a medley, a confusion of different formations. + +On February 2nd, the day before we left Makná, the Arabs brought +in heavy masses of purple-black, metalliferous rock, scattered +over the gorges and valleys south of the Jebel el-Fahísát; while +others declared that they could point out a vein in situ. Our +engineer declared it to be argentiferous galena, but it proved to +be magnetic iron. His assays were of the rudest: he broke at +least one crucible per day, lamenting the while that he had been +supplied with English articles, instead of creusets de Bourgogne. +And no wonder! He treated them by a strong blast in a furious +coal-fire without previous warming. His muffle was a wreck, and +such by degrees became the condition of all his apparatus. +However, as we sought, so we found: hardly a Bedawi lad in camp +but unpouched some form of metallic specimens. The Shaykhs +declared that the wealth of "Kárún" must have been dug here; and +I vainly told them that the place of punishment of Korah, Dathan, +and Abiram is still shown by Christians in the Convent of Mount +Sinai.[EN#112] + +On January 28th, after a ruddy and cloudy sunset, El-Ayli, the +'Akabah wind, beginning at eleven p.m., gave us a taste of his +quality. These northers are the Tyrants of the Gulf; which, +comparatively unbroken by capes and headlands, allows them all +their own way, carrying a strong swell, and at times huge waves, +to meet the tide inflowing from the Red Sea. The storm began with +a rush and a roar, as if it came from above. The gravel, striking +the canvas, sounded like hail or heavy rain-drops; it then kicked +down at one blow the two large tents: they had been carefully +pitched above the reach of water, when wind only was to be +guarded against. Fortunately most of our goods were packed, in +expectation of embarking on the morrow; but the fall broke all +the breakables that were not under cover, and carried newspapers +and pamphlets, including--again, alas!--the Reseau Pentagonal of +Elie de Beaumont, over the plain southwards till arrested by the +heights of Jebel el-Fahísát. This Bora, as it would be called on +the Adriatic, makes the air exceptionally cold and raw before +dawn: it appears to abate between noon and sunset, and it is most +violent at night: it either sensibly increases or lessens in +turbulence with moonrise; and it usually lasts from three to +seven days. We rigged up one of the native huts with the awning +of a tent, till it looked very like a Gypsy dwelling, and in +patience we possessed our souls, grumbling horridly like Britons. + +Poor Captain Mohammed of the Mukhbir, who had already escaped one +shipwreck, was in mortal terror: he at once got up steam, and +kept his weary vigil all night. He was perfectly safe, as the +northern reef, under which the Sambúk Musahhil rode easily as if +in smooth water, and the headland, Ras el-Tárah, formed a +complete defence against the Aylí, while the natural pier to the +south would have protected him from its complement, the Azyab or +"south-easter." But it would have been very different had the +storm veered to the west, and the terrible Gharbi set in. The +port of Makná, which has been described in "The Gold-Mines of +Midian,"[EN#113] can hardly be called safe; on the other hand, +its floor has not been surveyed, and a single brise-lame seawards +would convert it into a dock. I should propose a gallegiante, a +floating breakwater, tree-trunks in bundles strongly bound +together with iron cramps and bands, connected by stout rings and +staples and made fast by anchors to the bottom. And, at any rate, +on the Sinaitic shore opposite, at the distance of thirteen +knots, there is, as will appear, an admirable harbour of refuge. + +Next day the cloud-veil lifted; and the mountains of Sinai and +Midian, which before had been hidden as if by a November fog in +London, again stood out in sharp and steely blue. I proposed to +board the gunboat. Afloat we should have been much more +comfortable than ashore in the raw, high, and dusty-laden wind. +The Egyptian officers, however, quoted the unnautical Fellah's +favourite saws, El-barro birr li-Ahlihi--"Earth is a blessing to +those upon her"--Zirtat el-Jimál, wa lá tasbíh el-Samak--"The +roar of the camels and not the prayer[EN#114] of the fish;" and +the sailors' saying, Kalb el-Barr, wa lá Sabá el-Bahr--"Better be +a dog ashore than a lion afloat." The public voice was decidedly +against embarking; so two more days of gale were spent in adding +to our collection of mineralogy. On the other hand, the Sayyid +and the three Shaykhs were anxious for a speedy return to +El-Muwaylah, where the Hajj-caravan was expected on Safar 10 (= +February 11th), and where their presence would be officially +required. + +On the last day of January I boated off to the Mukhbir several +tons of the specimens collected during the northern march; +including the iron, the sulphur, and the fine white gypsum, +crystalline and amorphous, which forms the Rughámat Makná +Lieutenant Yusuf and M. Philipin were directed to remain in camp +until they should have collected and placed upon the seashore, +ready for embarkation on our return, one ton of white quartz, +three tons (= one cubic metre) of the iridescent variety, and +four boxes half full of the "silver" (iron) dust whose veins and +pockets seam the Negro. They were also to wash in the cradle two +tons of the pounded Cascalho (conglomerate gravel); one ton of +the green-yellow chloritic or serpentine sand forming the under +surface of the Wady Makná, reduced to four Girbahs or +"water-sacks;" and five tons of the dark metal (not argentiferous +galena). After that they were to visit the northern Sulphur-hill; +estimate its contents, trace, if possible, its connection with +adjoining formations; map the country and prospect for wood, +water, and harbour. Lastly, they were ordered to march with the +whole camp, including our mules, upon El-Muwaylah, and there to +await my return. + +The three normal days of El-Aylí had come and gone; still the +Fortuna[EN#115] did not fall. The water, paved with dark slate, +and domed with an awning of milky-white clouds, patched here and +there with rags and shreds of black wintry mist that poured +westward from the Suez Gulf, showed us how ugly the Birkat +'Akabah can look. As in Iceland also, the higher rose the +barometer, the higher rose the norther; the latter being a cold +dry wind is, consequently, a heavy wind. And when the sky was +comparatively clear and blue, the display of cirri was +noticeable. In some places they formed filmy crosses and thready +lozenges; in others the wrack fell into the shape of the letter +Z; and from the western horizon the curl-clouds shot up thin +rays, with a common centre hid behind the mountains of Sinai, +affecting all the airs of the sun. + +Before leaving Makná I must give an account of its peculiar +tribe, concerning which "The Gold-Mines of Midian"[EN#116] +contained sundry inaccuracies. These men are not the "pauper +descendants of the wealthy Midianites; they cannot boast of +ancient race or of noble blood; and their speech differs in +nothing from that of the Arabs around them. There can be no +greater mistake than to suppose that they represent in any way +the ancient Nabathæans. In features, complexion, and dress they +resemble the half-settled Bedawin around them; and, like these, +they show a kind of connection with the Sinaitic tribes. The +Magáni,[EN#117] to whom only the southern clump of huts at Makná +belongs, call themselves Fawá'idah, Zubáidah, and Ramázání, after +families of the Juhayni stock; and the Fawá'idah have, by +descent, some title to the name. They are, however, considered to +be Khaddamín ("serviles"), like the Hutaym race, by their +neighbours, who give tile following account of their origin. + +An Egyptian silk-seller, who accompanied the Hajj-caravan, +happened to fall asleep at Kubázah, between the stations of +'Aynúnah and Magháir Shu'ayb. His companions went their ways, and +he, like a "bean-eater" as he was, fearing to follow them alone, +made for Makná. Having married and settled there, and seeing in +the fertility of the soil a prospective spec., he sent to his +native country for Fellahín--cultivateurs and peasants--who were +collected from every part of Pharoah-land and its neighbourhood. +The new-comers were compelled to pay one-half of their harvest, +by way of El-Akháwah ("the brother-tax"), in token of +subjugation, to the Beni 'Ukbah, the owners of the soil. They +have gradually acquired Milk ("legal title") to the ground. +According to some, they first settled at Makná in the days of the +Beni 'Amr, whom they subsequently accompanied to the Hismá, when +flying from the victorious Musálimah. After peace was patched up, +they were compelled to make over one-fourth of the date-harvest +as El-Akháwah to the 'Imrán-Huwaytát and to the Ma'ázah; whilst +the Tagaygát-Huwaytát claimed a Bursh, or "mat of fine reeds," as +a poll-tax from every head of man. Under these hard conditions +they are left unmolested; and everything taken from them is +restored by the Shaykhs who receive tribute. They have no chief, +although one Sálim ibn Juwayfili claims the title. + +Before 1866 the Magáni numbered about a hundred tents: the Wady +Makná was then, they say, a garden; and its cultivators were +remarkable for their goodness and hospitality to strangers. But +in that year a feud with the Beni 'Ukbah was excited, as often +happens, by the belli teterrima causa; the women quarrelled with +one another, saying, + +"Thy husband is a slave to my husband," and so forth. The little +tribe, hoisting two flags of red and white calico with green +palm-fronds for staves, dared the foe to attack it; after a loss +of four killed and sundry wounded, all ran away manfully, leaving +their goods at the mercy of the conqueror. Shaykh Hasan el-'Ukbí +was assisted by the Ma'ázah in looting the Magáni huts, and in +carrying off the camels, while Shaykh Furayj vainly attempted +conciliation. Shortly afterwards the Maknáwis went in a body to +beg aid from Hammád el-Sofi, Shaykh of the Turábín tribe, which +extends from Ghazzah (Gaza) westwards to Egypt. Marching with a +host of armed followers, he took possession of the palm-huts +belonging to the Beni 'Ukbah, when the owners fled in turn, +leaving behind their women and children. Furayj hastened from +'Aynúnah to settle the quarrel; and at last the Sofi said to him, +"Whilst I protect the Magáni, do thou protect the Beni 'Ukbah." +Whereupon the latter returned from their mountain-refuge to +El-Muwaylah. The Magáni at the present time are mostly camped +about 'Aynúnah; and only some fifteen head, old men, women, and +boys, who did not take part in the fight, and who live by +fishing, remain at Makná under the protection of the Beni 'Ukbah. +Hence the waters are waste and the fields are mostly unhoed. + +Such is the normal condition of Arabia and the Arabs. What one +does the other undoes; what this creates, that destroys. +Professor Palmer tells us, "Another misconception is that all +Arabs are habitual thieves and murderers."[EN#118] Fear of the +terrible vendetta, the blood feud and the blut-geld, amounting to +about eight hundred dollars, prevents the Bedawin, here as +elsewhere, slaying any but strangers. The traveller's experience, +however, was chiefly of the Towarah or Sinaitic Bedawin, a race +which, bad as bad could be in the early quarter of the present +century, has been thoroughly tamed and cowed by the "fear of +Allah and the Consul." And the curse pronounced by the Jews +against their brother Ishmael, "his hand shall be against every +man," etc., must, as was known even in the days of Gibbon, be +taken with many a grain of salt. + +Yet the Bedawin of Midian have till late years been a turbulent +"mixed multitude," and are ready to become troublesome again. It +is only by building forts and by holding the land militarily, +that the civilized can hope to tame this vermin. I repeat, +however, my conviction that the charming Makná Valley is fated to +see happy years; and that the Wild Man who, when ruled by an iron +hand, is ever ready to do a fair day's work for a fair wage +(especially victuals), will presently sit under the shadow of his +own secular vines and fig-trees. + +About midnight on February 2nd, the tempestuous northerly gale, +which had now lasted four days and five nights, ceased almost +suddenly: the signs of the approaching calm were the falling of +the mercury, the increased warmth of the atmosphere, and the +shifting of the wind towards the east. All hailed the change with +joy. The travellers looked forward to ending their +peregrinations, while the voyagers, myself included, hoped safely +to steam round the Gulf el-'Akabah, and to trace, as correctly as +possible, the extent, the trend, and the puissance of the +quartz-formations. At Cairo Mr. Consul Rogers told me he had +found them in large quantities veining the red grits of Petra; +and I thought it possible that the "white stone" may extend under +the waters of 'Akabah into the peninsula of Sinai. + + + + + + Chapter VII. + Cruise from Maknáto El-'Akabah. + + + +This "Red Sea in the Land of Edom" (1 Kings ix. 26) is still, as +Wellsted entitles it, "a vast and solitary Gulf." It bears a +quaint resemblance to that eastern fork of the northern Adriatic, +the Quarnero, whose name expresses its terrible storms; while the +Suez branch shows the longer stretch of the Triestine +bifurcation. Yamm Elath or Eloth, as the Hebrews called +El-'Akabah, has, by the upheaval of the land, lost more of its +fair proportions than its western sister. It was at one time the +embouchure of the Jordan, extending up the Wady el-'Arabah to the +Asphaltite Lake (Dead Sea), before the former became, so to +speak, a hill and the latter a hole. This view dates from olden +times. "Si suppone," says Cornelius à Lapide,[EN#119] "che sia un +sollevamento che accadde, mentre un abbassamento formava il Mar +Morto; e che il Giordano si gettasse nel Golfo Elanitico (Yamm +Ailath), ciò é nel Mar Rosso, prima della destruzione di Sodoma." +For the latter date we have only to read, "When a movement of +depression sank the lower Jordan Valley, and its present +reservoirs, the Tiberias Lake and the Dead Sea, to their actual +level." There is nothing marvellous nor unique in the feature, as +it appears to those suffering from that strange malady, "Holy +Land on the Brain." The Oxus and the Caspian show an identical +formation, only the sinking has been on a smaller scale. + +Wellsted was unfortunate, both in his weather and in his craft. +To encounter a "sea of breakers" and "northerly gales with a high +and dangerous swell" in a wretched "bugalá" (i.e. Sambúk), and in +that perfect tub, the Palinurus, was somewhat like tempting +Providence,--if such operation be possible. No wonder that "in +this Gulf, in a course of only ninety miles, the nautical mishaps +were numerous and varied." The surveyor, however, neglected a +matter of the highest interest and importance, namely, to +ascertain whether there be any difference of level between the +heads of the Suez and the 'Akabah waters. The vicinity of +continuous maritime chains, varying from six to nearly nine +thousand feet, suggests an amount of attraction (theoretically) +sufficient to cause a sensible difference of plane. It would be +well worth while to run two lines of survey, one from El-'Akabah +to Suez, and the other down the eastern flank of the Sinaitic +Peninsula. + +The Mukhbir, like the Palinurus, promised a certain amount of +excitement. Her boiler, I have said, was honeycombed; it was easy +to thrust one's fist through it. Mr. David Duguid, the engineer, +who on one occasion worked thirty-six hours at a stretch, had +applied for sixty new tubes, and he wanted one hundred and fifty: +we began with two hundred and forty; we lost, when in the Gulf, +from three to nine per diem, a total of seventy five; and the +work of the engine-room and the ship's carpenters consisted in +plugging fractures with stays, plates, and wedges. Presently the +steam-gauge (manomètre) gave way, making it impossible to +register pressure; the combustion chamber showed a rent of +eighteen inches long by one wide, the result of too rapid +cooling; and, lastly, the donkey-engine struck work. Under these +happy circumstances bursting was not to be expected; breaking +down was, a regular collapse which would have left us like a log +upon the stormy waves. A new boiler might have cost, perhaps, +£900, and the want of one daily endangered a good ship which +could not be replaced for £9000. I therefore determined upon a +"Safer Khoriyyah," that is, steaming by day and anchoring at +night in some snug bay. It was also agreed, nem. con., to tow the +Sambúk El-Musahhil, in order that, should accidents happen, it +might in turn act tug to the steamer; or even, at a pinch, serve +us as a lifeboat. + +Nothing becomes Makná better than the view on leaving it. A +varied and attractive picture this, with the turquoise-blue of +the deep water, the purple and leek-green tints of the shoaly and +sandy little port, and the tawny shore dotted by six distinct +palm-tufts. They are outliers of the main line, yon flood of +verdure, climbing up and streaming down from the high, dry, and +barren banks of arenaceous drift, heaped up and filmed over by +the wind, and, lastly, surging through its narrow "Gate," with +the clifflets of conglomerate forming the old coast. Add the +bluff headland of the Ras el-Tárah to the north of the harbour, +and behind it the Rughámat Makná, the greenish-yellow, +flat-backed "horse" of Madyan, which, shimmering in the sunset +with a pearly lustre, forms the best of landmarks. Finish to the +south of the Wady with the quaint chopping outlines of the Jebel +el-Fahísát, resembling from afar a huge alligator lying on the +water; with the similar but lower forms to the north of the +valley, both reflected in the Jibál el-Hamrá (the Red Hills), +whose curtains of green-black trap are broken by sheets of dull +dead-white plaster. Cap the whole with the mighty double quoin of +gypseous Jebel el-Kharaj, buttressing the eastern flank of its +valley, and with the low, dark metal-revetted hills of the Kalb +el-Nakhlah, a copy of the Fahísát. Throw in the background, +slowly rising as you recede from the shore, a curtain of plutonic +peaks and buttresses, cones, quoins, cupolas, parrot-beaks; with +every trick of shape, from the lumpy Zahd to the buttressed and +pinnacled 'Urnub; with every shade of mountain-tint between +lapis-lazuli and plum-purple. Dome the whole with that marvellous +transparent sky, the ocean of the air, that spreads loveliness +over the rugged cheek of the Desert; and you have a picture +which, though distinctly Arabian, you can hardly expect to see in +Arabia. + +From the offing, also, we note how the later formations, granite +and syenite, seamed with a network, and often topped by cones, of +porphyritic trap, have upthrust, pierced, and isolated the older +Secondaries. We traced this huge deposit of sulphates and +carbonates of lime from the southern Wady Hamz, through the +islets at the mouth of the Birkat 'Akabah, all along the shore of +North Midian. Here it crosses diagonally the northern third of +the 'Akabah Gulf, and forms the north-eastern base of the +Sinaitic Peninsula; whilst eastward it stretches inland as far as +Magháir Shu'ayb. The general disposition suggests that before the +upheaval of the Gháts, the Jibál el-Tihámah, this vast gypseous +sheet was a plain and plateau covering the whole country, till a +movement of depression, caused by the upheaval of the igneous +mountains, sank in it the Gulf of 'Akabah. At present the surface +is here flat, there hilly like huge billows breaking mostly to +the north, and reaching an altitude of twelve hundred feet above +the surface. Hence the lines stretching north-south, the Fahísát, +the Red Hills, and the Kalb el-Nakhlah, look like so many +volcanic island-reefs floating in a sea of greenish-yellow +Secondaries. + +Like the old Irish post-horse, the difficulty and danger of our +"kettle" consisted in starting it: two tubes at once burst, and a +new hole yawned in the boiler; moreover, our anchor had been +thrown out in a depth of seventy-three feet. Enfin! At nine a.m. +(February 3rd) we stood straight for the Sinaitic shore, distant +thirteen miles (direct geographical), and in three hours we made +the Sharm, Marsá or Minat el-Dahab--the "Golden Anchorage, Cove, +or Port."[EN#120] Another hour was spent in steaming southwards +to the Dock-harbour, wrongly so called in the charts; the pilots, +and the many Sambúks that take refuge in it, know the place only +as Mínát Ginái (Jinái). The northern baylet, preferred when +southerly winds blow, is simply the embouchure of the Wady Dahab +("Fiumara of Gold"). The name is properly applied to the +sub-maritime section of the valley draining the eastern flanks of +the so-called Mount Sinai. This great watercourse breaks through +the Gháts which, always fringing similar peninsulas, peak to the +south. It reaches the Gulf at a shallow sag marked by a line of +palms, the centre of three: they are fed by their several +Nullahs, and are watered with the brackish produce of sundry +wells. The statio malefida is defended to the north by a short +sandspit and a submerged reef; and southwards by a projection of +sandstone conglomerate. The latter, running from north-east to +south-west, subtends this part of the coast, and serves to build +up the land; after a few years the débris swept down by the +watercourses will warp up the shallows, dividing shore from +outlier. Such, in fact, seems to be the general origin of these +sandspits; beginning as coralline reefs, they have been covered +with conglomerates, and converted into terra firma by the rubbish +shot out by the Wady-mouths. + +The southern port, "Ginái," is formed by a bend in the reef which +sweeps round from east to south-west like a scorpion's tail. The +natural sea-wall, at once dangerous and safety-giving, protects, +to the south and south-east, diabolitos of black rock visible +only at high tide: inshore the sickle-shaped breakwater runs by +east to south-west, becoming a "sandy hook," and enclosing a +basin whose depth ranges from seven to twelve fathoms. Its +approach from the south is clean; and the western opening is +protected by the tall screen of coast cliffs, the Jebel el-Ginái, +whose deep-black porphyritic gorge seemingly prolongs that of +Midianite Tayyib Ism. This is a section of the Jibál el-Samghi, +the coast-range which extends as far north as the Wady Wati'r. +The Dock-port, so useful when the terrible norther blows, has an +admirable landmark, visible even from Sináfir Island, and +conspicuous at the entrance of the Gulf. Where the sandy slopes +of South-Eastern Sinai-land end, appears a large white blot, +apparently supporting a block, built, like a bastion, upon a tall +hill of porphyritic trap. We called this remnant of material +harder than the rest, Burj el-Dahab--"the Tower Hill of Dahab." I +have been minute in describing the Golden Harbour: scant justice +has been done to it by the Hydrographic Chart, and it will prove +valuable when the Makna' mines are opened. Ahmed Kaptán vainly +attempted soundings--he was too ill to work. Wellsted's +identification of the site with Ezion-geber (ii. ix.), and the +reef with the rock-ledge which wrecked Jehosaphat's fleet, has +one great objection--no ruins are known to exist near it.[EN#121] + +The formation of this part of Sinai, as far as we can see from +the shore, reflects, in wilder forms and more abrupt lines, the +opposite coast of Midian: there is, however, the important +difference that the Secondaries and the quartz-veins, there so +important, are here wanting. The skeletons of mountain and hill +appear as if prolonged under water. The ruddy syenite is dyked +and veined by the familiar network of green-black porphyritic +trap; the filons are disposed in parallels striking north-south, +with a little easting; the dip is westerly (about 35 degrees +mag.), and the thickness extends to hundreds of feet, often +forming a foundation for the upper cliff. The subaerial parts are +the same warty and pimply growth which appears on the other side. +Nothing could be more wearisome to the Alpine climber than such a +country: he would scale the peaks and ridges for fifty feet, to +descend thirty on the other side; and the frequent Wadys, +ankle-deep in loose sand, generally end in steep stony couloirs. +The watercourses, whose broad mouths are scattered with thin +green, contain pebbles and rolled quartzes, including fine +specimens of the crystallized variety. + +We landed, after an hour's row in the gig, at the central or main +line of palms; and on the banks of Wady Dahab, here a full mile +wide, we found the works of man, like those of Nature, a copy of +Makná. The date trees and clumps are hedge-closed; two scatters +of 'Ushash (tabernacles) show round towers of rough stone, broken +and patched with palm-frond; and, further north of the Golden +Valley, a few old Arab graves have been weathered into mere heaps +of large stones. These are the Kubur el-Nasárá ("Nazarene's +Graves") of Burckhardt,[EN#122] a name apparently forgotten by +the present generation. We vainly sought and asked after ruins: +of old, however, "Dí'zahab" might have served to disembark cargo +which, by taking the land-route northwards, as the Christian +pilgrims still do from El-Nuwaybi', would avoid the dangerous +headwaters of El-'Akabah. Nor could we believe with +Pococke[EN#123] that the place derived its name from the mica +shining like gold; his theory is stultified by the fact that mica +is by no means a prominent feature, even had the Ancients been so +ignorant as to be deceived by it. + +The people were by no means communicative. An elderly man, with a +red turban and sword by side, hurried away from us when we +addressed him, leaving his middle-aged wife to follow with a babe +on shoulder and a boy in hand: she also refused to speak, waving +her hand by way of reply to every question. At last a +semi-civilized being, acquainted with the Convent of St. +Catherine, Selím bin Husayn, of the Muzaynah tribe, satisfied our +curiosity in view of tobacco, and offered a rudely stuffed +ibex-head for a shilling. In the evening our fishermen visited +the reef, which supplied admirable rock-cod, a bream (?) called +Sultan el-Bahr, and Marján (a Sciæna); but they neglected the +fine Sirinjah ("sponges"), which here grow two feet long. The +night was dark and painfully still, showing nought but the +youngest of moons, and the gloomiest silhouettes of spectral +mountains. + +We set out at seven a.m. on the next day, when an Azyab or +south-easterly wind was promised by the damp air, the slaty sea, +and the gloomy nimbi on the hill-tops. A small party landed after +two hours' steaming, in search of quartz, which proved to be +chloritic sandstones and limestones. In the broad valley they +found a few Muzayni families, with their camels, sheep, and +goats. These unfortunates had no tents, sleeping under the trees; +they were desperate beggars, and, although half-starved, they +asked a napoleon for a kid, declaring that such was its price at +the quarantine station of Tor. Here the errors of the +Hydrographic Chart, which have been copied literally by the +latest and best popular books such as Professor Palmer's "Desert +of the Exodus," began to excite our astonishment. For instance, +Ras Kusayr ("the Short One") becomes Ras Arser--what a name for a +headland! A good survey will presently become a sine quâ non. +Unfortunately Ahmed Kaptán was suffering so much that I could not +ask him to make solar observations; while the rest of us had +other matters in hand. It was a great disappointment, where so +much useful work remains to be done. + +Hereabouts the sterile horrors of the hideous Sinaitic shore seem +to reach their climax. The mountains become huge rubbish-heaps, +without even colour to clothe their indecently nude forms; and +each strives with its neighbour for the prize of repulsiveness. +The valleys are mere dust-shunts that shoot out their rubbish, +stones, gravel, and sand, in a solid flow, like discharges of +lava. And, as Jebel Mazhafah, on the opposite coast, is the apex +of the visible eastern Gháts, so beyond this point the Sinaitic +sea-chain of mountains begins to decline into mere hills, while +longer sand-points project seawards. Such is the near, the real +aspect of what, viewed from Makná, appears a scene in fairy-land, +decked and dight in heavenly hues of blue and purple and rosy +light-- + + "Where the bald blear skull of the Desert + With golden mountains is crowned." + +The first sign of a change of formation appeared near the "Lower +(southern) Nuwaybi'" ("the Little Spring"), which the chart calls +"Wasit." Here the shore shows blots of dead-white and mauve-red, +in which our engineer at once detected quartz. Seeing it +prolonged in straight horizontal lines, and the red overlying the +white, I suspected kaolin and the normal Tauá (coloured clays): +my conjecture was confirmed on the next day. Hereabouts, Wellsted +(ii. 151) also remarked the colouring of the hills, which +resemble those of "Sherm;" some of a deep-blue tinge, and others +streaked with a brilliant red and violet. We then doubled a long +sandspit running out to sea eastward, and forming, on the north, +a deep bay well protected from the souther; whilst several lines +of reef and shallow to the north defend it from the angry Bora. +This anchorage is known to the pilots as "Wásit;" and it occupies +the southern half of the bay, the northern half and its +palm-groves being called the "Upper Nuwaybi'." About "Wásit" the +date-palms are scattered, and the large sand-drifts ever threaten +to bury them alive. Behind it yawns the great gash, "Wady Watír," +which shows its grand lines even from the opposite side of the +gulf: this is the route by which Christian pilgrims from Syria +make the Sinai monastery, rounding on camels the northern end of +El-'Akabah. The main valley receives from the north the Wady +el-'Ayn, which can be reached in half a day. From the south, +distant one whole march, comes the Wady el-Hazrah. This is +doubtless the Hazeroth of the Exodus, meaning the fenced +enclosures of a pastoral people; and a modern traveller figures +and describes it as "the most beautiful and romantic landscape in +the Desert." At least, so said the lately shipped guide, Mabru'k +ibn Sulayyim el-Muzayni. + +After a run of six hours and thirty minutes (= thirty miles), we +cast anchor off Wásit: there was nothing to see ashore, save some +wretched Muzaynah, two males and three females, helpmates meet +for them, living like savages on fish and shell-molluscs; +drinking brackish water, and sleeping in the "bush," rather than +take the trouble to repair the huts. They have no sheep, but a +few camels; and, by way of boats, they use catamarans composed of +two palm-trunks: their home-made hooks resemble the schoolboy's +crooked pin. Yet these starvelings would not fetch specimens of +the white stuff, distant, perhaps, two direct miles of cross-cut, +seen near Nuwaybi', and still visible. They also refused, without +preliminary "bakhshísh," to show or even to tell where certain +ruins, concerning which they spoke or romanced, are found in +their hills. And yet there are theologians who would raise +Poverty, the most demoralizing of all conditions, to the rank of +an "ecclesiastical virtue." + +At 6 30 a.m. on the next day, the Mukhbir stood eastwards to +avoid the northern reef. Presently we passed the "Upper +Nuwaybi'," a creeklet to the north-west of Wásit, with a +straggling line of palms fed by the huge Wady Muzayríj. From this +point to the 'Akabah head all the coast is clean of man. The +Jibál el-Samghi now become the Sinaitic Jibál el-Shafah ("Lip +Mountains"), the latter stretching northwards to the Hajj-road, +and forming the western wall of the 'Arabah valley, whose name +they assume (Jibál el-'Arabah). The scene abruptly shifts. A +mottle of clouds sheds moving shadows over the hill-crests, and +relieves them from the appalling monotony of yesterday. Brilliant +rainbow hues, red, green, mauve, purple, yellow and white clays, +gleam in the lowlands, and form dwarf bluffs; while inland, +peering above the granites, the syenites, and the porphyries of +the coast, pale quoins and naked cones again show the familiar +Secondary formation of Midianitish Makná. We were not surprised +to hear that sulphur had been found in the gypsum of these +eastern Gháts of Sinai, when a Jebel el-Kibí't, approached by the +Wady Suwayr, was pointed out to us. The natural deduction is that +the brimstone formation is, like the turquoise, the copper, and +the manganese, a continuation of the beds that gave a name to +Mafka-land; while the metalliferous strata round, in +horseshoe-form, the head of El-'Akabah, and run down the Arabian +shore, till they become parallel with those subtending the +seaboard of Africa. + +The view of the eastern or Midianite coast was even more varied +and suggestive. Far inland, and tinged light-blue by distance, +rose the sharp, jagged, and sawlike crests of El-Sharaf, under +which the Hajj-caravan wends its weary way, thus escaping the +mountains which dip perpendicularly into the sea. Then come the +broad and sandy slopes, here and there streaked with dark ridges, +spanned by the Sultáni or Sultan's high-road, and stretching from +the Gulf to the inner heights. The latter are no longer a double +parallel chain: they bend from south-south-east to +north-north-west, and become the Jibál el-Shará', anciently +"Mount Seir;" in fact, the eastern retaining-wall of the great +Wady 'Arabah. Evidently they are primary, but a white and purple +patch, visible from afar, suggested a Secondary remnant. Several +of the peaks, especially the blue block El-Yitm, appeared to be +of great height; we all remarked its towering stature and trifid +headpiece, apparently upwards of five thousand feet high, before +we had heard the tale attached to it. Abreast of us and on the +shore, lie the large inlet and little islet El-Humayzah: the +surveyors have abominably corrupted it to "Omeider." North of it +a palm grove, lining the mouth of a broad Wady which snakes high +up among the sands and stones, denotes the Hajj-station, El-Hakl +(Hagul), backed by tall arenaceous buttresses. + +After six hours (= twenty-two knots and a half), we anchored in +the deep channel, about three-quarters of a kilometre wide, that +separates the Sinaitic mainland from the northern one of the only +two islands known in the 'Akabah Gulf, a scrap of rock crowned +with picturesque grey ruins. The Jezírat Fara'ún of the maps, the +Isle of Pharaoh, concerning whom traditions are still current, it +is known to the 'Akabites only as Jebel el-Kala'h or "Fort-hill:" +hence El-Graa in Laborde, and Jezírat El-Q reieh in +Arconati.[EN#124] Burckhardt alone mentions that the ruins are +known as El-Dayr--"the Convent." This human lair is encircled by +barrier-reefs of coralline, broad to the south-west and large in +scattered places: eastward they form a shallow wall-like ledge, +beyond which blue water at once begins. The island-formation is +that of the opposite coasts, Midian and Sinai, grey granite dyked +with decaying porphyritic trap, and everywhere veined with white +and various-coloured quartzes. The shape is a long oval of about +three hundred and twenty by one hundred and fifty-two metres; a +saddleback with two stony heads, the higher to the north, rising +a hundred feet or so above sea-level. Pommel and cantle are +connected by a low seat, a few yards of isthmus; and the three +divisions, all strongly marked, bear buildings. The profile from +east and west shows four groups: to the extreme north a tower, +backed by the castle donjon, on the knob of granite here and +there scarped; the works upon the thread of isthmus; and the +walls and bastions crowning the southern knob, which, being +lower, is even more elaborately cut to a perpendicular. + +We landed upon the eastern side of the islet rock, where the +trunk of a broken mole is covered in rear by a ruined work. Here, +being most liable to attack, the fortifications are strongest; +whereas on the west side only a single wall, now strewn on the +ground, with square Burj at intervals, defends the little +boat-harbour. The latter appears at present in the shape of a +fish-pond, measuring sixty by forty metres; sunk below sea-level, +fed by percolation, and exceedingly salt. To the east of this +water, black cineraceous earth shows where the smith had been at +work: we applied the quarrymen to sift it, without other results +but bits of glass, copper, and iron nails. + +The pier leads to a covered way, enabling the garrison safely to +circulate round the base of the islet. Behind it a path, much +broken and cumbered by débris of the walls, winds up the southern +face of the northern hill, which supports the body of the place: +it meets another track from the west, and a small work defends +their junction. Below it, outside the walls, we found a well sunk +about eight feet in the granite, and cemented with fine lime, the +red plaster in places remaining. Above this pit a Mihráb, or +prayer-niche, fronting Meccah-wards (more exactly 175 degrees +mag.) shows the now ruinous mosque: the Bedawi declare that it +was built by a "Pasha." Higher again, upon a terreplein, are +lines of tanks laid out with all that lavishness of labour which +distinguishes similar works in Syria: it is, however, difficult +to assign any date to these constructions. The cisterns were +explored by Mr. Clarke and Lieutenant Amir, who dug into and +planned them. They descended by ropes, although there are two +flights of steps to the west and the south-west. The tanks are +built up from the base with blocks one foot nine inches long: +seven inches deep of rubbish were cleared away before reaching +the floor, composed of black stones bedded in layers of cement +above and below, and resting upon the ground-rock. The diggings +yielded only big pieces of salt fallen from the walls, and a +broken handmill of basalt. The sides are supported by pilasters +of cut stone, and the crown by four pillars in a double row: the +dividing arches, according to the plan, are not symmetrical. Hard +by, measuring twelve metres by twelve, is the quarry whence the +stone was taken; and near it stands the normal Egyptian +pigeon-tower, with its nest-niches. + +The donjon or body is defended by an enceinte, opening northwards +upon a large yard, where, doubtless, the garrison mustered, and +whence a flight of steps leads to the wicket. The inside of the +works shows the roofless party-walls still standing; and the +ground is scattered over with the remains of many different +races: there are drums of columns and fragments of marble +pillars, but no sign of an inscription. Even in the upper +ramparts two epochs are distinctly traceable, the mediæval and +the modern. The lower ashlar, mostly yellow grit, is cut and +carefully cemented; the upper part is generally of rough dry +stone, the plutonic formations of the islet heaped up with scanty +care. The embrasures are framed with decaying palm-trunks; the +loop-holes belong partly to the age of archery; and nothing can +be ruder than the battlements placed close together, as if to be +manned by bowmen, while in not a few places there are the remains +of matting between the courses. At the highest part we found +another carefully cemented Sehrij, or underground cistern, with +two sharp-topped arches divided by a tall column, Saracenic +certainly and not Doric:[EN#125] above it a circular aperture, +arched round with the finest bricks, serves to lighten the +superstructure. It communicates to the north with a Hammám, whose +plan is easily traced by the double flues and earthenware tubes, +well made and mortared together. Here we found inscribed on the +plaster, "Arona Linant 22 Mars 1846." + +The southern knob of the islet supports similar but inferior +constructions, still more ruinous withal: its quarry is on the +lower slopes, and its granitic base has also been scarped +seawards. Two stout walls, twelve feet thick below and six above, +crossing the length of the rock from north to south, here meet in +a Burj which shows signs of fine tiles on an upper floor; whilst +a third wall forms a southern spine bisecting the tail of the +"Jezírat." The castle is much more dilapidated than when sketched +by Ruppell, the first Frank who visited El-'Akabah, in 1826. His +illustration (p. 214) of Ruinen auf der Insel Emrag shows a +single compact building in good preservation, the towers being +round, when all are square; and it is garnished with the +impossible foreground and background of his epoch; the former, +enlivened with a Noah's-Ark camel, being placed quite close, when +it is distant some ten miles. In the German naturalist's time, +the now desolate island was occupied by die Emradi, a tribe which +he suspected to be Jewish, and of which he told the queerest +tales: I presume they are the 'Imrám-Huwaytát of El-Hakl and the +Hismá. Wellsted's short description (II. ix) is still correct as +in 1838. + +The castle is evidently European, built during the days when the +Crusaders held El-'Akabah; but it probably rests upon Roman +ruins; and the latter, perhaps, upon Egyptian remains of far +older date. It protected one section of the oldest overland +route, when the islet formed the key of the Gulf-head. It +subsequently became an eyrie whence its robber knights and +barons--including possibly "John, the Christian ruler of 'Akabah" +(A.D. 630), and, long after him, madcap Rainald de Chatillon +(A.D. 1182)--could live comfortably and sally out to plunder +merchants and pilgrims. The Saracenic buildings may date, as the +popular superstition has it, from the reign of Saláh el-Dín +(Saladin) who, in A.D. 1167, cleared his country of the Infidel +invader by carrying ships on camel-back from Cairo. Later +generations of thieves, pirates, and fishermen naturally made it +their refuge and abode. I hardly anticipate for it great things +in the immediate future, although it has been proposed for a +coal-depôt. + +After a day given to tube-tinkering with tompions, stays, plugs, +plates, and wedges, to the distraction of the ship's carpenter +and blacksmith, steam was coaxed up; and, at 9.15 a.m. (February +7th), we ran northwards through the deep narrow channel, rounding +the upper end of the Pharaohnic islet. Here the encircling wall +is defended by two square Burj, to the north-east and to the +northwest, flanking what is probably the main entrance. On the +Sinaitic mainland to port, the broad mouth of the Wady el-Masri +leads to the Nakb, the rocky Pass which, so much dreaded till +repaired by Abba's Pasha, is popularly said to be described in +El-'Akabah--"the Steep." The Bedawin, however, declare that the +locale is so called because the Gulf here "heels" (Ya'kkab +el-Bahr), that is, comes to an end. At the head of the sea, the +confused mass of the Sinaitic mountains range themselves in line +to the west, fronting its sister wall, the grand block El-Shará' +(Seir); while in the middle lies the southern section of the +"Ghor," the noble and memorious Wady el-'Akabah, supposed to have +given a name to Arabia.[EN#126] The surface-water still rolls +down it after rains; and the mirage veiling the valley-sole +prolongs the Gulf-waters far to the north, their bed in the old +geologic ages. The view was charming to us; for the first time +since leaving Suez we saw the contrast of perpendicular and +horizontal, of height and flat. Nothing could be more refreshing, +more gladdening to the eye, after niente che montagne, as the +poor Italian described the Morea, than the soft sweeps and the +level lines of the hollow plain: it was enjoyable as a heavy +shower after an Egyptian summer. On the next day also, the play +of light and shade, and the hide and seek of sun-ray and +water-cloud, gave the view a cachet of its own. I am sorry to see +that scientific geologist, Mr. John Milne, F.G.S.,[EN#127] +proposing to cut through the two to five hundred feet of +elevation which separate the Gulf from the Dead Sea, some +thirteen hundred feet below water level. Does he reflect that he +simply proposes to obliterate the whole lower Jordan? to bury +Tiberias and its lake about eight hundred feet under the waves? +in fact, to overwhelm half the Holy Land in a brand-new +nineteenth-century deluge, the Deluge of Milne? + +All were delighted at having reached our northernmost point, +without another visit from El-Ayli'. After one hour and +thirty-five minutes (= seven miles) the Mukhbir anchored, in +twelve fathoms of water, a couple of hundred yards off the fort +and its dependent group of brown-grey mud buildings, half +concealed by the luxuriant palms. The roads are safe enough: here +the north wind has not yet gained impetus; the south-easter is +bluffed off by a long point; and in only the strongest Gharbí +("westers") ships must run for refuge under the cliffs of Sinai. + +This is not the place to enter into the history of Elath, Ailat, +Ailah, Ælana, 'Akabah, or 'Akabat-Aylah: Robinson (i. 250-254) +and a host of others give ample and reliable details. Suffice it +to say that the site is mentioned in the Wanderings (Deut. ii. +8), which must not be confounded with the Exodus. It is +subsequently connected with the gold-fleet (I Kings ix. 26, +etc.); and, conquered by Rezin, king of Syria (B.C. 740), it was +permanently lost to the Jews (2 Kings xvi. 6). Under the Romans, +this great station upon the "Overland" between the southernmost +Nabathæan port, Leukè Kóme, and Petra, the western capital, was a +Præsidium held by the Tenth Legion; and a highway connected it +with Gaza (Ghazzah), measuring one hundred and twenty direct +miles, when the Isthmus of Suez numbers only ninety-five. In +Christian times it had a prince and a bishop; and, under Mohammed +and the early Moslems, it preserved an importance which lasted +till the days of the Crusaders. El-Makrízi describes its ruins, +and here places the northern frontier of the Hejaz: in his day +"Madyan" was thus a section of the Tihámat el-Hejaz, the maritime +region of the Moslems' Holy Land. + +A group of camels had gathered on the shore; and inland lay a mob +of pilgrims, the Hajj el-Magháribah, numbering some three +thousand North-West Africans; an equally large division had +already preceded them to Suez. Letters from Egypt assured us that +cholera had broken out at Meccah and Jeddah, killing in both +places ninety-eight per diem. Here the pilgrims swore by their +Allah that all were, and ever had been, in perfect health; it is +every man's business to ignore the truth, to hide the sick, and +to bury the dead out of sight. Hard swearing, however, did not +prevent the Hajj undergoing a long quarantine before entering +Suez. The English journals had reported another disaster: "Now +that the Sultán's power is collapsing, the most powerful Bedaween +tribes are rising because their subsidies are withheld. For weeks +the great pilgrim-traffic of autumn (? add the other three +seasons) was arrested by them; and even between Medina and Mecca +the road is unsafe." Of this I could hear nothing. + +We awaited, on board, the departure of the pauper and infected +"Mogrebbins:" when the place was clear we fired a gun, and, after +an answer of three, I received the visits of the fort officials. +They were civility itself; they immensely admired our two +"splendid buttons" of poor iron; and they privily remarked, with +much penetration, that the colour was that of brass: they were, +in truth, far wiser than we had been. With them came Mohammed ibn +Jád (not Iját) el-'Alawí (of the 'Alawlyyin-Huwaytát), who styles +himself "Shaykh of El-'Akabah:" he is remarkable for frank +countenance, pleasant manners, and exceeding greed. He was +gorgeously arrayed in an overall ('Abáyah) of red silk and gold +thread (Gasab), covering a similar cloak of black wool: besides +which, a long-sleeved Egyptian caftán, striped stuff of silk and +wool, invested his cotton Kamís and Libás ("bag-breeches"). To +his A'kál or "fillet" of white fleecy wool hung a talisman; his +Khuff ("riding-boots") were of red morocco, and his +sword-scabbard was covered with the same material. The Arab ever +loves scarlet, and all varieties of the sanguine hue are as dear +to him as to the British soldier. + +We held sundry long confabs with Shaykh Mohammed, who seemed to +know the neighbourhood unusually well. He declared that there +were ruins but no trees at 'Ayn el-Ghadya'n, distant one day's +march up the Wady el-'Arabah, and lying near the western wall. +This is the place first identified by Robinson, who says nothing +about the remains, with Ezion-geber, while Dean Stanley ("Sinai," +etc., p. 85) opines that we have no means of fixing the position +of the "Giant's shoulder-blade."[EN#128] Josephus ("Antiq.," +viii. 6, 4) places it near Ælana; and the present distance from +the sea, like that of Heroopolis (Shaykh el-Ajrúd?) from Suez, +may show the rise of the Wady el-'Arabah within historic times. +The Shaykh assured us that "Marú" was to be found everywhere +among the hills east of El-'Akabah, and Mr. Milne (Beke, p. 405) +brought from the very summit of the "true Mount Sinai" (Jebel +el-Yitm) a "fine piece of quartz, the same kind of stone as the +Brazilian pebbles of which they make the best spectacles." We +carried off a specimen of native copper from the Sinaitic Jebel +and Wady Raddádí, some six hours to the north-west of the fort: +it is found strewed upon the ground but not in veins (?). The +stone looked so new that we concluded it to be the work of later +generations; and the traces of smelting furnaces at old Elath +confirmed the idea. + +Shaykh Mohammed, who boasted that his tribe could mount five +hundred horses--by which understand five--offered his safeguard +to the Hismá, three easy marches, without pass or climax, up the +Wady Yitm to the east, and behind the range El-Shará'. He made +the region begin northwards at one day south of El-Ma'án, the +fort lying to the east-south-east of Petra; and he confirmed the +accounts of Mabrúk, the guide, who was never tired of expatiating +upon its merits. The fountains flow in winter, in summer the +wells are never dry; the people, especially the Huwaytát, are +kind and hospitable; sheep are cheap as dirt. At Jebel Saur a +Maghrabi magician raised a Kidr Dahab ("golden pot"); but, his +incense failing at the critical moment, it sank before yielding +its treasures. + +Pointing north-eastwards to the majestic pile in the Shara" or +Seir Mountains, the Jebel el-Yitm,[EN#129] a corruption of +El-Yatim, the Shaykh told us a tale that greatly interested us. +It appears, I have said, a remarkable formation from whose group +of terminal domes and pinnacles the tomb of Aaron on Mount Hor +is,[EN#130] they say, visible; and it is certainly the highest +visible peak of the grand wall that forms the right bank of the +Wady Yitm. Thus it is but one of a long range; and the Bedawin +visit it, to make sacrifice, according to universal custom, at +the tomb of a certain Shaykh Bákir. Here, some years ago, came an +old man and a young man in a steamer (Erin) belonging to his +Highness the Khediv: the former told the Arabs that in his books +the height was called the Jebel el-Núr ("Mountain of Light"), a +title which apparently he had first applied to the Jebel el-Lauz; +and the latter climbed to the mountain-top. After that they went +their way. + +I quite agree with my lamented friend, Dr. Beke, that it is an +enormous blunder to transfer Midian, the "East Country," to the +west of El-'Arabah, and to place it south of the South Country +(El-Negeb, Gen. xx. I). I own that it is ridiculous to make the +Lawgiver lead his fugitives into a veritable cul-de-sac, then a +centre of Egyptian conquest. Evidently we have still to find the +"true Mount Sinai," if at least it be not a myth, pure and +simple. The profound Egyptologist, Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey, +observes that the vulgar official site lies to the south of and +far from the line taken by the Beni Israil, and that the papyri +show no route leading to it; whilst many have remarked that the +Sinai of the Exodus is described as a single isolated mountain or +hill, not as one projection from a range of heights.[EN#131] I +would also suggest that the best proof of how empirical is the +actual identification, will be found in the fact that the +Jews--except only the Rev. Jos. Wolff (1821)--have never visited, +nor made pilgrimages to, what ought to be one of their holiest of +holy places. This crucial point has been utterly neglected by the +officers of the Ordnance Survey of Sinai. It is evident that +Jebel Serbal dates only from the early days of Koptic +Christianity; that Jebel Musá, its Greek rival, rose after the +visions of Helena in the fourth century; whilst the building of +the convent by Justinian belongs to A.D. 527. Ras Sufsafah, its +rival to the north, is an affair of yesterday, and may be called +the invention of Robinson; and Jebel Katerina, to the south, is +the property of Ruppell. Thus the oft-quoted legends of the +Sinaitic Arabs are mere monkish traditions, adopted by +Ishmaelitic ignorance. The great Lawgiver probably led his horde +of fugitive slaves over the plains of El-Negeb and El-Tih, north +of the so-called Sinaitic mountain-blocks, marching in small +divisions like those of a modern Bedawi tribe; and we know from +the latest surveys that the land, now alternately a fiery or +frozen wilderness, was once well supplied with wood and water. +The "true Mount Sinai" is probably some unimportant elevation in +the Desert named by moderns after the Wanderings. + +Dr. Beke, I am persuaded, is right in denying that Mount Sinai +occupies the site at present assigned to it; but I cannot believe +that he has found it in the Jebel el-Yitm, near El-'Akabah. His +"Mount Bárghir" is evidently a corruption of the "Wali" on the +summit, Shaykh Bákir--a common Arab name. His "Mountain of Light" +is a term wholly unknown to the Arabs, except so far as they +would assign the term to any saintly place. The "sounds heard in +the mountain like the firing of a cannon," is a legend applied to +two other neighbouring places. All the Bedawin still sacrifice at +the tombs of their Santons: at the little white building which +covers the reputed tomb of Aaron, sheep are slaughtered and +boiled in a huge black cauldron. The "pile of large rounded +boulders" bearing "cut Sinaitic inscriptions" (p. 423) are +clearly Wusúm: these tribal-marks, which the highly imaginative +M. de Saulcy calls "planetary signs," are found throughout +Midian. The name of the Wady is, I have said, not El-Ithem, but +El-Yitm, a very different word. Lastly, the "Mountain Eretówa," +or "Ertówa" (p. 404), is probably a corruption of El-Taur +(El-Hismá), the "inaccessible wall" of the plateau, which Dr. +Beke calls Jebel Hismá. My old friend, with his usual candour and +straightforwardness, honestly admitted that he had been +"egregiously mistaken with respect to the volcanic character of +(the true) 'Mount Sinai."' But without the eruption, the "fire +and smoke theory," what becomes of his whole argument?[EN#132] +Save for the death of my friend, I should have greatly enjoyed +the comical side of his subject; the horror and disgust with +which he, one of the greatest of geographical innovators, regards +a younger rival theory, the exodist innovation of Dr. Heinrich +Brugsch-Bey. The latter is the first who has rescued the "March +of the Children of Israel" from the condition of mere guesswork +described by the Rev. Mr. Holland. + +Under the guidance of our new acquaintances, we rowed to the site +of Elath, which evidently extended all round the Gulf-head from +north-east to north-west. Linant and Laborde ("Voyage de l'Arabie +Petrée," etc., Paris, 1830) confine it to the western shore, near +the mouth of the Wady el-'Arabah, and make Ezion-geber to face it +as suggested by the writings of the Hebrews. Disembarking at the +northern palm-clump, we inspected El-Dár, the old halting-place +of the pilgrim-caravan before New 'Akabah was founded. The only +ruins[EN#133] are large blocks under the clearest water, and off +a beach of the softest sand, which would make the fortune of a +bathing-place in Europe. Further eastward lies an enclosed +date-orchard called El-Hammám: the two pits in it are said to be +wells, but I suspect the treasure-seeker. Inland and to the north +rise the mounds and tumuli, the sole remains of ancient Elath, +once the port of Petra, which is distant only two dromedary +marches. During rain-floods the site is an island: to the west +flows the surface-water of the Wady el-'Arabah, and eastward the +drainage of the Wady Yitm has dug a well-defined bed. A line of +larger heaps to the north shows where, according to the people, +ran the city wall: finding it thickly strewed with scoriae, old +and new, I decided that this was the Siyághah or "smiths' +quarter." Between it and the sea the surface is scattered with +glass, shards, and slag: I inquired in vain for "written stones," +and for the petroleum reported to exist in the neighbourhood. + +Shaykh Mohammed declared that of old a chain stretched from the +Pharaohnic island-castle to the Jebel el-Burayj or Kasr el-Bedawi +on the Midianite shore: this chain is a lieu commun of Eastern +legends. The "Bedawi's Castle" is mentioned by Robinson and +Burckhardt ("Syria," p. 510), as lying one hour south of +El-'Akabah. Moreover, the Wady Yitm, whose upper bed shows two +ruins, was closed, at the narrow above the mouth, by a fortified +wall of stone and lime, thus cutting off all intercourse with the +interior. The Bedawin declare it to be the work of King Hadíd +(Iron), who thus kept out the Bení Hilál of El-Nejd. We were +shown large earth-dams, thrown across the embouchure of the +torrent to prevent the floods injuring the palm-groves of New +'Akabah. These may date from ancient days, when the old city here +extended its south-eastern suburb; as usual, they have become a +cemetery, modern and Moslem; and on the summit of the largest the +holy Shaykh el-Girmí (Jirmí) still names his ruined tomb. + +Walking round the eastern bay, where the ubiquitous black sand +striped the yellow shore, we observed that the tide here rises +only one foot,[EN#134] whereas at Suez it may reach a metre and a +half to seven feet. According to the chart, the springs attain +four feet at "Omeider" (El-Humayzah), some nineteen direct knots +to the south; and in the Sharm Yáhárr we found them about one +metre. Presently we entered, by wooden doors with locks and keys, +the carefully kept palm-groves, walled with pisé and dry stone. +Wells were being sunk; and a depth of nine to ten feet gave +tolerably sweet water. Striking the broad northern trail which +leads to the Wady Yitm and to the upper El-'Arabah, still a +favourite camping-ground of the tribes,[EN#135] we reached the +modern settlement, which has something of the aspect of a +townlet, not composed, like El-Muwaylah, of a single house. The +women fled at our approach, as we threaded the alleys formed by +the mud tenements. + +The fort[EN#136] is usually supposed to have been built by +Sulta'n Selim I., in A.D. 1517, or three years before his death, +after he had subdued the military aristocracy of the Mamlúks, who +had ruled Egypt for three centuries. Much smaller than that of +El-Muwaylah, it is the normal affair: an enceinte once striped +red and white; curtains flanked by four Burj, all circular, +except the new polygon to the north-west; and a huge, gloomy +main-gateway fronting north, and flanked by two bastions. On the +proper right side is a circle of stone bearing, without date, the +name of "Sultán Selim Khan el-Fátih," who first laid out the +pilgrim-route along the Red Sea shore. Inside the dark cool porch +a large inscription bears the name "El-Ashraf Kansúr +(sic)[EN#137] El-Ghori," the last but one of the Circassian +Mamlúk kings of Egypt, who was defeated and slain by the Turkish +conqueror near Aleppo in A.D. 1501. Above it stand two stone +shields dated A.H. 992 (= A.D. 1583--1584). In the southern wall +of the courtyard is the mosque, fronted by a large deep well dug, +they say, during the building of the fort: it still supplies the +whole Hajj-caravan with warmish sweet water. On the ground lies a +good brass gun with Arabic inscription and numerals; and the +towers, commanding the little kitchen-gardens outside the +fort-wall, are armed with old iron carronades. The garrison, +consisting of half a dozen gunners and a few Ba'sh-Buzuks, looks +pale, bloodless, and unwholesome: the heats of summer are almost +unsupportable; and 'Akabah has the name of a "little hell." +Moreover, they eat, drink, smoke, sleep, chat, quarrel, and never +take exercise: the officers complained sadly that I had made them +walk perhaps a mile round the bay-head. And yet they have, within +two days of sharp ride, that finest of sanitaria, the Hismá, +which extends as far north and south as they please to go. + +I at once made arrangements for a dromedary-post to Suez, and +wrote officially to Prince Husayn Pasha, requesting that his +Highness would exchange the Mukhbir for a steamer less likely to +drown herself. Moreover, the delay at Magháir Shu'ayb had +exhausted our resources; and the Expedition required a month's +additional rations for men and mules. The application was, it +will appear, granted in the most gracious manner, with as little +delay as possible; and my wife, who had reached Cairo, saw that +the execution of the order was not put off till the end of March. +Messrs. Voltéra Brothers were also requested to forward another +instalment of necessaries and comforts; and they were as punctual +and satisfactory as before. For this postal service, and by way +of propitiatory present, Shaykh Mohammed received ten dollars, of +which probably two were disbursed. We therefore parted fast +friends, he giving me an especial invitation to his home in the +Hismá, and I accepting it with the firm intention of visiting him +as soon as possible. + +Meanwhile Mr. Clarke and Ali Marie were busy with buying up such +stores as El-'Akabah contains; and the officers of the fort, who +stayed with us to the last, were profuse in kind expressions and +in little gifts which, as usual, cost us double their worth. In +these lands one must expect to be "done" as surely as in Italy. +What the process will be, no one knows till it discloses itself; +but all experts feel that it is in preparation. + + + + + +NOTE ON THE SUPPLIES TO BE BOUGHT AT EL-'AKABAH. + + + +The following is a list of the stores with their prices. It must +be borne in mind that the Hajj-caravan was passing at the time we +visited El-'Akabah. + +A large sheep cost half a napoleon; the same was the price of a +small sheep, with a kid. + +Fowls (seventy-one bought), thirteen pence each; pigeons, +sixpence a head. + +Eggs (sixty), two for threepence. + +Tobacco (8 lbs.), coarse and uncut, but welcome to the Bedawin, +one shilling per pound. + +Samn ("liquefied butter" for the kitchen) also one shilling per +pound. This article is always dear in Arabia, but much cheaper +than in Egypt. + +Pomegranates (fifty), four shillings a hundred. + +Onions (one kanta'r or cwt.), one sovereign. + +Thin-skinned Syrian raisins, fivepence per pound. + +Dried figs, twopence halfpenny per pound. + +Matches (sixteen boxes), three halfpence per box. + +A small quantity of grain may be bought. Lentils (Revalenta +Arabica) are to be had in any quantity, and they make an +admirable travelling soup. Unfortunately it is supposed to be a +food for Fellahs, and the cook shirks it--the same is the case +with junk, salt pork, and pease-pudding on board an English +cruiser. Sour limes are not yet in season; they will be plentiful +in April. A little garden stuff may be had for salads. The list +of deficiencies is great; including bread and beef, potatoes, +'Ráki, and all forms of "diffusable stimulants." + +Here, as at Cairo, the piastre is of two kinds, metallic (debased +silver) and non-metallic. Government pays in the former, which is +called Ságh ("coin"); and the same is the term throughout Egypt. +The value fluctuates, but 97-1/2 may be assumed = one sovereign +(English), and one hundred to the Egyptian "lira." The second +kind, used for small purchases, is not quite half the value of +the former (205:100); in North-Western Arabia it is called Abyas +("white"), and Tarífá ("tariff"); the latter term in Cairo always +signifying the Ságh or metallic. The dodges of the Shroffs, or +"money-changers," make housekeeping throughout Egypt a study of +arithmetic. They cannot change the value of gold, but they "rush" +the silver as they please; and thus the "dollar-sinko" (i.e. the +five-franc piece), formerly fetching 19.10, has been reduced to +18.30. The Khurdah, or "copper-piastre," was once worth a +piastre; now this "coin of the realm" has been so debased, that +it has gradually declined through 195 to 500 and even 650 for the +sovereign. Moreover, not being a legal tender, it is almost +useless in the market. + +As regards the money to be carried by such expeditions, anything +current in Egypt will do. The Bedawin prefer sovereigns when +offered five-franc pieces, and vice versa. The Egyptian sovereign +of 100 piastres (metallic) or 250 "current" must not be +confounded with the Turkish = 87.30 (curr. 175.20 to 180). The +napoleon averages 77.6 (curr. 160); the dollar varies according +to its kind; the shilling is 3.35 (curr. 10), and the franc 3.35 +(curr. 8). It is necessary to lay in a large quantity of small +change by way of "bakhshísh," such as ten and twenty parah bits +(40 = 1 piastre). + + + + + + Chapter VIII. + Cruise from El-'Akabah to El-Muwaylah--the Shipwreck + Escaped–Résumé of the Northern Journey. + + + +I resolved upon hastening back with all speed to El-Muwaylah, +finishing, by the way, our work of quartz-prospecting on the +'Akabah Gulf. Thus far it had been a success; we heard of "Marú" +in all directions. But all had not gone equally well. We had +already on two occasions been prevented by circumstances from +visiting the mysterious Hismá, and we now determined to devote +all our energies to its exploration. + +Two heavy showers having fallen during the dark hours, on +February 8th Aurora looked as if she had passed a very bad night +indeed. The mist-rack trailed along the rock slopes, and rested +upon the Wady-sands; the mountains veiled their heads in clouds, +and-- + + "Above them lightnings to and fro ran coursing evermore, + Till, like a red, bewildered map, the skies were +scribbled o'er." + +Meanwhile, in the north-west and south-west we saw--rare thing in +Arabia!--Iris holding two perfect bows at the same time, not to +speak of "wind dogs." Zephyrus, the wester, here a noted bad +character, rose from his rocky couch strong and rough, beating +down the mercury to 56 degrees F.: after an hour he made way for +Eurus; and the latter was presently greeted by Boreas in one of +his most boisterous and blustering moods. + +We steamed off, with only a single stoppage for half an hour to +cool the engine-bearings, at 7.30 a.m.; and, after one mile we +passed, on the Arabian side, a ruin called Kasr el-Bint--"the +Girl's Palace." Beyond it lies the Kasr el-Bedawi, alias +El-Burayj ("of the Little Tower or Bastion"), the traditional +holding-pier of the great chain. When Wellsted (ii. 146) says, +"Here (i.e. at the Kasr el-Bedawi), I am told, there is a chain +extending from the shore to a pier built in the sea"--he +evidently misunderstood the Arabs. The eastern coast of +El-'Akabah begins with an abrupt mountain-wall, like that which +subtends the whole of the Sinai shore, till it trends south of +the Mí'nat el-Dahab. After three miles the heights fall into a +stony, sandy plain, which rises regularly as a "rake," or +stage-slope, to the Shará' (Seir) range, which closes the +horizon. After two hours and forty five minutes we passed into +the fine, open, treacherous Bay of "Hagul" (El-Hakl), distant +thirteen knots from El-'Akabah Fort, to which it is the nearest +caravan-station. On the north-east, and stretching eastward, are +the high "horse," or dorsum, and the big buttresses of the long, +broad Wady, which comes winding from the south-east. They appear +to be a body of sand; but, as usual on this coast, the +superficial sheet, the skin, hardly covers the syenite and +porphyritic trap that form the charpente. Between west and south, +a long spit, high inland, and falling low till where its +sandstone blufflet meets the sea, proves to be the base of a +large and formidable reef, which extends in verdigris patches +over the blue waters of the bay. It is not mentioned by Wellsted +(ii. 149), who describes "Ha'gool on the Arabian shore," as "a +small boat-harbour much exposed to the northerly winds." The +embouchure of the Wady nourishes four distinct clumps of +date-trees, well walled round; a few charred and burnt, the most +of them green and luxuriant. These lines are broken by the +channels which drain the surface water; and between the two +western sections appear the ragged frond-huts. Not a soul was +seen on shore. + +The wind blew great guns outside the bay, and the inside proved +anything but calm. As the water was fifty-eight fathoms deep near +the coast, our captain found no moorings for his ship, except to +the dangerous reef; and we kept drifting about in a way which +would have distracted sensitive nerves. I had been told of ruins +and tumuli at El-Hakl, which denote, according to most +authorities, the Mesogeian town <Greek>(Ancale): Ptolemy +(vi. 7, 27) places this oppidum Mediterraneum between Mákna or +Maína (Madyan), and Madiáma (Magháir Shu'ayb), the old capital. + +Unwilling, however, to risk the safety of the gunboat, where +nothing was to be expected beyond what we had seen at El-'Akabah, +I resolved, after waiting half an hour, not to land. The Sambúk +received a cargo of quarrymen and sacks, in order to ship at +Makná the "argentiferous galena" and other rocks left by +Lieutenant Yusuf and M. Philipin upon the shore; and, that done, +she was directed to rejoin us at Tírán Island. As long as the +norther coursed high, she beat us hollow; in the afternoon, +however, when the gale, as usual, abated, she fell off, perhaps +purposely, not wishing to pass a night in the open. By sunset her +white sail had clean disappeared, having slipped into some snug +cove. + +The Arabian shore is here of simpler construction than that of +Sinai; consequently the chart has had a better chance. The +Mukhbir resumed her way southwards in glorious weather, a fresh +breath blowing from the north; and fleecy clouds variegating the +sky, which was almost as blue as the waves After six miles and a +half from El-Hakl and nearly twenty from El-Akabah, she ran to +the west of El-Humayzah Island, the "Omasír" of Wellsted (ii. +149), between which and the mainland is a well sheltered berth. +It is a great contrast with the "Hill of the Fort," the +Pharaohnic rock, this lump some eighty feet high, built of +Secondary gypsum and yellow serpentine like the coast behind it. +Gleaming deadly white, pale as a corpse in the gorgeous sunshine, +and utterly bare, except for a single shrub, it is based upon a +broad, dark-coloured barrier-reef. Local tradition here places +the Kasr el-Bedawíyyah, "Palace of the Bedawi Woman (or Girl)," +but we saw neither sign of building nor trace of population in +the second island which the Gulf el-'Akabah owns. + +We then passed sundry uninteresting features, and night fell upon +us off Jebel Tayyib Ism, where familiar scenes began to present +themselves. The captain had already reduced speed from four and a +half to three knots, his object being to reach the Bugház or +"Gulf-mouth" after dawn. But as midnight drew near it became +necessary to ride out the furious gale with the gunboat's head +turned northwards. M. Lacaze, a stout-hearted little man, worked +half the night at the engine, assisting Mr. Duguid. About four +a.m. (February 8th) a lull in the storm allowed her to resume her +southerly course; but two hours afterwards, an attempt to make +the Makná shore, placing her broadside on to the wind, created +much confusion in the crockery and commotion among the men. +Always a lively craft, she now showed a Vokes-like agility; for, +as is ever the case, she had no ballast, and who would take the +trouble to ship a few tons of sand? At such moments the engine +was our sole stand-by: had it played one of its usual tricks, the +Mukhbir, humanly speaking, was lost; that is, she would have been +swamped and water-logged. As for setting sail, it was not till +our narrow escape that I could get the canvas out of stowage in +the hold. + +As the morning wore on the Gulf became even rougher, with its +deep and hollow waves; they seemed to come from below, as if bent +upon hoisting us in the air. The surface-water shivered; and the +upper spray was swept off by the north wind, which waxed colder +and more biting as we steered sunwards. The Sinaitic side now +showed its long slopes; and at 9.45 a.m. we passed the palms of +the Nebíkí anchorage, some six miles from the "Gate." On the +shore of Midian, south of the dark Fahísát Mountains, four +several buttresses of gypsum, decreasing in size as they followed +one another eastwards, trended diagonally away from the sea. This +part of the Arabian coast ends in a thin point: the maps call it +"Ras Fartak;" and the pilots "Shaykh Hamí,"[EN#138] from a holy +man's tomb to which pious visitation is made. The other +land-tongue, adjoining to the south, is known as the Umm Ruús, or +"Mother of Heads." I cannot find out whence Ruppell borrowed his +"Omel Hassanie" (Umm el-Hassání?). + +As we approached the ugly gape of the formidable Gulf, the waves +increased in size, and coursed to all directions, as if distorted +by the sunken reefs. The eastern jamb is formed by Tírán Island; +the western by the sandy Ras Nasráni, whose glaring tawny slope +is dotted with dark basaltic cones, detached and disposed like +great ninepins. Beyond this cape the Sinaitic coast, as far as +Ras Mohammed, the apex of the triangle, is fretted with little +indentations; hence its name, El-Shurúm--"the Creeks." Near one +of these baylets, Wellsted chanced upon "volcanic rocks which are +not found in any other part of the peninsula:" this sporadic +outbreak gives credibility to the little "Harrah" reported to be +found upon the bank of the Midianitish "Wady Sukk." A hideous, +horrid reef, dirty brown and muddy green, with white horses madly +charging the black diabolitos, whose ugly heads form chevaux de +frise, a stony tongue based upon Tírán Island, and apparently +connected from the eastern coast behind, extends its tip to +mid-channel. The clear way of the dreaded Bugház is easily found +in the daytime: at night it would be almost impossible; and when +Midian shall be "rehabilitated," this reef will require a Pharos. + +Adieu, small spitfire of a Gulf! The change from the inside to +the outside of the Birkat el-Akabah was magical. We at once +glided into summer seas, a mosaic of turquoise and amethyst, +fanned by the softest of breezes, the thermometer showing on deck +63 deg F. Perhaps the natural joy at our lucky escape from +"making a hole in the water" caused the beauties of the weather +and the glories of the scenery to appear doubly charming. Our +captain might have saved fifteen miles by taking the short cut +north of Tírán Island, under whose shelter we required a day for +boiler-tinkering. His pilot, however, would not risk it, and we +were compelled, nothing loth and little knowing what we did, to +round for a second time the western and southern shores. + +The "Hill of Birds," which some have identified with the +classical Island of Isis,[EN#139] shows a triune profile, what +the Brazilians call a Moela or "gizzard." Of its three peaks the +lowest is the eastern; and the central is the highest, reaching +seven hundred, not a thousand, feet. Viewed from within the Gulf, +it is a slope of sand which has been blown in sheets up the +backing hills. The ground plan, as seen from a balloon, would +represent a round head to the north, a thin neck, and a body +rudely triangular, the whole measuring a maximum of five miles in +length: the sandy northern circlet, connected by the narrowest of +isthmuses, sweeping eastward, forms the noted port. The material +is the normal Secondary formation, sulphates and carbonates of +lime supporting modern corallines and conglomerates of shell. +Horizontal lines of harder stone are disposed in huge steps or +roads that number three to six on the flank of the western peak: +the manganese-coloured strata which appeared at Magháir Shu'ayb, +and in the rent bowels of the Rughámat Makná, are conspicuous +from the south. The whole has been upheaved by syenite, which, +again, has been cut by dykes of plutonic stone, trap and +porphyry. + +At two p.m. we anchored in a roadstead to the south-east of the +island, open to every wind except the norther. I had sent +Lieutenant Amir and sundry quarrymen ashore, to inspect what +looked like a vein of sulphur. They delayed two hours, instead of +a few minutes; the boiler was grumbling for rest, and, not +wishing to leave them adrift in an open boat, I imprudently +consented to await them in a roadstead where the coast was +dangerous, instead of proceeding, as had been intended, to the +fine land-locked port, nature-hollowed in the eastern side of the +island. The old captain pitifully represented to me that his crew +could not row; and this I found to be generally the case: ten +miles with the oar would be considered a terrible corvée by the +Egyptian man-o'-war's man. + +After blowing off steam, we at once went a-fishing. The only +remarkable result was the discovery that this corner of the Red +Sea is a breeding-ground for sharks: we had not seen one in the +Gulf of El-'Akabah, where last April they swarmed. Here, however, +the school contained all sizes and every age, and they regarded +us curiously with their cat's eyes, large, dark, and +yellow-striped down the middle. A small specimen, that had just +cut its teeth, was handed over to the cook, despite his loudly +expressed disgust. The meat was somewhat mealy and shortfibred; +but we pronounced in committee the seadog to be thoroughly +eatable when corrected by pepper, garlic, and Worcester sauce. +The corallines near the shore were finely developed: each bunch, +like a tropical tree, formed a small zoological museum; and they +supplied a variety of animalculae, including a tiny shrimp. The +evening saw a well-defined halo encircling the moon at a +considerable distance; and Mr. Duguid quoted the Scotch saw-- + + "A far-awa' bruch's a near-awa' blast." + +The blast was nearer than we expected; and, during the rest of +the journey, the "bruch" rarely if ever deceived us. Yet the +night was not much disturbed by the furious northerly gusts, +showing that the storm which we had escaped was raging in the +still-vexed 'Akabah. + +Next morning we landed to the south-west of Tírán's easternmost +peak, with a view of prospecting and adding to our collections. +On the shore, about three hundred feet from the sea, is a bank of +dead shells which are not found on the northern or sandy end of +the island: near the water most of them are tenanted by paguri +("hermits"). We caught a number of crabs and small fish, and we +carried off a single rock-oyster: as yet we had not found out +that the Ustrída--the vulgar form of the Hellenic and classical +"Istiridiyá"--abounds in these seas. After thirty minutes' walk +up the southern plane of the prism, composed of gypseous and +coralline rocks, veins of white petrosilex resembling broken +columels, streaks of magnetic black sand, and scatters of grit +and harder stones, we reached the summit of the little ridge. It +afforded a fine bird's-eye view of the splendid middle port; of +the false harbour; of the real shoal to its south-east, and of +the basin which seems to form Sináfir Island. + +We now bent to the south-west. Here the surface is much cut and +broken by sandy Wadys, dotted with a few straggling plants: to +our right was a Goz or inclined arenaceous bank, where the south +wind had sifted the sand from the gravel, disposing the former in +the hollows, and the latter on the crest of the ripples. +Presently we reached a strange formation which, seen from the +east, appears a huge vein, red and rusty, beginning close to the +sea, and crossing the body of the island from south to north, +while a black cone is so disposed that its southern front +simulates a crater. A narrow gorge opens upon a semicircular +hollow lined with ochraceous or ferruginous matter; in fact, part +of the filon, which sends off fibrils in all directions. The +confusion of formations was startling. The floor was here of +white petrosilex, there of grey granite, variegated with squares +and lozenges, drops and pineapples, red, green, neutral tinted, +and disposed by oxides of iron and copper in natural designs that +looked artificial. Scattered over the bed of the upper ravine +beyond the hollow, were carbonates of lime, ruddy brown and +chocolate-hued, here a pudding-stone, there porous like basalt: +the calcareous sulphates were both amorphous and crystalline, the +latter affected by contact with plutonic matter. The walls of the +gash showed a medley of clay breccias, disposed in every +imaginable way; and divided by horizontal veins of heat-altered +quartz. A few paces further led to the head of the ravine, where +a tumble of huge rocks, choking the bed, showed that the +rain-torrents must at times be violent. + +Meanwhile, Mr. Clarke and Lieutenant Amir had walked to the large +central harbour, hoping there to hit upon sweet water and some +stray Hutaym fishermen, who would show us what we wanted. They +did not find even the vestige of a hut. The two exploring parties +saw only three birds in the "Isle of Birds," and not one of the +venomous snakes mentioned at "Tehran" by Wellsted (II. ix.), and +described as "measuring about thirty inches, of a slender form, +with black and white spots." We also utterly failed to discover +the sulphur which was once abundant and the naphtha which, +according to the same authority, was produced here in +considerable quantities, and was used "by the Arab mariners to +pay their boats." + +The evening was exceptionally fine and calm; and we expected on +the morrow (February 11th) a quiet return to El-Muwaylah. Yet a +manner of presentiment induced me to summon the engineer and his +native assistants, and to promise the latter a liberal +"bakhshísh," if by hard work at the boiler all night, and by +rigging up the ship's pump instead of a donkey-engine, they could +steam off at dawn. + +Unexpectedly, about four a.m., a violent sandy and misty wester +began to blow; and all fancied that we had set sail to the south. +Quite the contrary! The engine was still under repair. The +Mukhbir was being tossed and rolled by the inshore set, and the +sequel is quickest told by an extract from my "Penny":-- + +"Written in sight of Death. Wind roaring furiously for victims: +waves worse. No chain can stand these sledge-hammer shocks. Chain +parts,[EN#140] and best sheet-anchor with it. Bower and kedge +anchors thrown out and drag. Fast stranding broadside on: sharp +coralline reef to leeward, distant 150 yards. Sharks! Packed up +necessaries. Sambúk has bolted, and quite right too! Engine +starts some ten minutes before the bump. Engineer admirably cool; +never left his post for a moment, even to look at the sea. Giorgi +(cook) skinning a sheep: he has been wrecked four times, and +don't care. Deck-pump acting poorly. Off in very nick of time, +9.15 a.m. General joy, damped by broadside turned to huge +billows. Lashed down boxes of specimens on deck, and wore round +safely. Made for Sináfir, followed by waves threatening to poop +us. Howling wind tears mist to shreds. Second danger worse than +first. Run into green water: fangs of naked rock on both sides +within biscuit-throw; stumps show when the waves yawn. Nice +position for a band-box of old iron! With much difficulty slipped +into blue water. Rounded south end of spit, and turned north into +glorious Sináfir Bay. Safe anchorage in eight fathoms. Anchor +down at 10:15 a.m., after one hour of cold sweat. Distance seven +miles on chart, nine by course: Mukhbir never went so fast; blown +like chaff before wind. Faces cleared up. All-round shaking of +hands; ‘El-Hamdu li'lláhi,' followed by a drink. Some wept for +joy." + +The engine, or rather the engineer, had saved us: as the saying +is, it was touch and go--the nearest thing I ever did see. Had +the rotten old boiler struck work for five minutes when we were +clearing out of Tírán, or steaming along Sináfir shore, nothing +could have kept the ship afloat. Those who behaved best, a +fireman, a boy who crept into the combustion-chamber to clear it, +and helmsman who, having been at Liverpool, spoke a little +English, were duly "bakhshísh'd." The same reward was given by +mistake to the boilermaker, Mohammed Sa'íd Haddád, who had +malingered, instead of working, through the night. At Suez he had +the impudence to ask me for a Shahádah ("testimony") to his good +character. On the whole the conduct of the crew was worthy of all +praise. + +In a decently equipped English steamer we should have laughed at +this storm, and whistled for more wind; but the condition of the +Mukhbir quite changed the case. The masts might have rolled out, +or she might have sprung a leak at any moment. And supposing that +we had escaped the crash upon the reef, the huge waves, and the +schools of sharks, our situation would have been anything but +pleasant. The Island of Tírán, as has been shown, is a grisly +scrap of desert: it has no sweet water; and its three birds would +not long have satisfied thirty hungry men. It is far from the +mainland; the storm, which lasted through two days, was too +violent for raft or boat to live, and at so early a season native +craft are never seen on these seas. Briefly, a week might have +elapsed before our friends at El-Muwaylah, who were startled by +the wildness of the wind, could have learned our plight, or could +have taken measures to relieve the castaways. + +Sináfir Island, which we have to thank for giving us hospitality +on two occasions, consists mainly of a bay. Viewed by the norma +verticalis, it is shaped like an ugly duckling, with an oval +(Wellsted says a circular) body of high ground disposed +north-east to south-west; and with head and neck drooping +westward so as to form a mighty pier or breakwater. The watery +plain within is out of all proportion to the amount of terra +firma. The body-profile shows straight-backed heaps of gypsum, +some two hundred feet high, which become quoin-shaped about the +middle of the isle: these hillocks are connected by low strips of +sand growing the usual vegetation, especially the pink Statice +pruinosa. + +Presently our Sambúk, which had also lost chain and anchor before +she could run out of the storm, appeared to the north-west of the +bay; and a pilgrim-craft, bound for Suez, was our companion in +good fortune. A party landed to examine Sináfir, which still +shows signs of a junction with Tírán. In days when the Secondary +formation was an unbroken street, the whole segment of a circle, +extending from Sharm Yáhárr to northern Sinai, must have been dry +land; these reefs and islands are now the only remnants. The +islet itself seems lately to have been two: the neck and head are +one, and the body is another; an evident sea-cliff marks the +junction, and what appears like a Wady below it, is the upraised +sea-bed of coralline. To the north-west, and outside this strip, +lies the little port defended by a network of reefs, in which our +Sambúk had first taken refuge. The bay-shore bears traces of more +than one wreck; and in the graveyard used by the native sailor, +an open awning of flotsam and jetsam looks from afar like a +tumble-down log-hut. The number of reefs and shoals shown by +stripes of vivid green water promised excellent fishing, and +failed to keep its promise. + +At length, after a third wasted day, we managed, despite a new +hole in the old boiler, to steam out of hospitable Sináfir at +6:30 a.m. on the auspicious Wednesday, February 13. The +appearance of the Mukhbir must have been originale enough: her +canvas had been fished out of the hold, but in the place of a +mainsail she had hoisted a topsail. We passed as close as +possible to the islet-line of Secondary formation, beginning with +Shu'shu', the wedge bluff-faced to south: the Palinurus anchored +here in a small bight on the north-east side, between two reefs, +and narrowly escaped being wrecked by a northerly gale. At 10:45 +a.m. we were alongside of Baráhkán, a double feature, lumpy and +cliffy, connected by a low sandy isthmus: the eastern flank gives +good shelter to native crafts. Lastly came Yubá', the compound +quoin, the loftiest of the group, upwards of 350 feet high, with +its low-lying neighbour Wálih. These islets have classical names, +as I have before mentioned,[EN#141] and appear once to have been +inhabited: even at Yubú', the least likely of all, we heard from +several authorities of a deep rock-cut well, covered with a stone +which the Arabs could not raise. + +And now we were able to cast an intelligent glance in review of +the scenes made familiar by our first or northern march. The +surpassing purity of the transparent atmosphere, especially at +this season, causes the land to look as near at twenty as at ten +miles; and thus both distances, showing the horizon with the +utmost distinctness, appear equally close to the ship. Beginning +towards El-‘Akabah, the Jebel el-Zánah behind Magháir Shu'ayb, +and its mighty neighbour, the Jebel el-Lauz, form the horizon of +mountains which are not the least amongst the giants. Southwards +appear the Jibál el-Tihámah, the noble forms of the seaboard, the +parallel chains noting the eastern boundary of Madyan (Proper); +while behind them the Jibál el-Shafah, reduced to blue heads and +fragments of purple wall, are evidently disposed on a far more +distant plane. + +As regards the Jibál el-Tihámah, I have registered ad nauseam the +names of the eight several blocks into which, between El-Zahd +north and El-Shárr south, the curtain, rising from a sea-horizon, +seems to divide itself. Every one consulted gave me a new or a +different term; and apparently seamen and landsmen have their +separate nomenclature. Thus, the pilots call the Fás, Harb and +Dibbagh blocks, Jibál el-Musaybah, Tiryam, and Dámah, after the +Wadys and main valleys that drain them. The Bedawin, again, will +name the whole block after the part most interesting to them: +thus the tower-like formation characterizing Jebel Dibbagh was +often called "Jebel el-Jimm," and even this, as will afterwards +appear, was not quite exact.[EN#142] + +We fired a gun off El-Muwaylah, where our camp, ranged in long +line, looked clean and natty. At five p.m. we were once more at +home in our old quarters, the Sharm Yáhárr: the day's work had +numbered fifty direct geographical miles between Sina'fir and +El-Muwaylah, with five more to our dock. + + Résumé + +Our journey through Madyan Proper (North Midian) had lasted +fifty-four days (December 19, 1877, to February 13, 1878). During +nearly two months the Expedition had covered only 105 to 107 +miles of ground: this, however, does not include the various +by-trips made by the members, which would more than double the +total; nor the cruise of two hundred miles round the Gulf of +‘Akabah, ending at El-Muwaylah. The total of camels employed +varied from 106 to 61, and their hire, including "bakhshísh" and +all minor charges, amounted, according to Mr. Clarke, to £316 +14s. 3d. + +This section of North Midian may be described as essentially a +mining country, which, strange to say of a province so near +Egypt, has been little worked by the Ancients. The first +Khedivial Expedition brought back specimens of free gold found in +basalt, apparently eruptive, and in corundophyllite, which the +engineer called greenstone porphyry: silver appeared in the red +sands, in the chloritic quartz, and in the titaniferous iron of +the Jebel el-Abayz; the value being 265 to 300 francs per ton, +with traces in the scoriæ. The second Expedition failed to find +gold, but brought back argentiferous galena in copper-stained +quartz, and possibly in the ochraceous red veins seaming the +Secondary gypsum; with silicates and carbonates of copper: select +specimens of the latter yielding the enormous proportion of forty +per cent. In this northern region the great focus of metallic +deposit appears to lie between north lat. 28° 40' and 27° 50'; +that is, from the Jebel Tayyib Ism, north of Makná, to the +southern basin which contains the Jebel el-Abyaz or "White +Mountain." Its characteristics are the argentiferous and +cupriferous ores, whereas in South Midian gold and silver were +worked; and the parallelogram whose limits are assigned above, +might be converted into a Northern Grant. Concerning the immense +abundance of gypsum, and the sulphur which is suspected to be +diffused throughout the Secondary formation, ample details have +been given in the preceding pages. + +The principal ruins of ancient settlements, and the ateliers, all +of them showing vestiges of metal-working, numbered eight: these +are, beginning from the south, Tiryam, Sharmá, ‘Aynúnah, the +Jebel el-Abyaz, Magháir Shu'ayb, Makná', Tayyib Ism, and +El-‘Akabah. Magháir Shu'ayb, the Madiáma of Ptolemy, is evidently +the ancient capital of the district. It was the only place which +supplied Midianitish (Nabathæan) coins. Moreover, it yielded +graffiti from the catacombs; fragments of bronze which it will be +interesting to compare by assay with the metal of the European +prehistoric age; and, finally, stone implements, worked as well +as rude. + +I will end with a few words concerning the future industry of +North Midian. + +For the success of these mines the greatest economy will be +necessary. The poorest ore can be treated on the spot by crushing +and washing, where no expenditure of fuel is required. The richer +stone, that wants roasting and smelting, would be shipped, when +worth the while, from North Midian to Suez: there coal is +abundant, and the deserted premises of Dussaud-Bey, belonging to +the Egyptian Government, would form an excellent site for a great +usine centrale. Finally, the richest specimens--especially those +containing, as many do, a medley of metals--would be treated with +the least expenditure, and the greatest advantage, at Swansea or +in other parts of England, where there are large establishments +which make such work their specialty. + +The following analyses of the specimens brought home by the first +Khedivial Expedition, were made at the Citadel, Cairo, by the +well-known chemist, Gastinel-Bey, in conjunction with M. George +Marie, the engineer attached to the Expedition:-- + +Analyses (Mm. Gastinel-bey and George Marie of Cairo) of Rocks + Brought Home by the First Khedivial Expedition. + +(All by Voie Sèche.) + +Gold (assay on 100 grammes)-- + + 1. In basalt (lava?). + + 2. In serpentine. + (None in white quartz.) + +Silver-- + + 1. In Filon Husayn, 1/1000 = 265 to 300 francs per ton (very +good). + + 2. In red sands, 1/10,000 (= 20 francs per ton). + + 3. In scoriæ, traces. + (None in white quartz or in the black sands.) + +Copper-- + + 1. In ‘Aynúnah quartz, 4 1/2 per 100. + + 2. In Filon Husayn, 2 1/2 to 3.40 per cent. + Filon Husayn = Titaniferous iron, 86.50 + Silica, 10.10 + Copper, 3.40. + + 3. In chloritic slate, 1.40 per cent. + (Chloritic slate of Makná' = + Silica, 90.50 + Carbonate of lime, 5.60 + Oxide of iron, 2.30 + Copper, 1.40.) + +Sulphur (Jebel el-Kibri't of El-Muwaylah)-- + 4 per cent. above. 9 ditto below. + +Lead everywhere. + +Calamine (zinc) very rich. + + + + + + Part II. + + The March Through Central and Eastern Midian. + + + + + + Chapter IX. + + Work in and Around El-Muwaylah. + + + +We arrived at El-Muwaylah too late to meet the Hajj-caravan, +which, home returning, had passed hurriedly through the station +on February 9th. This institution has sadly fallen off from its +high estate of a quarter of a century ago. Then commanded by an +Amir el-Hajj--"Lord of the Pilgrimage"--in the shape of two +Pashas (generals), it is now under the direction of a single Bey +(colonel). The "True Believers," once numbering thousands, were +reduced in 1877-78 to some eight hundred souls, of whom only +eighty appeared at El-Muwaylah; and the peculiar modification of +modern days is that the Mahmal is escorted only by paupers. Yet +the actual number of the Hájis who stand upon Jebel ‘Arafát, +instead of diminishing, has greatly increased. The majority +prefer voyaging to travelling; the rich hire state-cabins on +board well-appointed "Infidel" steamers, and the poor content +themselves with "Faithful" Sambúks. Indeed, it would seem that +all the present measures, quarantines of sixty days (!) and +detention at wretched Tor, comfortless enough to make the +healthiest lose health, are intended to discourage and deter +"palmers" from proceeding by land. If this course be continued, a +very few years will see the venerable institution represented by +only the Mahmal and its guard. The late Sa'id Pasha of Egypt once +consigned the memorial litter per steam-frigate to Jeddah: the +innovation saved Ghafr ("blackmail") to the Bedawin; but it was +not approved of by the Moslem world. + +The Hájis were so poor that they had nothing for barter or for +sale. Happily, however, there was a farrier amongst them, and +Lieutenant Yusuf took care that our mules were properly shod. M. +Philipin had been a maréchal ferrant, but a kick or two had left +him no stomach for the craft. Our two fellow-travellers, with the +whole camp, had set out from Makná on February 6th, and marched +up the great Wady el-Kharaj. Along the eastern flank of the Jebel +el-Fahísát, the "Iron Mountain," they found many outcrops of +quartz, a rock which appears sporadically all the way to the +northern soufrière. In two places it was green-stained, showing +copper, while in another hydrated oxide and chromate of iron +(hematite)[EN#143] abounded. After a stage of four hours and +twenty minutes they left the caravan, struck off to the west, +accompanied by Shaykh Furayj, and reached their destination. +Here, however, they met with accidents: the mules bolted, +followed by the Shaykh's dromedary, and they were obliged to +hurry off for fear of losing the caravan, now well ahead of them. +Thus, when I had ordered Lieutenant Yusuf to make a detailed plan +of the formation, he had spent exactly ten minutes on the spot, +and he appeared not a little proud of his work. + +This young officer was not a pleasant companion. He had doubtless +received his orders, but he carried them out in a peculiarly +disagreeable way, taking notes of all our proceedings under our +eyes. Together with Lieutenant Amir, he began to make a +collection of geology: both, being utterly innocent of all +knowledge, imitated us in picking up specimens; mixed them +together without notes or labels; and, on return to Cairo, duly +presented them at the Citadel. This was all that was required. +The papers were "written to" and reported as follows: "Closer +examination has shown that the ‘turquoises' brought to Cairo are +merely malachite (!); and that the existence of any such quantity +of gold as would pay for the working is, to say the least of it, +very doubtful."[EN#144] + +The whole camp, indeed, was seized with a mania for collecting: +old Háji Wali again gathered bits of quartz, which he once more +presented as gold-stone to his friends and acquaintances at +Zagázig; and Anton, the dragoman, triumphantly bore away +fragments bristling with mica-slate, whose glitter he fondly +conceived to be silver. + +Lieutenant Yusuf was presently despatched with three soldiers, +three quarrymen, Jází, the Arab guide of a former visit, and +eight camels, to bring back specimens of the copper silicate to +the south of ‘Aynánah, and to make a regular survey of the +northern solfatara. He set out early on February 18th, and after +twenty-one hours of caravan-marching reached the Jebel el-Fara'. +Here the outcrop is bounded north by the Wady el-Fara', and south +by the Wadys el-Maríkhah and Umm Nírán, the latter forming the +general recipient of these Nullahs. The Jebel is about 120 feet +high, of oval form, stretching 1750 metres from north-north-west +to south-south-east. The rich silicate (not carbonate) of copper, +which disdains a streak and affects the file, is found, as usual +with this ore, only in one part of the valley to the south-west, +some thirty-five feet above the sole: it is a pocket, a +"circumscribed deposit," as opposed to a "true vein" or a +"vein-fissure." The adjoining rocks contain carbonates of iron +and copper, and the ore-mass is apparently carbonate of lime. +This second visit generally confirmed the report of Ahmed Kaptán, +except that there were no signs of working, as he had supposed. +The travellers passed the whole of February 20th at the diggings, +made a plan, and sent back two camel-loads (four sacks) of the +gangue, in charge of a soldier, to the Fort of El-Muwaylah. + +On the next day the little party made for the Wady ‘Aynúnah, and, +striking to the left of the straight line, crossed the maritime +country, here a mass of Wadys, including our old friend the +‘Afál. This highway to the northern Hismá falls, I have said, +into the Mínat el-‘Ayánát, a portlet useful to Sambúks: its +sickle-shaped natural breakwater, curving from west to south, +resembles that of Sinaitic Marsá el-Ginái, and those which are so +common in Western Iceland. On February 22nd, a very devious path, +narrow and rocky, lasting for one hour, led them, about noon, to +the northern Jebel el-Kibrít. The distance from El-Muwaylah is +about sixty-six miles; and the country west of a line drawn from +‘Aynúnah to Makná was, before this march, utterly unknown to us, +consequently to all the civilized world. + +Lieutenant Yusuf's two journals checking each other, his plan and +his specimens enable me to describe the northern deposit with +more or less accuracy. The Sulphur-hill is a long oval of four +hundred metres (east-west), by a maximum of one hundred and +eighty (north-south); but it extends branches in all directions: +the mineral was also found in a rounded piton, a knob on the Wady +Musayr, attached to the north-eastern side. The flattened dome is +from fifty to sixty feet high, and the piton one hundred and +forty. The metal underlying a dark crust, some twelve to fifteen +centimetres thick, appears in regular crystals and amorphous +fragments of pure brimstone pitting the chalky sulphate of lime: +blasting was not required; the soft material yielded readily to +the pick. This gypseous or Secondary formation was found to +extend, not only over the adjacent hills, but everywhere along +the road to Makná. The important point which now remains to be +determined is, I repeat, whether sulphur-veins can be found +diffused throughout these non-plutonic rocks. + +Lieutenant Yusuf fixed his position by climbing the adjacent +hills, whence Sina'fir bore 190°, and Shu'shu' 150° (both +magnetic); while greater elevations to the west shut out the view +of lofty Ti'ra'n, and even of the Sinaitic range. The nearest +water in the Wady el-Nakhil to the north-east was reported to be +a two hours' march with loaded camels (= five miles) Several +little ports, quite unknown to the Hydrographic Chart, were +visited. These are, beginning from the north, the Mínat Hamdán, +lying between Makná and Dabbah; a refuge for Sambúks defended, +like that of old "Madyan," by rising ground to the north. About +three miles and a quarter further south is the Sharm Dabbah, the +"Sherm Dhaba, good anchorage" of the Chart: this mass of reefs +and shoals may have been one of the "excellent harbours" +mentioned by Procopius. It receives the Wady Sha'b el-Gánn +(Jánn), "the Watercourse of the Demons' (Ja'nn) Ravine," flowing +from a haunted hill of red stone, near which no Arab dares to +sleep. From that point the travellers struck nine miles and a +half to south-east of Ghubbat Suwayhil: this roadstead, used only +by native craft, lies eastward of the long point forming the +Arabian staple of the Gulf el-‘Akabah's gate, where the +coast-line of Midian bends at a right angle towards the rising +sun. Adjoining it to the east, and separated by a long thin spit, +is the Ghubbat el-Wagab (Wajb), the mouth of the watercourse +similarly named: it is also known to the Katírah or "smaller +vessel," and about a mile up its bed, which comes from the +north-east, there is a well. According to Jázi, the guide, this +Ghubbah ("gulf"), distant only four to five hours of slow +marching from the Sulphur-hill, will be the properest place for +shipping produce. In another eastern feature, the Wady Giyál +(Jiyál), distant some eleven miles and a half from ‘Aynúnah and +ending in a kind of sink, there is a fine growth of palms, about +a quarter of a mile long, and a supply of "wild" (brackish) water +in wells and rain-pools. These uninteresting details will become +valuable when the sulphur-mines of North Midian are ripe for +working. + +From the Ghubbat el-Wagab, the path, easy travelling over flat +ground, strikes to the north-east; and, fourteen miles and a half +beyond, joins the ‘Aynúnah highway. On February 26th, at the end +of nine days' work, Lieutenant Yusuf returned to El-Muwaylah with +two sacks of sulphur-bearing chalk which justified his previous +report. As will appear, the Expedition was still travelling +through the interior: after a halt for rest at head-quarters, he +rejoined us on our northward route from Zibá, and I again found +useful occupation for his energies. + +Upon our happy return "home," i.e. Sharm Yáhárr, preparations for +a march upon the Hismá were at once begun. My heart was firmly +fixed upon this project, hoping to find an "unworked California" +to the east of the Harrah volcanoes; but the Shaykhs and +camel-men, who did not like the prospect of a rough reception by +the Ma'ázah bandits, threw sundry small stumbling-blocks in our +path. It was evidently useless to notice them so far from the +spot; they would develop themselves only too well as we +approached the tribal frontier. While these obstacles were being +cleared away, we carefully examined the little dock that had so +often given us shelter in the hour of need; and I set a small +party to work at the central Jebel el-Kibri't, which had been +explored by the first Expedition. + +Sharm Yáhárr is the usual distorted T, a long channel heading in +a shorter cross-piece: it is formed by the confluence of four +valleys, all composed of corallines and conglomerates of new +sandstone. Those to the north and the north-west show distinct +signs of upheaval; the two eastern features, known as the Wady +el-Hárr ("the Hot Watercourse"), of which Yáhárr appears to be a +corruption, bear marks of man's hand. The dock is divided into an +outer and inner "port" by a projecting northern point which is +not sufficiently marked in the Chart (enlarged plan). At this +place, where the tide rises a full metre, the crew of the Mukhbir +had built a jetty of rough boulders, by way of passe-temps and to +prevent wading. Native craft lie inside, opposite the ruins of a +stone house: the existence of a former population is shown by the +many graves on the upper plateau. In the northern Wady el-Hárr, +also, we picked up specimens of obsidian, oligistic iron, and +admirably treated modern (?) slags showing copper and iron; +evidently some Gypsy-like atelier must once have worked upon the +Wady Yáhárr. The obsidian also has apparently been subjected to +the artificial fire; and a splinter of it contains a paillette of +free copper. + +What concerned us most, however, was the discovery of oysters, +which, adhering to the reefs projected under water from the rocky +northern cliff, formed a live conglomerate; and from the present +time forwards we found the succulent molluscs in almost every +bay. Those to the south, where the shallows overlie sand and mud, +are not so good. At this season the Ustrída is flat, fleshy, and +full sized; the shell has a purple border, and the hinge muscle +of the savage, far stronger than that of the civilized animal, +together with its exceeding irregularity of shape, giving no +purchase to the knife, makes oyster-opening a sore trouble. We +tried fire, but the thick-skinned things resisted it for a long +time; and, when they did gape, the liquor had disappeared, +thereby spoiling the flavour. The "beard" was neither black, like +that of the Irish, nor colourless, as in the English oyster. The +Bedawin, who ignore the delicacy, could not answer any questions +about the "spatting season"--probably it is earlier than ours, +which extends through June; whether also a close time is +required, as in England to August 4th, we could not guess. The +young probably find a natural "culch" in the many shells, cockle +and others, that strew the rock, sand, and clay. + +Knowing that my gallant friend, Admiral McKillop (Pasha) of +Alexandria, takes great interest in "ostreoculture," I sent him +from Suez a barrel of the best Midianites The water had escaped +by the carelessness of the magazine-man: enough, however, +remained alive to be thrown into the harbour Eunostos, where they +will, I hope, become the parents of a fine large progeny of +"natives." Similarly we had laid in a store of forty-two +langoustes (crayfish) for presentation at Court, and to gladden +the hearts of Cairéne friends: our Greeks placed the tubs in the +sun and so close to the funnel, that, after about three hours, +all the fine collection perished ignobly. + +We will now proceed to the central Jebel el-Kibri't; a +superficial examination of which by the first Expedition[EN#145] +proved that the upper rock yielded four, and the lower nine, per +cent. of tolerably pure brimstone. The shortest cut from the +dock-harbour lies up the southern Wady Ha'rr, with its strangely +weathered sandstone rocks, soft modern grits that look +worm-eaten. Amongst them is a ledge-like block with undermined +base projecting from the left bank: both the upper and the lower +parts are scattered over with Wasm, or Arab tribal marks. On our +return from El-Wijh we found this sandstone tongue broken in two: +the massive root remained in situ, but the terminal half had +fallen on the ground. This was probably the work of an earthquake +which we felt at Sharm Dumayghah on March 22nd.[EN#146] The track +then strikes the modern Hajj-road, which runs west of and close +to the Sulphur-hill; the line is a succession of +watercourses,[EN#147] and in Wady Khirgah we found blocks of the +hydrous silicate, corundophyllite which may be Serpentine: it is +composed of a multitude of elements, especially pyrites. After an +hour and a quarter's sharp walking, we hit the broad Wady +el-Kibrít, which rounds its Jebel to the south-east, and which +feeds the Wady el-Jibbah, itself a feeder of the Sharm Jibbah. +The latter, which gave us shelter in the corvette Sinnár (Captain +Ali Bey), is a long blue line of water bounding the western base +of the Sulphur-hill. + +This central Tuwayyil el-Kibrít is an isolated knob, rising +abruptly from Wady-ground; measuring some 240 feet in height, and +about 880 metres in diameter, not including its tail of four +vertebræ which sets off from north-west to south-east. Viewed +from the north it is, as the Egyptian officers remarked, a +regular Haram ("pyramid"), with a kidney-formed capping of +precipitous rock. Drinkable water, like that of the Wady el-Ghál, +is said to be found in the Wady el-Kibrít to the north-east; and +the country is everywhere tolerably wooded. The Bedawin brought +us small specimens of rock-crystal and fragments of Negro-quartz, +apparently rich in metal, from a neighbouring "Maru." They placed +it amongst the hill-masses to the east and south; and we +afterwards found it for ourselves.[EN#148] + +Our middle Sulphur-hill differs essentially from the other two +deposits, the northern near Makná, and the southern near El-Wijh, +in being plutonic and not sedimentary. One would almost say that +it smokes, and the heat-altered condition of the granite, the +greenstone, and other rocks, looking as if fresh from a fire, +suggests that it may be one of the igneous veins, thrown westward +by the great volcanic region, El-Harrah. In parts it is a +conglomerate, where a quantity of quartz takes the place of chalk +and gypsum. Other deposits are iron-stained and have the +appearance of the decomposed iron pyrites which abounds in this +neighbourhood. Usually the yield is the normal brimstone-yellow, +yet some of the beds are deep red, as if coloured by ochre or +oxide of iron: this variety is very common in the solfataras of +Iceland; and I have heard of it in the Jebel Mokattam, near +Cairo. The colour is probably due to molecular changes, and +possibly shows greater age than the yellow. + +M. Philipin was directed to take charge of Sergeant Mabrúk, the +nine quarrymen, and the Bedawi owners of two camels to carry his +boring-irons, forge, and water from El-Muwaylah. I advised him to +dig at least forty feet down all round the pyramid, wherever +surface-indications attracted notice: old experience had taught +me that such depth is necessary before one can expect to find +brimstone beds like those of Sicily. The borings brought up +sulphur from fourteen metres; beyond these, six were pierced, but +they yielded nothing. In and around the pyramid M. Philipin sank +five pits; the northernmost shaft, half-way up the hill, gave +crystals of the purest sulphur. + +If the depth of the deposit be not great, the surface extent is. +The pyramid evidently forms the apex of a large vein which +strikes north-south. The field consists of this cone with its +dependencies, especially the yellow cliffs to the north and the +south, facing, in the latter direction, a large plain cut by the +Wady el-Kibrít. Moreover, a vein of the red variety, about three +kilometres long by twenty-five to thirty metres broad, lies to +the south-east near a gypsum hill: the latter also yields the +crystallized salt which so often accompanies sulphur, and heaps +of gigantic half-fossilized oyster-shells are strewed about it. + +M. Philipin here remained sixteen days (February 18--March 5), +during our absence in the East Country; on return we found our +good blacksmith much changed for the worse. Whilst in hard work +he had been half-starved, the Jeráfín Bedawin of the +neighbourhood having disappeared with their flocks; he had been +terribly worried by the cameleers, and he had been at perpetual +feud with the miserable quarrymen. I never saw a man less fitted +to deal with (two-legged) "natives." The latter instinctively +divined that he would rather work himself than force others to +work; and they acted accordingly. + +The Expedition was thus divided into four, three working parties +and one of idlers. Anton and Petros were left behind to do +nothing as magazine-men. + +Lieutenant Darwaysh (the linesman) who was too weak to ride, and +Sub-Lieutenant Mohammed (the miner) who was too old to travel, +had charge of the sick; both found the far niente equally sweet. +On February 17th I again bade adieu to the gunboat Mukhbir, and +marched with the largest party upon our camp at El-Muwaylah, +distant about six miles (=one hour and forty-five minutes). The +path from Sharm Yáhárr crosses the hard sands of the maritime +plain, metalled with the natural macadam of the Desert. The stone +is mostly dark silex, the "hen's liver" of the Brazil, and its +surface is kept finely polished, and free from "patina," by the +friction of the dust-laden winds. The line is deeply gashed by +short, broad gullies: the Hajj-road, running further east, heads +these ugly Nullahs. The third and largest channel is Wady Surr, +the great valley of El-Muwaylah, which may be regarded as the +southern frontier of "Madyan" (Proper): we shall trace it to its +head in the Hismá. + +I had left the camp-pitching at El-Muwaylah to the Egyptian +officers, who naturally chose the site nearest the two northern +wells; a wave of ground hot by day, cold at night, windy and +dusty at all times; moreover, the water was near enough to be +horribly fouled. No wonder that in such a place many of the men +fell ill, and that one subsequently died--our only loss during +the four months' march. + +On February 18th we proceeded, under the misguidance of a +Básh-Buzúk of the fort, Ahmed Sálih el-Mal'ún, to inspect a +neighbouring ruin called Abá Hawáwít--"the Father of (Dwelling-) +Walls." Wallin (p. 30) declares that, "finding no mention made of +Muweilih in Arab manuscripts, nor traces or traditions among the +existing generation in the land, pointing to a high antiquity," +he is inclined to consider it a town of modern origin, in fact +the growth of the Egyptian pilgrimage. His error is excusable. He +was a passing traveller; and I well remember that for a whole +year the true name of a hill immediately behind our house at +Damascus remained unknown to me: we had called it after our own +fashion, and the term had at once been adopted by all our +over-polite native friends. Indeed, this is one of the serious +difficulties to be encountered, throughout the East, by the +scrupulous traveller whose greatest fear is that of misleading +others. The Expedition had paid four several visits to +El-Muwaylah, and had never heard a word about ruins, when I +happened to read out before the Shaykhs assembled at Magháir +Shu'ayb a passage from El-Makrízi treating of the destroyed +cities of Madyan. They at once mentioned half a dozen names lying +within short distances of the "little salt." Amongst them was Abú +Hawáwít, literally meaning "tenement walls," but here applied, in +the short form Hawáwít, to ruins in general. + +Had "Wali Háji," as Wallin was called by the Bedawin, looked only +ten feet beyond the north-eastern tower of the fort, near the ruins +of a modern Mastabah ("masonry bench"), he would have found long- +forgotten vestiges of ovens and slags containing copper and iron. +The same will prove to be the case about the inland defence of El- +Wijh; in fact, all these works seem for obvious reasons to have been +built upon sites that have been utilized long before their modern +day. El-Muwaylah was probably a more important place than it is at +present, when the reef-harbour, which now admits native craft only +by a gap to the south-west, had not been choked by shoals. The sandy +soil wants only water to produce a luxuriant perennial growth, and +every garden can have its well. But more life is wanting; a man +heaps up a thorn-hedge, or builds a swish-wall of the brick-clay +underlying the Wady, and he forgets only to lay out the field +within. Local history does not, it is true, extend beyond two +hundred years or so, the probable date of Shaykh Abdullah's +venerated sepulchre, a truncated parallelogram of cut coralline on +the Wady Sughayyir to the north of the settlement. Yet this "little +salt" is too remarkable a site to have remained unoccupied. Possibly +it is the "<Greek>," the Horse Village (and fort ?), which Ptolemy +(vi. II) places in north lat. 26° 40' (true 27° 40'), whilst his +"<Greek>" would be the glorious Shárr, correctly consigned to north +lat. 27° 20'. This argues an error of nearly sixty miles by the +geographer or his copyists. But Chapter XII. will attempt to show +that the latitude of <Greek>, the modern Shuwák, is also one degree +too low. So on the East African coast Ptolemy places his Aromata +Promontorium, which can only be "Guardafui," between north lat. 5° +and 7°, whereas it lies in north lat. 11° 41' 4". + +The Awwal Hawáwít, or first ruins, begin on the right bank of the +Surr after one mile and three quarters from camp; and bear +north-east (55° mag.) from the minaret of El-Muwaylah Fort. The +position is a sandy basin, containing old Bedawi graves, bounded +by a low ridge forming a boulder-clad buttress to the Wady, while +the circuit of the two may be a mile and a half. A crumbling +modern tower, crowning the right bank, and two Mahrákah +("rub-stones") were the principal remains. The situation must +have been well chosen in the days when the heights were wooded, +and the Wady was a river. We afterwards mapped the body of the +place, lying about three miles from the fort, showing the Yubú' +bank to north-west (298° mag.); and nearly due west (260° mag.) +El-Muwaylah's only house, the Sayyid's. The site is a holm or +island in the Wady Surr, which here runs east-west, and splits: +the main line is the southern, and a small branch, a mere gully, +occupies the northern bed-side. + +The chief ruin is an oblong of twenty metres by sixteen, the +short ends facing 195° (mag.); the whole built of huge pebbles. +The interior is composed of one large room to the north, with +sundry smaller divisions to the south, east, and west. Defence +was secured by a wall, distant 142 metres, thrown across the +whole eastern part of the islet: outside it are three large pits, +evidently the site of cisterns. The people also told us of a +well, the Bir el-Ashgham, which has long been mysteriously +hidden. Immense labour has also been expended in revetting the +northern and southern banks, both of the islet and the smaller +branch-bed, for many hundreds of yards with round and +water-rolled boulders, even on a larger scale than at Magháir +Shu'ayb. What all this work meant we were unable to divine. +Perhaps it belonged to the days when the seaboard of Midian was +agricultural; and it was intended as a protection against the two +torrents, the Wadys el-Zila' and Abú Zabah, which here fall into +the northern bank. + +The 18th of February also made itself memorable to the second +Expedition. M. Marie was strolling near the old furnaces to the +north-east of the fort where, in 1877, he had picked up an +auriferous specimen, unfortunately lost before it reached Cairo. +Here he again found a fragment of serpentine, broken and +water-rolled into the semblance of half a globe; it showed crust +and stains of iron, filets of white quartz, and a curve (~) of +bright yellow dots, disposed like the chainlet of an aneroid. +Thereupon, we gravely debated whether these were the remains of a +vein, or had been brought to the surface by the rubbing and +polishing of the stone in water. + +I could not but remark that the interior, which appeared +pyritiferous, did not show the slightest trace of precious metal. +Still the discovery gave fresh courage to all our people. The +trophy was shown to every Bedawi, far and near, with the promise +of a large reward (fifty dollars) to the lucky wight who could +lead us to the rock in situ. The general voice declared that the +"gold-stone" was the produce of Jebel Malayh (Malíh): we +afterwards ascertained by marching up the Wady Surr that it was +not. In fact, the whole neighbourhood was thoroughly well +scoured; but the results were nil. In due course of time the +tarnishing and the disappearance of the metal reduced my +scepticism to a certainty: the "gold dots" were the trace of some +pilgrim or soldier's copper-nailed boot. It was the first time +that this ludicrous mistake arose, but not the last--our native +friends were ever falling into the same trap. + +Amongst the minor industries of the Fort el-Muwaylah must be +reckoned selling gazelles. The Bedawin bring them in, and so +succeed in taming the timid things that they will follow their +owner like dogs, and amuse themselves with hopping upon his +shoulders. When thus trained, "Ariel" is supposed to be worth +half a napoleon. The wild ones may be bought at almost every +fort, as Zibá or El-Wijh. + + + + + + Chapter X. + + Through East Midian to the Hismá. + + + +The Land of Midian is by no means one of the late Prince +Metternich's "geographical expressions." The present tenants of +the soil give a precise and practical definition of its limits. +Their Arz Madyan extends from El-‘Akabah north (north lat. 29° +28') to El-Muwaylah with its Wady, El-Surr (north lat. 27° 40'). +It has thus a total latitudinal length of 108 direct geographical +miles.[EN#149] South of this line, the seaboard of North-Western +Arabia, as far as El-Hejaz, has no generic name. The Bedawin are +contented with such vague terms, derived from some striking +feature, as "the Lands of Zibá," "of Wady Salmá," "of Wady +Dámah," "of El-Wijh," to denote the tract lying between the +parallels of El-Muwaylah and of Wady Hamz (<Arabic>) in north +lat. 25° 55' 15. Thus the north-south length of the southern +moiety would be 105 direct geographical miles, or a little less +than the northern; and the grand total would be 213 miles. + +The breadth of this Egyptian province is determined by the +distance from the sea to the maritime mountains. In Madyan +Proper, or North Midian, the extremes would be twenty-four and +thirty-five miles. For the southern half these figures may be +doubled. Here, again, the Bedawin are definitive as regards +limits. All the Tihámah or "lowlands" and their ranges belong to +Egypt; east of it the Daulat Shám, or Government of Syria, claims +possession. + +I have taken the liberty of calling the whole tract Midian; the +section above El-Muwaylah (Madyan Proper) I would term "North +Midian," and that below it "South Midian." In the days of the +ancient Midianites the frontiers were so elastic that, at times, +but never for a continuity, they embraced Sinai, and were pushed +forward even into Central Palestine. Moreover, I would prolong +the limits eastward as far as the Damascus-Medínah road. This +would be politically and ethnologically correct. With the +exception of the Ma'ázah country, the whole belongs to Egypt; and +all the tribes, formerly Nabathæan, are now more or less +Egypto-Arab, never questioning the rights of his Highness the +Viceroy, who garrisons the seaboard forts. Of the other points, +historical and geographical, I am not so sure. My learned friend, +Aloys Sprenger, remarks: "Let me observe that your extending the +name ‘Midian' over the whole country, as far south as the +dominions of the Porte, appears to me an innovation by which the +identity of the race along the shore of the Gulf of ‘Akabah, +coast down to Wajh and Hawrá, is prejudged. Would it not be +better to leave Midian where it always has been, and to consider +Badá[EN#150] the centre of Thamûditis, as it was at the time of +Pliny and Ptolemy, and as it continued to be until the Balee +(Baliyy), and other Qodhâ' (Kudá') tribes, came from Southern +Arabia, and exterminated the Thamûdites?" This is, doubtless, a +valid objection: its only weak point is that it goes too far +back. We cannot be Conservatives in geography and ethnology; nor +can we attach much importance, in the nineteenth century, to a +race, the Beni Tamúd, which had wholly disappeared before the +seventh. On the whole, it still appears to me that by adopting my +innovation we gain more than we lose; but the question must be +left for others to decide. + +In our days, two great Sultánis or "highways" bound Madyan the +Less and Midian the Greater. The western, followed by the Hajj +el-Misri (Egyptian caravan), dates from the age of Sultán Selim +Khán the Conqueror; who, before making over the province to the +later Mamlúk Beys, levelled rocks, cut through ridges, dug wells, +laid out the track, and defended the line by forts. Before that +time the road ran, for convenience of water, to the east or +inland: it was, in fact, the old Nabathaean highway which, +according to Strabo, connected Leukè Kóme with the western +capital, Petra. Further east, and far beyond the double chain of +maritime mountains, is the highway followed by the Hajj el-Shámi +(Syrian or Damascus caravan), which sets out from Constantinople, +musters at Damascus, and represents the Sultan. On both these +main lines water is procurable at almost every station; and to +them military expeditions are perforce limited. The parallelogram +between the two, varying in breadth, according to Wallin, from 90 +to 120 miles (direct and geographical), is irregularly supplied +in places with springs, wells, and rain-pits, which can always be +filled up or salted by the Bedawin. + +The main body of the Expedition, Mr. Clarke, MM. Marie and +Lacaze, Ahmed Kaptán, and Lieutenant Amir, set out from +El-Muwaylah at 6.30 a.m. (February 19th), escorted by the Sayyid +and the three salaried Shaykhs, including our friend Furayj. The +Remingtons numbered ten, and there were also ten picks, of whom +five waited upon the mules; of the sixty-one camels six were +dromedaries, and as the road grew lighter our beasts of burden +increased, somehow or other, to sixty-four. The caravan now loads +in twenty minutes instead of five hours; and when politiké, or +fear of danger, does not delay us, we start in a quarter of an +hour after the last bugle-sound. This operation is under charge +of Lieutenant Amir, who does his best to introduce Dar-Forian +discipline: the camels being first charged with the Finátís +("metal water-barrels"), then with the boxes, and lastly with the +tents. + +After passing the ruins of Abú Hawáwit, we began at 9:15 a.m. to +exchange the broad Wady Surr of the flat seaboard, with its tall +banks of stiff drab clay, for a gorge walled with old +conglomerates, and threading the ruddy and dark-green foot-hills +of the main Ghát. As in the Wady el-Maka'dah and other +"winter-brooks," the red porphyritic trap, heat-altered argil, +easily distinguished by its fracture from the syenites of the +same hue, appeared to be iron-clad, coated with a thin crust of +shiny black or brown peroxide (?). This peculiarity was noticed +by Tuckey in the Congo, by Humboldt in the Orinoco, and by myself +in the São Francisco river; I also saw it upon the sandstones of +the wild mountains east of Jerusalem, where, as here, air and not +water must affect the oxide of iron. In both cases, however, the +cause would be the same, and the polish would be a burnishing of +Nature on a grand scale. + +After six very slow miles we halted, for rest and refection, at a +thread of water in the section of the Surr which receives the +Wady el-Najil. The sides were crowded with sheep and goats, the +latter, as in the Syrian lowlands, almost invariably black; and +the adjoining rocks had peculiar attractions for hares, hawks, +and partridge. In these upland regions water is almost +everywhere, and generally it is drinkable; hence the Bedawin +naturally prefer them to the coast. An umbrella-shaped +thorn-tree, actually growing on a hill-top, and defined by the +sky-line, excited our wonder and admiration; for here, as in +Pontus-- + + "Rara, nec hæc felix, in apertis eminet arvis + Arbor, et in terra est altera forma maris." + +Indeed, throughout our journey this spectacle always retained its +charms, aiding Fancy to restore the barrens to what they had been +in the prosperous days of yore. + +The Wady Surr now began to widen out, and to become more riant, +whilst porphyry was almost the only visible rock. After a total +of ten "dawdling" miles, marching almost due east, we found our +tents pitched in a broad and quasi-circular basin, called El-Safh +("the level ground of") Jebel Malíh ("Mount Pleasant"?), which +the broad-speaking Bedawin lengthen to Malayh. Our camel-men had +halted exactly between two waters, and equally distant from both, +so as to force upon us the hire of extra animals. We did not +grumble, however, as we were anxious to inspect the Afrán +("furnaces") said to be found upon the upper heights of the +Shárr--of these apocryphal features more hereafter. Fresh +difficulties! The Jeráfín-Huwaytát tribe, that owns the country +south of the Surr, could not be reached under a whole day of +dromedary-riding: in reality they were camped a few furlongs off, +but anything to gain £8 per diem for doing nothing! Two Bedawi +shepherd-lads promised to act guides next morning, and duly +failed to appear, or, more probably, were forbidden to appear. +They had also romanced about ruins, fountains, palms, and rushes +in the Wady el-Kusayb, the south-eastern influent. At night Ahmed +el-‘Ukbi, surnamed Abú Khartúm, arrived in camp: he had travelled +more than once to Tabúk, carrying grain, and though he had failed +as a merchant, he retained his reputation as a guide. As regards +the furnaces, he also, like Furayj, could speak only from +hearsay. Opinions were divided in camp: I saw clearly that a +stand was being made to delay us for four or five days; and, +despite grumbling, I resolved upon deferring the visit till our +return from the interior. + +The first march had led us eastward, instead of north-eastward, +in order to inspect the Wady Surr. From the seaboard, this line, +which drains the northern flank of the Shárr Mountains, appears +the directest road into the interior. We shall presently see, +however, why the devious northern way of the Wady Sadr has become +the main commercial route connecting El-Muwaylah with +Tabúk.[EN#151] During the evening we walked up the Wady Surr, +finding, in its precipitous walls, immense veins of serpentine +and porphyritic greenstone, but not a speck of gold. The upper +part of the Fiumara also showed abundant scatters of water-rolled +stones, serpentines, and hard felspars, whose dove-coloured +surface was streaked with fibrils and at times with regular veins +of silvery lustre, as if brought out by friction of the surface. +I offered a considerable sum to a Jeráfín Bedawi if he would show +the rock in situ; he was evidently ignorant of it, but, like +others, he referred us to Jebel Malíh. + +The whole of the next day (February 20th) was spent in northing. +Leaving the noisy braying caravan to march straight on its +destination, we set out (6.15 a.m.) up the Wady Guwaymarah, +guided by Hasan el-‘Ukbí, who declared that he well knew the +sites of the ruined settlements El-Khulasah and El-Zibayyib. +After walking half an hour we turned eastward into a feeder of +the Surr, the Wady el-Khulasah, whose aspect charmed me: this +drain of the inner Jedayl block was the replica of a Fiumara in +Somali-land, a broad tree-dotted flat of golden sand, bordered on +either side by an emerald avenue of dense Mimosas, forming line +under the green-stone hills to the right, and the red-stone +heights to the left. The interior, we again remarked, is +evidently more rained upon, and therefore less sterile and +desolate, than the coast and the sub-maritime regions; and here +one can well imagine large towns being built. At last, after +walking about an hour and a half (= four miles and a half) +towards the Shárr, with our backs turned upon our goal, the +rat-faced little intriguer, Hasan, declared that he knew nothing +about El-Khulasah, but that Zibayyib lay there! pointing to a +bright-red cliffy peak, "Abá'l-bárid," on the left bank of the +Wady, and to others whose heads were blue enough and low enough +to argue considerable distance. He had intended his cousin Gabr +to be the real guide, and to take to himself all the credit; but +I had sent off the parlous "judge" in another direction. + +Mr. Clarke, whose cantering mule had no objection to leave its +fellows, rode off with the recreant Hasan, whilst we awaited his +return under a tree. + +Instead of hugging Abá'l-bárid, behind which a watercourse would +have taken him straight to his destination, he struck away from +the Wady el-Khulasah. Then crossing on foot, and hauling his +animal over, a rough divide, he fell, after six miles instead of +two, into the upper course of the Wady Surr, which he reported to +be choked with stones, and refusing passage to loaded camels--as +will afterwards appear, the reverse is the case. The ruins of +El-Zibayyib lie at a junction of three, or rather four, +watercourses. The eastern is the Surr, here about five hundred +yards broad, forming a bulge in the bed, and then bending +abruptly to the south; a short line from the south-west, the Wady +Zibayyib, drains the Aba'‘l-bárid peak; and the northernmost is +the Wady el-Safrá,[EN#152] upon which the old place stands à +cheval. The western part is the larger and the more ruinous. The +thin line, three hundred yards long by thirty broad, never shows +more than two tenements deep, owing to the hill that rises behind +it: here the only furnace was found. The eastern block measures +one hundred yards by forty; both are razed to their basements, +resembling the miners' settlement on the Sharmá cliff. They +attract attention only by their material, red boulders being used +instead of the green porphyries of the hills; and the now +desolate spot shows no signs of water or of palm-groves. + +Mr. Clarke rejoined us after a couple of hours, having lost the +dog ‘Brahim: under a sudden change of diet it had become too +confident of its strength, and thus it is that dogs and men come +to grief. We retraced our steps down the Wady el-Khulasah, whose +Jebel is the crupper of the little block Umm Jedayl. The lower +valley shows a few broken walls, old Arab graves, and other signs +of ancient habitation; but I am convinced that we missed the +ruins which lay somewhere in the neighbourhood. One Sulaymán, a +Bedawi of the Selálimah-Huwaytát tribe, who had been rascalized +by residence at El-Muwaylah, was hunted up by the energetic +Sayyid; hoping, as usual, that no action would be taken upon mere +words, he declared that El-Khulasah stood on the top of a +trap-lump. We halted to inspect it, and Lieutenant Amir rode the +Shaytánah, his vicious little she-mule, up and down steeps fit +only for a goat. Again all was in vain. + +We then travelled over granite gravel along the western +foot-hills of Umm Jedayl, in which a human figure or statue had +been reported to me: now, however, it became a Sarbút, or +"upright stone." Along the flanks of the chief outlier, the Jebel +el-Ramzah, distinguished by its red crest and veins, the slope +was one strew of quartz, whole and broken; like that which we had +seen to the north, and which we were to see on our southern +journey. Despising the "rotten water" offered in two places by +the Umm Jedayl, we pitched camp on the fine gravel of the Sayl +Wady el-Jimm. Here I heard for the first time, after sighting it +for many weeks, that the latter is the name, not of a +mountain,[EN#153] but of a Sha'b or "gully" in the Jebel Dibbagh +where waters "meet." The Wady Kh'shabriyyah, separating the Umm +Jedayl from its northern neighbour, the Dibbagh, looks like a +highway; but all declare that it is closed to camels by Wa'r, or +"stony ground." Of its ruins more when we travel to the Shárr. +This day's march of four hours (= ten miles and a half) had been +a series of zigzags--north, north-east, west, and again north. + +After a cool, pleasant night we set out at 6.30 a.m. (February +21st), across the broad Sayl, towards a bay in the mountains +bearing north-north-west, the mouth of the Wady Zennárah. +Entering the block, we made two short cuts to save great bends in +the bed. The first was the Sha'b el-Liwéwi', the Weiwî of Wallin +(p. 304)--wild riding enough; the path often winding almost due +east, when the general direction was north-north-east. We saw, +for the first time, pure greenish-yellow chlorite outcropping +from the granite. The animals were apparently hibernating, and +plants were rare; we remarked chiefly the sorrel and the blue +thistle, or rather wild artichoke, the Shauk el-Jemel, a thorn +loved by camels (Blepharis edulis), which recalled to mind the +highlands of Syria. The second short-cut, the Wady el-Ga'agah, +alias Sawáwín, was the worse of the two: the deep drops and +narrow gutters in the quartz-veined granite induced even the +Shaykhs to dismount before attacking the descents. This is rarely +done when ascending, for their beasts climb like Iceland ponies. +One of M. Lacaze's most effective croquis is that showing monture +and man disappearing in the black depths of a crevice. Some of +the hill-crests were weathered with forms resembling the +artificial. At the mid-day halting-ground we saw a stone-mother +nursing a rock-child, which might still be utilized in lands +where "thaumaturgy" is not yet obsolete. + +Our course thence lay eastward up the easy bed of the Fiumara, an +eastern section of an old friend, the Wady Tiryam; it now takes +the well-known name "Wady Sadr," and we shall follow it to its +head in the Hismá. The scene is rocky enough for Scotland or +Scandinavia, with its huge walls bristling in broken rocks and +blocks, its blue slides, and its polished sheets of dry +watercourse which, from afar, flash in the sun like living +cataracts. On the northern or right bank rises the mighty Harb, +whose dome, single when seen from the west, here becomes a +Tridactylon, splitting into three several heads. Facing it, the +northernmost end of the Dibbagh range forms a truncated tower, +conspicuous far out at sea: having no name, it was called by us +Burj Jebel Dibbagh. A little further to the east it will prove to +be the monstrous pommel of a dwarf saddleback, everywhere a +favourite shape with the granite outcrop. + +MM. Clarke and Lacaze, who had never before seen anything higher +that the hillocks of the Isle of Wight or the Buttes de +Montmartre were hot upon ascending the almost perpendicular sides +of the Burj, relying upon the parallel and horizontal fissures in +the face, which were at least ten to twenty feet apart. These +dark marks, probably stained by oxide of iron, reminded me of +those which wrinkle the granitic peaks about Rio de Janeiro, and +which have been mistaken for "hieroglyphs." + +The valley-sole is parti-coloured; the sands of the deeper line +to the right are tinctured a pale and sickly green by the +degradation of the porphyritic traps, here towering in the +largest masses yet seen; while the gravel of the left bank is +warm, and lively with red grit and syenitic granite. Looking down +the long and gently waving line, we feel still connected with the +civilized world by the blue and purple screen of Sinai forming +the splendid back-ground. Everything around us appears deserted; +the Ma'ázah are up country, and the Beni ‘Ukbah have temporarily +quitted these grazing-grounds for the Surr of El-Muwaylah. We +camped for the night, after a total march of eleven miles, at the +Sayl el-Nagwah, a short Nullah at the foot of a granite block +similarly named; and a gap supplied us with tolerable rain-water. + +On the next day (February 22nd) we left the "Nagwah" at seven +instead of six a.m., and passed to the right a granitic outcrop +in the Wady bed, a reduced edition of the Burj. After an hour's +slow walking we were led by a Bedawi lad, Hasan bin Husayn, to a +rock-spur projected northwards from the left side and separating +two adjacent Sayls or "torrent-beds," mere bays in the bank of +mountains. A cut road runs to the top of the granite tongue, +which faces the westernmost or down-stream outbreaks of the huge +porphyritic masses on the other side of the Wady Sadr. The ridge +itself is strewed with spalled stone, quartz broken from the +veins that seam the granite, and with slag as usual admirably +worked. Not a trace of human habitation appears, nor is there any +tradition of a settlement having existed here; consequently we +concluded that this was another atelier of wandering workmen. +Below the rock-tongue we found for the first time oxydulated iron +and copper, either free or engaged in trap and basaltic dykes: +the former metal, also attached in layers to dark-red vermeilled +jasper, here appears streaked with white quartz. + +Resuming our ride, we dismounted, after four miles, at the +half-way Mahattah ("halting-place"): it is a rond-point in the +Wady Sadr, marked from afar by a tall blue pyramid, the Jebel +el-Ga'lah (Jálah). We spent some time examining this interesting +bulge. Here the Jibál el-Tihámah end, and the eastern parallel +range, the Jibál el-Shafah, begins. The former belong to the +Huwaytát and to Egypt; the latter, partly to the Ma'ázah and to +Syria. The geographical frontier is well marked by two large +watercourses disposed upon a meridian, and both feeding the main +drain, the Sadr-Tiryam. To the north the Wady Sawádah divides the +granitic Harb from the porphyritic Jebel Sawádah; while the +southern Wady Aylán separates the Dibbagh from the Jebel Aylán, a +tall form distinctly visible from the Upper Shárr. The rest of +our eastward march will now be through the Shafah massif. It +resembles on a lower scale the Tihámah Gháts; but it wholly wants +their variety, their beauty, and their grandeur. The granites +which before pierced the porphyritic traps in all directions, now +appear only at intervals; and this, I am told, is the case +throughout the northern, as we found it to be in the southern, +prolongation of the "Lip"-range. At the same time there is no +distinct geographical separation between the two parallels; and +both appear, not as if parted by neutral ground, but rather as +topographical continuations of each other. + +While breaking our fast and resting the mules, a few shots +ringing ahead caused general excitement: we were now on the edge +of the enemy's country. Presently three of the Ma'ázah came in +and explained, with their barking voices, that their people had +been practicing at the Níshán ("target"); which meant "We have +powder in abundance." One of them, at once dubbed El-Nasnás ("the +Satyr") from his exceeding monstrous ugliness--a baboon's muzzle +with a scatter of beard--kindly volunteered to guide us, with the +intention of losing the way. The dialogue that took place was +something as follows:-- + +What are your names ? + +A. Na'akal wa nashrab! Our names are "We eat and We drink!" + +Where do we find water to-day? + +Furayj ejaculates, "The water of the Rikáb!" + +A. No, by Allah! The Arabs will never allow you to drink! You +should be killed for carrying off in Dumús ("skins") the sand of +the Wady Jahd (alluding to Lieutenant Amir's trip). + +We did not pay much heed to these evil signs. Ahmed el-‘Ukbí had +been sent forward to obtain a free pass from the chiefs, and we +hardly expected that the outlying thieves would be daring enough +to attack us. + +Resuming our way, in a cold wind and a warm sun, up the upper +Wady Sadr, we threaded the various bends to the south and +south-east, with a general south-south-eastern direction. The +normal dark-green traps and burnished red porphyries and grits +were sparsely clad with the Shauhat and the Yasár trees, +resembling the Salvadora and the Tamarix. The country began to +show a few donkeys and large flocks of sheep and goats; the +muttons have a fine "tog," and sell for three dollars and a half. +The women in charge, whose complexions appeared notably lighter +than those of the seaboard, barked like the men. They were much +puzzled by a curious bleating which came from the mules; and +hurriedly counted their kids, suspecting that one had been +purloined, whilst they had some trouble to prevent the whole +flock following us. All roared with laughter when they found that +Mr. Clarke was the performer. + +We crossed two short cuts over long bends in the Wady; and at the +second found a pot-hole of rain-water by no means fragrant, +except to nostrils that love impure ammonia. It has a grand name, +Muwah (for Miyáh) el-Rikáb ("the Waters of the Caravan"); and we +made free with it, despite the morning's threats. We again camped +in the valley at an altitude of 2200 feet (aner. 27.80); and, +though the thermometer showed 66° F. at five p.m., fires inside +and outside the mess-tent were required. A wester or sea-breeze, +deflected by the ravines to a norther, was blowing; and in these +regions, as in the sub-frigid zones of Europe, wind makes all the +difference of temperature. During the evening we were visited by +the Ma'ázah Bedawin of a neighbouring encampment: they began to +notice stolen camels and to wrangle over past times--another bad +sign. + +Setting out on a splendidly lucent morning (6:45 a.m., February +23rd), when the towering heads of Harb and Dibbagh looked only a +few furlongs distant, we committed the imprudence of preceding, +as usual, the escort. Our men had become so timid, starting at +the sight of every wretched Bedawi, that they made one long for a +"rash act." After walking about a mile and a half, we passed some +black tents on the left bank, where the Sadr enters a narrow +rocky gorge; and suddenly about a dozen varlets were seen +scampering over the walls, manning the Pass, and with lighted +matches threatening to fire. Then loud rang the war-song-- + + "Hill el-Zawáib, hilla-há; + W'abdi Nuhúdak kulla-há!" + + "Loose thy top-locks with a loosing (like a lion's mane); + And advance thy breast, all of it (opponite pectora without +shrinking)." + +Other varieties of the slogan are:-- + + "O man of small mouth (un misérable)! + If we fail, who shall win?" + +And-- + + "By thy eyes (I swear), O she-camel, if we go (to the +attack) and gird (the sword), + We will make it a day of sorrow to them, and avert from +ourselves every ill." + +We dismounted, looked to our weapons, and began to parley. The +ragged ruffians, some of them mere boys, and these always the +readiest to blow the matches of guns longer than themselves, +began with high pretensions. They declared that they would be +satisfied with nothing less than plundering us; they flouted +Shaykh Furayj, and they insulted the Sayyid, threatening to take +away his sword. + +Presently the escort and the Arab camel-men were seen coming up +at the double. The Ma'ázah at once became abject; kissed our +heads and declared "there was some mistake." I had already +remarked, whilst the matchlock-men were swarming up the +Wady-sides, that the women and children remained in camp, and the +sheep and goats were not driven off. This convinced me that +nothing serious had been intended: probably the demonstration was +ordered from head-quarters in order to strike us with a wholesome +awe. + +The fellows gently reproached us with travelling through their +country without engaging (and paying) Ghafír--"guides and +protectors." So far, as owners of the soil, they were "in their +right;" and manning a pass is here the popular way of levying +transit dues. On this occasion the number of our Remingtons +sufficed to punish their insolence by putting the men to flight, +and by carrying off their camels and flocks; but such a step +would have stopped the journey, and what would not the +"Aborigines Protection Society" have said and done? I therefore +hired one of the varlets, and both parties went their ways +rejoicing that the peace had not been broken. + +The valley, winding through the red and green hills, was dull and +warm till the cool morning easter, which usually set about eight +a.m., began to blow. The effect of increasing altitude showed +itself in the vegetation. We now saw for the first time the Kidád +(Astragalus), with horrid thorns and a flower resembling from +afar the gooseberry: it is common on the Hismá and in the South +Country. The Kahlá (Echium), a bugloss, a borage-like plant, with +viscous leaves and flowers of two colours,--the young light-pink +and the old dark-blue,--everywhere beautified the sands, and +reminded me of the Istrian hills, where it is plentiful as in the +Nile Valley. The Jarad-thorn was not in bloom; and the same was +the case with the hyacinth (Dipcadi erythraeum), so abundant in +the Hisma', which some of us mistook for a "wild onion." The +Zayti (Lavandula) had just donned its pretty azure bloom. There +were Reseda, wild indigo, Tribulus (terrestris), the blue +Aristida, the pale Stipa, and the Bromus grass, red and yellow. +The Ratam (spartium), with delicate white and pink blossoms, was +a reminiscence of Tenerife and its glorious crater; whilst a +little higher up, the amene Cytisus, flowering with gold, carried +our thoughts back to the far past. + +Presently the great Fiumara opened upon a large basin denoting +the Ras ("head") Wady Sadr: native travellers consider this their +second stage from El-Muwaylah. In front the Jibál Sadr extended +far to the right and left, a slight depression showing the +Khuraytah, or "Pass," which we were to ascend on the morrow. +Buttressing the left bank of the broad watercourse was the dwarf +hill of which we had been told so many tales. By day its red +sands gleam and glisten like burnished copper; during the night +fire flashes from the summit: in truth, its sole peculiarity is +that of being yellow amongst the gloomy heights around it; whilst +the Wady el-Safrá, higher up to the left, discharges from its +Jebel a torrent of quartz and syenite, gravel and sand. Abú +Khartám, the author of the romance, was among the party: he only +smiled when complimented upon the power of his imagination. + +This was a day of excitement: even the mules kept their ears +pricked up. After a short nine miles we had camped below the +Jebel Kibár, and we had remounted our animals to ascend a +neighbouring hill commanding a bird's-eye view of the Hismá +plain. There was evidently much excitement amongst the Bedawi +shepherds around us; and presently Ahmed el-‘Ukbí, our messenger, +appeared in sight, officially heading the five chiefs of the +Ma'ázah, who were followed by a tail of some thirty clansmen. +Only two rode horses, wretched garrons stolen from the Ruwalá, +the great branch of the Anezah, which holds the eastern regions; +the rest rode fine sturdy and long-coated camels, which looked +Syrian rather than Midianite.[EN#154] We returned hurriedly to +make arrangements for the reception: our Shaykhs could not, +without derogating, go forth to meet the strangers; but the +latter were saluted with due ceremony by the bugler and the +escort, drawn up in line before the mess-tent. + +After the usual half-hour's delay, the "palaver," to speak +Africanicè, "came up," and M. Lacaze had a good opportunity of +privily sketching the scene. The Shaykh, Mohammed bin ‘Atíyyah, +who boasts (falsely) that he commands more than half the two +thousand males composing the tribe, is a tall, sinewy man of +about fifty, straight-featured, full-bearded, and gruff-voiced: +his official style of speaking from the throat, a kind of vaccine +low, imitated in camp for many a day, never failed to cause +merriment. His costume rose to the height of Desert-fashion, +described when pourtraying Shaykh Khizr the ‘Imráni; his manners +were those of a gentleman below the Pass, and above it he became +an unmitigated ruffian, who merited his soubriquet El-Kalb ("the +Hound"). On one side sat his son Sálim, a large, beardless lad, +who had begun work by presenting us with a sheep--Giorgi (cook) +said it cost us £40. On the other was his eldest brother and +alter ego: the wrinkled Sagr (Sakr) has been a resident at Cairo, +and still boasts that he received the "tribute" of a horse from +the Viceroy, whom he affects to treat as an equal or rather an +inferior. The others were old Sagr's ill-visaged son Ali, and, +lastly, a cunning-eyed villain, ‘Abayd bin Sálim, the rightful +heir to the chieftainship, which, however, he had been unable to +keep. All the Shaykhs were dressed in brand-new garments and +glaring glossy Kúfíyahs ("head-kerchiefs"); they trade chiefly +with Mezáríb in the Haurán; and, during the annual passage to and +fro of the Damascus caravan, they await it at Tabúk, and threaten +to cut off the road unless liberally propitiated with presents of +raiment and rations. The Murátibah (honorarium) contributed by +El-Shám would be about one hundred dollars in ready money to the +headman, diminishing with degree to one dollar per annum: this +would not include "free gifts" by pilgrims. The Ma'ázah are under +Syria, that is, under no rule at all; and they are supposed to be +tributary to, when in reality they demand tribute from, the +Porte. In fact, nothing can be more pronounced than the contrast +of the Bedawin who are subject to Egypt, and those supposed to be +governed by the wretched Ottoman. + +During the palaver all outside was sweet as honey, to use the +Arab phrase, and bitter as gall inside. The Ma'ázah, many of whom +now saw Europeans for the first time, eyed the barnetá (hat) +curiously, with a certain facial movement which meant, "This is +the first time we have let Christian dogs into our land!" They +were minute in observing the escort, and not a little astonished +to find that all were negroes--in the old day Egyptian soldiers, +under the great Mohammed Ali Pasha and his stepson, Ibrahim +Pasha, had made themselves a terror to the Wild Man. "What had +now become of them?" was the mental question. When asked whence +they had procured the two horses, they answered curtly, Min +Rabbiná--"From our Lord," thus signifying stolen goods; and, like +mediaeval knights, they took a pride in avowing that not one of +their number could read or write. Finally a tent was assigned to +them; food was ordered, and they promised us escort to their dens +on the morrow. + +During the raw and gusty night the mercury sank to 38° F., the +aneroid (26.91) showing about three thousand feet above +sea-level; and blazing fires kept up within and without the +tents, hardly sufficed for comfort. On the morning of February +24th + + "Over the wold the wind blew cold;" + +and the Egyptian officers all donned their gloves. The early +hours were spent in a last struggle with our Shaykhs, who now +felt themselves and their camels hopelessly entering the lion's +lair. The sole available pretext for delay was that their animals +could never carry the boxes and tents up the Pass; but, though +very ugly reports prevailed concerning the reception of Ahmed +el-‘Ukbí, and the observations that had been made last night, not +a word was suffered to reach my ears until our retreat had been +resolved upon. Such concealment would have been inexcusable in a +European; in the East it is the rule. + +At 7.15 a.m. we struck the camp at Jebel Kibár, and moved due +eastward towards the Pass. This north-eastern Khuraytah (Col) is +termed the Khuraytat el-Hismá or el-Jils, after a hillock on the +plateau-summit, to distinguish it from the similar feature to the +south-west: the latter is known as the Khuraytat el-Zibá; or +el-T h m , the local pronunciation of Tihámah. About two miles of +rough and broken ground lead to the foot of the ladder. The +zigzags then follow the line of a mountain torrent, the natural +Pass, crossing its bed from left to right and from right again to +left: the path is the rudest of corniches, worn by the feet of +man and beast; and showing some ugly abrupt turns. The absolute +height of the ascent is about 450 feet (aner. 26.70--26.25) and +the length half a mile. The ground, composed mostly of irregular +rock-steps, has little difficulty for horses and mules; but +camels laden with boards (the mess-table) and long tent-poles +must have had a queer time--I should almost expect after this to +see an oyster walking up stairs. Of course, they took their +leisure, feeling each stone before they trusted it, but they all +arrived without the shadow of an accident; and the same was the +case during the two subsequent descents. + +We halted on the Sath el-Nakb ("the Passtop") to expect the +caravan, and to prospect the surrounding novelties. Heaps and +piles of dark trap dotted the summit like old graves; many of the +stones were inscribed with tribal marks, and not a few were +capped with snowy lumps of quartz detached from their veins in +the porphyry. This custom, which appears universal throughout +Midian, has many interpretations. According to some it denotes +the terminus of a successful raid; others make it show where a +dispute was settled without bloodshed; whilst as a rule it is an +expression of gratitude: the Bedawi erects it in honour of the +man who protected or who did a service to him, saying at the same +time, Abyaz ‘alayk yá Fula'n--"White (or happy) be it to thee!" +naming the person. Amongst these votive stones we picked up +copper-stained quartz like that of ‘Aynúnah, fine specimens of +iron, and the dove-coloured serpentine, with silvery threads, so +plentiful in the Wady Surr. The Wasm in most cases showed some +form of a cross, which is held to be a potent charm by the +Sinaitic Bedawin; and on two detached water-rolled pebbles were +distinctly inscribed lH and Vl, which looked exceedingly like +Europe. Apparently the custom is dying out: the modern Midianites +have forgotten the art and mystery of tribal signs (Wusúm). In +many places the people cannot distinguish between inscriptions +and "Bill Snooks his mark," and they can interpret very few of +the latter. + +Looking westward through the inverted arch formed by the two +hill-staples of the Khuraytah, and down the long valley which had +given us passage, the eye distinguishes a dozen distances whose +several planes are marked by all the shades of colour that the +most varied vegetation can show. There are black-browns, +chocolate-browns, and light umber-browns; bright-reds and +dull-reds; grass-greens and cypress-greens; neutral tints and +French greys contrasting with the rosy pinks, the azures, the +purples, and the golden yellows with which distance paints the +horizon. From a few feet above the Col-floor appear the eastern +faces of the giants of the coast-range; and our altitude, some +3800 feet, gave us to a certain extent a measure of their grand +proportions. + +We now stand upon the westernmost edge of the great central +Arabian plateau, known as El-Nejd ("the Highlands"), opposed to +El-Tihámah, the lowland regions. In Africa we should call it the +"true" subtending the "false" coast; delightful Dahome compared +with leprous Lagos. This upland, running parallel with the +"Lip"-range and with the maritime Gháts, is the far-famed Hismá. +It probably represents a remnant of the old terrace which, like +the Secondary gypseous formation, has been torn to pieces by the +volcanic region to the east, and by the plutonic upheavals to the +west. The length may be 170 miles; the northern limit is either +close to or a little south of Fort Ma'án; and we shall see its +southern terminus sharply defined on a parallel with the central +Shárr, not including "El-Jaww."[EN#155] An inaccessible fortress +to the south, it is approached on the south-west by difficult +passes, easily defended against man and beast. Further north, +however, the Wadys ‘Afál near El-Sharaf, El-Hakl (Hagul), and +El-Yitm at El-‘Akabah, are easy lines without Wa'r ("stony +ground") or Nakb ("ravines"). + +The Hismá material is a loose modern sandstone, showing every hue +between blood-red, rose pink, and dead, dull white: again and +again fragments had been pointed out to us near the coast, in +ruined buildings and in the remains of handmills and rub-stones. +Possibly the true coal-measures may underlie it, especially if +the rocks east of Petra be, as some travellers state, a region of +the Old, not the New Red. According to my informants, the Hismá +has no hills of quartz, a rock which appears everywhere except +here; nor should I expect the region to be metalliferous. + +We ascended the Jebel el-Khuraytah, a trap hillock some 120 feet +high, the southern jamb of the Khuraytah gate: the summit, where +stands a ruined Burj measuring fourteen metres in diameter, gives +a striking and suggestive view. After hard dry living on grisly +mountain and unlovely Wady, this fine open plain, slightly +concave in the centre, was a delightful change of diet to the +eye--the first enjoyable sensation of the kind, since we had +gazed lovingly upon the broad bosom of the Wady el-‘Arabah. The +general appearance is that of Eastern Syria, especially the +Haurán: at the present season all is a sheet of pinkish red, +which in later March will turn to lively green. On this parallel +the diameter does not exceed a day's march, but we see it +broadening to the north. Looking in that direction over the +gloomy-metalled porphyritic slopes upon which we stand, the +glance extends to a manner of sea-horizon; while the several +planes below it are dotted with hills and hill-ranges, white, +red, and black, all dwarfed by distance to the size of thimbles +and pincushions. The guides especially pointed out the ridge +El-Mukaykam, a red block upon red sands, and a far-famed +rendezvous for raid and razzia. Nearer, the dark lumps of +El-Khayráni rise from a similar surface; nearer still lie the two +white dots, El-Rakhamatayn; and nearest is the ruddy ridge Jebel +and Jils el-Rawiyán, containing, they say, ruins and inscriptions +of which Wallin did not even hear. + +The eastern versant of the Hismá is marked by long chaplets of +tree and shrub, disposed along the selvage of the watercourses; +and the latter are pitted with wells sunk after the fashion of +the Bedawin. In this rhumb the horizon is bounded by El-Harrah, +the volcanic region whose black porous lavas and honey-combed +basalts, often charged with white zeolite, are still brought down +even to the coast to serve as mortars and handmills. The profile +is a long straight and regular line, as if formed under water, +capped here and there by a tiny head like the Syrian Kulayb +Haurán: its peculiar dorsum makes it distinguishable from afar, +and we could easily trace it from the upper heights of the Shárr. +It is evidently a section of the mighty plutonic outburst which +has done so much to change the aspect of the parallel Midian +seaboard. Wallin's account of it (p. 307) is confined to the +place where he crossed the lava-flood; and he rendered El-Harrah, +which in Arabic always applies to a burnt region, by +"red-coloured sandstone." + +The Bedawin far more reasonably declare that this Harrah is not a +mere patch as it appears in Wallin's map, a narrow oblong not +exceeding sixty miles (north lat. 27°--28°), disposed diagonally +from north-west to south-east. According to them, it is a region +at least as large as the Hismá; and it extends southwards not +only to the parallel of El-Medínah, but to the neighbourhood of +Yambú'. The upper region has two great divisions: the +Harrat-Hismá or the Harrah par excellence, which belongs to the +Ma'ázah, and which extends southwards through El-Sulaysilah as +far as the Jaww. The latter region, a tract of yellow sand, +dotted with ruddy hills, apparently a prolongation of the Hismá, +separates it from the Harrat el-‘Awayraz, in which the Jebel +el-Muharrak lies.[EN#156] This line of volcanism is continued +south by the Harrat el-Mushrif (P.N. of a man); by the Harrat +Sutúh Jaydá; and, finally, by the Harrat el-Buhayri. the latter +shows close behind the shore at El-Haurá, in nearly the same +latitude as El-Medínah, where we shall presently sight it. There +is great interest and a general importance in this large +coast-subtending eruptive range, whose eastern counterslope +demands long and careful study. + +Sweeping the glance round to south, we see the southern of the +two Jilsayn, tall mounds of horizontal strata, with ironstone in +harder lines and finial blocks. This is the Jils el-Dáim, so +distinguished from the northern Jils el-Rawiyán. The lower edge +of the Hismá swells up in red and quoin-like masses, the Jibál +el-Záwiyah, and then falls suddenly, with a succession of great +breaks, into the sub-maritime levels. During our next ten days' +travel we shall be almost in continuous sight of its southern +ramparts and buttresses. Far over the precipices lie the low +yellow sands of the Rahabah, alias the Wady Dámah; and behind it +rises the sky-blue mountain block, which takes a name from the +ruins of Shaghab and Shuwák. + +We breakfasted upon the Khuraytah crest; and Mr. Clarke set out +to shoot the fine red-legged "Greek" partridges (caccabis) that +haunt the hilltops, whilst the rest of us marched with the +caravan to the nearest camping-ground. About a mile from the Col, +and lying to the west of the Jils el-Rawiyán, it is supplied with +excellent drinking-water by the Miyáh el-Jedayd, lying nine +hundred to a thousand metres to the south-east. On the other +hand, fuel, here a necessary of life, was wanting; nor could the +camels find forage. Thus we were camped upon the western edge of +the Hismá. The Ma'ázah Shaykhs, who vainly urged us forwards, +showed a suspicious disappointment at our not reaching their +quarters on the far side, where, they said, a camel was awaiting +to be slaughtered for our reception. + +Meanwhile, we were enjoying the reverse of hospitality. The +Bedawin evidently now held that all which was ours had become +theirs. Their excessive greed made them imprudent. Not satisfied +with "eating us up," with a coffee-pot ever on the fire, with +demanding endless tobacco, and with making their two garrons +devour more barley than our eight mules, they began to debate, +aloud as usual, how much ready money they should demand. This was +at last settled at four hundred dollars; and the talk was +reported to me by the Básh-Buzúk Husayn, whom they had compelled +to cook for them. At the same time unpleasant discussions were +beginning: "This man stole my camel!" "That man killed my +father," already took the form of threats; in fact, I almost +repented having brought the Huwaytát and their camels into the +trap. Still they all respected Furayj, as might be seen by their +rising and making room for him whenever he approached the fire. + +At last an evil rumour arose that the Ma'ázah had determined to +supply us with transport, and had sent messengers in all +directions to collect the animals. This step looked uncommonly +like a gathering of war-men. I was sorely disappointed, for more +reasons than one. The state of affairs rendered a distant march +to the east highly unadvisable. The principal object of this +journey had been to investigate the inland depth of the +metalliferous deposits; in fact, their extent from west to east. +Their north-south length would be easily ascertained, but the +width would still remain unknown. The "Land of Midian," through +which we have been travelling, has evidently been worked, and in +places well worked; thus the only chance of finding a virgin +California would be in the unknown tracts lying to the east of +the "Harrahs." Too bad to be thwarted in such a project by the +exorbitant demands of a handful of thieves! + +The disappointment was aggravated by other considerations. From +all that I had heard, the Hismá is a region full of archæological +interest. Already we were almost in sight of the ruins of Ruáfá, +lying to the north between the two white dots El-Rakhamatayn. +Further eastward, and north of the pilgrim-station Zát-Hajj, are +the remains of Karáyyá, still unvisited by Europeans. Finally, I +had been shown, when too late to inspect the place, a fragment of +a Nabathæan inscription, finely cut in soft white +sandstone:[EN#157] it had been barbarously broken, and two other +pieces were en route. The stone is said to be ten feet long (?), +all covered with "writings," from which annalistic information +might be expected: it lies, or is said to lie, about two hours' +ride north of our camp, and beyond the Jils el-Rawiyán famed for +Hawáwít. At first I thought of having it cut to portable size; +but second thoughts determined me to leave it for another visit +or for some more fortunate visitor. Lastly, we were informed, a +few weeks afterwards, that the Ma'ázah Shaykhs had carried it off +to their tents--I fear piecemeal. + +It was not pleasant to beat a retreat; but, under the +circumstances, what else could be done? No one was to be relied +upon but the Europeans, and not all even of them. The black +escort, emancipated slaves, would have run away at the first +shot; except only Acting-Corporal Khayr. And when I told the +officers assembled at mess that we should march back early next +morning, the general joy showed how little they relished the +prospect of an advance. Then came out in mass the details--many +doubtless apocryphal--which should have been reported to me, and +which had carefully been kept secret. The Ma'ázah, when our +messenger first notified our visit, had declared that they would +have no Nazarenes in their mountains; that they did not care a +fico for Egypt. Why had not "Effendíná" written to them? they +were his equals, not his subjects! It was then debated whether +they should not raise a force of dromedary-men to fall upon us. +Some of them proposed to summon to their aid the rival chief, Ibn +Hermás; but the majority thought it would be better to reserve +for themselves the hundred dollars per diem, of which they +proposed to fleece us. + +Of course, everything around us was intrigue; the Máyat taht +el-Tibn ("water under the straw") of the Arab saying. Furayj, it +is true, looked serene, and privately offered me to fight the +affair out; but he was alone in the idea. The Sayyid was +tranquil, as usual; Hasan the ‘Ukbi wore an unpleasant appearance +of satisfaction, as if he had been offered a share in the plunder +of the Huwaytát; and ‘Alayán, a brave man on his own ground, +could hardly conceal his dejection. I might, it is evident, have +seized Shaykh Mohammed, placed a pistol to his ear, and carried +him off a prisoner; but such grands moyens must be reserved for +great occasions. The worst symptoms in camp were that the Ma'ázah +at once knew the whole of my project; while the Egyptian officers +were ever going to their tents, and one stayed talking with them +till near midnight. + +February 25th was a day of humiliation. I aroused the camp at +4.30 a.m., and at once gave orders to strike the tents and load. +The command was obeyed in double quick time; but not before +Shaykh Mohammed had visited us to propose a march to his home in +the east. He was not comfortable; probably his reinforcements had +still to arrive: his face was calm, as the Eastern's generally +is; but his feet trembled, and his toes twitched. I drily told +him of our changed plans, and he left us in high dudgeon. The +tragi-comedy which followed may be divided into six acts:-- + +1. The Ma'ázah mount their horses and camels: I walk up to them, +and expostulate about so abrupt a departure without even drinking +a friendly cup of coffee. + +2. They dismount, and squat in council round the fire, sending on +three dromedary-riders to crown a hill commanding the pass. The +"burning question" is now whether armed clansmen are or are not +lurking behind the heights. + +3. Shaykh Mohammed comes forward, and demands blackmail to the +extent of two hundred dollars. I offer one hundred dollars. + +4. Our hosts break off the debate in a towering rage; refuse +coffee, and declare that the caravan of "Effendíná" (the Viceroy) +shall not be loaded. Mohammed's feet twitch more violently as the +camels are made to kneel. + +5. The caravan shows too much emotion. I pay the two hundred +dollars into the chief's hands. He at once demands his Sharaf +("honour") in the shape of a Kiswah, or handsome dress, and, that +failing, an additional twenty-five dollars for each of the five +headmen. I promise that a robe shall be sent from +El-Muwaylah.[EN#158] + +6. The caravan sets out for the Pass, when the three +dromedary-riders open with the war-cry: it is stopped with much +apparatus by the Shaykhs, who affect to look upon it as +dangerous. + + * * * * * + +We now marched without delay upon the Col, which was reached at +8:15 a.m.; Mohammed bin ‘Atíyyah having meanwhile disappeared. We +descended the Khuraytat el-Jils in twenty-six minutes, and +dismissed the remainder of our Ma'ázah escort at the foot. I +vainly offered them safeguard to El-Muwaylah, which they have not +visited for the last dozen years; all refused absolutely to pass +their own frontiers. + +Au revoir Mohammed ibn ‘Atíyyah and company! + +Having broken our fast and sent forward the caravan, we at once +began to descend the southern Pass, the Khuraytat el-Zibá. Here +the watershed of the Wady Surr heads; and merchants object to +travel by its shorter line, because their camels must ascend two +ladders of rocks, instead of one at the top of the Wady Sadr. The +Col was much longer and but little less troublesome than its +northern neighbour; the formation was the same, and forty-five +minutes placed us in a gully, that presently widened to a big +valley, the Wady Dahal or El-Khuraytah. We reached it at 12:30 +p.m., and laid down the distance from the summit of the northern +Col at about five miles and a quarter. The air felt tepid, the +sun waxed hot; drinking-water was found on the left of the bed, +and a hole in the sole represented a spring, which the people say +is perennial: we were dismounting to quench our thirst at the +latter, when Juno plunged into it, and stood quietly eyeing us +with an air of intense satisfaction. + +We spent that night at a place lower down the Wady Dahal, known +as the Jayb el-Khuraytah ("Collar of the Col"). The term "Jayb" +is locally applied to two places only; the other being the Jayb +el-Sa'lúwwah, which we shall presently visit. A larger feature +than a Wady, it reminds us of a Norfolk "broad," but it is of +course waterless. Guards were placed around the camp; and a +wholesome dread of the Ma'ázah kept them wide awake. The only +evil which resulted was that none dared to lead our mules to +water; and the poor animals were hardly rideable on the next day. + +Of the Hismá in its present state, we may say as of Ushant, Qui +voit Ouessant, voit la mort. Nothing can be done towards working +the mines of Midian until this den of thieves is cleared out. It +is an asylum for every murderer and bandit who can make his way +there--a centre of turbulence which spreads trouble all around +it. Under the sham rule of miserable Shám (Syria), with its +Turkish Wális, men like the late Ráshid Pasha, matters can only +wax worse. Subject to Egypt, the people will learn discipline and +cease to torment the land. + +Happily for their neighbours there will be no difficulty in +reducing the Ma'ázah. They are surrounded by enemies, and they +have lately been obliged to pay "brother-tax" to the Ruwalá as a +defence against being plundered: the tribute consists of one +piece of hair-cloth about twenty cubits long. On the north, as +far as El-Ma'án, they meet the hostile Beni Sakr (Jawázi), under +the Shaykh Mohammed ibn Jázi; southwards the Baliyy, commanded by +Shaykh ‘Afnán, are on terms of "blood" with them; eastward stand +the ‘Anezah and the warlike Sharárát-Hutaym, who ever covet their +two thousand camels: westward lie in wait their hereditary foes, +the Huwaytát. Shaykh Furayj, the tactician, has long ago proposed +a general onslaught of his tribesmen by a simultaneous movement +up the Wadys Surr, Sadr, Urnub, and ‘Afál: they seemed to have +some inkling of his intentions, as they hastened to conclude with +him a five months' ‘Altwah or "truce." Finally, a small +disciplined force, marching down the Damascus-Medínah +pilgrimage-road to the east, and co-operating with the Huwayta't +on the west would place this vermin between two fires. + +The tale of my disappointment may conclude with an ethnological +notice of those who caused it. + +The Ma'ázah is a Syro-Egypto-Bedawi clan, originally Arab, or +rather Syrian, but migratory, as are all Arabs. It now extends +high up the valley of the Nile, and it is still found in the Wady +Musá (of Suez) and on the Za'faránah block. Even in Egypt it is +turbulent and dangerous: the men are professional robbers; and +their treachery is uncontrolled by the Bedawi law of honour--they +will eat bread and salt with the traveller whom they intend to +murder. For many years it was unsafe to visit the camps within +sight of Suez, until a compulsory residence at head-quarters +taught the Shaykhs manners. The habitat in Arabia stretches from +the Wady Musá of Petra, where they are kinsmen of the Tiyáhah, +the Bedawin of the Tíh-desert; and through Ma'án as far as the +Birkat el-Mu'azzamah, south of Tabúk. Finally, they occupy the +greater part of the Hismá and the northern Harrah. + +According to Mohammed el-Kalb, these bandits own the bluest of +blue blood. Their forefather was one Wáíl, who left by his +descendants two great tribes. The first and the eldest took a +name from their Ma'áz ("he-goats"); while the junior called +themselves after the Annáz ("she-goats"): from the latter sprung +the great Anezah family, which occupies the largest and the +choicest provinces of the Arabian peninsula. Meanwhile +genealogists ignore the Ma'ázah. + +Wallin would divide the tribe into two, the Ma'ázah and the "Beni +‘Atiyá:" of the latter in Midian I could hear nothing except that +they represent the kinsmen of the Shaykh's family. We find "Benoo +Ateeyah" in maps like that of Crichton's (1834), where the +Ma'ázah are laid down further south; and northwards the Beni +‘Atiyyah are a powerful clan who push their razzias as far as the +frontiers of Moab. My informants declare that the numbers of +fighting men in the Midianite division of the race may be two +thousand (two hundred?), and that they are separated only by +allegiance to two rival Shaykhs. The greater half, under Ibn +Hermás, is distributed into five clans, of whom the first, ‘Orbán +Khumaysah, contain two septs. Under Mohammed ibn ‘Atíyyah +(El-Kalb) they number also five divisions. Amongst them are the +Subút or Beni Sabt, "Sons of the Sabbath," that is, Saturday; +whom Wallin suspects to be of Jewish origin, relying, it would +appear, principally upon their name. The ringing of the large +bell suspended to the middle pole of the tents at sunset, "to +hail the return of the camels and the mystic hour of descending +night," is an old custom still maintained, because it confers a +Barakat ("blessing") upon the flocks and herds. Certainly there +is nothing of the Bedawi in this practice, and it is distinctly +contrary to the tradition of El-Islam; yet many such survivals +hold their ground amongst the highly conservative Wild Men, and +they must be looked upon only as local and tribal peculiarities. + + + +End of Vol. I. + + + + + + + Endnotes + + + +[EN#1] My collection dates from between the first century B.C. +and the first century A.D.; this can be gathered from comparison +with the coins of Alexander Jannaeus and his successor, Alexander +II. The tetradrachm may belong to the reign of Alexander the +Great, or the ages preceding it. + +[EN#2] Here probably disappeared some fine specimens of silicate +of copper which caused a delay of three months in the report.--R. +F. B. + +[EN#3] Messrs. Edgar Jackson found in the same box:-- + +Silver (per statute ton)...............2 oz. 17 dwts. 11 grs. + +[EN#4] "Box No. 37" yielded silver....13 dwts. 1.6 grs. + +[EN#5] "Box. No. 47" yielded silver...12 dwts. 1.6 grms. + +[EN#6] In boxes Nos. 48 and 51 Mr. Jenken found silver 2 oz. 13 +dwts. 8 grs.; and 4 oz. 5 dwts. 12 grms. + +[EN#7] In a fragment of similar "turquoise rock," from the same +site (Ziba), Dr. L. Karl Moser, of Trieste, found silver. + +[EN#8] In a fragment of similar chalcedony, from the same site +(Aba'l-Maru), Dr. Moser found specks of "free gold." + +[EN#9] This was the "splendid button" smelted at Makna. + +[EN#10] The "button" was pronounced to be almost pure antimony in +the Government Establishment of Mines, Trieste. + +[EN#11] In "box No. 4" Messrs. Jackson found rough crystals of +corundum; and a qualitative analysis of this sample and "box No. +7" yielded quartz, carbonate of lime, alumina, and oxide of iron. + +[EN#12] The italics are mine. Mr. Mathey remarks of the specimen +containing 48 grains of gold per ton, "It would be worthless in +its present condition; if however, it could be enriched by proper +washing and dressing, and the cost in labour, etc., be not too +great, it might be made to give fair returns." + +[EN#13] "Little health" at Cairo prevented my choosing the +instruments; and the result was that at last I had to depend upon +my pocket-set by Casella. Even this excellent maker's maxima and +minima failed to stand the camel-jolting. The barometer, lent by +the Chief of Staff (Elliott Brothers, 24), contained amalgam, not +mercury. The patent messrad, or odometer (Wittmann, Wien), with +its works of soft brass instead of steel, was fit only to measure +a drawing-room carpet. M. Ebner sold us, at the highest prices, +absolutely useless maxima and minima, plus a baromètre aneroide, +whose chain was unhooked when it left the box. M. Sussmann, of +the Muski, supplied, for fifty francs, a good and useful +microscope magnifying seventy-five times. The watches from M. +Meyer ("Dent and Co.!") were cheap and nasty Swiss articles; but +they were also subjected to terrible treatment:--I once saw the +wearers opening them with table-knives. Fortunately M. Lacaze, +the artist, had a good practical knowledge of instruments; and +this did us many a good turn. + +[EN#14] For Arabian travel I should advise aconite, instead of +Dover's powder; Cockle's pills, in lieu of blue mass; Warburg's +Drops, in addition to quinine; pyretic saline and Karlsbad, +besides Epsom salts; and chloral, together with chlorodyne. "Pain +Killer" is useful amongst wild people, and Oxley's ginger, with +the simple root, is equally prized. A little borax serves for +eye-water and alum for sore mouth. I need not mention special +medicines like the liqueur Laville, and the invaluable Waldöl +(oil of the maritime pine), which each traveller must choose for +himself. + +[EN#15] It is Lane's "Kiyakh, vulgó Kiyák," and Michell's "Kyhak, +the ancient Khoiak," or fourth month. The Copts begin their solar +year on our September 10-11; and date from the 2nd of Diocletian, +or the Era of the "Martyrs" (A.D. 284). It is the old Sothic, or +annus quadratus, which became the Alexandrine under the +Ptolemies; and which Sosigenes, the Egyptian, converted into the +Julian, by assuming the Urbs condita as a point de départ, and by +transferring New Year's Day from the equinox to the solstice. + +Thus Kayhák I, 1594, would correspond with December 9, A.D. 1877, +and with Zúl-Hijjah 4, A.H. 1294. On the evening of Kayhák 14 +(December 22nd) winter is supposed to set in. The fifth month, +Tubá--Lane's "Toobeh," and Michell's "Toubeh, the ancient +Tobi"--is the coldest of the year at Suez, on the isthmus and in +the adjacent parts of Arabia; rigorous weather generally lasts +from January 20th to February 20th. In Amshír, about early March, +torrents of rain are expected to fall for a few hours. The people +say of it, in their rhyming way, Amshír, Za'bíb +el-kathir--"Amshír hath many a blast;" and + + "Amshir + Yakul li'l-Zará 'Sir! + Wa yalhak bi'l-tawi'l el-kasi'r."' + +"Amshír saith to the plants, 'Go (forth), and the little shall +reach the big."' It is divided into three 'Asharát or tens--1. +'Asharat el-'Ajúz ("of the old man"), from the cold and killing +wind El-Husúm; 2. 'Asharat el-'Anzah ("of the she-goat"), from +the blasts and gales; and 3. 'Asharat el-Rá'í' ("of the +shepherd"), from its change to genial warmth. Concerning Barmahát +(vulgó Barambát), of old Phamenoth (seventh month), the popular +jingle is, Ruh el-Ghayt wa hát--"Go to the field and bring (what +it yields);" this being the month of flowers, when the world is +green. Barmúdah (Pharmuthi)! dukh bi'l-'amúdah ("April! pound +with the pestle!") alludes to the ripening of the spring crops; +and so forth almost ad infinitum. For more information see the +"Egyptian Calendar," etc. (Alexandria: Mourès, 1878), a valuable +compilation by our friend Mr. Roland L. N. Michell, who will, let +us hope, prefix his name to a future edition, enlarged and +enriched with more copious quotations from the weather-rhymes and +the folk-lore of Egypt. + +[EN#16] This is a most interesting feature. According to Forskâl +(Descriptiones xxix.), "Suénsia litora, a recedente mari serius +orta, nesciunt corallia;" and he makes the submaritime +"Cryptogama regio animalis" begin at Tor (Raitha) and extend to +(Gonfoda). Near Suez is the Newport Shoal, which could be sailed +over with impunity twenty years ago, and which is now dangerous: +it resembles, in fact, the other reef at the entrance of the +Gulf, where tile soundings have changed, in late years, from 7-7 +1/2 fathoms to 3-3 1/2. Geologists differ as to the +cause--elevation or accretion by current-borne drift. + +[EN#17] In Chap. XIV, we will return to this subject. + +[EN#18] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," etc. (London: C. Kegan Paul & +Co., 1878). + +[EN#19] Assuming the sovereign at 97 piastres 40 parahs, this +hire would be in round numbers one and two shillings; the +shilling being exactly 4 piastres 24 parahs. See Chap. VII. for +further details. + +[EN#20] Besides a popular account of the stages in "The Gold +Mines of Midian," a geographical itinerary has been offered to +the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. + +[EN#21] They were, perhaps, a trifle too long for small beasts: +seventy-seven centimètres (better seventy); and too deep, sixty, +instead of fifty-eight. The width (forty-six) was all right. The +best were painted, and defended from wet by an upper plate of +zinc; the angles and the bottoms were strengthened with iron +bands in pairs; and they were closed with hasps. At each end was +a small block, carrying a strong looped rope for slinging the +load to the pack-saddle; of these, duplicates should be provided. +In order to defend our delicate apparatus from excessive shaking, +we divided the inside, by battens, into several compartments. The +smaller cases of bottles and breakables should have been cut to +fit into the larger, but this had been neglected at Cairo. +Finally, not a single box gave way on the march: that was +reserved for the Suez-Cairo Railway, and for landing at the +London Docks. + +[EN#22] MM. Gastinel (Bey) and Marie give it per cent.:-- + +Titaniferous iron . . . .. . . . . . . 86.50 +Silica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.10 +Copper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.40 (2 1/2 per cent.) +Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 + +[EN#23] Hence, evidently, the derivation of the "Marwah" hill +near Meccah, and the famous "Marwah" gold mine which we shall +visit in South Midian. The Arabs here use Jebel el-Mará and Jebel +el-Abyaz (plur. Jibál el-Bayzá) synonymously. + +[EN#24] Spon: London, 1875. A book opening a new epoch, and duly +neglected. + +[EN#25] So said the engineer. He relied chiefly upon M. Amedée +Burat, p. 229, "Géologic Appliquáe" (Paris: Garnier, 1870), who +quotes the compte rendu of M. Guillemin, C.E. to the Exposition +of 1867. The latter gentleman, who probably did not, like the +former, place Mexico in South America, makes the metalliferous +lands measure four-fifths of the total surface. I am much +mistaken if the same is not the case with Midian. + +[EN#26] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 171, I erroneously +asserted that the Beden does not extend to these mountains. The +second Expedition could learn nothing about the stag with large +branches vaguely spoken of by the Bedawin. + +[EN#27] When "miles" are given, I mean the statute of 1760 yards +as opposed to the geographical; the latter equals 1 minute (of a +degree) = 1 Italian or Arab = 1/4 German = 1 1/4 Roman = 10 +stadia. + +[EN#28] Were I a wealthy man, nothing would delight me more than +to introduce London to La Zarzuela, the Spanish and Portuguese +opera bouffe. Sir Julius Benedict tells me that it has reached +Paris. + +[EN#29] See Le Pionnier, Chemin de Fer Abyssinien d'apré's les +desseins de M. J. L. Haddan. Another valuable form is "The +Economical" (Mr. Russell Shaw). + +[EN#30] Chloritic slate is the matrix of gold in the Brazil and +in Upper Styria. + +[EN#31] Chap. IX. + +[EN#32] Not Tayyibat Ism, as I wrongly wrote in "The Gold Mines +of Midian," misled by the Hydrographic Chart. None of the Bedawin +could explain the origin of the flattering title. + +[EN#33] "The Gold-Mines of Midian." Chap. XII. + +[EN#34] The so-called Oriental, stalactitic, or variegated +alabaster of Upper Egypt was nowhere hit upon. + +[EN#35] The Ptolemeian parallel is nearly right; the place must +not be confounded with Modi'ana or Modouna (ibid.), a +coast-settlement in north lat. 27 degrees 45', between Onne and +the Hippos Mons, Monte Cavallo. + +[EN#36] I have no wish to criticize my able predecessor. His map, +all things considered, is a marvel of accuracy; and the high +praise of Wellsted (ii. 148) only does it justice. + +[EN#37] The "Muttali" (high town) when small is termed a Burj, +pyrgos, tower, Pergamus (?) + +[EN#38] The Masháb or "camel-stick" of all Arabia is that +carried by the Osiris (mummy), and its crook is originally the +jackal-headed Anubis. + +[EN#39] The collection has been submitted to Mr. R. Stanley +Poole, who kindly offered them for inspection to the Numismatic +Society of London (Nov. 21, 1878). + +[EN#40] "Ægypten," etc., p. 269, et seq. + +[EN#41] "Les Inscriptions des Mines d'Or," etc. Paris, 1862. + +[EN#42] In Tafel viii. (p. 387), he has added some cursory notes +on the Sepulcral-Monumente in dem Thale Beden. + +[EN#43] Wellsted, vol. ii., appendix. + +[EN#44] All the useful matter has already been borrowed from +Abulfeda. Dr. Badger tells me that he looked through his Jarídat +el-'Ajáib, wa Farídat el-Gharáib, by Siráj el-Din Umar ibn +el-Wardí, A.H. 940 (= A.D. 1533--1534), where he expected to +find, but did not find, notices of Madyan. + +[EN#45] Geschichte Ægyptens unter den Pharaonen. Nach den +Denkmählern bearbeitet, von Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey. Erste +deutsche Ausgabe. Leipzig: Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, 1877. +Already the Première Partie had appeared in French, "Histoire +d'Égypte, Introduction--Histoire des Dynasties i.--xvii.;" +published by the same house with a second edition in 1875. An +English translation of this most valuable compendium, whose +German is of the hardest, is now being printed in London. + +[EN#46] Pun, or Punt, the region on both sides of the Red +Seamouth, including El-Yemen and Cape Guardafui, was made holy by +the birth of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Dr. Brugsch-Bey shows that +one of the titles of the he-god was Bass, the cat or the leopard +(whence our "Puss"); whilst his wife, Bast (the bissat or +tabby-cat of modern Arabic), gave her name to Bubastis (Pi-Bast, +the city of Bast). From the Osiric term (Bass) the learned +Egyptologist would derive Bacchus and his priests, the Bacchoi +and the Bacchantes, whose dress was the leopard's skin. Could +Osiris have belonged to the race whose degenerate descendants are +the murderous Somal of modern days? + +[EN#47] Vulg. Snefrou, "he who makes it good;" the ninth of the +third Dynasty; the twenty-fourth successor of Mena (Menes) in the +papyri, and the twenty-sixth according to Manetho the priest. He +conquered the "Mafka-land," as the Sinaitic Peninsula was then +called; and Wady Maghárah still shows his statue, habited in +warrior garb, with the proud inscription, "Vanquisher of Stranger +Races." This campaign lends some colour to my suspicion that +Sináfir Island, at the mouth of the Gulf el-'Akabah, may preserve +his name. + +[EN#48] The German Türkis, and the English and French Turquoise, +are both evidently derived from Gemma Turcica, Western Turkistan +being considered tile source of the finest stones. + +[EN#49] The accompanying lithograph gives a list of the letters +and the syllabic signs which occur in the inscription. {not +included in this e-text} + +[EN#50] The article "Ná" is emphatic, the with the sense of that +or those. + +[EN#51] "Khomet" signifies, 1. Copper, 2. Metal generally, as +argent, etc. + +[EN#52] "Mensh" is always applied to sea-going ships, as opposed +to Bari, Uáu, Kerer, etc., riverine craft. + +[EN#53] "Kemi" signifies, 1. Found, 2. Found out, discovered. + +[EN#54] That is, the royal pavilion at Thebes. + +[EN#55] The word "Deb" (brick) still survives in the Arabic Tob, +and, perverted to the Iberian Adobe (Et-tob) it has travelled to +Mexico. + +[EN#56] "Hefennu," as is shown by the ideograph to the right over +the three perpendiculars denoting plurality, may be either a frog +or a lakh (one hundred thousand). + +[EN#57] The Egyptians divided gold into four qualities--1, 2, 3, +and two-thirds. But it is not known whether No. 1 was the best, +and we can only guess that two-thirds alluded to some alloy. + +[EN#58] The same as the Shu'ayb of my pages. + +[EN#59] For a notice of "Moses' Well," now quite forgotten by the +Arabs, see Chapter VI. + +[EN#60] For an account of these diggings, see "The Gold-Mines of +Midian," Chap. IX. + +[EN#61] This strange legend will be found copied into many +subsequent authors. + +[EN#62] El-Abjad, the oldest existing form of the Arabic +alphabet; to judge from its being identical with the Hebrew. It +is supposed to date from after the beginning of the Christian +era, when the Himyaritic form fell into disuse, and it is now +used in chronograms only. + +[EN#63] L'auteur est doublement inexact en avanc, ant que +l'Aboudjed se compose de vingt-quatre lettres seulement, d'abord +parce que les six mots qu'il énumère ne renferment que vingt-deux +lettres, et en second lieu, parce qu'il oublie de citer les deux +derniers mots techniques, <Arabic> et <Arabic>, lesquels +complétent les vingt-huit lettres prises comme valeurs +nume'riques ("Voyez l'Exposé des signes de numération chez les +Orientaux," par M. Pihan, p. 199 et suiv.). To this I may add +that the French translators have sadly corrupted the words which +should be Abjad, Hawwaz, Hutti, Kalaman, Sa'fas, and Karashat; +whilst Sakhiz and Zuzigh are not found in the Hebrew and cognate +dialects. + +[EN#64] The "Gate of Lamentation," vulgarly and most erroneously +written, "Babelmandel." + +[EN#65] That is, "spoiled," dry; instead of "honoured," +respected. The difference of the words is in the "pointing" of +the third letter, and the change of m and l. + +[EN#66] Not to be confounded with a cosmography of the same name +by Ahmed ibn Yahyá el-Shá'ir. Cf. Journal of the Royal +Geographical Society, vol. xx. of 1850, p. 343. + +[EN#67] This route, from Suez to El-'Akabah, probably one of the +oldest in this world, has been traversed perfunctorily by +Burckhardt and by Beke. It still wants a detailed survey, and +even hieroglyphic inscriptions may be expected. Beke's map marks +Hawáwit ("ruins") near one of his nighting-places, but apparently +the remains were not visited. + +[EN#68] The Syrian Hajj no longer pass through El-'Akabah to +Makná, but inland or eastward of it. The reason is made evident +in Chap. VII. + +[EN#69] Thus the Khálú or Khárú of the old Egyptians, meaning a +"mixed multitude," were originally Phoenicians and domiciled from +earliest ages about Lake Menzálah. So the "mixed multitude," or +mingled people, which followed Israel from Egypt would be a +riff-raff of strangers. D'Herbelot says (sub voce Midian): +"Quoyque les Madianites soient reputez pour Arabes, neanmoins ils +ne sont pas du nombre des Tribus qui partageoient l'Arabie, et +dont les Auteurs nous ont rendu un compte exact dans leur +Histoire et dans leurs Genealogies; de sorte qu'il passe pour un +peuple étranger qui s'est établi parmi eux." Yet, as we have seen +by the foregoing extracts, Madyan was reckoned within the +territory of El-Medi'nah, i.e. the Hejaz. + +Caussin de Perceval ("Essai sur l'Histoire des Arabs avant +l'Islamisme") regards the old Midianites as one of the "Races +éteintes;" and he makes them (vol. i. p. 23) descendants of +Céthura, Abraham's second wife. In vol. ii. p. 232, he brings the +Banu-Djodha'm (Juzám) from El-Yemen, and settles them in the +country of the ancient Midianites. He adds: "La region sur +laquelle ils étaient répandus avec leurs frères les Benou-Lakhm, +et, je crois aussi, avec les families Codhaites, de Bali (Baliyy) +et de Cayn, touchait par l'ouest à la Mer Rouge, par le nord au +pays que les Romains appelaient troisième Palestine, par le sud +aux déserts . . . par l'est, enfin, au territoire de +Daumat-Djandal sur laquelle campaient les Benou-Kelb, tribu +Codhaïte, alors Chrétienne, et alliée ou sujette des Romains." In +vol. iii. p. 159, he recounts from the Táríkh el-Khamísí, and the +Sírat el-Rasúl, how Zayd made an expedition against the "Djodhám +(Juzám) established at Madyan on the coast of the Red Sea." The +warrior captured a number of women and children who were exposed +for sale, but the "Prophet," hearing the wails of the mothers, +ordered that the young ones should not be sold apart from the +parents. + +[EN#70] The "Burd," or "Burdah," was worn by Mohammed, as we know +from a celebrated poem, for which see D'Herbelot, sub voce +"Bordah." + +[EN#71] Michaud ("Hist. des Croisades," ii. 27) says: "Une fois +qu'il (Saladin) fût maitre de la capitale (Damascus); son armée +victorieuse et l'or pur appelé Obreysum (Ubraysun ou Hubraysum) +qu'il tirait de l'E'gypte, lui soumirent les autres cités de la +Syrie." The question is whether this gold was not from Midian: my +friend Yacoub Artin Bey, who supplied me with the quotation, +thinks that it was. + +[EN#72] The most curious form, perhaps, which the ancient +Midianitic tradition has assumed, was in the thirteenth century, +when the Russians believed that the Tartars, "with their +four-cornered faces," were the ancient Midianites coming in the +latter days to conquer the world. Lieutenant C. R. Conder, R.E. +("Tentwork in Palestine," Bentley, 1878), has done his best to +rival this style of ethnology by declaring that "the hosts of +Midian" were, no doubt, the ancestors of the modern Bedawin. + +[EN#73] Alluding to the legend that the shepherds, after watering +their flocks, rolled a great stone over the mouth of the well, so +that the contents might not be used by Jethro's daughters. Musá +waxed wroth, and, weak as he was with travel, gave the stone such +a kick that it went flying full forty cubits from the spot. See +"Desert of the Exodus," Appendix, p. 539. + +[EN#74] A name now unknown to the Bedawin of Madyan. The +culminating peak is now supposed to be either the Shárr, the +Jebel el-Lauz, or the Jebel Zánah. + +[EN#75] The Badais of Ptolemy, which we shall presently visit. + +[EN#76] A large ruin east of Zibá, also visited. + +[EN#77] For a notice of El-Khalasah, also called El-Khulusah, +El-Khulsah, or Zu'l-Khalasah, consult the art. "Midian," Smith's +"Dict. of the Bible," by E. S. Poole, vol. ii. p. 356. For the +Khalasah of the Negeb, "where Venus was worshipped with all the +licentious pomp of the Pagan ritual," see Professor Palmer's +"Desert of the Exodus," p. 385. The text, however, alludes to a +ruin called El-Khulasah, one march from El-Muwaylah to the east +(Chap. VIII.). + +[EN#78] El-Mederah is possibly Hasíyat el-Madrá, which, like +El-A'waj, El-Bírayn, and Ma'ín, is now included in Syria. +El-Mu'allak may be Jebel Yalak,--at least, so say the Bedawin. + +[EN#79] In the last remark, also found in El-Kazwíní, the Madyan +of El-Shu'ayb is referred to the district of Tiberias. Thus it +would belong to Syria, whilst the majority of geographers refer +it to the Hejaz, and a minority to El-Yemen. + +[EN#80] Alluded to in a note to p. 331 of "The Gold Mines of +Midian," etc. + +[EN#81] This means only according to Hebrew and Arabic tradition, +neither of them being, in this case, of much value. As I remarked +before ("The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 177), the hieroglyphic +name of the land is Mádí, in the plural Mádí-án or Mádí-ná; on +the other hand, we have no information concerning the origin and +derivation of Mádí, except that it is not Egyptian. + +[EN#82] None of the tribes or families now inhabiting Midian +represent the ancient Midianites; and all speak the vulgar +half-Fellah Arabic, without any difference of accent or +vocabulary from their neighbours. + +[EN#83] See the preceding notes on El-Makrízi. + +[EN#84] The Ma'ázah spoke of Kanátir (arches, i.e. aqueducts) and +Bibán (doors or catacombs). + +[EN#85] I inquired in vain concerning the ruins near Sharm +Burayttah, south of Yambú' in the Harb country. Wellsted, who +visited the site (11. xi.), conjectures them to be Niebuhr's +"El-Jár." He makes that near the point "as large as Yembo, +extending about a mile in length, and half that space in breadth, +with a square fort in the vicinity, the remains of which have +towers at the corners and gates." Near the middle on either side, +the tall walls are six feet thick, strong enough where artillery +is unknown. At the landing-place are a quay paved with large hewn +stones, and a jetty of solid masonry in ruins. The sailors dug +and found only shapeless fragments of corroded copper and brass; +coloured glass, as usual more opaque than the modern, and +earthenware of the kind scattered about Egyptian ruins. About one +mile from the fort were other remains, built of coral, now much +blackened by exposure; and similar constructions on the further +side of the Sharm could not be examined, as the Harb Bedawin were +jealous and hostile. + +[EN#86] The name is from Gen. xx. 1, and it signifies the country +lying to the south of Palestine. See "The Negeb," by the late +Rev. E. Wilton (London, 1863), and vol. ii. "The Desert of the +Exodus," so often alluded to in these pages. + +[EN#87] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. IX. + +[EN#88] Kúfah <Arabic> or <Arabic> in Persian means a basket or +a coffin. + +[EN#89] Roaring when the rider mounts, halts, or dismounts, is +considered a proof of snobbish blood among the Bisha'ri'n: for +some months the camel-colt is generally muzzled on such occasions +till it learns the sterling worth of silence. + +For an admirable description, far too detailed to place before +the general public, of the likeness and the difference between +the dromedary of the Bishárín and the Númaní and Maskatí, the +purest blood of the Arabs, see pp. 145--154, "L' Etbaye, etc., +Mines d Or," by my old friend Linant de Bellefonds Bey, now +Sulayman Pasha. Paris: Arthus Bertrand (no date). + +[EN#90] The contents worked into shape by Mr. William J. Turner, +of the Royal Geographical Society, appear in the Appendix. + +[EN#91] "Desert of the Exodus," p. 347. + +[EN#92] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. VI. + +[EN#93] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian" (passim) this "Spring of +the She-Cook" appeared as the "She-Cork!" + +[EN#94] A region to the north-west of 'Aynúnah, afterwards +visited by Lieutenant Yusuf. See Chap. IX. + +[EN#95] Such an act would disgrace an Arab tribe, and of course +it is denied by the Beni 'Ukbah. We visited this valley, which is +one of the influents of the Wady 'Aynúnah, during the first +Expedition ("The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 165). + +[EN#96] The modern Beni 'Ukbah ignore the story of Abú Rísh, not +wishing to confess their obligations to the Huwaytát. + +[EN#97] The tomb on the hillock north of El-Muwaylah. + +[EN#98] South-east of EI-Muwaylah. + +[EN#99] These hard conditions were actually renewed some +twenty-five years ago. + +[EN#100] For ample notices on this subject, see "The Gold-Mines +of Midian," Chap. XII. In p. 337, however, I made the mistake of +supposing Makná to be the capital, instead of the port of the +capital. The true position is north lat. 28 degrees 24'. + +[EN#101] For historical notices of the diamond in North-Western +Arabia, see "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 168. + +[EN#102] Dr. Beke's artist made a plan of this rude affair (p. +349), and nothing can be worse. The Egyptian Staff-officers drew +the ruin correctly; but the poor remains by no means deserve the +honour of a wood-cut. + +[EN#103]. The word is corrupted from Jamb, "the side," alluding +to the animal's gait; we did not find the true lobster (Homarus +vulgaris), the astica of the Adriatic, whose northern waters +produce such noble specimens. + +[EN#104] The spirit-tins, prepared for me at Trieste, were as +most things there are, very dear and very bad; after a short use +they became full of holes. So the bowie-knives, expressly made to +order at old Tergeste, proved to be of iron not of steel. + +[EN#105] "Travels," Vol. II. Chap. IV. + +[EN#106] Confirmed by Dr. Beke, p. 533. + +[EN#107] P. 351. + +[EN#108] I am doubtful about this name, which the Bedawi apply to +more than one place. + +[EN#109] Strictly speaking, the dust of the Nevada country was +oxide of silver. + +[EN#110] M. Burat ("Géologie Appliqée," i. 8) gives the following +minima proportions in which metal may be worked on a grand scale, +of course under the most favourable circumstances. The extremes +are 0.25 (iron), and 0.00001 (gold); and antimony, bismuth, +cobalt, and nickel are neglected, because the proportions vary so +much. + + Iron, 0.25 + Zinc, 0.20 + Lead, 0.02 (two per cent.) + Copper and mercury, 0.01 + Tin, 0.005 (1/2 per cent.) + Silver, 0.0005 (1/2 per 1000) + Gold, 0.00001 (1/100,000) + +This table is recommended to the many "profane" who do not +believe a rock to be auriferous or argentiferous, unless they can +see the gold and silver with the naked eye. + +[EN#111] The button, when assayed by the official mining office +at Trieste, was pronounced to be antimony! It was extracted from +ruddle (red ochre) and limonite (brown ochre or hydrous oxide of +iron): both are sesquioxides (Fe2O3) which become dark when +heated and change to magnetic oxide (Fe3O4). M. Marie is probably +the first who ever "ran down" iron oxide with lead. No wonder +that Colonel Ross pronounced his culot a marvellous alloy. + +[EN#112] Kárún was a pauper cousin of Musá, who had learned +alchemy from Kulsum, the Lawgiver's sister. The keys of his +treasure loaded forty mules; and his palace had doors and roof of +fine gold. As he waxed fat he kicked against his chief, who as +usual became exceeding wroth, and prayed that the earth might +swallow him. + +[EN#113] Pp. 337--339. + +[EN#114] "Tasbíh" literally means uttering Subhán Allah!--"Praise +be to Allah!" + +[EN#115] It is curious how this goddess has extended, through the +Dalmatian "Fortunale" and the Slav "Fortunja" of the Bosnian +peasants, to Turkey, Egypt, and even Arabia. Applied to a violent +storm, perhaps it is a euphuism for the Latin word in the sense +of good sign or omen; so in Propertius--"Nulla ne placatæ veniet +fortuna procellæ." + +[EN#116] P. 341. + +[EN#117] The singular is Maknáwi, pronounced Magnáwi. + +[EN#118] Loc. cit. p. 79. + +[EN#119] The passage was brought to my notice by my excellent +friend, Mr. James Pincherle of Trieste. In the "Atlante Storico e +Geografico della Terra Santa, esposto in 14 Tavole e 14 Quadri +storici della Palestina," republished (without date) by Francesco +Pagnoni of Milan, appears an annexed commentary by Cornelius à +Lapide. The latter, Cornelius Van den Steen (Corneille de la +Pierre), born near Liege, a learned Jesuit, profound theologian, +and accomplished historian, was famous as a Hebraist and lecturer +on Holy Writ. He died at Rome March 12, 1637; and a collected +edition of his works in sixteen volumes, folio, appeared at +Venice in 1711, and at Lyons in 1732. It is related of him that, +being called to preach in the presence of the Pope, he began his +sermon on his knees. The Holy Father commanded him to rise, and +he obeyed; but his stature was so short that he appeared to be +still kneeling. The order was reiterated; whereupon Zacchaeus, +understanding its cause, said modestly, "Beatissime Pater, ipse +fecit nos, et non ipsi nos." + +[EN#120] The name and other points connected with it have been +noticed in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338. + +[EN#121] See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338. + +[EN#122] "Travels in Syria, etc.," p. 524. + +[EN#123] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 338, this name became, +by virtue of the author's cacography, "Beoche." + +[EN#124] "Diario in Arabia Petrea" (1865) di Visconte Giammartino +Arconati. Roma, 1872. + +[EN#125] Wellsted, ii. 143. + +[EN#126] "Ghor" is the whole depression including the Jordan and +the Dead Sea, while El-'Akabah is its southernmost section. In +older maps this gulf is made to fork at the north--a +topographical absurdity. I have also fallen into a notable +blunder about the Jebel el-Shará', in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," +note ?, p. 175. + +[EN#127] See Appendix, p. 537, "Geological Notes," etc., in Dr. +Beke's "Sinai in Arabia." + +[EN#128] See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," pp. 338, 339. + +[EN#129] This Yitm, which Burckhardt first wrote El-Ithem, +unfortunately gave Dr. Beke an opportunity of finding, in his +"Wady el-Ithem," the "Etham of the Exodus." (See "The +Gold-Mines of Midian," pp. 359--361). The latter has been +conclusively shown by Brugsch-Bey in his lecture, "La Sortie des +Hébreux d'E'gypte" (Alexandrie: Mourès, 1874), p. 31, to be the +great fort of Khatom, on the highway to Phoenicia. The roots +Khatam, Asham, Tam, like the Arabic "Khatm" (<Arabic>) signify to +seal up, close; and thus Khatom in Egyptian, as Atham, Etham in +Hebrew, means a closed place, a fortress. Wallin calls the +"Yitm," which he never visited, "Wâdî Lithm, a cross valley +opening through the chain at about eight hours (twenty-four +miles) north of 'Akaba'"--possibly Lithm is a misprint, but it is +repeated in more than one page. + +[EN#130] Dr. Beke, who afterwards changed his mind, would +identify Hor, the burial-place of Aaron, with Horeb of the Rock +("Orig. Biblicae," 195). He then adopted ("Sinai in Arabia," p. +77) the opinion of St. Jerome ("De Situ," etc., p. 191), "Mihi +autem videtur quod duplice nomine mons nunc Sina, nunc Choreb +vocatur." Wellsted (ii. 103) also makes Horeb synonymous with +"Wilderness of Sinai." Professor Palmer (118) translates Horeb by +"ground that has been drained and left dry:" he would include in +it the whole Desert of Sinai, together with "the Mountain;" +whilst he warns us that the monks call the whole southern portion +of their mountain "Horeb." Others confine "Horeb" to Jebel Musá, +and even to its eastern shoulder. + +[EN#131] For the Mount or Mountain see Exodus xix. 2, 12, 20, 23; +also xxxii. 19; Deut. iv. II, and v. 23; Heb. xii. 18. Josephus +("Antiq.," II. ii. I) speaks of it similarly as a "mountain," and +describes it with all the apparatus of fable; while his +compatriot and contemporary, St. Paul (Epist. to the Galatians +iv. 25), calls it only "Mount Sinai in Arabia," i.e. east of +Jordan. + +[EN#132] See Athenaeum, February 8th and 15th, 1873. + +[EN#133] They were heard of by Burckhardt ("Syria," p. 510). + +[EN#134] Beke (p. 446), on February 6th, estimated the rise of +the tide at 'Akabah head to be three to four feet. This is +greatly in excess of actuality; but, then, he was finding out +some rational way of drowning "Pharaoh and his host." + +[EN#135] Those living further north, the 'Ammárín and the +Liyásinah, are unmitigated scoundrels and dangerous ruffians: +amongst the former Shaykh Sala'mah ibn 'Awwád with his brother, +and among the latter Ibrahím el-Hasanát, simply deserve hanging. +In Edom, too, 'Abd el-Rahmán el-'Awar ("the One-eyed"), Shaykh of +the Fellahín, is "wanted;" and the 'Alawín-Huwaytát would be +greatly improved were they to be placed under Egyptian, instead +of Syrian, rule. + +[EN#136] Dr. Beke's artist (p. 374) has produced a work of +imagination, especially in the foreground and background of his +"Migdol or Castle of Akaba." + +[EN#137] Commonly written Kansúh (Kansooh) and corrupted by +Europeans to Campson (like Sampson) Goree. + +[EN#138] Not Hámid, as some mispronounce the word. + +[EN#139] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. XII. + +[EN#140] The chain did not part. The anchor was afterwards fished +up by divers from El-Muwaylah, and its shank was found broken +clean across like a carrot. Yet there was no sign of a flaw. Mr. +Duguid calculated the transverse breaking strain of average +anchor-iron (8 1/2 inches x 4 = 22 square inches), at 83 1/10 +tons; and the tensile breaking strain at 484 tons, or 22 tons to +the square inch; while the stud-length cable of 1 1/8 inch chain, +150 fathoms long, would carry, if proof, 24 tons. Captain +Mohammed was persevering enough, after the divers had failed, to +recover his chain when on his cruise homewards; and the Rais of +the Sambúk was equally lucky. + +[EN#141] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Ch. XII. p. 317. + +[EN#142] See Chap. X. + +[EN#143] Lieutenant-Colonel Bolton kindly compared the specimens +with those in his cabinet. The first, which was accompanied by +quartz, resembled the produce of Orenburg. A Peruvian +mine-proprietor had pronounced it to be "Rosicler" silver. The +magnetic sand bore a tantalizing resemblance to the highly +auriferous black sand of Ekaterinburg. + +[EN#144] Correspondence of the Sheffield Telegraph (May 18), +copied into the Globe of May 25, etc., etc., etc. + +[EN#145] "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. XI. It was then +visited from its creek, Sharm Jibbah. + +[EN#146] Chap. XIV. + +[EN#147] A water-rolled fragment of this rock is called +Korundogeschieb by Dr. L. Karl Moser, Professor of Natural +History at the Gymnasium of Trieste, who kindly examined my +little private collection of "show things." + +[EN#148] Chap. XII. + +[EN#149] Let me at once protest against the assertions contained +in an able review of "The Gold-Mines of Midian" (Pall Mall +Gazette, June 7, 1878). The writer makes ancient Midian extend +from the north of the Arabic Gulf (El-'Akabah?) and Arabia Felix +(which? of the classics or of the moderns?) to the plains of +Moab"--exactly where it assuredly does not now extend. + +[EN#150] Described in Chap. XV. + +[EN#151] This place is noticed in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," +Chap. X. + +[EN#152] I am not certain of this name, as several variants were +given to me. For historical notices of the ruined town of +Khulasah, see Chap. IV. + +[EN#153] In "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. V., occur several +differences of nomenclature, which may or may not be mistakes. +They are corrected in my "Itineraries," part ii. sect. 2. + +[EN#154] To this breed belonged the beast which carried me on the +first Expedition. + +[EN#155] For a short notice of this region, hitherto unvisited by +Europeans, see Chap. XVIII. + +[EN#156] For a note on the "Burnt Mountain," so well known at +El-Wijh, see Chap. XVIII. + +[EN#157] It was afterwards exhibited at the Hippodrome, Cairo, +and was carefully photographed by M. Lacaze. Others said that it +came from the east of our camp, near the Jils el-Dáim. + +[EN#158] It was duly committed to the charge of our Sayyid. + + + + + + + +End of The Land of Midian (Revisited) By Richard F. Burton, + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Land of Midian, Vol. 1, by Richard Burton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF MIDIAN, VOL. 1 *** + +This file should be named 7111-8.txt or 7111-8.zip + +Produced by JC Byers and proofread by MaryAnn Short + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/7111-8.zip b/7111-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4adfae --- /dev/null +++ b/7111-8.zip diff --git a/7111-h.zip b/7111-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ccd72a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/7111-h.zip diff --git a/7111-h/7111-h.htm b/7111-h/7111-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..688d675 --- /dev/null +++ b/7111-h/7111-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10332 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta content="pg2html (binary v0.17)" name="linkgenerator" /> + <title> + The Land of Midian (revisited), by Richard F. Burton + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .75em; margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; font-size: 80%; font-style: italic;} + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + .xx-small {font-size: 60%;} + .x-small {font-size: 75%;} + .small {font-size: 85%;} + .large {font-size: 115%;} + .x-large {font-size: 130%;} + .indent5 { margin-left: 5%;} + .indent10 { margin-left: 10%;} + .indent15 { margin-left: 15%;} + .indent20 { margin-left: 20%;} + .indent25 { margin-left: 25%;} + .indent30 { margin-left: 30%;} + .indent35 { margin-left: 35%;} + .indent40 { margin-left: 40%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 1%; font-size: 0.6em; + font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; + text-align: right; background-color: #FFFACD; + border: 1px solid; padding: 0.3em;text-indent: 0em;} + .side { float: left; font-size: 75%; width: 15%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + .head { float: left; font-size: 90%; width: 98%; padding-left: 0.8em; + border-left: dashed thin; text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; + font-weight: bold; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: solid 1px;} + p.pfirst, p.noindent {text-indent: 0} + span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 0.8 } + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Land of Midian, Vol. 1, by Richard Burton +#23 in our series by Richard Burton + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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Kegan Paul & Co. + </h4> + <h4> + London: + </h4> + <h3> + 1879. + </h3> + <hr /> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_SECT"> Section 1. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART"> PART I. — The March Through Madyan Proper + (North Midian). </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> Chapter I. — Preliminary—from Trieste + to Midian. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> Chapter II. — The Start—from + El-muwaylah to the "White Mountain" and 'Aynúah. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> Chapter III. — Breaking New Ground to + Magháir Shu'ayb. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> Chapter IV. — Notices of Precious Metals in + Midian—the Papyri and the Mediæval Arab Geographers. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> Chapter V.— Work At, and Excursions From, + Magháir Shu'Ayb. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> Chapter VI. — To Makná, and Our Work There—the + Magáni or Maknáwis. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> Chapter VII. — Cruise from Maknáto + El-'Akabah. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> NOTE ON THE SUPPLIES TO BE BOUGHT AT EL-'AKABAH. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> Chapter VIII. — Cruise from El-'Akabah to + El-Muwaylah—the Shipwreck Escaped–-Résumé of the Northern Journey. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> Part II. — The March Through Central and + Eastern Midian. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> Chapter IX. — Work in and Around + El-Muwaylah. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> Chapter X. — Through East Midian to the + Hismá. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FOOT"> FOOTNOTES </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TO THE MEMORY OF MY MUCH LOVED NIECE, + </h2> + <h3> + MARIA EMILY HARRIET STISTED, + </h3> + <h3> + WHO DIED AT DOVERCOURT, + </h3> + <h3> + NOVEMBER 12, 1878. + </h3> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + "Gold shall be found, and found + In a land that's not now known." + MOTHER SHIPTON, A.D. 1448. + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + A few pages by way of "Forespeache." + </p> + <p> + The plain unvarnished tale of the travel in Midian, undertaken by the + second Expedition, which, like the first, owes all to the liberality and + the foresight of his Highness Ismail I., Khediv of Egypt, forms the + subject of these volumes. During the four months between December 19, + 1877, and April 20, 1878, the officers employed covered some 2500 miles by + sea and land, of which 600, not including by-paths, were mapped and + planned; and we brought back details of an old-new land which the + civilized world had clean forgotten. + </p> + <p> + The public will now understand that one and the same subject has not given + rise to two books. I have to acknowledge with gratitude the many able and + kindly notices by the Press of my first volume ("The Gold Mines of + Midian," etc. Messrs. C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1878). But some reviewers + succeeded in completely misunderstanding the drift of that avant courier. + It was an introduction intended to serve as a base for the present more + extensive work, and—foundations intended to bear weight must be + solid. Its object was to place before the reader the broad outlines of a + country whose name was known to "every schoolboy," whilst it was a vox et + praeterea nihil, even to the learned, before the spring of 1877. I had + judged advisable to sketch, with the able assistance of learned friends, + its history and geography; its ethnology and archaeology; its zoology and + malacology; its botany and geology. The drift was to prepare those who + take an interest in Arabia generally, and especially in wild mysterious + Midian, for the present work, which, one foresaw, would be a tale of + discovery and adventure. Thus readers of "The Land of Midian (Revisited)" + may feel that they are not standing upon ground utterly unknown; and the + second publication is shortened and lightened—perhaps the greatest + advantage of all—by the prolegomena having been presented in the + first. + </p> + <p> + The purpose of the last Expedition was to conclude the labours begun, + during the spring of 1877, in a mining country unknown, or rather, fallen + into oblivion. Hence its primary "objective" was mineralogical. The + twenty-five tons of specimens, brought back to Cairo, were inspected by + good judges from South Africa, Australia, and California; and all + recognized familiar metalliferous rocks. The collection enabled me to + distribute the mining industry into two great branches—(1) the rich + silicates and carbonates of copper smelted by the Ancients in North + Midian; and (2) the auriferous veins worked, but not worked out, by + comparatively modern races in South Midian, the region lying below the + parallel of El-Muwaylah. It is, indeed, still my conviction that + "tailings" have been washed for gold, even by men still living. We also + brought notices and specimens of three several deposits of sulphur; of a + turquoise-mine behind Ziba; of salt and saltpetre, and of vast deposits of + gypsum. These are sources of wealth which the nineteenth century is not + likely to leave wasted and unworked. + </p> + <p> + In geography the principal novelties are the identification of certain + ruined cities mentioned by Ptolemy, and the "Harrahs" or plutonic centres + scattered over the seaboard and the interior. I venture to solicit the + attention of experts for my notes on El-Harrah, that great volcanic chain + whose fair proportions have been so much mutilated by its only explorer, + the late Dr. Wallin. Beginning with Damascan Trachonitis, and situated, in + the parallel of north lat. 28 degrees, about sixty direct miles east of + the Red Sea, it is reported to subtend the whole coast of North-Western + Arabia, between El-Muwaylah (north lat. 27 degrees 39') and El-Yambu' + (north lat. 24 degrees 5'). Equally noticeable are the items of + information concerning the Wady Hamz, the "Land's End" of Egypt, and the + most important feature of its kind in North-Western Arabia. Its name, + wrongly given by Wallin, is unknown to the Hydrographic Chart, and to the + erudite pages of my friend Professor Aloys Sprenger, who, however, + suspects with me that it may be the mouth of the celebrated Wady el-Kura. + For further topographical details the reader is referred to the + "Itineraries" of the Expedition, offered to the Royal Geographical Society + of London. + </p> + <p> + Some of the principal sites were astronomically determined by Commanders + Ahmed Musallam and Nasir Ahmed, of the Egyptian navy. The task of mapping + and planning was committed to the two young Staff-lieutenants sent for + that purpose. They worked well in the field; and their sketches were + carefully executed whilst under my superintendence. But it was different + when they returned to Cairo. The maps sent to the little Exposition at the + Hippo-drome (see conclusion) were simply a disgrace to the Staff-bureau. + My departure from Egypt caused delay; and, when the chart reached me, it + was far from satisfactory: names had been omitted, and without my presence + it could not have been printed. With the able assistance of Mr. William J. + Turner, of the Royal Geographical Society, who found the work harder than + he expected, it has been reduced to tolerable shape. Still, it is purely + provisional; and, when mining operations shall begin, a far more careful + survey will be required. + </p> + <p> + As regards archaeology, the second Expedition visited, described, and + surveyed eighteen ruins of cities and towns, some of considerable extent, + in North Midian, besides seeing or hearing of some twenty large Mashghal, + apparently the ateliers of vagrant Gypsy-like gangs. This total of + thirty-eight is not far short of the forty traditional Midianite + settlements preserved by the mediaeval Arab geographers. Many others are + reported to exist in the central or inland region; and fifteen were added + by the South Country, including the classical temple or shrine, found upon + the bank of the Wady Hamz before mentioned. The most interesting sites + were recommended to M. Lacaze, whose portfolio was soon filled with about + two hundred illustrations, in oil and water-colours, pencil croquis and + "sun-pictures." All, except the six coloured illustrations which adorn + this volume, have been left in Egypt. His Highness resolved to embody the + results of our joint labours in a large album, illustrated with coloured + lithographs, maps, and plans, explained by letter-press, and prepared at + the Citadel, Cairo. + </p> + <p> + The Meteorological Journal was kept by myself, assisted at times by Mr. + Clarke. Mr. David Duguid, engineer of the Mukhbir, whose gallant conduct + will be recorded (Chap. VIII.), and Commander Nasir Ahmed, of the Sinnar, + obliged me by registering simultaneous observations at sea-level. The + whole was reduced to shape by Mr. W. J. Turner, of the Royal Geographical + Society. + </p> + <p> + My private collection of mineralogical specimens was deposited with + Professor M. H. N. Story-Maskelyne. The spirit-specimens of zoology filled + three large canisters: and the British Museum also received a hare and + five birds (Mr. R. B. Sharpe); four bats (Rhinopoma) and a mouse; six + reptiles, five fishes, thirty-five crustaceans, and about the same number + of insects; five scorpions, six leeches, sixty molluscs, four echinoderms, + and three sponges. Dr. A. Gunther (Appendix III.) determined and named two + new species of reptiles. Mr. Frederick Smith (Appendix III.) took charge + of the insects. Mr. Edward J. Miers, F. L.S., etc., described the small + collection of crustaceae (Annals and Magazine of Natural History for + November, 1878). Finally, Edgar A. Smith examined and named the shells + collected on the shores of the 'Akabah Gulf and the north-eastern recess + of the Red Sea. + </p> + <p> + The main interest of the little hortus siccus was the Alpine Flora, + gathered at an altitude of five thousand feet above sea-level. The plants + were offered to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, of Kew; and Professor D. Oliver, + of the Herbarium, has kindly furnished me with a list of the names + (Appendix IV.). Mr. William Carruthers and his staff also examined the + spirit-specimens of fleshy plants (Appendix IV.). + </p> + <p> + Mr. Reginald Stuart Poole, Keeper of Coins and Medals, and Mr. Barclay V. + Head were good enough to compare with their rich collections the coins of + ancient Midian found (Chap. III.), for the first time, at Maghair Shu'ayb<a + href="#linknote-1" name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a>. + Some years ago, Mr. Robert Ready, of the British Museum, had bought from a + Jew, Yusuf Kalafat (?), a miscellaneous collection, which included about + sixty of the so-called Midianitic coins. But the place of discovery is + wholly unknown. The Assistant Keeper read a paper "On Arabian Imitations + of Athenian Coins," Midianitic, Himyaritic, and others, at a meeting of + the Numismatic Society (November 21, 1878); and I did the same at the + Royal Asiatic Society, December 16, 1878. The little "find" of stone + implements, rude and worked; and the instruments illustrating the mining + industry of the country, appeared before the Anthropological Section of + the British Association, which met at Dublin (August, 1878), and again + before the Anthropological Institute of London, December 10, 1878. + </p> + <p> + Finally, the skulls and fragments of skulls from Midian were submitted to + Professor Richard Owen, the Superintendent of Natural History; and my + learned friend kindly inspected the Egyptian and Palmyrene crania which + accompanied them. The whole was carefully described by Dr. C. Carter + Blake, Ph.D., before the last-named seance of the Anthropological + Institute (December 10, 1878). + </p> + <p> + The tons of specimens brought to Cairo were, I have said, publicly + exhibited there, and created much interest. But the discovery of a + mining-country, some three hundred miles long, once immensely wealthy, and + ready to become wealthy once more, is not likely to be accepted by every + one. Jealous and obstructive officials "did not think much of it." Rivals + opposed it with even less ceremony. A mild "ring" in Egypt attempted in + vain to run the Hamamat and Dar-For mines (Chap. III.) against Midian. + Consequently the local Press was dosed with rumours, which, retailed by + the home papers, made the latter rife in contradictory reports. To quote + one case only. The turquoise-gangue from Ziba (Chap. XII.) was pronounced, + by the inexpert mineralogists at the Citadel, Cairo, who attempted + criticism, to be carbonate of copper, because rich silicates of that metal + were shown at the Exposition. No one seemed to know that the fine + turquoises of Midian have been sold for years at Suez, and even at Cairo. + </p> + <p> + There was, indeed, much to criticise in the collection, which had been + made with a marvellous carelessness. But we must not be hard upon M. + Marie. He is an engineer, utterly ignorant of mineralogy and of assaying: + he was told off to do the duty, and he did it as well as he could—in + other words, very badly. He neglected to search for alluvial gold in the + sands. Every Wady which cuts, at right angles, the metalliferous maritime + chains, should have been carefully prospected; these sandy and quartzose + beds are natural conduits and sluice-boxes. But the search for "tailings" + is completely different from that of gold-veins, and requires especial + practice. The process, indeed, may be called purely empirical. It is not + taught in Jermyn Street, nor by the Ecole des Mines. In this matter theory + must bow to "rule of thumb:" the caprices of alluvium are various and + curious enough to baffle every attempt at scientific induction. Thus the + "habits" of the metal, so to speak, must be studied by experiment with + patient labour, the most accomplished mineralogist may pass over rich + alluvium without recognizing its presence, where the rude prospector of + California and Australia will find an abundance of stream-gold. Evidently + the proportion of "tailings" must carefully be laid down before companies + are justified in undertaking the expensive operation of quartz-crushing. + Hence M. Tiburce Morisot, a practical digger from South Africa, introduced + at Cairo by his compatriot, M. Marie, to my friend M. Yacoub Artin Bey, + found a fair opportunity of proposing to his Highness the Khediv (October, + 1878) a third Expedition in search of sand-gold. The Viceroy, however, + true to his undertaking, refused to sanction any "interloping." + </p> + <p> + The highly distinguished M. Ferdinand de Lesseps, when en route to Paris, + kindly took charge of some cases of specimens for analysis. But the + poorest stuff had been supplied to him by M. Marie; and the results, of + which I never heard, were probably nil. The samples brought to England, by + order of his Highness the Khediv, were carefully assayed. The largest + collection was submitted to Dr. John Percy, F.R.S. Smaller items were sent + to the well-known houses, Messrs. Johnston and Matthey, of Hatton Garden, + and Messrs. Edgar Jackson and Co., Associates of the Royal School of Mines + (fourteen samples). Finally, special observations were made by Mr. John L. + Jenken, of Carrington, through Mr. J. H. Murchison, of "British Lead + Mines," etc., etc., etc.; by Lieut.-Colonel Ross, the distinguished author + of "Pyrology;" and by Lieut.-Colonel Bolton, who kindly compared the rocks + with those in his cabinet. M. Gastinel-Bey's analysis of the specimens + brought home by the first Expedition will be found at the end of Chap. + VIII. + </p> + <p> + The following is the text of Dr. Percy's report:— + </p> + <p> + Metallurgical Laboratory, Royal School of Mines, Jermyn Street, London Dec + 13 1878. + </p> + <p> + Dear Sir, + </p> + <p> + I now send the results of the analytical examination of the specimens + which you submitted to me for that purpose. The examination has been + conducted with the greatest care, in the metallurgical laboratory of the + Royal School of Mines, by Mr. Richard Smith, who, for the last thirty + years, has been constantly engaged in such work; and in whose accuracy I + have absolute confidence. It is impossible that any one should have taken + greater interest in, or have devoted himself with greater earnestness to, + the investigation. I have almost entirely confined myself to a statement + of facts, as I understand that was all you required for the guidance of + his Highness the Khedive. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_SECT" id="link2H_SECT"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Section 1. + </h2> + <p> + Examination of the mineral specimens contained in the boxes marked as + under. + </p> + <p> + (An average representative sample of each specimen, of about six pounds in + weight, was prepared for examination from portions broken off, or + otherwise taken, by Mr. Richard Smith at the Victoria Docks.<a + href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> + </p> + <p> + No. 1. "Box 22," Quartz from Mugnah (Makna). Quartz coloured black and + red-brown with oxides of iron. These were of two varieties, marked 22a and + 22b respectively. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 2. The magnetic ironstone (22a) was examined and found to contain of— + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . .85.29 + Protoxide of iron (per cent.) . . . 9.83 + Silica (quartz)(per cent.). . . . . 3.28 +</pre> + <p> + The oxides of iron together contain of metallic iron 66.8 per cent. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 3. The micaceous ironstone (22b) was examined and found to contain of– + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . . 91.0 + Silica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.52 + + The peroxide of iron contains of metallic iron 63.7 per cent. +</pre> + <p> + No. 4. "Box No. 14," Quartz from Mugnah, gave no results. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 5. "Box No. 27," Iron from Mugnah, proved to be haematite (which is +magnetic), with some red-brown oxide of iron and quartz. It was found to +contain of— + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . .75.46 + Protoxide of iron (per cent.) . . . 4.69 +</pre> + <p> + The oxides of iron together contain of metallic iron 56.4 per cent. + </p> + <p> + No. 6. "Box No. 7," Conglomerate from Mugnah, yielded no results. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 7 "Box No. 25," Quartz from Mugnah. This quartz, veined and coloured +black and red-brown with oxides of iron, was assayed with the following +results:— + Gold and Silver . . . . . . . None<a href="#linknote-3" + name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3">3</a> +</pre> + <p> + Nos. 8 and 9. "Boxes Nos. 50 and 37,"<a href="#linknote-4" + name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4"><small>4</small></a> Quartz and + red dust from Mugnah, yielded no results. + </p> + <p> + No. 10. "Box No. 37a," Sulphur from Mugnah. Lumps of sulphur, crystallized + and massive, irregularly distributed through a white, dull, porous rock. + The latter was examined, and found to be hydrated sulphate of lime + (gypsum), with a small quantity of magnesia; some of the lumps of rock + were coloured with oxides of iron, and others intermixed with sand. + </p> + <p> + Nos. 11. and 12. "Boxes Nos. 3 and 6," Black quartz and white quartz from + the Jebel el-Abyaz, gave no results except a small portion of copper + pyrites in a lump of quartz (Box No. 6). + </p> + <p> + No. 13. "Box No. 47," Quartz from El-Wedge (Wijh), gave only oxide of + iron.<a href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5" id="linknoteref-5"><small>5</small></a> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 14. "Box No. 5," Red quartz from El-Wedge, a quartz with red-brown +oxide of iron and earthy substances, was assayed with the following +results:— + Gold (per statute ton = 3240 lbs.)2 dwts. 15 grs. + Silver. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traces. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 15. "Box No. 16," Mica schist from El-Wedge. This mica-schist +undergoing decomposition from weathering action, mixed with small lumps +of quartz, was assayed with the following results :— + Gold (per statute ton). . . . .6 grains. + Silver. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traces. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 16. "Box No. 32," White quartz from El-Wedge. This quartz coloured with +red-brown oxide of iron, mixed with mica-schist, was assayed with the +following results:— + Gold (per statute ton). .3 dwts. 22 grs. + Silver. . . . . . . . . . . . . .Traces. +</pre> + <p> + No. 17. "Box No. 48,"<a href="#linknote-6" name="linknoteref-6" + id="linknoteref-6"><small>6</small></a> Red sulphur from Sharm Yaharr, was + found to have the following composition, while it was free from "native + sulphur":— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Peroxide of iron (per cent. ) . . .44.36 + Sand, clay, carbonates and sulphates of lime and + magnesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14.90 + Salts soluble in water, chiefly alkaline + chlorides and chlorites, and sulphates of lime + and magnesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29.70 + Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11.40 + _______ + 100.00 +</pre> + <p> + No. 18. "Box No. 48a," Gypsum from Sharm Yaharr. Partly semi-transparent + and granular, and partly dull white and opaque. It was found to be + hydrated sulphate of lime, or gypsum, with carbonate of lime, and some + sand, magnesia, and chloride of sodium. + </p> + <p> + No. 19 "Box No. 35," Dust and stones from Sharma, yielded no results. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Section 2. +</pre> + <p> + Examination of the mineral specimens contained in a box sent from Egypt. + As the specimens were unlabelled, they were marked A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, + and I, respectively. + </p> + <p> + No. 21. A. "Copper ore." A fair average specimen was prepared for + examination from the several lumps of ore and marked a. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +a. It was submitted to analysis, and found to contain carbonates of lime +and magnesia; silica, alumina, and oxides of iron; and of— + Copper (metallic) . . . .5.72 per cent. +b. A portion of the copper mineral, from which the rock or vein-stuff had +been detached as far as practicable, was found to consist of impure +hydrated silicate of copper (bluish-green chrysocolla) and carbonate of +copper. It was assayed and found to contain of— + Copper (metallic) . . . .23.14 per cent. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 22. "B." A lump of soft, ochrey red-brown ironstone, coated with a thin +layer of greyish white substance. A fair average sample, inclusive of this +external layer, was prepared for examination, and was found to consist of– + Peroxide of iron (per cent. ) . . .81.14 + Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.50 + Silica. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.07 + Sulphuric acid, lime, magnesia, alumina 4.29 + _____ + 100.00 +</pre> + <p> + The peroxide of iron contains 56.8 per cent. of metallic iron. The greyish + white substance was found to consist of silica, alumina, sulphate of lime, + and a little oxide of iron and magnesia. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +No. 23. "C." Lump of red ironstone associated with sand and earthy +substances, containing + Peroxide of iron (per cent.). . . 68.09 + Water of iron (per cent.) . . . . . 1.93 + Silica and sand . . . . . . . . . .18.17 + Lime, magnesia (in small quantity), alumina, + carbonic acid, sulphuric acid (traces) .11.81 + ______ + 100.00 +The peroxide of iron contains 47.66 of metallic iron. +</pre> + <p> + No. 24. "D." Lump of white quartz said to contain visible gold. I did not + observe any, but found a few minute specks of pyrites, and partially + resembling mica. + </p> + <p> + No. 25. Lump of quartz associated with red-brown oxide of iron. It yielded + no results. + </p> + <p> + No. 26. Lump of rock in which the "turquoise" occurs. There was a thin + layer of greenish blue turquoise mineral on one surface, and minute seams + of a similar substance throughout the specimen. + </p> + <p> + a. The layer of turquoise mineral, from which the rock or vein-stuff had + been detached as far as practicable, was found to contain phosphoric acid, + alumina, oxide of copper, oxide of iron, and water; which occur in + turquoise. + </p> + <p> + b. After the layer a had been separated, a fair average sample of the rock + was found to contain 1.69 per cent. of metallic copper. It was also + assayed and found to be free from silver<a href="#linknote-7" + name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7"><small>7</small></a> and gold. + </p> + <p> + No. 27. "G." A variety of jasper, having a somewhat polished, and + irregular and deeply indented surface, the result of sand-action. The + fractured surface was red, with patches of yellow. It was found to consist + chiefly of silica, coloured with oxides of iron. + </p> + <p> + No. 28. "H." Lump of "sard," of a pale-red flesh colour. A variety of + chalcedony. It was found to consist almost entirely of silica<a + href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8" id="linknoteref-8"><small>8</small></a>. + </p> + <p> + No. 29. "I." Lumps of pure ironstone. + </p> + <p> + A small lump of metal<a href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" + id="linknoteref-9"><small>9</small></a>, supposed to contain antimony<a + href="#linknote-10" name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10"><small>10</small></a> + and platinum, was brought for examination by Captain R. F. Burton. It was + submitted to analysis, and found to be iron and combined carbon, or white + cast-iron, containing small quantities of lead, copper, and silver, and + free from antimony, platinum, and gold. It is evidently the product of a + fusion operation. A few "shots" of lead were attached to the surface of + the metal<a href="#linknote-11" name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11"><small>11</small></a>. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Percy concludes the assays in these words:— + </p> + <p> + Three of the specimens (Nos. 14, 15, and 19) from the same locality + contain gold. The amount of gold, however, is small. I consider these + indications of the presence of the precious metal not altogether + unsatisfactory; and certainly to justify further exploration. My + conviction is, that the ancients were adepts in the art of extracting + gold, and that, owing to the small value of human labour, they could get + out as much of the metal as could now be done. They knew perfectly what + was worth working and what was not; and I think it likely that what you + have brought home, had been rejected by the ancients as unworkable<a + href="#linknote-12" name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12"><small>12</small></a>. + Further search may lead to the discovery of workable stuff; but would + doubtless require a good deal of time, unless lucky accident should + intervene. + </p> + <p> + The specimens Nos. 2, 3, 5, 22, and 23 contain sufficient iron to render + them available as iron ores, provided they occur in large quantity. The + copper present in No. 21a is too small in amount to render it available as + a source of that metal [Footnote: Analyses of copper ore from Midian at + the Citadel, Cairo, gave in certain cases forty percent.]. If it is + practicable on a large scale, by hand-labour or other means, to separate + the "copper mineral" (as in b), it would be sufficiently rich in copper, + provided the cost of the transit were not too great. + </p> + <p> + The specimen No. 17 is only of scientific interest, as it gives off an + acid vapour when heated; and this substance may have been used by the + ancients in the separation of silver from gold by the process termed + "cementation." + </p> + <p> + I remain, dear Sir, yours very truly, + </p> + <p> + (Signed) JOHN PERCY, M.D., F.R.S. Lecturer on Metallurgy at the Royal + School of Mines, London. + </p> + <p> + Capt. R. F. Burton, etc. + </p> + <p> + Upon this able report I would offer the following observations. We, who + have travelled through a country like Midian, finding everywhere extensive + works for metallurgy; barrages and aqueducts, cisterns and tanks ; + furnaces, fire-bricks, and scoriae; open mines, and huge scatters of + spalled quartz, with the remains of some eighteen cities and towns which + apparently fell to ruin with the industry that founded and fed them;—we, + I say, cannot but form a different and a far higher idea of its mineral + capabilities than those who determine them by the simple inspection of a + few specimens. The learned Dr. Percy at once hits the mark when he + surmises that worthless samples were brought home; and this would + necessarily occur when no metallurgist, no practical prospector, was + present with the Expedition. As will appear from the following pages, all + the specimens were collected a ciel ouvert, and wholly without judgment. + </p> + <p> + I therefore expect that future exploration will develop Midian as it has + done India. The quartzose outcrop called the "Wynaad reef" (Madras + Presidency) produced only a few poor penny-weights per ton, two and seven + being the extremes, while much of it was practically unproductive. + Presently, in February, 1878, the district was visited by Sir Andrew + Clarke, of Australian experience, member of the Viceregal Council. He + invited Mr. Brough Smyth, of Victoria, to explore and test the + capabilities of the country; and that eminent practical engineer + discovered, in an area of twenty-five by thirteen miles, ninety outcrops, + some yielding, they say, two hundred ounces per ton of gold, fine and + coarse, "with jagged pieces as large as peas." And British India now hopes + to draw her gold coinage from Wynaad. + </p> + <p> + I conclude this abstract of the book, which would have been reduced in + size had the mass of matter permitted, with the heartfelt hope that the + grand old Land of Midian will not be without attraction to the public of + Europe. + </p> + <h3> + RICHARD F. BURTON. + </h3> + <h3> + ATHENAEUM CLUB, + </h3> + <p> + December 16. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART" id="link2H_PART"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART I. — The March Through Madyan Proper (North Midian). + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter I. — Preliminary—from Trieste to Midian. + </h2> + <p> + Throughout the summer of 1877 I was haunted by memories of mysterious + Midian. The Golden Region appeared to me in the glow of primaeval + prosperity described by the Egyptian hieroglyphs; as rich in agriculture + and in fertility, according to the old Hellenic travellers, as in its + Centres of civilization, and in the precious metals catalogued by the + Sacred Books of the Hebrews. Again I saw the mining works of the Greek, + the Roman, and the Nabathæan, whose names are preserved by Ptolemy; the + forty cities, mere ghosts and shadows of their former selves, described in + the pages of the mediaeval Arab geographers; and the ruthless ruin which, + under the dominion of the Bedawin, gradually crept over the Land of + Jethro. The tale of her rise and fall forcibly suggested Algeria, that + province so opulent and splendid under the Masters of the World; converted + into a fiery wilderness by the representatives of the "gentle and gallant" + Turk, and brought to life once more by French energy and industry. And + such was my vision of a future Midian, whose rich stores of various + minerals will restore to her wealth and health, when the two Khedivial + Expeditions shall have shown the world what she has been, and what she may + be again. + </p> + <p> + I was invited to resume my exploration during the winter of 1877-78, by + the Viceroy of Egypt, Ismail I., a prince whose superior intelligence is + ever anxious to develop the resources of his country. His Highness was + perhaps the only man in his own dominions who, believing in the buried + wealth of Midian, had the perspicacity to note the advantages offered by + its exploitation. For the world around the Viceroy pronounced itself + decidedly against the project. My venerable friend, Linant Pasha, + suggested a comparison with the abandoned diggings of the Upper Nile; + forgetting that in at least half of Midian land, only the "tailings" have + been washed: whereas in the Bishárí country, and throughout the "Etbaye," + between the meridians of Berenike and Sawákín, the very thinnest metallic + fibrils have been shafted and tunnelled to their end in the rock by those + marvellous labourers, the old Egyptians. In the Hamámát country, again, + the excessive distances, both from the Nile and from the Red Sea, together + with the cost of transport, must bar all profit. Even worse are the + conditions of Fayzoghlú and Dár-For; whilst the mines of Midian begin + literally at the shore. + </p> + <p> + Another Pasha wrote to me from Alexandria, congratulating me upon having + discovered, during our first Expedition, "a little copper and iron." + Generally, the official public, knowing that I had brought back stones, + not solid masses of gold and silver, loudly deplored the prospective waste + of money; and money, after the horse-plague, the low Nile, and the + excessive exigencies of the short-sighted creditor, was exceptionally + scarce. The truly Oriental view of the question was taken by an official, + whom I shall call Árif Pasha—the "Knowing One." When told that M. + George Marie, the Government engineer detailed to accompany the first + Expedition, had sent in official analyses with sample tubes of gold and + silver, thus establishing the presence of auriferous and argentiferous + rocks on the Arabian shore, Son Excellence exclaimed, "Imprudent jeune + homme, thus to throw away the chances of life! Had he only declared the + whole affair a farce, a flam, a sell, a canard, the Viceroy would have + held him to be honest, and would have taken care of his future." + </p> + <p> + Still, through bad report the Khediv, who had mastered, with his usual + accuracy of perception and judgment, the subject of Midian and her Mines, + was staunch to his resolve; and when one of his European financiers, a + Controleur Général de Dépenses, the normal round peg in the square hole, + warned him that there were no public funds for such purpose, his Highness + warmly declared, on dit, that the costs of the Expedition should be + defrayed at his own expense. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile I had passed the summer of 1877 in preparation for the work of + the ensuing winter. A long correspondence with many learned friends, and a + sedulous study of the latest geographers, especially German, taught me all + that was known of mining in Arabia generally, and particularly in Midian. + During my six months' absence from Egypt my vision was fixed steadily upon + one point, the Expedition that was to come; and when his Highness was + pleased to offer me, in an autograph letter full of the kindest + expressions, the government of Dár-For, I deferred accepting the honour + till Midian had been disposed of. + </p> + <p> + Unhappily, certain kindly advisers persuaded me to make well better by a + visit to Karlsbad, and a course of its alkaline "Fountains of Health." + Never was there a greater mistake! The air is bad as the water is good; + the climate is reeking damp, like that of Western Africa; and, as in St. + Petersburg, a plaid must be carried during the finest weather. Its + effects, rheumatic and neuralgic, may be judged by the fact that the + doctors must walk about with pocketed squirts, for the hypodermal + injection of opium. Almost all those whom I knew there, wanting to be + better, went away worse; and, in my own case, a whole month of Midian sun, + and a sharp attack of ague and fever were required to burn out the + Hexenschuss and to counteract the deleterious effects of the "Hygeian + springs." + </p> + <p> + At last the happy hour for departure struck; and on October 19, 1877, the + Austro-Hungarian Espero (Capitano Colombo) steamed out of Trieste. On + board were Sefer Pasha, our host of Castle Bertoldstein; and my learned + friends, the Aulic Councillor Alfred von Kremer, Austrian Commissioner to + Egypt, and Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey. The latter gave me a tough piece of + work in the shape of his "Ægypten," which will presently be quoted in + these pages. It would be vain to repeat a description of the little voyage + described in "The Gold-Mines of Midian." The Dalmatian, or first day; the + second, or day of Corfu loved and lost; and the third, made memorable by + Cephalonia and the glorious Canale, all gave fine smooth weather. But the + usual rolling began off still-vexed Cape Matapan. It lasted through the + fourth day, or of Candia, this insula nobilis et amæna— + </p> + <p> + "Crete, the crown of all the isles, flower of Levantine waters" + </p> + <p> + —while the fifth, or Mediterraneo-Alexandrian day, killed two of the + seventeen fine horses, Yuckers and Anglo-Normans, which Sefer Pasha was + conveying to Cairo. + </p> + <p> + On Thursday morning (October 25), after rolling through the night off the + old port Eunostus, which now looks brand-new, we landed, and the next day + saw me at Cairo. Such was my haste that I could pay only a flying visit to + the broken beer-bottles, the burst provision-tins, the ice-plants, and the + hospitable society of Ramleh the Sand-heap; and my many acquaintances had + barely time to offer their congratulations upon the prospects of my + "becoming an Egyptian." + </p> + <p> + My presence at the capital was evidently necessary. A manner of + association for utilizing the discoveries of the first Expedition had been + formed in London by the Messieurs Vignolles, who knew only the scattered + and unofficial notices; issued, without my privity, by English and + continental journals. Their representative, General Nuthall, formerly of + the Madras army, had twice visited Cairo, in August and October, 1877, + seeking a concession of the mines, and offering conditions which were + perfectly unacceptable. The Viceroy was to allow, contrary to convention, + the free importation of all machinery; to supply guards, who were not + wanted; and, in fact, to guarantee the safety of the workmen, who were + perfectly safe. In return, ten per cent. on net profits, fifteen being the + royalty of the Suez Canal, was the magnificent inducement offered to the + viceregal convoitise. I could not help noting, by no means silently, this + noble illustration of the principle embodied in Sic vos non vobis. I was + to share in the common fate of originators, discoverers, and inventors: + the find was mine, the profits were to go—elsewhere. General Nuthall + professed inability to regard the matter in that light; while to all + others it appeared in no other. However, after a few friendly meetings, + the representative left Egypt, with the understanding that possibly we + might work together when the exploration should have been completed. His + Highness, who had verbally promised me either the concession or four per + cent. on gross produce, acted en prince, simply remarking that the affair + was in my hands, and that he would not interfere with me. + </p> + <p> + I must not trouble the reader with the tedious tale of the pains and the + labour which accompany the accouchement of such an Expedition. All + practicals know that to organize a movement of sixty men is not less + troublesome—indeed, rather more so—than if it numbered six + hundred or six thousand. The Viceroy had wisely determined that we should + not only carry out the work of discovery by tracing the precious metals to + their source; but, also, that we should bring back specimens weighing tons + enough for assay and analysis, quantitive and qualitive, in London and + Paris. Consequently, miners and mining apparatus were wanted, with all the + materials for quarrying and blasting: my spirit sighed for dynamite, but + experiments at Trieste had shown it to be too dangerous. The party was to + consist of an escort numbering twenty-five Súdán soldiers of the Line, + negroes liberated some two years ago; a few Ma'danjiyyah ("mine-men"), and + thirty Haggárah ("stone-men" or quarrymen). + </p> + <p> + The Government magazines of Cairo contain everything, but the difficulty + is to find where the dispersed articles are stored: there is a something + of red-tapeism; but all is plain sailing, compared with what it would be + in Europe. The express orders of his Highness Husayn Kámil Pasha, Minister + of Finance and Acting Minister of War, at once threw open every door. Had + this young prince not taken in the affair a personal interest of the + liveliest and most intelligent nature, we might have spent the winter at + Cairo. And here I cannot refrain from mentioning, amongst other names, + that of Mr. Alfred E. Garwood, C.E., locomotive superintendent; who, in + the short space of four months, has introduced order and efficiency into + the chaos known as the Bulák magazines. With his friendly cooperation, and + under his vigorous arm, difficulties melted away like hail in a tropical + sun. General Stone (Pasha), the Chief of Staff, also rendered me some + assistance, by lending the instruments which stood in his own cabinet de + travail.<a href="#linknote-13" name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13"><small>13</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Poor Cairo had spent a seedy autumn. The Russo-Turkish campaign, which had + been unjustifiably allowed, by foreign Powers, to drain Egypt of her gold + and life-blood—some 25,000 men since the beginning of the Servian + prelude—not only caused "abundant sorrow" to the capital, but also + frightened off the stranger-host, which habitually supplies the poorer + population with sovereigns and napoleons. The horse-pest, a bad typhus, + after raging in 1876 and early 1877, had died out: unfortunately, so had + the horses; and the well-bred, fine-tempered, and high-spirited little + Egyptians were replaced by a mongrel lot, hastily congregated from every + breeding ground in Europe. The Fellahs, who had expected great things from + the mission of MM. Goschen and Joubert, asked wonderingly if those + financiers had died; while a scanty Nile, ten to twelve feet lower, they + say, than any known during the last thousand years, added to the troubles + of the poor, by throwing some 600,000 feddans (acres) out of gear, and by + compelling an exodus from the droughty right to the left bank. Finally, + when the river of Egypt did rise, it rose too late, and brought with it a + feverish and unwholesome autumn. Briefly, we hardly escaped the horrors of + Europe— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Herbstesahnung! Triste Spuren + In den Wäldern, auf den Fluren! + Regentage, böses Wetter," etc. +</pre> + <p> + Meanwhile, in the Land of the Pharaohs, whose scanty interest about the + war was disguised by affected rejoicings at Ottoman successes, the Prophet + gallantly took the field, as in the days of Yúsuf bin Ishák. This time the + vehicle of revelation was the learned Shayhk (má? ) Alaysh, who was + ordered in a dream by the Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) to + announce the victory of the Moslem over the Infidel; and, as the vision + took place in Jemádi el-Akhir (June), the first prediction was not more + unsuccessful than usual. Shortly afterwards, the same reverend man again + dreamt that, seeing two individuals violently quarreling, with voies de + fait, he had hastened, like a true believer, to separate and to reconcile + them. But what was his surprise when the brawlers proved to be the Sultan + and the Czar, the former administering condign personal punishment to his + hereditary foe. This, the enlightened Shaykh determined, was a sign that + in September the Osmanli would be gloriously triumphant. Nor was he far + wrong. The Russians, who had begun the campaign, like the English in + India, with a happy contempt both for the enemy and for the elementary + rules of war, were struck with a cold fit of caution: instead of marching + straight upon and intrenching themselves in Adrianople, they vainly broke + their gallant heads against the improvised earthworks of Plevna. And + ignorant Europe, marvelling at the prowess of the "noble Turk," ignored + the fact that all the best "Turkish" soldiers were Slavs, originally + Christians, renegades of old, unable to speak a word of Turkish; + preserving their Bosniac family-names, and without one drop of Turkish + blood in their veins. Sulayman Pashás army was about as "Turkish" as are + the Poles or the Hungarians. + </p> + <p> + Not the less did Cairo develop the normal season-humours of the Frank. + Among the various ways of "doing the Pyramids," I registered a new one: + Mr. A—— , junior, unwilling wholly to neglect them, sent his + valet with especial orders to stand upon the topmost plateau. The "second + water" of irrigation made November dangerous; many of the "Shepheards" + suffered from the Ayán el-Mulúk, the "Evil of Kings" (gout), in the gloomy + form as well as the gay; and whisky-cum-soda became popular as upon the + banks of the Thames and the Tweed. As happens on dark days, the + money-digger was abroad, and one anecdote deserves record. Many years ago, + an old widow body had been dunned into buying, for a few piastres, a + ragged little manuscript from a pauper Maghrabi. These West Africans are, + par excellence, the magicians of modern Egypt and Syria; and here they + find treasure, like the Greeks upon the shores of the Northern Adriatic. + Perhaps there may be a basis for the idea; oral traditions and written + documents concerning buried hoards would take refuge in remote regions, + comparatively undisturbed by the storms of war, and inhabited by races + more or less literary. At any rate, the Maghrabi Darwaysh went his ways, + assuring his customer that, when her son came of age, a fortune would be + found in the little book. And true enough, the boy, reaching man's estate, + read in its torn pages ample details concerning a Dafi'nah (hoard) of + great value. He was directed, by the manuscript, to a certain spot upon + the Mukattam range, immediately behind the Cairene citadel, where the + removal of a few stones would disclose a choked shaft: the latter would + descend to a tunnel, full of rubbish, and one of the many sidings would + open upon the golden chamber. The permission of Government was secured, + the workmen began, and the directions proved true—"barring" the + treasure, towards which progress was still being made. Such was the legend + of Cairo, as recounted to me by my good friend, Yacoub Artin Bey; I can + only add to it, Allaho A'alam!—Allah is all-knowing! + </p> + <p> + The sole cause of delay in beginning exploration was the want of money; + and this, of course, even the Prince Minister of Finance could not coin. + Egypt, the fertile, the wealthy, the progressive, was, indeed, at the time + all but insolvent. At the suggestion of foreigners, "profitable + investments," which yielded literally nothing, had been freely made for + many a year, and the sole results were money difficulties and debt. The + European financiers had managed admirably for their shareholders; but, + having assumed the annual national income at a maximum, instead of a + minimum, they had brought the goose of the golden eggs to the very verge + of death. The actionnaires were to receive, with a punctuality hardly + possible in the East, the usurious interest of six per cent., not + including one per cent. for sinking fund. Meanwhile, the officers and + officials, military, naval, and civil, had been in arrears of salary for + seven to fifteen months; and even the Jews refused to cash at any price + their pay certificates. + </p> + <p> + Nothing could be more unwise or unjust than the exactions of the + creditors. Men must live; if not paid, they perforce pay themselves; and + thus, of every hundred piastres, hardly thirty find their way into the + treasury. Ten times worse was the condition of the miserable Felláhín, who + were selling for three or four napoleons the bullocks worth fifteen per + head. Thus they would tide over the present year; but a worse than Indian + famine was threatened for the following. And the "Bakkál," at once petty + trader and money-lender, whose interest and compound interest here amount, + as in Bombay, to hundreds per cent., would complete the ruin which the + "low Nile" and the Christian creditor had begun. + </p> + <p> + A temporary reduction of interest to three per cent., with one per cent of + amortization, should content the greedy shareholder, who seeks to combine + high profits with perfect security. During November, 1877, there were five + M.P.'s at Shepheard's; and all cried shame upon the financial condition of + the country. Sir George Campbell opened the little game. In his "Inside + View of Egypt" (Fortnightly Review, Dec., 1877) he drew a graphic picture + of the abnormal state of poor Egypt; he expressed the sensible opinion + that, in the settlement, the claims of the bond-holders have been too + exclusively considered, and he concluded that no more payments of + debt-interest should be made until official arrears are discharged. + </p> + <p> + At last the Phare d'Alexandrie (November 29, 1877), doubtless under + official inspiration, put forth the following article, greatly to the + satisfaction of the unfortunate employés:— + </p> + <p> + "Si nos renseignements particuliers sont exacts, le comité des finances + vient de prendre une excellente décision. Elle consiste en ce que, + aussitôt l'argent pour le paiement du prochain coupon, préparé, le + ministe're, avant tout autre, procédera au paiement des appointements + arriérés des employés. + </p> + <p> + "Nous apprenons, on outre, que S. A. le ministre des finances, même, a + déclaré, molu proprio, que jusqu'au complet paiement des arriérés dûs aux + employés, et dans le cas oú il se présenterait une dépense de grande + importance, prévue même par le budget, de ne pas en ordonner le paiement + sans, au préalable, le sommettre à l'adhésion du comité. + </p> + <p> + "Nous applaudissons de toutes nos forces à cette bonne nouvelle d'abord, + parcequ'elle affirme une fois de plus la scrupuleuse exactitude qu'on + apporte au paiement des coupons, ensuite elle prouve le vif intérèt qu' + inspire au gouvernement la situation de ses nombreux employés, enfin elle + nous fait espérer qu'après avoir songé à eux, on s'occupera aussi à payer + les autres sommes portées et pre'vues au budget de l'année." + </p> + <p> + Accordingly, on December 2nd, the Prince Minister of Finance took heart of + grace, and distributed among the officials one month's pay, with a promise + that all arrears should presently be made good. On the same day his + Highness issued to the Expedition 2000 napoleons, in addition to the 620 + already expended upon instruments and provisions. This was the more + liberal, as I had calculated the total at 1500: the more, however, the + better. In such work it is money versus time, the former saving the + latter; and we were already late in the year—it had been proposed to + start on November 15th, and we had lost three precious weeks of fine + autumnal weather. The stores were equally abundant: I wanted one forge, + and received three. + </p> + <p> + Of course, many details had been forgotten; e.g., a farrier and change of + mule-irons, a tinsmith and tinning tools, a sulphur-still, boots for the + soldiers and the quarrymen, small shot for specimens, and so forth. I had + carried out my idea of a Dragoman with two servants; and the result had + been a model failure, especially in the most important department. The + true "Desert cook" is a man sui generis; he would utterly fail at the + Criterion, and even at Shepheard's; but in the wilderness he will serve + coffee within fifteen minutes, and dish the best of dinners within the + hour after the halt. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Clarke and Lieutenant Amir worked with a will; and they were ably + seconded by Colonel Ali Bey Robi and Lieutenant-Colonel (of the Staff) + Mohammed Bey Báligh. But the finishing touch to such preparations must be + done by the master hand; and my unhappy visit to Karlsbad rendered that + impossible. The stores and provisions were supplied by MM. Voltéra + Brothers, of Cairo: I cannot say too much in their praise; and the packing + was as good as the material. M. Gross, of Shepheard's, was good enough to + let me have a barrel of claret; which improved every week by travelling, + and which cost only a franc a bottle: it began as a bon ordinaire, and the + little that returned to Cairo ranked with a quasi-grand vin, at least as + good as the four-shilling Medoc. Finally, Dr. Lowe, of Cairo, kindly + prepared for us a medicine chest, containing about £10 worth of the usual + drugs and appliances—calomel, tartar emetic, and laudanum; blister, + plaster, and simple ointment.<a href="#linknote-14" name="linknoteref-14" + id="linknoteref-14"><small>14</small></a> + </p> + <p> + A special train was made ready for Thursday, December 6th; and, at ten + a.m., after taking leave of their Highnesses, who courteously wished me + good luck and God-speed, the Expedition found itself under weigh. We were + accompanied to the station by many kind friends: my excellent kinsman Lord + Francis, and Lady F. Conyngham, Yacoub Artin Bey, General Stone, and MM. + George, Garwood, Girard, and Guillemine. + </p> + <p> + The change from the damp air of Cairo to the drought of the Desert was + magical: light ailments and heavy cares seemed to fall off like rags and + tatters. We halted at Zagázig, remarking that this young focus of railway + traffic has become the eastern key of Lower Egypt, as Benhá is to the + western delta; and prophesying that some day, not far distant, will see + the glories of Bubastis revived. Here we picked up my old friend Haji + Wali, whom age—he declares that he was born in the month Mízán of + 1797—had made only a little fatter and greedier. We gave a wide + berth to the future Alexandria, Ismailíyyah, whose splendid climate has + been temporarily spoilt by the sweet-water canal of the same name. The + soil became literally sopped; and hence the intermittent fevers which have + lately assailed it. A similar disregard for drainage has ingeniously + managed to convert into pest-houses Simla and other Himalayan sanitaria. + </p> + <p> + The day ended with running the train into the Suez Docks, so as to embark + all our impediments on the next morning; and I fondly expected Saturday to + see us sail. But the weather-wise had been true in their forecasts. Friday + opened with howling, screaming gusts of southerly wind; and, during the + night we were treated to a fierce display of storm,—thunder and + lightning, and rain. The gale caused one collision on the Canal, and + twenty-five steamers were delayed near the Bitter Lake; it broke down the + railway and sanded it up for miles, and it levelled fifty English and + forty Egyptian telegraph-posts—an ungentle hint to prefer the + telephone. Saturday, the beginning of winter, opened with a cold raw + souther and a surging sea, which washed over the Dock-piers; in such + weather it was impossible to embark ten mules without horse-boxes. On + Sunday the waves ran high, but the gale fell about sunset to a dead calm; + as usual in the Gulf, the breakers and white horses at once disappeared; + and the slaty surface, fringed with dirty yellow, immediately reassumed + its robes of purple and turquoise blue. The ill wind, however, had blown + us some good by deluging with long-hoped-for rain the now barren mountains + of Midian. + </p> + <p> + This "Fortuna," according to the people, sets in with the fourth Coptic + month, Kayhak,<a href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" + id="linknoteref-15"><small>15</small></a> which begins the first Arba'ín + ("Forty-day period"); and the fourth day is known as the Imtizáj + el-Faslayn, or "Mixture of the two Seasons"—autumn and winter. The + storm is expected to blow three days from the Azyab (south-east) or from + the Shirs (south-west). The qualities of the several winds are described + in the following distich:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Mirísi Shaytán, wa Gharbi Wazírhu; + Tiyáb Sultán, wa Sharki Nazírhu." + + "The south-wester's a Satan, and the wester's his minister; + The norther's a Sultan, and the easter's his man." +</pre> + <p> + On the other hand, fair weather was predicted after the first quarter of + the moon (December 12th), according to the saying of the Arab sailor:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "When the moon sleeps, the seaman may sleep; + When the moon stands, the seaman must stand." +</pre> + <p> + The "sleeping" moon—náim or rákid, also called Yemáni—is that + of the first quarter, which we mark concave to the left; the "standing" + moon is that of the last. + </p> + <p> + Our stay at Suez was saddened by the sudden death of Marius Isnard, who + had acted cook to the first Khedivial Expedition. The poor lad, aged only + eighteen, had met us at the Suez station, delighted with the prospect of + another journey; he had neglected his health; and, after a suppression of + two days, which he madly concealed, gangrene set in, and he died a painful + death at the hospital during the night preceding our departure. + </p> + <p> + On December 10th we ran down from Suez Quay in the Bird of the Sea (Tayr + el-Bahr), the harbour mouche, or little steam-launch, accompanied by the + Governor, Sa'íd Bey, who has not yet been made a Pasha; by Mr. Consul + West; by the genial Ra'íf Bey, Wakíl el-Komandaníyyah or acting commodore + of the station; by Mr. Willoughby Faulkner, my host at Suez; by the + Messieurs Levick, and by other friends. In the highest spirits we boarded + our "gun-carriage," the aviso Mukhbir (Captain Mohammed Siráj); and, after + many mutual good wishes, we left the New Docks at 6.10 p.m. + </p> + <p> + Nothing could be more promising than the weather, a young moon mirrored in + a sea smooth as oil. The "Giver of Good News" (El-Mukhbir), however, for + once failed in her mission. She had lately conducted herself well upon a + trial trip round the Zenobia lightship ("Newport Rock").<a + href="#linknote-16" name="linknoteref-16" id="linknoteref-16"><small>16</small></a> + But the two Arab firemen who acted engineers, worn-out grey-beards that + hated the idea of four months on the barbarous Arabian shore, had choked + the tubes with wastage, and had filled the single boiler, taking care to + plug up, instead of opening, the relief-pipe. The consequence was that the + engines sweated at every pore; steam instead of water streamed from the + sides; and the chimney discharged, besides smoke, a heavy shower of rain. + The engine (John Jameson, engineer, Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1866), a good + article, in prime condition as far as a literally rotten boiler would + allow, presently revenged itself by splitting the air-pipe of the + condenser from top to bottom; and after two useless halts the captain + reported to me that we must return to Suez. What a beginning! The fracture + somewhat relieved the machinery; we did better work after than before the + accident, but we were ignobly towed into dock by the ship's boats. + </p> + <p> + A telegram with a procès-verbal was at once sent off to the Prince; Sa'íd + Bey and Ra'íf Bey hastened to our aid, and Mr. Williams, superintending + engineer of the Khedivíyyah line, with the whole of his staff, stripped + and set to work at the peccant tubes and air-pump. They commenced with + extinguishing a serious fire which burst from the waste-room—by no + means pleasant when close to kegs of blasting-powder carefully sewn up in + canvas. They laboured with a will, and before sunset Mr. Williams informed + us that he would guarantee the engines for eight days, when we were + starting on a dangerous cruise for four months. He also supplied us with + an Egyptian boiler-maker and with eleven instead of sixty new tubes: we + lost forty-two of the old ones between Suez and El-Muwaylah. Before sunset + we made a trial trip, the wretched old kettle acting tant bien que mal; we + returned to re-embark the soldiers and the mules, and we set out for the + second time at 5.30 p.m. + </p> + <p> + The Mukhbir, 130 feet long, 380 tons, and 80 to go horse-power, under + charge of the English or rather Scotch engineer, Mr. David Duguid, who had + taken the place of the two Arab firemen, began with 7 1/2 knots an hour, + 68 revolutions per minute, and a pressure of 9 lbs. to the square inch. + The condenser-vacuum was 26 inches (30 being complete)—13 lbs. Next + morning the rate declined to six miles in consequence of the boiler + leaking, and matters became steadily worse. As a French writer says of the + genre humain, we were placed, not entre le bien et le mal, but entre le + mal et le pire. After sundry narrow escapes in the Gulf of 'Akabah, we + were saved, as will be seen, by a manner of miracles. Briefly, the Mukhbir + caused us much risk, heartburn, and loss of time. + </p> + <p> + Seven a.m. (December 11th) found us crossing the Birkat Fara'ún—Pharaoh's + Gulf—some sixty miles from the great port. Its horrors to native + craft I have already described in my "Pilgrimage." Between this point and + Ras Za'faránah, higher up, the wind seems to split: a strong southerly + gale will be blowing, whilst a norther of equal pressure prevails at the + Gulf-head, and vice versâ. Suez, indeed, appears to be, in more ways than + one, a hydrographical puzzle. When it is low water in and near the + harbour, the flow is high between the Straits of Jobal and the Daedalus + Light; and the ebb tide runs out about two points across the narrows, + whilst the flood runs in on a line parallel with it. Finally, when we + returned, hardly making headway against an angry norther, Suez, enjoying + the "sweet south," was congratulating the voyagers upon their weather. + </p> + <p> + The loss of a good working day soon made itself felt. The north wind rose, + causing the lively Mukhbir, whose ballast, by-the-by, was all on deck, to + waddle dangerously for the poor mules; and it was agreed, nem. con., to + put into Tor harbour. We found ourselves at ten a.m. (December 12th) + within the natural pier of coralline, and we were not alone in our + misfortune; an English steamer making Suez was our companion. This place + has superseded El Wijh as the chief quarantine station for the return + pilgrimage; and I cannot sufficiently condemn the change.<a + href="#linknote-17" name="linknoteref-17" id="linknoteref-17"><small>17</small></a> + The day lagged slowly, as we + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Walked in grief by the merge of the many-voiced + sounding sea." +</pre> + <p> + But we looked in vain for our "tender," a Sambúk of fifty tons, + El-Musahhil (Rais Ramazan), which Prince Husayn had thoughtfully sent with + us as post-boat. She disappeared on the evening of the 11th, and she did + not make act of presence until the 16th, when her master was at once + imprisoned in the fort of El-Muwaylah. Moreover, the owner, Mohammed + Bukhayt, of Suez, who had received £90 as advance for three months—others + said £60 for four—provided her with only a few days' provisions, + leaving us to ration his crew. + </p> + <p> + A wintry norther in these latitudes is not easily got rid of. According to + the people, here, as in the 'Akabah Gulf, it lasts three days, and dies + after a quiet noon; whereas on the 13th, when we expected an escape, it + rose angrily at one p.m. I was much cheered by the pleasant news of M. + Bianchi, the local Deputato di Sanità, who assured us that a pernicieuse + was raging at El-Muwaylah, and that it was certain death to pass one night + in the fort. The only fire that emitted all this smoke was the fact that + during the date-harvest of North-Western Arabia, July and August, agues + are common; and that at all seasons the well water is not "honest," and is + supposed to breed trifling chills. In the Prairies of the Far West I heard + of a man who rode some hundreds of miles to deliver himself of a lie. + Nothing like solitude and the Desert for freshening the fancy. Another + individual who was much exercised by our journey was Khwájeh Konstantin, a + Syrian-Greek trader, son of the old agent of the convent, whose blue + goggles and comparatively tight pantaloons denoted a certain varnish and + veneer. It is his practice to visit El-Muwaylah once every six months; + when he takes, in exchange for cheap tobacco, second-hand clothes, and + poor cloth, the coral, the pearls fished for in April, the gold dust, the + finds of coin, and whatever else will bring money. Such is the course and + custom of these small monopolists, who, at "Raitha" and elsewhere, much + dislike to see quiet things moved. + </p> + <p> + At length, after a weary day of far niente, when even le sommeil se + faisait prier, we "hardened our hearts," and at nine p.m., as the gale + seemed to slumber, we stood southwards. The Mukhbir rolled painfully off + Ras Mohammed, which obliged us with its own peculiar gusts; and the + 'Akabah Gulf, as usual, acted wind-sail. A long détour was necessary in + order to spare the mules, which, however, are much less liable to injury, + under such circumstances, than horses, having a knack of learning to use + sea-legs. + </p> + <p> + The night was atrocious; so was the next morning; but about noon we were + cheered by the sight of the glorious mountain-walls of well-remembered + Midian, which stood out of the clear blue sky in passing grandeur of + outline, in exceeding splendid dour of colouring, and in marvellous + sharpness of detail. Once more the "power of the hills" was on us. + </p> + <p> + Three p.m. had struck before we found ourselves in broken water off the + fort of El-Muwaylah, where our captain cast a single anchor, and where we + had our first escape from drifting upon the razor-like edges of the + coralline reefs. In fact, everything looked so menacing, with surging sea + around and sable storm-clouds to westward, that I resolved upon revisiting + our old haunt, the safe and dock-like Sharm Yáhárr. Here we entered + without accident; and were presently greeted by the Sayyid 'Abd el-Rahím, + our former Káfilah-báshi, who had ridden from El-Muwaylah to receive us. + The news was good: a truce of one month had been concluded between the + Huwaytát and the Ma'ázah, probably for the better plundering of the + pilgrims. This year the latter were many: the "Wakfah," or standing upon + Mount Ararat, fell upon a Friday; consequently it was a Hajj el-Akbar, or + "Greater Pilgrimage," very crowded and very dangerous, in more ways than + one. + </p> + <p> + I had given a free passage to one Sulaymán Aftáhi, who declared himself to + be of the Beni 'Ukbah, when he was a Huwayti of the Jeráfín clan. After + securing a free passage and provision gratis, when the ship anchored, he + at once took French leave. On return I committed him to the tender mercies + of the Governor, Sa'íd Bey. The soldiers, the quarry-men, and the mules + were landed, and the happy end of the first stage brought with it a + feeling of intense relief, like that of returning to Alexandria. Hitherto + everything had gone wrong: the delays and difficulties at Cairo; at Suez, + the death of poor Marius Isnard and the furious storm; the break-down of + the engine; the fire in the wasteroom; and, lastly, the rough and + threatening gale between the harbour and El-Muwaylah. What did the Wise + King mean by "better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof"? I + only hope that it may be applicable to the present case. In the presence + of our working ground all evils were incontinently forgotten; and, after + the unusual dankness of the Egyptian capital, and the blustering winds of + the Gulf and the sea, the soft and delicate air of the Midian shore acted + like a cordial. For the first time after leaving Alexandria, I felt + justified in taper de l'oeil with the clearest of consciences. + </p> + <p> + The preliminary stage ended with disembarking at the Fort, El-Muwaylah, + all our stores and properties, including sundry cases of cartridges and + five hundred pounds of pebble-powder, which had been stored immediately + under the main cabin and its eternal cigarettes and allumettes. The + implements, as well as the provisions, were made over to the charge of an + old Albanian, one Rajab Aghá, who at first acted as our magazine-man for a + consideration of two napoleons per month, in advance if possible. This + done, the Mukhbir returned into the dock Yáhárr, in order to patch up her + kettle, which seemed to grow worse under every improvement. We accompanied + her, after ordering a hundred camels to be collected; well knowing that as + this was the Bairam, 'Id, or "Greater Festival," nothing whatever would be + done during its three days' duration. + </p> + <p> + The respite was not unwelcome to me; it seemed to offer an opportunity for + recovering strength. At Cairo I had taken the advice of a learned friend + (if not an "Apostle of Temperance," at any rate sorely afflicted with the + temperance idea), who, by threats of confirmed gout and lumbago, fatty + degeneration of the heart and liver, ending in the possible rupture of + some valve, had persuaded me that man should live upon a pint of claret + per diem. How dangerous is the clever brain with a monomania in it! + According to him, a glass of sherry before dinner was a poison, whereas + half the world, especially the Eastern half, prefers its potations + preprandially; a quarter of the liquor suffices, and both appetite and + digestion are held to be improved by it. The result of "turning over a new + leaf," in the shape of a phial of thin "Gladstone," was a lumbago which + lasted me a long month, and which disappeared only after a liberal + adhibition of "diffusible stimulants." + </p> + <p> + It required no small faith in one's good star to set out for a six weeks' + work in the Desert under such conditions. My consolation, however, was + contained in the lines attributed to half a dozen who wrote good English:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "He either fears his fate too much, + Or his deserts are small, + Who dares not put it to the touch, + To gain or lose it all." +</pre> + <p> + This time, however, Mind was tranquil, whatever Matter might suffer. As + the novelist says, "Lighting upon a grain of gold or silver betokens that + a mine of the precious metal must be in the neighbourhood." It had been + otherwise with my first Expedition: a forlorn hope, a miracle of moral + audacity; the heaviest of responsibilities incurred upon the slightest of + justifications, upon the pinch of sand which a tricky and greedy old man + might readily have salted. It reminds me of a certain "Philip sober," who + in the morning fainted at the sight of the precipice which he had scaled + when "Philip drunk." I look back with amazement upon No. I. + </p> + <h3> + NOTE. + </h3> + <p> + The second Khedivial Expedition to Midian was composed of the following + officers and men. The European staff numbered four, not including the + commander, viz.:— + </p> + <p> + M. George Marie, of the État-Major, Egyptian army, an engineer converted + into a geologist and mineralogist; he was under the orders of his Highness + Prince Husayn Pasha. + </p> + <p> + Mr. J. Charles J. Clarke, telegraphic engineer, ranking as major in Egypt, + commissariat officer. + </p> + <p> + M. Émile Lacaze, of Cairo, artist and photographer. + </p> + <p> + M. Jean Philipin, blacksmith. + </p> + <p> + Besides these, Mr. David Duguid,—not related to "Hafed, Prince of + Persia,"—chief engineer of the gunboat Mukhbir (Captain Mohammed + Síráj), accompanied us part of the way on temporary leave, and kindly + assisted me in observing meteorology and in making collections. + </p> + <p> + The Egyptian commissioned officers numbered six, viz.:— + </p> + <p> + Ahmed Kaptán Musallam, commander in the navy, and ranking as Sakulághási + (major). He had been first officer in the Sinnár, and he was sent to make + astronomical observations; but he proved to be a confirmed invalid. + </p> + <p> + Of the Arkán-Harb (Staff) were:— + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Amir Rushdi, who had accompanied me before. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Yusuf Taufik. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Darwaysh Ukkáb, of the Piyédah or infantry. He was also a great + sufferer on a small scale. + </p> + <p> + Sub-Lieutenant Mohammed Farahát, of the Muhandism (Engineers), in charge + of the Laggámgiyyah or Haggárah (blasters and quarrymen). He ended by + deserting his duty on arrival at Cairo. + </p> + <p> + The non-commissioned officers, all Egyptians, amounted to seven:— + </p> + <p> + Bulúk-amín (writer) Mohammed Sharkáwi (infantry). + </p> + <p> + Chawush (serjeant) 'Atwah El-Ashírí (infantry). + </p> + <p> + Chawush (serjeant) Mabrúk Awadh (quarryman); deserted at Cairo. + </p> + <p> + Onbáshi (corporal) Higázi Ammár (Staff). + </p> + <p> + Onbáshi (corporal) Mohammed Sulaymán (infantry) : also our barber, and a + good man. + </p> + <p> + Onbáshi (corporal) Mahmu'd Abd el-Rahmán (infantry): I had to put him in + irons. + </p> + <p> + Onbáshi (corporal) Ibráhím Hedíb. + </p> + <p> + There were three Nafar (privates) of the Staff:— + </p> + <p> + 'Ali 'Brahim Ma'danji, generally known as Ali Marie, from the officer whom + he served; a hard-working man, over-devoted to his master. I recommended + him for promotion. + </p> + <p> + Ramazán Ramazán. + </p> + <p> + Hasan Mohammed. He proved useful, as he brought with him all the necessary + tools for mending saddles. + </p> + <p> + The twenty-five privates of infantry were emancipated negroes, a few being + from the Súdán; composed of every tribe, it was a curious mixture, good, + bad, and indifferent. Some were slaves who had been given, in free gift, + by their owners to the Mírí (Government), and men never part with a good + "chattel," except for a sufficient cause. As will be seen, many of the + names are "fancy":— + </p> + <p> + Sayyid Ahmed El-Tawíl. + </p> + <p> + Yúsuf Faragallah (Faraj-Allah). + </p> + <p> + Farag 'Ali. + </p> + <p> + Sa'íd Hasan Básha'. His owner was a Fellah called Hasan Báshá—peasants + often give this title as a name to a boy who is born under fortunate + circumstances. Sa'íd was a fat, jolly fellow, a Sidi Bháí from the Mrímá, + or mainland of Zanzibar, who had wholly forgotten his Kisawáhílí. Corporal + Mahmúd was punished for keeping him eighteen hours on guard. He was one of + the very few to whom I gave "bakhshísh" after returning to Cairo. + </p> + <p> + Sa'íd El-Sa'id. + </p> + <p> + Mirsal Ginaydi. + </p> + <p> + Mabrúk Rizk. + </p> + <p> + Abdullah Mohammed Zaghúl. + </p> + <p> + Sa'íd Katab. + </p> + <p> + Faragallah Sharaf el-Dín. + </p> + <p> + Farag Sálih. + </p> + <p> + Surúr Mustafá. + </p> + <p> + Salámat el-Nahhás; an excellent and intelligent man, who was attached to + the service of M. Lacaze. He distinguished himself by picking up antiques, + until his weakness, the Dá el-Faranj, found him out. + </p> + <p> + Farag Ahmed Bura'í. + </p> + <p> + Farag Mohammed Amín. + </p> + <p> + Mirgán Sulaymán. + </p> + <p> + 'Abd el-Maulá. + </p> + <p> + Mohammedayn. + </p> + <p> + Mabrúk Hasan Osmán. + </p> + <p> + Khayr Ramazán, a large and sturdy negro, from Dár-Wadái, with long cuts + down both sides of his face; a hard-working and intelligent soldier, who + naturally took command of his fellows. I made him an acting corporal, and + on return recommended him for promotion. + </p> + <p> + Fadl 'Allah 'Ali el-Kholi, a Shillúk, one of the worst tribes of the Upper + Nile, whom it is forbidden to enlist. He began by refusing to obey an + order, he pushed an officer out of his way, and he struck an Arab Shaykh. + Consequently, he passed the greater part of the time in durance vile at + the fort of El-Muwaylah. + </p> + <p> + Mirgán Yúsuf; flogged for insolence to his officer, January 19. + </p> + <p> + Abdullah Ibráhím. + </p> + <p> + Ibráhím Kattáb. + </p> + <p> + Mabrúk Mansúr Agwah. + </p> + <p> + The Boruji (bugler) Mersál Abú Dunyá, a "character" who retires for + practice to lonely hills and vales. His progress is not equal to his zeal + and ambition. + </p> + <p> + The thirty quarrymen were all Egyptians, and it would be hard to find a + poorer lot; they never worked, save under compulsion, and they stole + whatever they could. I examined their packs during the homeward cruise, + and found that many of them had secreted Government gunpowder:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ahmed Ashiri. + + Ahmed Badr. + + Ahmed el-Wakíl. + + Omar Sharkáwi. +</pre> + <p> + 5. Mustafá Husayn. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Ismaíl el-Wa'í. + + ‘Ali Zalat. + + Ali 'Abd el-Rahmán. + + Mustafá Sálim. +</pre> + <p> + 10. 'Alí Bedawi. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Hanná Bishá'i. + + Hamed Hanafi. + + Hamed Wahlah. + + Mustafá Sa'dáni (died of fever at El-Muwaylah). +</pre> + <p> + 15. Mahmu'd Gum'ah., + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Abú Zayd Hassá'nah. + + Ismaíl Dusúki. + + Sukk el-Fakíh. + + Isá el-Dimíkí. +</pre> + <p> + 20. 'Ali Atwadh. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Mohammed Sulaymán. + + Ibra'hi'm 'Ali Mohammed. + + 'Ali Isá. + + Mohammed 'Abd el-Záhir. +</pre> + <p> + 25. 'Ali Wahish. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Abbási Mansúr (a tinman by trade, but without tools). + + Gálút Ali. + + Usmán Ámir. + + Alewá Ahmed. +</pre> + <p> + 30. Mohammed Ajízah. + </p> + <p> + And lastly (31), the carpenter, 'Ali Sulaymán; a "knowing dodger," who + brought with him a little stock-in-trade of tobacco, cigarette-paper, and + similar comforts. + </p> + <p> + There were five soldiers, or rather matchlock-men, engaged from the + fort-garrison, El-Muwaylah:— + </p> + <p> + Husayn Bayrakdár; a man who has travelled, and has become too clever by + half. He was equally remarkable as a liar and as a cook. + </p> + <p> + Bukháyt Ahmed, generally known as El-Ahmar from his red coat; a Dinká + slave, some sixty years old, and looking forty-five. He was still a + savage, never sleeping save in the open air. + </p> + <p> + Bukhayt Mohammed, popularly termed El-Aswad; a Foráwi (Dár-Forian) and a + good man. He was called "The Shadow of the Bey." + </p> + <p> + Ahmed Sálih; a stout fellow, and the worst of guides. + </p> + <p> + Sálim Yúsuf. + </p> + <p> + The head of the caravan was the Sayyid' Abd el-Rahím, accountant at the + Fort el-Muwaylah, of whom I have spoken before. He was subsequently + recommended by me to his Highness for the post of Názir or commandant. + </p> + <p> + Haji Wali, my old Cairene friend, who lost no time in bolting. + </p> + <p> + There were also generally three Bedawi Shaykhs, who, by virtue of their + office, received each one dollar (twenty piastres) per diem. + </p> + <p> + The servants and camp followers were:— + </p> + <p> + Anton Dimitriadis, the dragoman; a Bakkál or small shopkeeper at Zagázig, + and a tenant of Haji Wali. + </p> + <p> + Giorgi (Jorgos) Sifenus, the cook, whose main disadvantage was his extreme + and ultra-Greek uncleanliness. + </p> + <p> + Petro Giorgiadis, of Zante; a poor devil who has evidently been a waiter + in some small Greek café which supplies a cup per hour. + </p> + <p> + These three men were a great mistake; but, as has been said, poor health + at Cairo prevented my looking into details. + </p> + <p> + Yúsuf el-Fazi, Dumánji or quartermaster from the Mukhbir, acting servant + to Captain Ahmed, and a thoroughly good man. He was also recommended for + promotion. + </p> + <p> + Ahmed, the Saís or mule-groom; another pauvre diable, rascally withal, who + was flogged for selling the mules' barley to the Bedawin. He was assisted + by the Corporal (and barber) Mohammed Sulaymán and by five quarrymen. + </p> + <p> + Husayn Ganínah; a one-eyed little Felláh, fourteen years old, looking ten, + and knowing all that a man of fifty knows. He was body-servant to + Lieutenant Yusuf. + </p> + <p> + As usual, the caravan was accompanied by a suttler from El-Muwaylah, one + Hamad, who sold tobacco, coffee, clarified butter, and so forth. He was + chaffed with the saying, Hamad fi' bayt ak—"Thy house is a pauper." + </p> + <p> + Finally, there were two dogs: Juno, a Clumber spaniel, young and + inexperienced; Páikí, a pariah, also a pup. + </p> + <p> + Besides these two permanents, various "casuals," the dog 'Brahim, etc., + attached themselves to our camp. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter II. — The Start—from El-muwaylah to the "White + Mountain" and 'Aynúah. + </h2> + <p> + I landed at El-Muwaylah, described in my last volume,<a href="#linknote-18" + name="linknoteref-18" id="linknoteref-18"><small>18</small></a> on the + auspicious Wednesday, December 19, 1877, under a salute from the gunboat + Mukhbir, which the fort answered with a rattle and a patter of musketry. + All the notables received us, in line drawn up on the shore, close to our + camp. To the left stood the civilians in tulip-coloured garb; next were + the garrison, a dozen Básh-Buzuks en bourgeois, and mostly armed with + matchlocks; then came out quarrymen in uniform, but without weapons; and, + lastly, the escort (twenty-five men) held the place of honour on the + right. The latter gave me a loud "Hip! hip! hurrah!" as I passed. The + tents, a total of twenty, including two four-polers for our mess and for + the stores, with several large canvas sheds—páls, the Anglo-Indian + calls them—gleamed white against the dark-green fronds of the + date-grove; and the magnificent background of the scene was the "Dibbagh" + block of the Tiha'mah, or lowland mountains. + </p> + <p> + The usual "palaver" at once took place; during which everything was "sweet + as honey." After this pleasant prelude came the normal difficulties and + disagreeables—it had been reported that I was the happy possessor of + £22,000 mostly to be spent at El-MuwayIah. The unsettled Arabs plunder and + slay; the settled Arabs slander and cheat. + </p> + <p> + A whole day was spent in inspecting the soldiers and mules; in despatching + a dromedary-post to Suez with news of our unexpectedly safe arrival, and + in conciliating the claims of rival Bedawin. His Highness the Viceroy had + honoured with an order to serve us Hasan ibn Salim, Shaykh of the Beni + 'Ukbah, a small tribe which will be noticed in a future page. Last spring + these men had carried part of our caravan to 'Aynúnah; and they having no + important blood-feuds, I had preferred to employ them. But 'Abd el-Nabi, + of the Tagayát-Huwaytát clan, had been spoilt by over-kindness during my + reconnaissance of 1877; besides, I had given him a bowie-knife without + taking a penny in exchange. In my first volume he appears as a noble + savage, with a mixture of the gentleman; here he becomes a mere + Fellah-Bedawi. + </p> + <p> + The claimants met with the usual ceremony; right hands placed on the + opposite left breasts—this is not done when there is bad blood—foreheads + touching, and the word of peace, "Salám," ceremoniously ejaculated by both + mouths. Then came the screaming voices, the high words, and the gestures, + which looked as if the Kurbáj ("whip") were being administered. The + Huwayti stubbornly refused to march with the other tribe, whom, moreover, + he grossly insulted: he professed perfect readiness to carry me and mine + gratis, the while driving the hardest bargain; he spoke of "our land," + when the country belongs to the Khediv; he openly denied his allegiance; + he was convicted of saying, "If these Christians find gold, there will be + much trouble (fitneh) to us Moslems;" and at a subsequent time he went so + far as to abuse an officer. I had "Shaykh'd" him (Shayyakht-uh), that is, + promoted him in rank, said the Sayyid 'Abd el-Rahím; and the honour had + completely changed his manners. "Nasaggharhu" (We will "small" him), was + my reply. The only remedy, in fact, was to undo what had been done; to cut + down, as Easterns say, the tree which I had planted. So he was solemnly + and conspicuously disrated; the fee, one dollar per diem, allotted as + travelling and escort-allowance to the chiefs, was publicly taken from + him, and he at once subsided into an ignoble Walad ("lad"), under the lead + of his uncle, Shaykh 'Aláyan ibn Rabí. The latter is a man of substance, + who can collect at least two thousand camels. Though much given to + sulking, on the whole, he behaved so well that, the Expedition ended, I + recommended him to his Highness the Viceroy for appointment to the + chieftainship of his tribe, and the usual yearly subsidy. With him was + associated his cousin, Shaykh Furayj, an excellent man, of whom I shall + have much to say; and thus we had to fee three Bedawi chiefs, including + Hasan. The latter was a notable intriguer and mischief-maker, ever + breeding bad blood; and his termper was rather violent than sullen. When + insulted by a soldier, he would rush off for his gun, ostentatiously light + the match, walk about for an hour or two threatening to "shyute," and then + apparently forget the whole matter. + </p> + <p> + All wanted to let their camels by the day, whereas the custom of Arabia is + to bargain for the march. Thus, the pilgrims pay one dollar per stage of + twelve hours; and the post-dromedary demands the same sum, besides + subsistence-money and "bakhshi'sh." But our long and frequent halts + rendered this proceeding unfair to the Bedawin. I began by offering seven + piastres tariff, and ended by agreeing to pay five per diem while in camp, + and ten when on the road.<a href="#linknote-19" name="linknoteref-19" + id="linknoteref-19"><small>19</small></a> Of course, it was too much; but + our supply of money was ample, and the Viceroy had desired me to be + liberal. In the Nile valley, where the price of a camel is some £20, the + average daily hire would be one dollar: on the other hand, the animal + carries, during short marches, 700 lbs. The American officers in Upper + Egypt reduced to 300 lbs. the 500 lbs. heaped on by the Súdáni merchants. + In India we consider 400 lbs. a fair load; and the Midianite objects to + anything beyond 200 lbs. + </p> + <p> + I have no intention of troubling the reader with a detailed account of our + three first stages from El-Muwaylah to the Jebel el-Abyaz, or White + Mountain.<a href="#linknote-20" name="linknoteref-20" id="linknoteref-20"><small>20</small></a> + On December 21st, leaving camp with the most disorderly of caravans—106 + camels instead of 80, dromedaries not included—we marched to the + mouth of the Wady Tiryam, where we arrived before our luggage and + provisions, lacking even "Adam's ale." The Shaykhs took all the water + which could be found in the palm-boothies near the shore, and drank coffee + behind a bush. This sufficed to give me the measure of these + "wall-jumpers." + </p> + <p> + Early next morning I set the quarrymen to work, with pick and basket, at + the north-western angle of the old fort. The latter shows above ground + only the normal skeleton-tracery of coralline rock, crowning the gentle + sand-swell, which defines the lip and jaw of the Wady; and defending the + townlet built on the northern slope and plain. The dimensions of the work + are fifty-five mètres each way. The curtains, except the western, where + stood the Báb el-Bahr ("Sea gate"), were supported by one central as well + as by angular bastions; the northern face had a cant of 32 degrees east + (mag.); and the northwestern tower was distant from the sea seventy-two + me'tres, whereas the south-western numbered only sixty. The spade showed a + substratum of thick old wall, untrimmed granite, and other hard materials. + Further down were various shells, especially bénitiers ( Tridacna + gigantea) the harp (here called "Sirinbáz"), and the pearl-oyster; + sheep-bones and palm charcoal; pottery admirably "cooked," as the Bedawin + remarked; and glass of surprising thinness, iridized by damp to rainbow + hues. This, possibly the remains of lachrymatories, was very different + from the modern bottle-green, which resembles the old Roman. Lastly, + appeared a ring-bezel of lapis lazuli; unfortunately the "royal gem," of + Epiphanus was without inscription. + </p> + <p> + Whilst we were digging, the two staff-officers rode to the date-groves of + Wady Tiryam, and made a plan of the ancient defences—the results of + the first Khedivial Expedition had either not been deposited at, or had + been lost in, the Staff bureau, Cairo. They found that the late torrents + had filled up the sand pits acting as wells; and the people assured them + that the Fiumara had ceased to show perennial water only about five or six + years ago. + </p> + <p> + The second march was disorderly as the first: it reminded me of driving a + train of unbroken mules over the Prairies; the men were as wild and + unmanageable as their beasts. It was every one's object to get the maximum + of money for the minimum of work. The escort took especial care to see + that all their belongings were loaded before ours were touched. Each load + was felt, and each box was hand-weighed before being accepted: the + heaviest, rejected by the rich, were invariably left to the poorest and + the lowest clansmen with the weakest and leanest of animals. All at first + especially objected to the excellent boxes—a great comfort—made + for the Expedition<a href="#linknote-21" name="linknoteref-21" + id="linknoteref-21"><small>21</small></a> at the Citadel, Cairo; but they + ended with bestowing their hatred upon the planks, the tables, and the + long tent-poles. As a rule, after the fellows had protested that their + camels were weighted down to the earth, we passed them on the march + comfortably riding—for "the 'Orbán can't walk." And no wonder. At + the halting-place they unbag a little barley and wheat-meal, make dough, + thrust it into the fire, "break bread," and wash it down with a few drops + of dirty water. This copious refection ends in a thimbleful of thick, + black coffee and a pipe. At home they have milk and Ghí (clarified butter) + in plenty during the season, game at times, and, on extraordinary + occasions, a goat or a sheep, which, however, are usually kept for buying + corn in Egypt. But it is a "caution" to see them feed alle spalle altrui. + </p> + <p> + Nothing shabbier than the pack-saddles; nothing more rotten than the + ropes. As these "Desert ships" must weigh about half the sturdy animals of + Syria and the Egyptian Delta, future expeditions will, perhaps, do well to + march their carriage round by El-'Akabah. The people declare that the + experiment has been tried, but that the civilized animal sickens and dies + in these barrens; they forget, however, the two pilgrim-caravans. + </p> + <p> + At this season the beasts are half-starved. Their "kitchen" is a meagre + ration of bruised beans, and their daily bread consists of the dry leaves + of thorn trees, beaten down by the Makhbat, a flail-like staff, and caught + in a large circle of matting (El-Khasaf). In Sinai the vegetation fares + even worse: the branches are rudely lopped off to feed the flocks; only + "holy trees" escape this mutilation. With the greatest difficulty we + prevented the Arabs tethering their property all night close to our tents: + either the brutes were cold; or they wanted to browse or to meet a friend: + every movement was punished with a wringing of the halter, and the result + may be imagined. + </p> + <p> + We slept that night at Wady Sharmá. Of this ruined town a plan was made + for "The Gold-Mines of Midian," by Lieutenant Amir, who alone is + answerable for its correctness. We afterwards found layers of ashes, slag, + and signs of metal-working to the north-east of the enceinte, where the + furnace probably stood. The outline measures 1906 metres, not "several + kilometres;" and desultory digging yielded nothing but charcoal, cinders, + and broken pottery. It was not before nine a.m. on the next day that I + could mount my old white, stumbling, starting mule; the delay being caused + by M. Marie's small discovery, which will afterwards be noticed. We + crossed both branches of the Sharmá water; and, ascending the long + sand-slope of the right bank, we again passed the Bedawi cemetery. I sent + Lieutenants Amir and Yusuf to prospect certain stone-heaps which lay + seawards of the graves; and they found a little heptangular demi-lune, + concave to the north; the curtains varying from a minimum length of ten to + a maximum of eighty me'tres, and the thickness averaging two metres, + seventy-five centimetres. It was possibly intended, like those above Wady + Tiryam, to defend the western approach; and, superficially viewed, it + looks like a line of stones heaped up over the dead, with that fine + bird's-eye view of the valley which the Bedawi loves for his last + sleeping-place. + </p> + <p> + Thence we passed through the dry Báb ("sea gap"), cut by a torrent in the + regular line of the coralline cliff, the opening of the Wady Melláh, off + which lay our Sambúk. Marching up the Wady Maka'dah, our experienced eyes + detected many small outcrops of quartz, formerly unobserved, in the sole + and on the banks. The granite hills, here as throughout Midian, were + veined and dyked with two different classes of plutonic rock. The red and + pink are felsites or fine-grained porphyries; the black and bottle-green + are the coarse-grained varieties, easily disintegrating, and forming + hollows [Illustration with caption: Fortification on the cliff commanding + the right bank of Wady Sharma'.] in the harder granite. The ride was made + charming by the frontage of picturesque Jebel 'Urnub, with its + perpendicular Pinnacles upon rock-sheets dropping clear a thousand feet; + its jutting bluffs; its three huge flying Buttresses, that seemed to + support the mighty wall-crest; and its many spits and "organs," some + capped with finials that assume the aspect of logan-stones. There was no + want of animal life, and the yellow locusts were abroad; one had been + seized by a little lizard which showed all the violent muscular action of + the crocodile. There were small long-eared hares, suggesting the leporide; + sign of gazelles appeared; and the Bedawin spoke of wolves and hyenas, + foxes and jackals. + </p> + <p> + We camped upon the old ground to the southwest of the Jebel el-Abyaz; and + at the halt our troubles forthwith began. The water, represented to be + near, is nowhere nearer than a two hours' march for camels; and it is + mostly derived from rain-puddles in the great range of mountains which + subtends maritime Midian. But this was our own discovery. The half-Fellah + Bedawin, like the shepherds, their predecessors, in the days of Abimelech + and Jethro, are ever chary of their treasure; the only object being extra + camel-hire. After eating your salt, a rite whose significance, by-the-by, + is wholly ignored throughout Midian and its neighbourhood, they will + administer under your eyes a silencing nudge to an over-communicative + friend. 'The very children that drive the sheep and goats instinctively + deny all knowledge of the Themáil ("pits") and holes acting as wells. + </p> + <p> + At the head of the Wady el-Maka'dah we halted six days (December 24—30); + this delay gave us time to correct the misapprehensions of our flying + visit. The height of the Jebel el-Abyaz, whose colour makes it conspicuous + even from the offing when sailing along the coast, was found to be 350 + (not 600) feet above the plain. The Grand Filon, which a mauvais plaisant + of a reviewer called the "Grand Filou," forms a "nick" near the hill-top, + but does not bifurcate in the interior. The fork is of heavy greenish + porphyritic trap, also probably titaniferous iron, with a trace of silver,<a + href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" id="linknoteref-22"><small>22</small></a> + where it meets the quartz and the granite. Standing upon the "old man" + with which we had marked the top, I counted five several dykes or outcrops + to the east (inland), and one to the west, cutting the prism from north to + south; the superficial matter of these injections showed concentric + circles like ropy lava. The shape of the block is a saddleback, and the + lay is west-east, curving round to the south. The formation is of the + coarse grey granite general throughout the Province, and it is dyked and + sliced by quartz veins of the amorphous type, crystals being everywhere + rare in Midian (?) The filons and filets, varying in thickness from eight + metres to a few lines, are so numerous that the whole surface appears to + be quartz tarnished by atmospheric corrosion to a dull, pale-grey yellow; + while the fracture, sharp and cutting as glass or obsidian, is dazzling + and milk-white, except where spotted with pyrites—copper or iron. + The neptunian quartz, again, has everywhere been cut by plutonic + injections of porphyritic trap, veins averaging perhaps two metres, with a + north-south strike, and a dip of 75 degrees (mag.) west. If the capping + were removed, the sub-surface would, doubtless, bear the semblance of a + honeycomb. + </p> + <p> + The Jebel el-Abyaz is apparently the centre of the quartzose outcrop in + North Midian (Madyan Proper). We judged that it had been a little worked + by the ancients, from the rents in the reef that outcrops, like a + castle-wall, on the northern and eastern flanks. There are still traces of + roads or paths; while heaps, strews, and scatters of stone, handbroken and + not showing the natural fracture, whiten like snow the lower slopes of the + western hill base. They contrast curiously with the hard felspathic stones + and the lithographic calcaires bearing the moss-like impress of metallic + dendrites; these occur in many parts near the seaboard, and we found them + in Southern as well as in Northern Midian. The conspicuous hill is one of + four mamelons thus disposed in bird's-eye view; the dotted line shows the + supposed direction of the lode in the Jibál el-Bayzá, the collective name. + </p> + <p> + On the plain to the north of the Jebel el-Abyaz also, I found curdles of + porphyritic trap, and parallel trap-dykes, cutting the courses of + large-grained grey granite: as many as three outcrops of the former + appeared within fourteen yards. This convinced me that the whole of the + solid square, thirty kilometres (six by five), where the quartz emerges, + is underlaid by veins and veinlets of the same rock. Moreover, I then + suspected, and afterwards ascertained, that the quartz of the Jibál + el-Bayzá, as the Bedawin call this section, is not a local peculiarity. It + everywhere bursts, not only the plain between the sea and the coast-range, + but the two parallels of mountain which confine it on the east. In fact, + throughout our northern march the Arabs, understanding that its object was + "Marú," the generic name for quartz,<a href="#linknote-23" + name="linknoteref-23" id="linknoteref-23"><small>23</small></a> brought us + loads of specimens from every direction. Nothing is easier than to work + the purely superficial part. A few barrels of gunpowder and half a dozen + English miners, with pick and crowbar, suffice. Even our dawdling, + feckless quarrymen easily broke and "spelled" for camel loading some six + tons in one day. + </p> + <p> + Our short se'nnight was not wasted; yet I had an uncomfortable feeling + that the complication of the country called for an exploration of months + and not hours. Every day some novelty appeared. The watercourses of the + Gháts or coast-range were streaked with a heavy, metallic, quartzose black + sand which M. Marie vainly attempted to analyze. We afterwards found it in + almost every Wady, and running north as far as El-'Akabah; whilst, with + few exceptions, all our washings of red earth, chloritic sand, and bruised + stone, yielded it and it only. It is apparently the produce of granite and + syenite, and it abounds in African Egypt. I was in hopes that tungsten and + titaniferous iron would make it valuable for cutlery as the black sand of + New Zealand. Experiments in the Citadel, Cairo, produced nothing save + magnetic iron with a trace of lead. But according to Colonel Ross, the + learned author of "Pyrology, or Fire Chemistry,"<a href="#linknote-24" + name="linknoteref-24" id="linknoteref-24"><small>24</small></a> it is + iserine or magnetic ilmenite, titaniferous iron-sand, containing + eighty-eight per cent. of iron (oxides and sesquioxides), with eleven per + cent. of titanic acid. + </p> + <p> + The Arabs brought in fine specimens of hematite and of copper ore from + Wady Gharr or Ghurr, six miles to the south of camp. Here were found two + water-pits in a well-defined valley; the nearer some ten miles south-west + of the Jebel el-Abyaz, the other about two miles further to the + north-west; making a total of twelve. About the latter there was, however, + no level ground for tents. A mile and a half walking almost due north led + to a veinlet of copper 30 metres long by 0.30 thick, with an east-west + strike, and a dip of 45 degrees south. This metal was also found in the + hills to the south. Crystalline pyroxene and crystallized sulphates of + lime apparently abound, while the same is the case with carbonate of + manganese, and other forms of the metal so common in Western Sinai. + Briefly, our engineer came to the conclusion that we were in the very + heart of a mining region. + </p> + <p> + We made a general reconnaisance (December 27th) of a place whence + specimens of pavonine quartz had come to hand. Following the Wady 'Ifriyá + round the north and east of the White Mountain, we fell into the Wady + Simákh (of "Wild Sumach"), that drains the great gap between the Pinnacles + and the Buttresses of the 'Urnub-Tihámah section. After riding some two + miles, we found to the south-east fragments of dark, iridescent, and + metallic quartz: they emerge from the plain like walls, bearing + north-south, with 36 degrees of westing and a westward dip of 15 degrees + to 20 degrees—exactly the conditions which Australia seeks, and + which produced the huge "Welcome Nugget" of Ballarat. They crop out of the + normal trap-dyked grey granite, and select specimens show the fine panaché + lustre of copper. M. Marie afterwards took from one of the geodes a pinch + of powder weighing about half a gramme, and cupelled a bright dust-shot + bead weighing not less than two centigrammes. Without further examination + he determined it to be argentiferous, when it was possibly iron or + antimony. On the other hand, the silver discovered in the Grand Filon by + so careful and conscientious an observer as Gastinel Bey, and the fact + that we are here on the same line of outcrop, and at a horizon three + hundred feet lower, are reassuring. + </p> + <p> + This vein, which may be of great length and puissance, I took the liberty + of calling the "Filon Husayn," from the prince who had so greatly favoured + the Expedition. Here we had hit upon the Negros,<a href="#linknote-25" + name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25"><small>25</small></a> or + coloured quartzose formations of Mexico, in which silver appears as a + sulphure; and we may expect to find the Colorado, or argillaceous, that + produces the noble metal in the forms of chlorure, bromure, and iodure. + The former appears everywhere in Midian, but our specimens are all + superficial, taken à ciel ouvert. To ascertain the real value and the + extent of the deposits required exposure of the veins at a horizon far + lower than our means and appliances allowed us to reach. If the rock prove + argentiferous I should hope to strike virgin silver in the capillary or + aborescent shape below. Above it, as on the summit of the Jebel el-Abyaz, + and generally in the "Marú" hills and hillocks of North Midian, the dull + white quartz is comparatively barren; showing specks of copper; crystals + of pyrites, the "crow-gold" of the old English miner, and dark dots of + various metals which still await analysis. + </p> + <p> + Thus, I would divide the metalliferous quartzes of this North-Midianite + region into two chief kinds: those stained green and light blue, whose + chief metallic element is copper, with its derivatives; and the iridescent + Negro, which may shelter the Colorado. In South Midian the varieties of + quartz are incomparably more numerous, and almost every march shows a new + colour or constitution. + </p> + <p> + About the Jebel el-Abyaz, as in many mining countries, water is a serious + difficulty. The principal deposit lies some three miles east of the + camping ground in a Nakb or gorge, El-Asaybah, offsetting from the great + Fiumara, "El-Simákh;" and apparently it is only a rain-pool. Throughout + Midian, I may say, men still fetch water out of the rock. M. Philipin, + whilst pottering about this place, saw two Beden (ibex) with their young, + which suggests a permanent supply of drink.<a href="#linknote-26" + name="linknoteref-26" id="linknoteref-26"><small>26</small></a> + </p> + <p> + However that may be, Norton's Abyssinian pumps, for which I had vainly + applied at Cairo, would doubtless discover the prime necessary in the + Wadys, many of the latter being still damp and muddy. Moreover, the crible + continue à grilles filtrantes, the invention of MM. Huet and Geyler, + introduced, we are told, into the mechanical treatment of metals, a + principle which greatly economizes fluid. Founded upon the fact that sands + of nearly the same size, but of different densities, when mixed in liquid + and subjected to rapid vertical oscillation, range themselves by order of + weight, the heavier sinking and not allowing passage to lighter matter, + the new sieve offers the advantages of a single and simple instrument, + with increased facility for treating poor "dirt." Finally, as I shall + show, the country is prepared by nature to receive a tramway; and the + distance to the sea does not exceed fourteen miles, liberally computed.<a + href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27" id="linknoteref-27"><small>27</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Either the rain-water affected the health of the party, or it suffered + from the excessive dryness and variations of the atmosphere, eight to nine + hundred feet above sea-level (aner. 29.10), ranging in the tents between + 92 degrees by day and 45 degrees at night, a piercing, killing temperature + in the Desert. Moreover, the cold weather is mostly the unwholesome season + in hot lands, and vice versâ: hence the Arab proverb, Harárat el-Jebel, wa + lá Bard-há ("The heat of the hills and not their cold"). Old Haji Wali + lost his appetite, complained of indigestion, and clamoured to return + home; Ahmed Kaptán suffered from Sulb ("lumbago") and bad headache; whilst + Lieutenant Yusuf was attacked by an ague and fever, which raised the mouth + thermometer to 102 degrees—103 degrees, calling loudly for aconite. + These ailments affected the party more or less the whole way, but it was + not pleasant to see them begin so soon. When our work of collecting + specimens—three tons from the Jebel el-Abyaz, and three from the + Filon Husayn—was finished, I resolved upon returning to the coast + and treating our loads at the Sharmá water. We reached the valley mouth on + December 30th, and we greatly enjoyed the change from the harshness of the + inland to the mildness of the seaboard air. + </p> + <p> + We stayed at Sharmá, much disliking its remarkably monotonous aspect, for + another week, till January 7, 1878. Yule, "the wheel," despite the + glorious tree-logs and roaring fires, had been a failure at the White + Mountain. The Dragoman had killed our last turkey, and had forgotten to + bring the plum-pudding from El-Muwaylah: there was champagne, but that is + not the stuff wherewithal to wash down tough mutton. New Year's Day, on + the other hand, had all the honours. Its birth was greeted with a flow of + whisky-punch, wherein wine had taken the place of water; and we drank the + health of his Highness, the Founder of the Expedition, in a bottle of dry + Mumm. The evening ended with music and dancing, by way of "praying the Old + Year out and the New Year in." Mersál, the Boruji, performed a wild solo + on his bugle; and another negro, Ahmed el-Shinnáwi, played with the Nái or + reed-pipe one of those monotonous and charming minor-key airs—I call + them so for want of a word to express them—which extend from Midian + to Trafalgar, and which find their ultimate expression in the lovely + Iberian Zarzuela.<a href="#linknote-28" name="linknoteref-28" + id="linknoteref-28"><small>28</small></a> The boy Husayn Genínah, a small + cyclops in a brown felt calotte and a huge military overcoat cut short, + caused roars of laughter by his ultra-Gaditanian style of dancing. I have + also reason to suspect that a jig and a breakdown tested the solidity of + the plank table, while a Jew's harp represented Europe. In fact, + throughout the journey, reminiscences of Mabille and the Music Halls + contrasted strongly with the memories of majestic and mysterious Midian. + And, to make the shock more violent, some friend, malè salsus, sent me + copies of the cosmopolitan Spectator and the courteous Mayfair, which at + once became waste paper for Bedawi cartridges. + </p> + <p> + Our Rosh há Shanah ("New Year's Day") was further distinguished by the + discovery of a vein and outcrop of metalliferous quartz, about half an + hour's walk, and bearing nearly east (80 degrees mag.) from camp. We + followed the Wady Sharmá, and found above its "gate" the + masonry-foundation of a square work; near it lay the graves of the Wild + Men, one with the normal awning of palm-fronds honoris causâ. There were + signs of stone-quarrying, and at one place a road had been cut in the + rock. Leaving on the north the left side of the watercourse, with its + rushes (Scirpus), and huge-headed reeds (Arundo donax), its dates and + Daums—the two latter often scorched and killed by the careless + Bedawi—we struck into a parallel formation, the Wady el Wuday, + bone-dry and much trodden by camels. Arrived at the spot, we found that + the confused masses of hill subtending the regular cliff-line of the old + coast, are composed of grey granite, seamed with snowy quartz, and cut by + the usual bands of bottle-coloured porphyritic trap, which here and there + becomes red. Some of the heights are of greenish-yellow chloritic felspar, + well adapted for brick-making. The surface of the land is scattered with + fragments of white silex and fine red jasper, banded with black oligistic + iron: this rock, close, hard, and fine enough to bear cutting, appears + everywhere in scatters and amongst the conglomerates. Only one fossil was + picked up, a mould so broken as to be quite useless. + </p> + <p> + We also followed out M. Marie's find, to which he had been guided by a + patch of red matter, conspicuous on the road from Tiryam to Sharmá. For + forty minutes we skirted the seaward face of the old cliff, a line broken + by many deep water-gashes and buttressed by Goz, or high heaps of loose + white sand. We then turned eastwards or inland, ascended a Nakb ("gorge"), + and saw, as before, the corallines and carbonates of lime altered, fused, + scorified, and blackened by heated injections; the grey granite scored + with quartz veins, running in all rhumbs; and the porphyritic trap forming + crests that projected from the sands. The cupriferous stone struck + east-west, with a dip to the south; the outcrops, visible without digging, + measured fifteen to twenty metres long, by one to one and a half in + breadth. + </p> + <p> + New Year's Day also restored to us the pup "Páijí." When quite a babe, it + had walked up to me in the streets of Cairo, evidently claimed + acquaintanceship, and straightway followed me into Shepheard's, where; + having a certain sneaking belief in metempsychosis, I provided it with bed + and board. During our third march to the White Mountain, being given to + violent yelps, which startled both mules and camels, the small thing had + been left to walk, and had apparently made friends with an Arab goatherd. + After nine days' absence without leave, "Páijí" reappeared, with dirty + rags tied round its bony back and wasted waist, showing an admirable + skeleton, and making the most frantic demonstrations of joy. The loss of + the poor little brute had affected all our spirits: we thought that the + hyenas and the ravens had seen the last of it; and it received a warm + welcome home. + </p> + <p> + M. Lacaze, unlike the rest, took a violent fancy for the Wady Sharmá: the + water-scenery enchanted him. His sketches were almost confined to the + palm-growth, and to the greenery so unexpected in arid Midian, where, + according to the old and exploded opinion, Moses wrote the Book of Job. + The idea of Arabia is certainly not associated with flowing rills, and + waving trees, and rustling zephyrs. Every morning I used to awake + surprised by the song of the Naiad, the little runnel whimpling down its + bed of rushes, stone, and sand; and the response of the palms making music + in the land-breeze. + </p> + <p> + Finally, on New Year's Day, Lieutenant Amir, guided by Shaykh Furayj, and + escorted by soldiers and miners, made a three days' trip to the Wady + 'Urnub. There he surveyed a large isolated "Mará," or quartz-hill, some + twenty-two to twenty-five direct miles south-east of the main outcrop; + thus giving a considerable extent to the northern mining-focus. This + feature is described as being four or five times larger than the Jebel + el-Abyaz (proper); and the specimens of quartz and grey granite proved it + to be of the same formation. It showed a broken outline, with four great + steps or dykes, which had apparently been worked. In the basal valleys, + and spread over the land generally, was found a heavy yellow sand, + calcareous and full of silex: the guide called it Awwal Hismá (the "Hismá + frontier"). + </p> + <p> + Our travellers returned by a parallel line, southerly and more direct. In + the Wady 'Urnub, the Ma'ázah of the Salímát clan received them with + apparent kindness, inwardly grumbling the while at their land being "spied + out;" and they especially welcomed Furayj, who, being a brave soldier, is + also noted as a peacemaker. All the men were armed, and wore the same + dress as the Huwaytát; like these, they also breed camels and asses—that + is, they are not cow-Arabs. Certain travellers on the Upper Nile have + distributed the Bedawin into these two groups; add horse-Arabs and + ass-Arabs, and you have all the divisions of the race as connected with + the so-called "lower animals." About three hours (= eleven miles) from + Sharmá camp, some pyramids of sand were pointed out in the Wady Rátiyah: + the Bedawin call one of them the Goz et-Hannán ("Moaning Sand-heap"). They + declare that when the Hajj-caravan passes, or rather used to pass, by that + way, before the early sixteenth century, when Sultán Selim laid out his + maritime high-road, a Naubah ("orchestra") was wont to sound within its + bowels. This tale, which, by-the-by, is told of two other places in + Midian, may have been suggested by the Jebel el-Nákús ("Bell Mountain") in + Sinai-land; but as the Arabs perform visitation and sacrifice to the + "Moaning-heap," the superstition probably dates from ancient days. Ruins + are also reported to exist in the Jebel Fa's, the southern boundary of the + 'Urnub valley; and, further south, in the Jebel el-Harb, I was told by + some one whose name has escaped me, of a dolmen mounted upon three + supports. Lieutenant Amir also brought copper ore from the Wady 'Urnub, + and from the Ras Wady el-Mukhbir specimens of a metal which the Arabs use + as a kohl or collyrium. It proved, however, iron, not antimony; and the + same mistake has been made in the Sinaitic Peninsula. + </p> + <p> + At Wady Sharmá we rigged up, under the superintendence of M. Philipin, a + trough and a cradle for washing the black sands, the pounded quartz of the + Jebel el-Abyaz, and the red sands; these latter had shown a trace of + silver (1/10000) to the first Expedition. We mixed it with mercury and + amalgamed it in goatskins; the men moved them to and fro; but, of course, + the water evaporated, and the mass speedily became dry. The upper or + superficial white yielded only, as far as our engineer could judge, a + little copper and bright knobs of pyrites. The Negros, or iridized + formations, of the "Filon Husayn" on a lower horizon, gave the dubious + result already alluded to. All the experiments were conducted in the + rudest way. Of course, a quantity of metal may have escaped notice; and a + fair proportion of the powdered stone was reserved for scientific + treatment in Europe. + </p> + <p> + During our first trip we had found, upon the right jaw of the Wady Sharmá, + a ruined village of workmen, probably slaves, whose bothans measured some + twelve feet by eight. They differ from the Nawámis, or "mosquito-huts," as + the word is generally translated, only in shape—the latter are + circular, with a diameter of ten feet—and they perfectly resemble + the small stone hovels in the Wady Mukattab, which Professor Palmer + ("Desert of the Exodus," p. 202) supposes to have been occupied by the + captive miners and their military guardians. This time we ascended the + coralline ridge which forms the left jamb. At its foot a rounded and half + degraded dorsum of stiff gravel, the nucleus of its former self, showed a + segment of foundation-wall, and the state of the stone suggested the + action of fire. Possibly here had been a furnace. The summit also bears + signs of human occupation. The southern part of the buttress-crest still + supports a double concentric circle with a maximum diameter of about + fifteen feet; the outside is of earth, apparently thrown up for a rampart + behind a moat, and the inside is of rough stones. Going south along the + dorsum, we found remains of oval foundations; a trench apparently cut in + the rock, pottery often an inch and more thick, and broken handmills made + of the New Red Sandstone of the Hismá. Finally, at the northernmost point, + where the cliff-edge falls abruptly, with a natural arch, towards the + swamp, about one kilometre broad at the Báb, we came upon another circle + of rough stones. We were doubtful whether these rude remains were + habitations or old graves; nor was the difficulty solved by digging into + four of them: the pick at once came upon the ground-rock. Hitherto these + ruins have proved remarkably sterile; the only products were potsherds, + fragments of hand-mills, and a fine lump of white marble (Rukhám), + supposed to come from the Jebel el-Lauz. + </p> + <p> + Amongst our followers was a "Kázi of the Arabs," one Jabr bin 'Abd + el-Nabi, who is a manner of judge in civil, but not in criminal matters. + Before the suit begins the plaintiff, or his surety, deposits a certain + sum in coin, corn, or other valuables, and lays his damages at so much. + The defendant, if inclined to contest the claim, pays into court the + disputed amount, and the question is settled after the traditional and + immemorial customs of the tribe. This man, covetous as any other disciple + of Justinian, was exceedingly anxious to obtain the honorarium of a + Shaykh, and he worked hard to deserve it. Shortly before our departure + from Sharmá, he brought in some scoriae and slag, broken and streaked with + copper—in fact, ekvolades. They are thinly scattered over the + seaward slope of the left jaw, where the stone nowhere shows a trace of + the mineral in situ. As, however, the Expedition had found native copper + in three places, more or less near the Jebel el-Abyaz, it was decided that + the ore had been brought from the interior. + </p> + <p> + We were again much puzzled concerning the form of industry which gave rise + to such a large establishment as Sharmá. Agriculture was suggested and + rejected; and we finally resolved that it was a branch-town that supplied + ore to the great smelting-place and workshop of the coast, 'Aynúnah, and + possibly carbonate of lime to serve for flux. + </p> + <p> + The distance along the winding Wady, between the settlement and the sea + westward, where the watercourse ends in sand-heaps, is seven to eight + miles, and the coast shows no sign of harbour or of houses. About three + miles, however, to the northwest is the admirable Bay of 'Aynu'nah, + unknown to the charts. Defended on both sides by sandspits, and open only + between the west and the north-west, where reefs and shoals allow but a + narrow passage, its breadth across the mouth from east to west measures at + least five thousand metres, and the length inland, useful for refuge, is + at least three thousand. At the bottom of this noble Límán, the Kolpos so + scandalously abused by the ancients, are three sandy buttresses metalled + with water rolled stones, and showing traces of graves. Possibly here may + have been the site of an ancient settlement. The Arabs call the southern + anchorage, marked by a post and a pit of brackish water, El-Musaybah or + Musaybat Sharmá. Its only present use seems to be embarking bundles of + rushes for mat-making in Egypt. The north-eastern end of the little gulf + is the Gád (Jád), or Mersá of El-Khuraybah, before described as the port + of 'Aynu'nah. + </p> + <p> + At the Musaybah I stationed our tender, the Sambúk El-Musahhil, which + carried our heavy goods, specimens by the ton; rations and stores; forge, + planks, and crowbars. The sailors lost no time in showing their rapacity. + Every day they dunned us for tobacco; and when we made a counter-demand + for the excellent fish which was caught in shoals, they simply asked, + "What will you pay for it?" I imprudently left my keg of specimen-spirits + on board this ignoble craft, and the consequence was that it speedily + became bone-dry. The Musaybah bight is a direct continuation of the Wady + el-Melláh, which, joining that of El-Maka'dah, runs straight up to the + Jebel el-Abyaz and to the Filon Husayn. These metalliferous quartzes + cannot be further from the coast than a maximum distance of fourteen + miles, and the broad, smooth watercourse, with its easy gradients, points + it out as the site of the future tramway. I should prefer a simpler form + of the "Pioneer Steam Caravan or Saddleback-Railway System," patented by + Mr John L. Haddan, C.E., formerly of Damascus.<a href="#linknote-29" + name="linknoteref-29" id="linknoteref-29"><small>29</small></a> He + recommends iron as the best material for the construction; and the cost, + delivered at Alexandria, would not exceed £1200, instead of £3000 to + £20,000 per kilometre, including the rolling stock. As the distance from + the port is nothing, £300 per kilometre would be amply sufficient for + "fixing up;" but I should reduce the price to £500 for the transport of + some 50 tons per diem. By proper management of the rails or the main rail, + it would be easy for trained camels to draw the train up the Wady; and the + natural slope towards the sea would give work only to the brake where + derailments are not possible. + </p> + <p> + At Sharmá we saw the crescent, when the Englishmen turned their money in + their pockets, and the Egyptian offficers muttered a blessing upon the + coming moon. Every day we waxed more weary of the place; possibly the + memories of the first visit were not pleasant. Many in camp still + suffered; and an old Bedawi, uncle to Shaykh 'Alayan, died and was buried + at 'Aynúnah. The number of servants also made us uncomfortable. The head + Dragoman, whose memory was confined to his carnet, forgot everything; and, + had we trusted to him, half the supplies would have returned to Suez, + probably for the benefit of his own shop at Zagázig. I soon found his true + use, and always left him behind as magazine-man, storekeeper, and guardian + of reserve provisions. He was also a dangerous, mischief-making fellow; + and such men always find willing ears that ought to know better. Petros, + the Zante man, was the model of a tipotenios (an "anybody"), who seemed to + have been born limp, without bones or brains. He was sent back as soon as + possible to Cairo. The worst point of these worthies was, that they + prevented, for their own reasons, the natives working for us; while they + preferred eternal chatter and squabbles to working themselves. So the + Greek element was reduced to George the cook, a short, squat, unwashed + fellow, who looked like a fair-Hercules out of luck; who worked like + three, and who loudly clamoured for a revolver and a bowie-knife. His main + fault, professionally speaking, was that he literally drenched us with oil + till the store happily ran out. His complexion was that of an animated + ripe olive, evidently the result of his own cookery. His surprise when I + imperatively ordered plain boiled rice, instead of a mess dripping with + grease; and when told to boil the fish in sea water and to serve up the + bouillon, was high comedy. Doubtless he has often, since his return, + astounded his "Hellenion" by describing our Frankish freaks and mad + eccentricities. + </p> + <p> + The stationary camp also retained Lieutenant Yusuf and MM. Duguid and + Philipin, with thirteen soldiers and sixteen miners. The six camels were + placed under Gabr, Kázi el-'Orbán; and all the stay-behinds were charged + with washing the several earths, with scouring the country for specimens, + and with transporting sundry tons of the black sand before mentioned. Old + Haji Wali, probably frightened by the Arabs, and maddened by the idea + that, during his absence in the thick of the cotton season, the Fellahs of + Zagázig would neglect to pay their various debts, began to "malinger" with + such intensity of purpose, that I feared lest he would kill himself to + spite us. The venerable Shylock, who ever pleaded poverty, had made some + £300 by lending a napoleon, say, on January 1st, which became a sovereign + on February 1st; not to speak of the presents and "benevolences" which the + debtor would be compelled to offer his creditor. So he departed for + El-Muwaylah, whence some correspondent had warned him that a pilgrim boat + was about to start; declaring that he was dying, and trotting his mule as + hard as it would go, the moment a safe corner was turned. He stayed two + days on board the gunboat, and straightway returned to Egypt and the + cotton season:—we had the supreme satisfaction, however, to hear + that he had gone through the long quarantine at Tor. Yet after our return + he reproached me, with inimitable coolness and effrontery, for not having + behaved well to him. + </p> + <p> + On the morning of January 7th, a walk of two hours and twenty minutes (= + seven miles) northwards, and mostly along the shore of the noble "Musaybat + Sharmá," transferred us to well-remembered 'Aynúnah. The sea in places + washed over slabs of the fine old conglomerates which, in this country, + line the banks and soles of all the greater Wadys: these are the Cascalho + of the Brazil, a rock which is treated by rejecting the pebbles and by + pounding the silicious paste. The air was softer and less exciting than + that of Sharmá; and, although the vegetation was of the crapaud mort + d'amour hue—here a sickly green, there a duller brown than April had + showed—the scene was more picturesque, the "Gate" was taller and + narrower, and the recollection of a happy first visit made me return to it + with pleasure. Birds were more abundant: long-shanked water-fowl with + hazel eyes; red-legged rail; the brown swallow of Egypt; green-blue + fly-catchers; and a black muscivor, with a snowy-white rump, of which I + failed to secure a specimen. We also saw the tern-coloured plover, known + in Egypt as Domenicain and red kingfishers. The game species were fine + large green mallard; dark pintail; quail, and red-beaked brown partridge + with the soft black eye. + </p> + <p> + New formations began to develop themselves, and the sickly hues of the + serpentines and the chlorites, so rich in the New World, appeared more + charming than brow of milk or cheek of rose.<a href="#linknote-30" + name="linknoteref-30" id="linknoteref-30"><small>30</small></a> There were + few changes. A half-peasant Bedawi had planted a strip of barley near the + camping place; the late floods had shifted the course of the waters; more + date-trees had been wilfully burned; a big block of quartz, brother to + that which we had broken, had been carried off; and where several of the + old furnaces formerly stood, deep holes, dug by the "money-hunter," now + yawned. I again examined the two large fragments of the broken barrage, + and found that they were of uncut stone, compacted with fine cement, which + contained palm-charcoal. + </p> + <p> + At 'Aynúnah we gave only one day to work. While M. Lacaze sketched the + views, we blasted with gunpowder more than half charcoal the Ma'dan + el-Fayrúz ("turquoise mine"), as the Arabs called it, on the right side of + the Wady. The colour and texture were so unlike the true lapis Pharanitis + that we began to suspect, and presently we ascertained from the few + remaining fragments, it had been worked for copper,—the carbonates + and the silicates which characterize Cyprus. Presently good specimens of + the latter were brought to us from the Jebel el-Fará by a Bedawi pauper, + 'Ayd of the Tagaygát-Huwaytát tribe. These half-naked shepherds and + goatherds, who know every stone in the land, are its best guides; not the + Shaykhs, who, as a rule, see little or nothing outside their tents. From + our camp the direction, as reported by Ahmed Kaptán, was 102 degrees + (mag.), and the distance three miles. I afterwards sent Lieutenant Yusuf + from El-Muwaylah to make a detailed plan.<a href="#linknote-31" + name="linknoteref-31" id="linknoteref-31"><small>31</small></a> + </p> + <p> + We also dug in an old pit amongst the Christian graves to the south-east + of the camp, and below the left jamb of the "Gate." Here also the Bedawin + had been at work; and, when unable to work deep enough, they told us + wonderful tales of an alabaster slab, which doubtless concealed vast + treasures. In Arabia, as in Africa, one must look out for what there is + not, as well as for what there is. After spending a morning in sinking a + twelve-feet shaft, we came upon a shapeless coralline-boulder, which in + old times had slipped from the sea-face of the cliff to the left of the + valley. I ascended this height, and saw some stones disposed by the hand + of man; but there were no signs of a large slave-miner settlement like + that on the other side of the Báb. + </p> + <p> + In the afternoon Mr. Clarke led a party of quarrymen across the graveyards + to El-Khuraybah, the seaport of 'Aynúnah, and applied them to excavating + the floor of a cistern and the foundations of several houses; a little + pottery was the only result. It was a slow walk of forty minutes; and thus + the total length of the aqueducts would be three miles, not "between four + and five kilometres." I had much trouble and went to some expense in + sending camels to fetch a "written stone" which, placed at the head of + every newly buried corpse, is kept there till another requires it. It + proved to be a broken marble pillar with a modern Arabic epitaph. In the + Gád el-Khuraybah, the little inlet near the Gumruk ("custom-house"), as we + called in waggery the shed of palm-fronds at the base of the eastern + sandspit, lay five small Sambúks, which have not yet begun fishing for + mother-of-pearl. Here we found sundry tents of the Tagaygát-Huwaytát, the + half Fellahs that own and spoil the once goodly land; the dogs barked at + us, but the men never thought of offering us hospitality. We had an + admirable view of the Tihámah Mountains—Zahd, with its "nick;" the + parrot-beak of Jebel el-Shátí; the three perpendicular Pinnacles and + flying Buttresses of Jebel 'Urnub; the isolated lump of Jebel Fás; the + single cupola of Jebel Harb; the huge block of Dibbagh, with its tall + truncated tower; the little Umm Jedayl, here looking like a pyramid; and + the four mighty horns of Jebel Shárr. + </p> + <p> + I left 'Aynúnah under the conviction that it has been the great Warshah + ("workshop") and embarking-place of the coast-section extending from + El-Muwaylah to Makná; and that upon it depended both Wady Tiryam and + Sharmá, with their respective establishments in the interior. Moreover, + the condition of the slag convinced me that iron and the baser metals have + been worked here in modern times, perhaps even in our own, but by whom I + should not like to say. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter III. — Breaking New Ground to Magháir Shu'ayb. + </h2> + <p> + On January 9th we left 'Aynúnah by the Hajj-road, and passed along the + Quarry Hill visited during my first journey: the crest has old cuttings + and new cuttings, the latter still worked for Bedawi headstones. The dwarf + pillar with the mysterious cup is reflected by the Nubians, who hollow out + the upper part of the stela to a depth of eight or ten inches without + adding any ornament. Hence, perhaps, the Sawahíli custom of the inserted + porcelain-plate. + </p> + <p> + After issuing from the stony and sandy gorge which forms the short cut, we + regained the Hajj-road, and presently sighted a scene readily recognized. + Fronting us, the northern horizon was formed by the azure wall of Tayyib + Ism,<a href="#linknote-32" name="linknoteref-32" id="linknoteref-32"><small>32</small></a> + the "Mountain of the Good Name," backed by the far grander peaks of Jebel + Mazhafah: the latter rises abruptly from the bluer Gulf of El-Akabah, and + both trend to their culminating points inland or eastward. On our right + followed the unpicturesque metalliferous heap of Jebel Zahd or 'Aynúnah + Mountain, whose Brèche de Roland seems to show from every angle; its + chocolate-coloured heights contain, they say, furnaces and "Mashghal," or + ateliers, where the Marú ("quartz") was worked for ore. In places it is + backed by the pale azure peaks of Jebel el-Lauz. This "Mountain of + Almonds" is said to take its name from the trees, probably bitter, which + flourish there as within the convent-walls of St. Catherine, Sinai. They + grow, I was told, high up in the clefts and valleys; and here, also, are + furnaces both above and below. Of its white, sparkling, and crystallized + marble, truly noble material, a tombstone was shown to me; and I + afterwards secured a slab with a broken Arabic inscription, and a ball + apparently used for rubbing down meal. The Lauz appears to be the highest + mountain in Northern Midian-land; unfortunately, it is to be reached only + viâ Sharaf, two long stations ahead, and I could not afford time for + geographical research to the prejudice of mineralogical. Its nearer + foot-hill is the Jebel Khulayf; and this feature contains, according to + the Bedawin, seven wells or pits whose bottom cannot be seen. Between the + "Almond Block" and its northern continuation, Jebel Munífah, we saw a + gorge containing water, and sheltering at times a few tents of the 'Amírát + Arabs; in the same block we also heard of a Sarbút or rock said to be + written over. + </p> + <p> + The regular cone of El-Maklá' ends the prospect in the north-eastern + direction. Looking westward, we see the ghastly bare and naked Secondary + formation, the Rughám of the Bedawin, not to be confounded with Rukhám + ("alabaster or saccharine marble"). We afterwards traced this main feature + of the 'Akabah Gulf as far south as the Wady Hamz. It is composed of the + sulphates of lime—alabaster, gypsum, and the plaster with which the + Tertiary basin of Paris supplies the world; and of the carbonates of lime—marble, + chalk, kalkspar, shells, and eggs. The broken crests of the Jibál + el-Hamrá, the red hills backing Makná,<a href="#linknote-33" + name="linknoteref-33" id="linknoteref-33"><small>33</small></a> and the + jagged black peaks of their eastern parallel, the Kalb el-Nakhlah, look + like plutonic reefs or island-chains emerging from the Secondary sea. The + latter, whose bleached and skeleton white is stained, here and there, by + greenish-yellow sands, chlorite and serpentine, stands boldly out from the + chaos of purpling mountains composing Sinai, and ending southwards in the + azure knobs of three-headed Tirán Island. The country, in fact, altogether + changed: quartz had disappeared, and chlorite had taken its place. + </p> + <p> + We passed the night at El-'Usaylah, a Ghadir (or "hollow") without + drainage, which the sinking of water cakes with mud and covers with an + irregular circle of salsolaceous trees, a patch of dark metallic green. + This "'Usaylah" is eaten by camels, but rejected by mules. Here our post + reached us from Suez on the seventh day, having started on the 2nd inst. A + dollar was offered to the Bedawi, who eyed the coin indignantly, declaring + that it ought to be a ginni (guinea). I had also given him some tobacco, + and repented, as usual, my generosity. + </p> + <p> + Next day we finished the last and larger part of the second pilgrim-stage + from El-Muwaylah. Our Arabs had been "dodging;" and, much disappointed + about converting a two days' into a three days' march, they punished us by + feeding their camels on the road, and by not joining us till the evening. + As before, there was no game till we approached the springs; yet tufts and + scatters of tamarisks, Samur (Inga unguis) and Arák (Salvadora), looked + capable of sheltering it. And now, beyond the level and monotonous Desert, + we began to see our destination;—palms and tufty trees at the mouth + of a masked Wady. This watercourse runs between a background of + reddish-brown rock, the foot-hills and sub-ranges of the grand block, + "El-Zánah," to the north; and a foreground of pale-yellow, stark-naked + gypsum, apparently tongue-shaped. Above the latter tower two sister-quoins + of ruddy material, the Shigdawayn, to which a tale hangs. + </p> + <p> + Presently we fell into and ascended the great Wady 'Afár, which begins in + the Hismá, or Red Region, east of the double coast-range. After receiving + a network of Secondary valleys that enable it to flow a torrent, as in + France, every ten to twelve years, it falls into the Mínat el-'Ayánát, a + little port for native craft, which will presently be visited. We left + this Wady at a bend, some two hundred metres wide, called the "Broad of + the Jujube," from one of the splendid secular trees that characterize + North Midian. Near the camping-ground we shall find another veteran + Zizyphus, whose three huge stems, springing from a single base, argue a + green old age. Here both banks of the Fiumara are lined with courses of + rough stone, mostly rounded and rolled boulders, evidently the ruins of + the water-conduits which served to feed the rich growth of the lower + 'Afa'l. The vegetation of the gorge-mouth developed itself to dates and + Daums, tamarisks and salsolaceæ, out of which scuttled a troop of startled + gazelles. We turned the right-hand jamb of the "Gate," and found ourselves + at the water and camping-ground of Magháir Shu'ayb. + </p> + <p> + The general appearance of the station-basin is novel, characteristic, and + not without its charms, especially when the sunset paints the plain with + the red, red gold, and washes every barren peak with the tenderest, + loveliest rosy pink. Under an intensely clear sapphire-coloured sky rises + a distant rim of broken and chocolate-coloured trap-hills, set off by pale + hillocks and white flats of gypsum, here and there crystallized by contact + with the plutonics. The formation mostly stands up either in stiff cones + or in long spines and ridges, whose perpendicular wall-like crests are + impossible to climb. The snowy cliffs rest upon shoulders disposed at the + "angle of rest," and the prevailing dull drab-yellow of the base is + mottled only where accidental fracture or fall exposes the glittering + salt-like interior. The gashes in the flank made by wind and rain disclose + the core—grey granite or sandstone coloured by manganese. The + greater part of the old city was built of this alabaster-like<a + href="#linknote-34" name="linknoteref-34" id="linknoteref-34"><small>34</small></a> + material. When new, it must have been a scene in fairy-land; Time has now + degraded it to the appearance and the consistence of crumbling salt. The + quoin-shaped hills of the foreground, all uptilted and cliffing to the + north, show the curious mauve and red tints of the many-coloured clays + called in the Brazil Tauá. Even the palms are peculiar. Their tall, + upright crests of lively green fronds, their dead-brown hangings, and + their trunks charred black by the careless Bedawi, form a quaint contrast + with the genteel, nattily dressed, and cockneyfied brooms of Egypt and the + Hejaz. And that grandeur may not be wanting to the view, on the east rise + the peak and pinnacles of the Almond Mountain (Jebel el-Lauz), whilst + northwards the Jebel el-Za'nah, a huge dome, forms the horizon. + </p> + <p> + This place, evidently the capital of Madyan Proper, is the which Ptolemy + (vi. 7) places amongst his "Mesogeian towns" in north lat. 28 degrees 15 + minutes;<a href="#linknote-35" name="linknoteref-35" id="linknoteref-35"><small>35</small></a> + and it deserves more than the two pages of description which Ruppell + bestowed upon it.<a href="#linknote-36" name="linknoteref-36" + id="linknoteref-36"><small>36</small></a> We will notice its natural + features before proceeding to the remains of man. Here the Wady 'Afár + takes the name of "El-Badá." Sweeping from west to east, it is deflected + to a north-south line, roughly speaking, by the gate of the Shigdawayn, + twin-hills standing nearly east and west of one another. Now become a + broad, well-defined, tree-dotted bed, with stiff silt banks, here and + there twenty to twenty-five feet high, it runs on a meridian for about a + mile, including the palm-orchard and the camping-ground. It then turns the + west end of the Jebel el-Safrá, a mass of gypsum on the left bank, and it + bends to the east of south, having thus formed a figure of Z. After + escaping from the imprisoning hills, the Fiumara bed, now about + three-quarters of a mile broad, is bisected longitudinally by a long and + broken lump of chloritic or serpentine sandstone; and rises in steps + towards the right bank, upon which the pilgrims camp. Reaching the plain, + the Wady flares out wildly, containing a number of riverine islands, + temporary, but sometimes of considerable size. It retains sufficient + moisture to support a clump of palms—that which we saw from afar;—it + bends to the south-east, and, lastly, it trends seaward. + </p> + <p> + The "Water of Bada'" springs from the base of the hill El-Safrá, oozing + out in trickling veins bedded in soft dark mud. It can be greatly + increased by opening the fountains, and economized by a roofing of mat: we + tried this plan, which only surprised the unready Arab. After swinging to + the left bank and running for a few yards, it sinks in the sand; yet on + both sides there are signs of labour, showing that, even of late years, + the valley has seen better days. Long leats and watercourses have been cut + in the clay, and are still lined with the white-flowered "Rijlah," whose + nutritive green leaf is eaten, raw or boiled, by the Fellahs of Egypt: the + wild growth, however, is mostly bitter. On both sides are little square + plots fenced against sheep and goats by a rude abattis of stripped and + dead boughs, Jujube and acacia. Young dates have been planted in pits; + some are burnt and others are torn; for the Bedawi, mischievous and + destructive as the Cynocephalus, will neither work nor allow others to + work. The 'Ushash or frond-and-reed huts, much like huge birds'-nests, are + scattered about in small groups everywhere except near the water. Wherever + a collection of bones shows a hyena's lair, the hunters have built a + screen of dry stone. + </p> + <p> + In fact, Magháir Shu'ayb was spoken of as an Arab "Happy Valley." But its + owners, the Masá'íd, a spiritless tribe numbering about seventy tents, are + protégés of the Tagaygát. This Huwayti clan is on bad terms with Khizr and + 'Brahim bin Makbúl; and the brother Shaykhs of the 'Imrán, recognized by + the Egyptian Government, claim the land where they have only the right of + transit. Bedawi clans and sub-tribes always combine against stranger + families; but when there is no foreign "war," they amuse themselves with + pilling and plundering, sabring and shooting one another. I believe that + the palms were roasted to death by the 'Imrán, although the Shaykhs + assured me that the damage was done this year, by a careless Mas'údi when + cooking his food. The tribe appears to be Egypto-Arab, like the Huwayta't + and the Ma'ázah, having congeners at Ghazzah (Gaze) and at Ras el-Wady, + near Egyptian Tell el-Kebir. Consequently Rüppell is in error when he + suspects that die Musaiti are ein Judenstamm. The unfortunates fled + towards the sea and left the valley desolate about seven months ago. Their + Shaykh is dead, and a certain Agíl bin Muhaysin, a greedy, foolish kind of + fellow, mentioned during my First Journey, aspires to the dignity and the + profit of chieftainship. He worried me till I named a dog after him, and + then he disappeared. + </p> + <p> + The ruins, of large extent for North Midian, and equal to those of all the + towns we have seen put together, begin with the palm-orchard on the left + bank. The Jebel el-Safrá shows the foundations of what may have been the + arx. It is a double quoin, the taller to the south, the lower to the + north, and both bluff in the latter direction. The dip is about 45 + degrees; the upper parts of the dorsa are scatters of white on + brown-yellow stone; and below it, where the surface has given way, appear + mauve-coloured strata, as if stained by manganese. Viewed in profile from + the west, the site of El-Muttali'<a href="#linknote-37" + name="linknoteref-37" id="linknoteref-37"><small>37</small></a>, as the + Arabs call the hauteville, becomes a tall, uptilted wedge; continued + northwards by the smaller feature, and backed by a long sky-line, a high + ridge of plaster, pale coloured with glittering points. + </p> + <p> + This isolated "Yellow Hill," a "horse" in Icelandic parlance, rising about + two hundred feet above the valley-sole, is separated by a deep, narrow + gorge from the adjacent eastern range. The slopes, now water-torn and + jagged, may formerly have declined in regular lines, and evidently all + were built over to the crest like those of Syrian Safet. The foundations + of walls and rock-cut steps are still found even on the far side of the + eastern feature. The knifeback is covered with the foundations of what + appears to be a fortified Laura or Palace; a straight street running + north-south, with 5 degrees west (mag.). It serves as base for walls one + metre and a half thick, opening upon it like rooms: of these we counted + twenty on either side. At the northern end of the "horse," which, like the + southern, has been weathered to a mere spur, is a work composed of two + semicircles fronting to the north and east. A bastion of well-built wall + in three straight lines overhangs the perpendicular face of the eastern + gorge: in two places there are signs of a similar defence to the south, + but time and weather have eaten most of it away. The ground sounds hollow, + and the feet sink in the crumbling heaps: evidently the whole building was + of Rughám (gypsum); and in the process of decay it has become white as + blocks of ice, here and there powdered with snow. + </p> + <p> + On the narrow, flat ledge, between the western base of this Safrá and the + eastern side of the Bada' valley, lie masses of ruin now become mere + rubbish; bits of wall built with cut stone, and water-conduits of fine + mortar containing, like that of the Pyramids, powdered brick and sometimes + pebbles. We carried off a lump of sandstone bearing unintelligible marks, + possibly intended for a man and a beast. We called it "St. George and the + Dragon," but the former is afoot—possibly the Bedawin stole his + steed. There was a frustum or column-drum of fine white marble, hollowed + to act as a mortar; like the Moslem headstone of the same material, it is + attributed to the Jebel el-Lauz, where ancient quarries are talked of. + There were also Makrákah ("rub-stones") of close-grained red syenite, and + fragments of the basalt handmills used for quartz-grinding. Part of a + mortar was found, made of exceedingly light and porous lava. + </p> + <p> + South-east of the hauteville falls in the now rugged ravine, Khashm + el-Muttalí, "Snout of the high" (town). It leads to the apex of the + coralline formations, scattered over with fragments of gypsum, here + amorphous, there crystalline or talc-like, and all dazzling white as + powdered sugar. Signs of tent foundations and of buildings appear in + impossible places; and the heights bear two Burj or "watchtowers," one + visible afar, and dominating from its mamelon the whole land. The return + to the main valley descends by another narrow gorge further to the + south-east, called Sha'b el-Darak, or "Strait of the Shield:" the tall, + perpendicular, and overhanging walls, apparently threatening to fall, + would act testudo to an Indian file of warriors. High up the right bank of + this gut we saw a tree-trunk propped against a rock by way of a ladder for + the treasure-seeker. The Sha'b-sole is flat, with occasional steps and + overfalls of rock, polished like mirrors by the rain-torrents; the mouth + shows remains of a masonry-dam some fourteen feet thick by twenty-one + long; and immediately below it are the bases of buildings and + watercourses. + </p> + <p> + Walking down the left bank of the great Wady, and between these secondary + gorges that drain the "Yellow Hill," we came upon a dwarf mound of dark + earth and rubbish. This is the Siyághah ("mint and smiths' quarter"), a + place always to be sought, as Ba'lbak and Palmyra taught me. Remains of + tall furnaces, now level with the ground, were scattered about; and Mr. + Clarke, long trained to find antiques, brought back the first coins picked + up in ancient Midian. The total gathered, here and in other parts of + Magháir Shu'ayb, was 258, of which some two hundred were carried home + untouched; the rest, treated with chloritic and other acids, came out + well. One was a silver oval which may or may not have been a token. Eleven + were thick discs, differing from the normal type; unfortunately the + legends are illegible. The rest, inform bits of green stuff, copper and + bronze, were glued together by decay, and apparently eaten out of all + semblance of money until the verdigris of ages is removed. + </p> + <p> + All are cast like the Roman "as", before B.C. 217, and some show the tail. + The distinguishing feature is the human eye; not the outa of Horus,<a + href="#linknote-38" name="linknoteref-38" id="linknoteref-38"><small>38</small></a> + so well known to those who know the Pyramids, but the last trace of + Athene's profile. Two are Roman: a Nerva with S.C. on the reverse; and a + Claudius Augustus, bearing by way of countermark a depressed oblong, of + 20/100 by 14/100 (of inch), with a raised figure, erect, draped, and + holding a sceptre or thyrsus. There is also a Constantius struck at + Antioch. The gem of the little collection was a copper coin, thinly + encrusted with silver, proving that even in those days the Midianites + produced "smashers": similarly, the Egyptian miners "did" the Pharaoh by + inserting lead into hollowed gold. The obverse shows the owl in low + relief, an animal rude as any counterfeit presentment of the ever found in + Troy. It has the normal olive-branch, but without the terminating crescent + (which, however, is not invariably present) on the proper right, whilst + the left shows a poor imitation of the legend (NH). The silvering of the + reverse has been so corroded that no signs of the goddess's galeated head + are visible. My friend, Mr. W. E. Hayns, of the Numismatic Society, came + to the conclusion that it is a barbaric Midianitish imitation of the Greek + tetradrachm, which in those days had universal currency, like the shilling + and the franc. The curious bits of metal, which also bear the owl, may add + to our knowledge of the Nabathaean coins, first described, I believe, by + the learned Duc de Luynes.<a href="#linknote-39" name="linknoteref-39" + id="linknoteref-39"><small>39</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Another interesting "find" was a flat-bottomed, thick-walled clay crucible + of small size (2 10/16 inches high by 2 4/16 inches across the mouth), + exactly resembling the article picked up at Hamámát. The latter, however, + contains a remnant of litharge, possibly showing that the old Egyptians + worked the silver, which may have been supplied by the Colorado quartz. + </p> + <p> + I would here crave leave to make a short excursus to the ancient Ophirs of + Egypt Proper, where, we are told by an inscription in the treasury of + Ramses the Great (fourteen centuries before Christ), the gold and silver + mines yielded per annum a total of 32,000,000 minæ = £90,000,000. Dr. H. + Brugsch-Bey first drew attention to Hamámát, where, as he had learned from + Diodorus (i. 49—iii 12) and from the papyri, the precious metals had + been extensively worked. The "Wells of Hama'ma't" lie between Keneh on the + Nile and Kusayr (Cosseir) on the Red Sea; and the land is held by the + Abábdah Arabs, who have taken charge, from time immemorial, of the rich + commercial caravans. The formation of the country much resembles that of + Midian; and the metalliferous veins run from northeast to south-west. In + Arabia, however, the filons are of unusual size; in Africa they are small, + the terminating fibrils, as it were, of the Asiatic focus; while the Dark + Continent lacks that wealth of iron which characterizes the opposite + coast. + </p> + <p> + By the courtesy of Generals Stone and Purdy I was enabled, after return to + Cairo in May, 1878, to inspect the collection. Admirably arranged in order + of place, and poor as well disposed, it is, nevertheless, useful to + students; and it was most interesting to us. The only novelty is asbestos + produced in the schist: the raw material is now imported by the United + States, and used for a variety of purposes. It is said to exist in Mount + Sinai; we found none in Midian, where the schist formations are of great + extent, probably because we did not look for it. The collection was made + by Colonel Colston; and Mr. L. H. Mitchell, a mining engineer attached to + the Egyptian Staff, spent several weeks spalling sundry tons of quartz. + After finding a speck of gold, the work was considered to be done. General + Stone, however, sensibly deprecated any attempt to exploit the minerals: + the country lacks wood and water, and the expense of camel-transport from + Hamámát to Kusayr, and thence in ships to Suez, would swallow up all the + profits. + </p> + <p> + That Egypt was immensely rich in old days we know from several sources. + Appian tells us that the treasury of Ptolemy Philadelphus contained + 740,000 talents; and assuming with Ebers<a href="#linknote-40" + name="linknoteref-40" id="linknoteref-40"><small>40</small></a> the + Egyptian at half the Æginetan, we have the marvellous sum of £83,250,000. + According to Diodorus (i. 62), the treasury of Rhampsinit, concerning + which Herodotus (ii. 121, 122) heard a funny story from his interpreter, + contained 4,000,000 talents, equal to at least £450,000,000. This rich + king's treasure-house has been found portrayed in the far-famed Temple of + Medinat Habú: the mass of wealth, gold, silver, copper, and spices, is + enormous; and, while the baser metals are in bars, the precious are stored + in heaps, sacks, and vases. + </p> + <p> + The gold-mines of the old Coptos-plain, the modern Kobt, south of Keneh, + are preserved to all time by the earliest known map. It has survived; + whilst those of the Milesian Anaximander (B.C. 610- 547), of Hekataeus + (ob. B.C. 4 76), also from Miletus and called the "Father of Geography" + (Ebers), and of Ptolemy the Pelusian are irretrievably lost. A papyrus in + the Turin Museum contains a plan of the mineral region spoken of in two + stelœ, those of Radesiyyah and Kuban, describing the supply of + drinking-water introduced into the desert between Kuban and the Red Sea. + Chabas<a href="#linknote-41" name="linknoteref-41" id="linknoteref-41"><small>41</small></a> + has published a coloured facsimile of this map: the gold-containing + mountains are tinted red, and the words "Tu en nub" (Mons aureus) are + written over them in hieratics. + </p> + <p> + The only modern gold-workings of Egypt are in the Mudíriyyat (Nomos) of + Famaka, the frontier town, better known as Fayzoghlú from its adjacent + heights. The washings were visited lately (March, 1878) by my enterprising + friend, Dr. P. Matteucci, and M. Gessi. In old days this local Cayenne had + a very bad name; convicts were deported here with a frightful mortality. + It is still a station for galley-slaves, and it has a considerable + garrison, but we no longer hear of an abnormal fatality. The surface was + much turned over by the compulsory miners, and European geologists and + experts were sent to superintend them; at last the diggings did not pay + and were abandoned. But the natives do by "rule of thumb," despite their + ignorance of mineralogy, without study of ground, and lacking + co-ordination of labour, what the Government failed to do. They have not + struck the chief vein' if any exist; but, during the heavy rains of the + Kharif ("autumn") in the valley of the Túmát river, herds of slaves are + sent yearly to wash gold, and they find sufficient to supply the only + known coin—bars or ingots. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the Siyághah, the left bank is gashed by the ravines draining the + south-eastern prolongation of the "Yellow Hill." Water cuts through this + rotten formation of rubbish like a knife into cheese; forming deep chasms, + here narrow, there broad, with walls built up, as it were, of fragments, + and ready to be levelled by the first rains. The lines of street and the + outlines of tenements can be dimly traced, while revetments of rounded + boulders show artificial watercourses and defences against the now + dried-up stream. The breadth of this, the eastern settlement, varies with + the extent of the ledge between the gypsum-hills and the sandy Wady; the + length may be a kilometre. The best preserved traces of crowded building + end with the south-eastern spur of the Jebel el-Safrá. Beyond them is a + huge cemetery. The ancient graves are pits in the ground; a few still + uncovered, the many yawning wide, and all of them ignoring orientation. + Those of the moderns, on the contrary, front towards Meccah. The Bedawin + of this country seem ever to prefer for their last homes the most ancient + sites; they place the body in a pit, covered with a large slab or a heap + of stones, but they never fill in the hollow, as is usual among Moslems, + with earth. The arrangements suit equally well the hyena and the + skull-collector; and thus I was able to make a fair collection of Bedawi + crania. + </p> + <p> + At the south-eastern end of the outliers projected by the Jebel el-Safrá, + where a gentle slope of red earth falls towards the valley-bank, is the + only group of building of which any part is still standing. The site may + be old, but the present ruins are distinctly mediæval, dating probably + from the days of the Egyptian "Mameluke" Sultans. Beginning from below and + to the south-west is a Hauz, or "cistern," measuring twenty-six by + nineteen and a half metres, with a depth of nine to ten feet. The material + is cut sandstone, cemented outside with mortar containing the normal + brick-crumbs and pebbles, and inside mixed with mud. At the north-eastern + and south-western corners are retaining buttresses in two steps, exactly + like those in the inland fort of El-Wijh; at the two other angles are + flights of stairs, and the sole is a sheet of dried silt. To the + south-east lies the remnant of a small circular furnace, and on the + north-north-east a broken wall shows where stood the Bayt el-Saghir, or + smaller reservoir. A narrow conduit of cut stone leads, with elaborate + zigzags, towards two Sakiyah ("draw-wells") hollowed in the gypsum. The + Southern, an oval of five metres ten centimetres, is much dilapidated; and + its crumbling throat is spanned by a worn-out arch of the surrounding + Secondary rock. Close to the north-west is the other, revetted with cut + stone, and measuring six metres in diameter. It is an elaborate affair; + with a pointed arch and a regular keystone, circular Sadúd, or "walls for + supporting the hauling-apparatus," and minor reservoirs numbering three. + On a detached hillock, a few paces to the north, stands the Fort which + defended the establishment. The short walls of the parallelogram measure + fifteen metres forty centimetres; and the long, eighteen metres sixty + centimetres: the gate, choked by ruins, leads to a small hall, with a + masked entrance opening to the right. There is a narrow room under the + stone steps to the west, and two others occupy the eastern side. This Fort + is to be restored for the better protection of pilgrims; and shortly after + our departure an Egyptian engineer, Sulayman Effendi, came from Suez to + inspect and report upon it. + </p> + <p> + According to local modern tradition this scatter of masonry was the + original site of the settlement, called after the builder Bir el-Sa'idáni—"the + Well of Sa'ídán." For watering each caravan the proprietor demanded a + camel by way of fee; at last a Maghribí, that is, a magician, refused to + "part;" betook himself to the present camping ground, sank pits, and let + loose the copious springs. The old wells then dried up, and the new + sources gave to this section of the great Wady 'Afál its actual name, Wady + el-Badá—"of the innovation," so hateful to the conservative savage. + Hence Rüppell's "Beden," which would mean an ibex. + </p> + <p> + On the opposite or right bank of the broad and sandy bed, the traces of + ancient buildings extend to a far greater distance, at least to two + kilometres. They have been a continuous line of forts, cisterns, and + tenements, still marked out by the bases of long thick walls; the material + is mostly gypsum, leprous-white as the skin of Gehazi. But here, and + indeed generally throughout Midian, the furious torrents, uncontrolled + during long ages by the hand of man, have swept large gaps in the masses + of homestead and public buildings. Again the ruins of this section are + distributable into two kinds—the City of the Living, and the City of + the Dead. + </p> + <p> + The former, of considerable extent, hugs the watercourse, and crowns all + the natural spurs that buttress the bed. Beginning from the north lie two + blocks of building considerable in extent: the southern, called by the + Arabs El-Malká, is a broken parallelogram. Further down stream the bank is + a vast strew of broken pottery; and one place, covered with glass + fragments, was named by our soldiers El-Khammárah—"the tavern" or + "the hotel." As in ancient Etruria, so here, the people assemble after + heavy rains to pick up what luck throws in the way. It is said that they + often gather gold pieces, square as well as round, bearing by way of + inscription "prayers" to the Apostle of Allah. Some of us, however, had a + shrewd suspicion that the Tibr, or "pure gold-dust," is still washed from + the sands, and cast probably in rude moulds. + </p> + <p> + Behind, inland or westward of this southern town, lies the City of the + Dead. Unlike the pitted graveyard to the north-east, the cemetery is + wholly composed of catacombs, which the Bedawin call Magháir ("caves") or + Bíbán ("doors"). The sites are the sides and mouths of four little + branch-valleys which cut through the hillocks representing the Wady-bank. + The northernmost is known as Wady el-Khurayk, because it drains a height + of that name: the others bear the generic term Wady el-Safrá, so called, + like the hauteville hill, from the tawny-yellow colour of the rocks. The + catacombs, fronting in all directions, because the makers were guided by + convenience, not by ceremonial rule, are hollowed in the soft new + sandstone underlying the snowy gypsum; and most of the façades show one or + more horizontal lines of natural bead-work, rolled pebbles disposed + parallelly by the natural action of water. In the most ruinous, the upper + layer is a cornice of hard sandstone, stained yellow with iron and much + creviced; the base, a soft conglomerate of the same material, is easily + corroded; and the supernal part caves in upon the principle which is + destroying Niagara. At each side of the doorways is a Mastabah ("stone + bench"), also rock-hewn, and with triple steps. The door-jambs, which have + hollowings for hinges and holes for bars, are much worn and often broken; + they are rarely inclined inwards after the fashion of Egypt. A few have + windows, or rather port-holes, flanking the single entrance. The + peculiarities and the rare ornaments will be noticed when describing each + receptacle; taken as a whole, they are evidently rude and barbarous forms + of the artistic catacombs and tower-tombs that characterize Petra and + Palmyra. + </p> + <p> + The "Magháir" may roughly be divided into four topical groups. These are—the + northern outliers; the "Tombs of the Kings," so called by ourselves + because they distinguish themselves from all the others; the "buttressed + caves" (two sets); and the southern outliers. The first mentioned begin + with a ruin on the right jaw of the Khurayk gorge: it is dug in strata + dipping, as usual, from north-west to south-east; it faces eastward, and + the entrance declines to the south. All external appearance of a catacomb + has disappeared; a rude porch, a frame of sticks and boughs, like the + thatched eaves of a Bulgarian hut, stands outside, while inside signs of + occupation appear in hearths and goat-dung, in smoky roof, and in + rubbish-strewn floor. Over another ruin to the west are graffiti, of which + copies from squeezes and photographs are here given: there are two loculi + in the southern wall; and in the south-eastern corner is a pit, also sunk + for a sarcophagus. A hill-side to the south of this cave shows another, + dug in the Tauá or coloured sandstone, and apparently unfinished: part of + it is sanded up, and its only yield, an Egyptian oil-jar of modern make, + probably belonged to some pilgrim. Crossing the second dwarf gorge we + find, on the right bank, a third large ruin of at least fourteen loculi; + the hard upper reef, dipping at an angle of 30 degrees, and striking from + north-west to southeast, fell in when the soft base was washed away by + weather, and the anatomy of the graves is completely laid bare. Higher up + the same Wady is a fourth Maghárah, also broken down: the stucco-coating + still shows remnants of red paint; and the characters **—possibly + Arab "Wasm," or tribe-marks—are cut into an upright entrance-stone. + </p> + <p> + The precipitous left bank of the third gorge contains the three finest + specimens, which deserve to be entitled the "Tombs of the Kings." Of + these, the two facing eastward are figured by Rüppell (p. 220) in the + antiquated style of his day, with fanciful foreground and background.<a + href="#linknote-42" name="linknoteref-42" id="linknoteref-42"><small>42</small></a> + His sketch also places solid rock where the third and very dilapidated + catacomb of this group, disposed at right angles, fronts southwards. + Possibly the façades may once have been stuccoed and coloured; now they + show the bare and pebble-banded sandstone. + </p> + <p> + The southernmost, which may be assumed as the type, has an upright door, + flanked by a stone bench of three steps. Over the entrance is a defaced + ornament which may have been the bust of a man: in Rüppell it is a kind of + geometrical design. The frontage has two parallel horizontal lines, raised + to represent cornices. Each bears a decoration resembling crenelles or + Oriental ramparts broken into three steps; the lower set numbers eight, + including the half ornaments at the corners, and the higher seven. The + interior is a mixture of upright recesses, probably intended for the gods + or demons; and of horizontal loculi, whose grooves show that they had + lids. There is no symmetry in the niches, in the sarcophagi, or in the + paths and passages threading the graves. The disposition will best be + understood from the ground-plans drawn by the young Egyptian officers: + their sketches of the façades are too careless and incorrect for use; but + the want is supplied by the photographs of M. Lacaze. + </p> + <p> + Above these three "Tombs of the Kings" are many rock-cavities which may or + may not have been sepulchral. Time has done his worst with them. We + mounted the background of a quoin-shaped hill by a well-trodden path, + leading to the remnants of a rude Burj ("watch-tower"), and to a + semicircle of dry wall, garnished with a few sticks for hanging rags and + tatters. The latter denotes the Musallat Shu'ayb, or praying-place of + (prophet) Jethro; and here our Sayyid and our Shaykh took the opportunity + of applying for temporal and eternal blessings. The height at the edge of + the precipice which, cliffing to the north, showed a view of our camp and + of Yubú and Shu'shú' Islands, was in round numbers 450 feet (aner. 29.40—28.94). + From this vantage-ground we could distinctly trace the line of the Wady + Makná, beginning in a round basin at the western foot of the northern + Shigd Mountain and its sub-range; while low rolling hills, along which we + were to travel, separated it from the Wady Bada'-‘Afál to the south. + </p> + <p> + Two other important sets of catacombs, which I will call the "buttressed + caves," are pierced in the right flank of the same gorge, at the base of a + little conical hill, quaintly capped with a finial of weathered rock. The + material is the normal silicious gravel-grit, traversed and cloisonné by + dykes of harder stone. Beginning at the south, we find a range of three, + facing eastward and separated from one another by flying buttresses of + natural rock. No. 1 has a window as well as a door. Next to it is a square + with six open loculi ranged from north to south. No. 3 shows a peculiarity—two + small pilasters of the rudest (Egyptian?) Doric, the only sign of + ornamentation found inside the tombs; a small break in the south-western + wall connects it with the northernmost loculus of No. 2. Furthest north + are three bevel-holes, noting the beginning of a catacomb; and round the + northern flank of the detached cone are six separate caves, all laid waste + by the furious northern gales. + </p> + <p> + The second set is carved in the bluff eastern end of an adjoining reef + that runs away from the Wady; it consists of four sepulchres with the + normal buttresses. They somewhat resemble those of the Kings, but there + are various differences. No. 2 from the south is flanked by pilasters with + ram's-horn capitals, barbarous forms of Ionic connected by three sets of + triglyphs: the pavement is of slabs; there is an inner niche, and one of + the corners has apparently been used as an oven. On a higher plane lies a + sunken tomb, with a deep drop and foot-holes by way of ladder; outside it + the rocky platform is hollowed, apparently for graves. The other three + facades bear the crenelle ornaments; the two to the north show double + lines of seven holes drilled deep into the plain surface above the door, + as if a casing had been nailed on; while the northernmost yielded a + fragmentary inscription on the southern wall. These are doubtless the + "inscribed tablets on which the names of kings are engraved," alluded to + in the Jihan-numá of Haji Khahífah.<a href="#linknote-43" + name="linknoteref-43" id="linknoteref-43"><small>43</small></a> Rounding + the reef to the north, we found three catacombs in the worst condition: + one of them showed holes drilled in the façade. + </p> + <p> + The southern outliers lie far down the Wady 'Afál, facing east, and hewn + in the left flank of a dwarf gulley which falls into the right bank not + far from the site called by our men "the tavern." The group numbers three, + all cut in the normal sandstone, with the harder dykes which here stand up + like ears. The principal item is the upper cave, small, square, and + apparently still used by the Arabs: in the middle of the lintel is a lump + looking like the mutilated capital of a column. The two lower caves show + only traces. + </p> + <p> + There is a tradition that some years ago a Frank (Rüppell?), after + removing his Arab guides, dug into the tombs, and found nothing but human + hair. Several of the horizontal loculi contained the bones of men and + beasts: I did not disturb them, as all appeared to be modern. The floors + sounding hollow, gave my companions hopes of "finds;" but I had learned, + after many a disappointment, how carefully the Bedawi ransack such places. + We dug into four sepulchres, including the sunken catacomb and the + (southern) inscribed tomb. Usually six inches of flooring led to the + ground-rock; in the sarcophagi about eight inches of tamped earth was + based upon nine feet of sand that ended at the bottom. The only results + were mouldering bones, bits of marble and pottery, and dry seeds of the + Kaff Maryam, the Rose of Jericho (Anastatica), which here feeds the + partridges, and which in Egypt supplies children with medicine, and + expectant mothers with a charm. As the plant is bibulous, opening to water + and even to the breath, it is placed by the couch, and its movement shows + what is to happen. The cave also yielded specimens of bats (Rhinopoma + macrophyllum), with fat at the root of their spiky tails. + </p> + <p> + I have described at considerable length this ruined Madiáma, which is + evidently the capital of Madyan Proper, ranking after Petra. In one point + it is still what it was, a chief station upon the highway, then Nabatí, + now Moslem, which led to the Ghor or Wady el-'Arabah. But in all others + how changed! "The traveller shall come; he that saw me in my beauty shall + come: his eyes shall search the field; they shall not find me." + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IV. — Notices of Precious Metals in Midian—the Papyri + and the Mediæval Arab Geographers. + </h2> + <p> + In my volume on "The Gold-Mines of Midian," the popular Hebrew sources of + information—the Old Testament and the Talmud—were ransacked + for the benefit of the reader. It now remains to consult the Egyptian + papyri and the pages of the mediæval Arab geographers: extracts from the + latter were made for me, in my absence from England, by the well-known + Arabist, the Rev. G. Percy Badger.<a href="#linknote-44" + name="linknoteref-44" id="linknoteref-44"><small>44</small></a> I will + begin with the beginning. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey, whose "History of Egypt"<a href="#linknote-45" + name="linknoteref-45" id="linknoteref-45"><small>45</small></a> is the + latest and best gift to Egyptologists, kindly drew my attention to an + interesting passage in his work, and was good enough to copy for me the + source of his information, tile Harris Papyrus (No. 1) in the British + Museum. + </p> + <p> + The first king of the twentieth Dynasty, born about B.C. 1200, and + residing at Thebes, was Rameses III., whose title, Ramessu pa-Nuter (or + Nuti), "Ramses the god," became in the hands of the Greeks Rhampsinitos. + This great prince, ascending the throne in evil days, applied himself at + once to the internal and external economy of his realm; he restored the + caste-divisions, and carried fire and sword into the lands of his enemies. + He transported many captives to Egypt; fortified his eastern frontier; and + built, in the Gulf of Suez, a fleet of large and small ships, in order to + traffic with Pun and the "Holy Land,"<a href="#linknote-46" + name="linknoteref-46" id="linknoteref-46"><small>46</small></a> and to + open communication with the "Incense-country" and with the wealthy shores + of the Indian Ocean. + </p> + <p> + "Not less important," says our author (p. 594), "for Egypt, which required + before all things the copper applied to every branch of her industry, was + the sending of commissioners, by land (on donkey back!) and by sea, to + explore and exploit the rich cupriferous deposits of 'Atháka (in the + neighbourhood of the 'Akabah Gulf?). This metal, with the glance of gold, + was there cast in brick-shape, and was transported by sea to the capital. + </p> + <p> + "The king also restored his attention to the treasures of the Sinaitic + Peninsula, which had excited the concupiscence of the Egyptians since the + days of King Senoferu<a href="#linknote-47" name="linknoteref-47" + id="linknoteref-47"><small>47</small></a> (B.C. 3700). Loaded with rich + presents for the sanctuary of the goddess Hathor, the protectress of + Mafka-land, chosen employés were despatched on a royal commission to the + peninsula, for the purpose of supplying the Pharaoh's treasury with the + highly prized blue-green copper-stones (Mafka, Turkisen?<a + href="#linknote-48" name="linknoteref-48" id="linknoteref-48"><small>48</small></a>)." + </p> + <p> + These lines were published by Dr. Brugsch-Bey before he had heard of my + discoveries of metals and of a modern turquoise-digging in the Land of + Midian. He had decided that "'Atháka" lay to the east of Suez, chiefly + from the insistence laid upon the shipping; sea-going craft would + certainly not be required for a sail of three or four hours. Moreover, as + I have elsewhere shown, Jebel 'Atakáh, the "Mountain of Deliverance," at + the mouth of the Wady Musá, was referred to the Jews at some time after + the Christian era, and probably during the fourth and fifth centuries, + when pilgrimages to the apocryphal Mounts Sinai became the fashion. + </p> + <p> + During the summer of 1877, Dr. Brugsch-Bey was kind enough to copy and to + translate the original document, upon which he founded his short account + of the "'Atháka" copper-mines. I offer it to the reader in full. + </p> + <p> + The order of the alphabet is that adopted by Dr. Brugsch-Bey. It relies + for the first letter upon the authority of Plutarch, who asserts that the + Egyptian abecedarium numbered the square of five (twenty-five); and that + it opened with ——, which also expresses the god Thoth;—this + is the case with —— the leaf of some water-plant. The sequence + of the letters has been suggested by a number of minor considerations: we + begin with the vowels, and proceed to the labial, the liquids, and so + forth.<a href="#linknote-49" name="linknoteref-49" id="linknoteref-49"><small>49</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The sense of the highly interesting inscription, in its English order, + would be:— + </p> + <p> + "I have sent my commissioners to the land 'Atháka; to the (those)<a + href="#linknote-50" name="linknoteref-50" id="linknoteref-50"><small>50</small></a> + great mines of copper (or coppers)<a href="#linknote-51" + name="linknoteref-51" id="linknoteref-51"><small>51</small></a> which are + in this place ('Atháka); and their (i.e. the commissioners') ships<a + href="#linknote-52" name="linknoteref-52" id="linknoteref-52"><small>52</small></a> + were loaded, carrying them (the metals); while other (commissioners were + sent and) marched on their asses. No! one never (ter-tot) had heard, since + the (days of the olden) kings, that these (copper) mines had been found.<a + href="#linknote-53" name="linknoteref-53" id="linknoteref-53"><small>53</small></a> + The loads (i.e. of the ships and the asses) carried copper; the loads were + by myriads for their ships, which went thence (i.e. from the mines) to + Egypt. (After) happily arriving, the loads were landed, according to royal + order, under the Pavilion,<a href="#linknote-54" name="linknoteref-54" + id="linknoteref-54"><small>54</small></a> in form of copper- bricks;<a + href="#linknote-55" name="linknoteref-55" id="linknoteref-55"><small>55</small></a> + they were numerous as frogs (in the marsh),<a href="#linknote-56" + name="linknoteref-56" id="linknoteref-56"><small>56</small></a> and in + quality they were gold (Nub) of the third degree.<a href="#linknote-57" + name="linknoteref-57" id="linknoteref-57"><small>57</small></a> I made + them admired (by) all the world as marvellous things." + </p> + <p> + The following lines upon the subject of Midian are from the notes (p. 143) + of Jacob Golius in "Alferganum" (small 4to. Amsterdam, 1669), a valuable + translation with geographical explanations. Ahmad ibn Mohammed ibn Kathír + el-Fargháni derived his "lakab" or cognomen from the province of Farghán + (Khokand), to the north-east of the Oxus; he wrote a work upon astronomy, + and he flourished about A.H. 184 (= A.D. 800). + </p> + <p> + "Ibidem ( Madyan) Medjan sive Midjan, Antiqui nominis oppidum in Maris + Rubri littore, sub 29 degrees grad. latitudine; ad ortum brumalem + deflectens à montis Sinæ extremitate: ubi feré site Ptolemæi Modiana, haud + dubié eadem cum Midjan. A Geographorum Orientalium quibusdam ad Ægyptum + refertur; à plerisq; omnibus ad Higiazam: quod merito et recté factum. + Nullus enim est, qui Arabibus non annumeret Madianitas; et Sinam, quæ + Madjane borealior, montem Arabiæ facit D. Paulus Gal. iv. Midjan autem + fuit Abrahami ex Kethura filius: unde tribus illa et ab hac urbs nomen + habent. Quam quidem tribum coaluisse, sedibus ut puto et affinitate in + unam cum Ismaëlitis, innuere videntur Geneseos verba. Nam conspirantibus + in Josephi exitium fratribus dicuntur supervenisse Ismaëlitae; transivisse + Midjanite; ipse v ditus ab Ismaëlitis. Ceterum urbem Midjan Arabes pro ea + habent, quæ in Corano vocatur ( Madínat Kúsh): Xaib<a href="#linknote-58" + name="linknoteref-58" id="linknoteref-58"><small>58</small></a> enim illis + idem est, qui Jethro dicitur Exod. iii. cujus filiam Sipporam Moses uxor + duxit, cum ex Ægpto profugisset in terram Midjan; ubi Jethro princeps erat + et Sacerdos. Autonomosia illa Arabibus familiaris. Ita Hanoch ( Aknúkh) + appelatus, Abraham (El- Khalíl), Rex Saul ( Tálút), etc., licet eorundem + propria etiam usurpentur nomina. Et in ipsis Sacris Libris non uno nomine + hic Jethro designatur. Loci illius puteum<a href="#linknote-59" + name="linknoteref-59" id="linknoteref-59"><small>59</small></a> Scriptores + memorant fano circum extructo Arabibus sacrum, persuasis Mosem ibi + Sipporam et sorores à pastorum injuriis vindicasse; prout Exod., cap. ii., + res describitur. Sed primis Muhammedici regni bellis universa fere, quae + rune extabat, urbs vastata fuit." + </p> + <p> + El-Fargháni is followed by the Imám Abú 'Abbás Ahmed bin Yáhyá bin Jábir, + surnamed and popularly known as El-Balázurí, who flourished between A.H. + 232 and 247 (= A.D. 846 to 861), and wrote the Futú'h el-Buldán, or the + "Conquests of Countries." His words are (pp. 13-14, M. J. de Goeje's + edition; Lugduni Batavorum, 1866)—"It was related to me by Abú Abíd + el-Kásim bin Sallám; who said he was told by Ishák bin Isa, from Malík ibn + Anas and from Rabíat, who heard from a number of the learned, that the + Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) gave in feoff (Iktá'at) to Bilál + bin el-Háris el-Muzni, mines (Ma'ádin, i.e. of gold) in the district of + Furú' (variant, Kurú'). Moreover, it was related to me by Amrú el-Nákid, + and by Ibn Saham el-Antáki (of Antioch), who both declared to have heard + from El-Haytham bin Jamíl el-Antáki, through Hammád bin Salmah, that Abú + Makín, through Abú Ikrimah Maulá Bilál bin el-Háris el-Muzni, had averred + 'The Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) enfeoffed the said Bilál with + (a bit of) ground containing a mountain and a (gold) mine; that the sons + of Bilál sold part of the grant to one 'Umar bin 'Abd el-'Azíz, when a + (gold) mine or, according, to others, two (gold) mines were found in it; + that they said to the buyer, Verily we sold to thee land for cultivation, + and we did not sell thee (gold) mining-ground; that they brought the + letter of the Apostle (upon whom be peace!) in a (bound) volume: that + 'Umar kissed it and rubbed it upon his eyes, and said, Of a truth let me + see what hath come out of it (the mine) and what I have laid out upon it.' + Then he deducted from them the expenses of working and returned to them + the surplus. . . . And I was told by Musa'b el-Zubayri, from Malik ibn + Anas, that the Apostle of Allah (upon whom be peace!) gave in feoff to + Bilál bin Háris mines in the district of Fara' (sic). There is no + difference of opinion among our learned men on this subject, nor do I know + any of our companions who contradicts (the statement) that the (gold) mine + paid one-fourth per ten (= 2 1/2 per cent.) royalty (to the Bayt el-Mál, + or Public Treasury). Musa'b further relates, from El-Zahri, that the + (gold) mine defrayed the Zakát or poor-rate: he also said that the + proportion was one-fifth (= 2 per cent.); like that which the people of + El-Irák (Mesopotamia) take to this day from the (gold) mines of El-Fara' + (sic), and of Nejrán, and of Zúl-Marwah, and of Wady El-Kura<a + href="#linknote-60" name="linknoteref-60" id="linknoteref-60"><small>60</small></a> + and others. Moreover, the fifth is also mentioned by Safáin el-Thauri, and + by Abú Hanífah and Abú Yúsuf, as well as by the people of El-'Irák." + </p> + <p> + Follows on my list the celebrated Murúj el-Dahab, or "Meads of Gold," by + El-Mas'údi, who died in A.H. 346 (= A.D. 957), and whose book extends to + A.H. 332 (= A.D. 943). Unable to find the translation of my friend + Sprenger, I am compelled to quote from "Maçoudi. Les Prairies d'Or," texte + et traduction par C. Barbier de Meynard et Pavet de Courteille. Société + Asiatique, Paris, 1864, vol. iii. pp. 301-305. + </p> + <p> + "Les théologians ne sont pas d'accord sur la question de savoir à quel + peuple appartenait Choâïb (Shu'ayb), fils de Nawil, fils de Rawaïl, fils + de Mour, fils d'Anka, fils de Madian, fils d'Abraham, l'ami de Dieu, + quoiqu'il soit certain que sa langue était l'arabe. Les uns pensent qu'il + appartenait aux races arabes éteintes, aux nations qui ont disparu, à + quelque une de ces générations passées dont nous avons parlé. Suivant + d'autres, il s'agirait ici des descendants d'el-Mahd, fils de Djandal, + fils de Yâssob, fils de Madian, fils d'Abraham, dont Choâïb etait frére + par la naissance. De cette race sortit un grand nombre de rods qui + s'étaient dispersés dans des royaumes contigus les uns aux autres ou + sépare's. Parmi ces rods il faut distinguer ceux qui étaient nommés + Aboudjed, Hawaz, Houti, Kalamoun, Çafas et Kourichat,<a href="#linknote-61" + name="linknoteref-61" id="linknoteref-61"><small>61</small></a> tous, + comme nous venons de le dire, fils d'el-Mahd, fils de Djandal. Les lettres + de l'alphabet sont représentées précisément par les noms de ces rois, oú + l'on retrouve les vingt-quatre lettres sur lesquelles roule l'Aboudjed.<a + href="#linknote-62" name="linknoteref-62" id="linknoteref-62"><small>62</small></a> + Il a e'te' dit beaucoup d'autres choses à propos de ces lettres, comme + nous l'avons fait remarquer dans cet ouvrage; mais il n'entre pas dans + notre sujet de rapporter ici tous les systèmes contradictoires imaginés + pour l'expliquer la signification des lettres.<a href="#linknote-63" + name="linknoteref-63" id="linknoteref-63"><small>63</small></a> Aboudjed + fut roi de la Mecque et de la partie du Hédjaz qui y confine. Hawaz et + Houti régnérent conjointement dans le pays de Weddj (El-Wijh), qui est le + territoire de Tayif, et la portion du Nedjd qui lui est contigue. Kalamoun + exerçait la suzeraineté sur le royaume de Madian; il y a même des auteurs + qui pensent que son autorité s'étendait conjointement sur tous les princes + et les pays que nous venons de nommer. Le châtiment du jour de la nuée + (Koran, xxvi. 189) eut lieu sous le re'gne de Kalamoun. Choâïb appelant + ces impies à la pénitence, ils le traitèrent de menteur. Alors il les + mena,ca du châtiment du jour de la nuée, à la suite de quoi une porte du + feu du ciel fut ouverte sur eux. Choâïb se retire, avec ceux qui avaient + cru, dans l'endroit connu sous le nom d'el Aïkah, qui est un fourré dans + la direction de Madian. Cependant, lorsque lcs incrédules sentirent les + effets de la vengeance céleste, et que, consumés par une chaleur terrible, + ils comprirent enfin la vérité, ils se mirent à la recherche de Choâïb et + de ceux qui avaient cru en lui. Ils les trouvérent abrités sous un nuage + blanc, doucement rafraichi par le zéphire, et ne ressentant en rien les + atteintes de la douleur. Ils les chassèrent de cet asile, s'imaginant + qu'ils y trouveraient eux-mêmes un refuge contre le fléau qui les + poursuivait. Mais Dieu changea cette nuée en un feu qui se précipita sur + leurs têtes. Mountassir, fils d'el-Moundir el-Médéni, a parlé de ce peuple + et a déploré son triste sort dans des vers où il dit: + </p> + <p> + "Les rois des enfants de Houti et de Çafas, qui vivaient dans l'opulence, + et ceux de Hawaz, qui possédaient des palais et des appartements + somptueux, + </p> + <p> + "Régnaient sur la contrée du Hédjaz, et leur beauté était semblable à + celle des rayons du soleil ou à l'éclat de la rune; + </p> + <p> + "Ils habitaient l'emplacement de la maison sainte, ils adoucissaient les + moeurs de leurs compatriotes et gouvernaient avec illustration et + honneur.... + </p> + <p> + "Rien de plus curieux que l'histoire de ces rois, le ré'cit de leurs + guerres, de leurs actes, de la manière dont ils s'emparèrent de ces + contrées et établirent leur domination, apres en avoir exterminé les + premières possesseurs. Ceux-ci étaient des peuples dont nous avons parlé + dans nos précédents ouvrages, en traitant ce sujet; nous appelons + l'attention dans ce livre sur nous premiers écrits, et nous engageons le + lecteur à les consulter." + </p> + <p> + The next in order of seniority is the well-known Idrísí (A.H. 531 = A.D. + 1136). Dr. Badger's Arabic copy not being paged, he has forwarded to me + extracts from the French translation by M. P. Amadée Jaubert (Paris, + 1836), having first compared them with the original:— + </p> + <p> + Tome 1 p. 5: "De cette mer de la Chine dérive encore le golfe de Colzoum + (Kulzum), qui commence à Bab el-Mandeb,<a href="#linknote-64" + name="linknoteref-64" id="linknoteref-64"><small>64</small></a> au point + ou se termine la mer des Indes. Il s'étend au nord, en inclinant un peu + vers l'occident, en longeant les rivages occidentales de l'Iemen, le + Téháma, l'Hédjaz, jusqu'au pays de Madian, d'Aila (El-'Akabah), et de + Faran; et se termine à la ville de Colzoum, dont il tire son nom." + </p> + <p> + P. 142: "Les districts fortifiés, dependents de la Mecque, sont . . . Ceux + qui sont sous la dépendance de Médine sont . . . Madyan." + </p> + <p> + P. 328: "Pour aller de Misr (Cairo) à' Yetrib (sic pro Yathrib), on passe + par les lieux suivants, Aïlah (Aylah) Madian," etc. + </p> + <p> + P. 333: "Sur les bords de la mer Colzoum est la ville de Madian (in orig. + Madiyan) plus grande qui Tabouk (Tabúk), et le puits ou Moïse (sur qui + soit le salut!) abreuva le troupeau de Jethro (E1Shu'ayb). On dit que ce + puits est (maintenant) à sec [Note at foot: Je lis Mu'attilah comme porte + le MS. B., et non Mu'azzamah,<a href="#linknote-65" name="linknoteref-65" + id="linknoteref-65"><small>65</small></a> leçon donnee par le MS. A.]; et + qu'on a élevé audessus une construction. L'eau nécéssaire aux habitants + provient de sources. Le nom de Madiyan (sic) de'rive de celui de la tribu + à laquelle Jethro appartenait. Cette ville offre trés peu de ressources et + le commerce y est misérable." + </p> + <p> + The following notice of Madyan is taken from the Kitáb el-Buldán ("Book of + Countries"),<a href="#linknote-66" name="linknoteref-66" + id="linknoteref-66"><small>66</small></a> by Ahmed ibn Abí Ya'kúb bin + Wádhih, surnamed El-Ya'kúbí and El-Kátib (the writer); according to the + Arabic colophon it was completed on the morning of Saturday, Shawwál 21, + A.H. 607 (= A.D. 1210). The author gives (p. 129, T. G. J. Juynboll, + Lugduni Batavorum, 1861) a description of the route from Misr (Egypt, here + Cairo) to Meccah. The first ten stages are—1. Jubb el-'Umayrah; 2. + El-Kerkirah (variant, Karkírah); 3. 'Ajrúd, the well-known fort on the + direct Suez-Cairo line; 4. Jisr el-Kulzum, where the Gulf was crossed; + and, lastly, six Desert marches (Maráhil) to Aylah.<a href="#linknote-67" + name="linknoteref-67" id="linknoteref-67"><small>67</small></a> The latter + station is described as a fine city upon the shore of the Salt Sea, the + meeting-place of the pilgrim-caravans from Syria,<a href="#linknote-68" + name="linknoteref-68" id="linknoteref-68"><small>68</small></a> Egypt, and + the Maghrib (West Africa). It has merchandise in plenty, and its people + are a mixed race (Akhlát min el-Nás).<a href="#linknote-69" + name="linknoteref-69" id="linknoteref-69"><small>69</small></a> Here also + are sold the fine cloaks called Burdu habaratin, and also known as the + Burd of the Apostle of Allah<a href="#linknote-70" name="linknoteref-70" + id="linknoteref-70"><small>70</small></a> (upon whom be peace!). He + resumes, "And from Aylah you march to Sharaf el-Baghl, and from the latter + to Madyan, which is a large and populous city, with abundant springs and + far-flowing streams of wholesome water; and gardens of flower-beds. Its + inhabitants are a mixed race (Akhlát min el-Nás).<a href="#linknote-71" + name="linknoteref-71" id="linknoteref-71"><small>71</small></a> The + traveller making Meccah from Aylah takes the shore of the Salt Sea, to a + place called 'Aynúná (variant, 'Uyún, plural of 'Ayn, an eye of water, a + fountain): here are buildings and palm clumps, and seeking-places + (Matalib: see Lane for the authorities), in which men search for gold." + Dr. Badger draws my attention to the last sentence, which seems also to + have been noticed by Sprenger (Alt. Geog. p. 32).<a href="#linknote-72" + name="linknoteref-72" id="linknoteref-72"><small>72</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The following is from the Kitáb Asár el-Bitad ("Book of the Geographical + Traditions of Countries"), by the far-famed Zakariyyá bin Mohammed bin + Mahmúd, surnamed El-Kazwíní, who died A.H. 653 = A.D. 1255:—"Madyan" + (p. 173, edidit. F. Wustenfeld, Göttingen, 1848) "is a city of the tribe + (Kaum) of Shu'ayb upon whom be peace!): it was founded by Madyan, son of + Ibrahim, the Friend (of Allah), the grandfather of Shu'ayb. It exports the + merchandise of Tabúk between El-Medinah and El-Shám (Damascus). In it is + the well whence Musá (upon whom be peace!) watered the flocks of Shu'áyb, + and it is said that the well is of great depth; and that over it is a + building visited by (pious) men. This settlement Madyan is subject to the + district of Tabaríyyah (Tiberias); and near it is the well, and at it a + rock which Moses uprooted,<a href="#linknote-73" name="linknoteref-73" + id="linknoteref-73"><small>73</small></a> and which remains there to the + present day." + </p> + <p> + The Imám Abú'l-Abbás Ahmed ibn 'Ali Takiyy el-Dín, better known as + "El-Makrízi," wrote his book El-Mawáiz w'el-I'tibár fi' Zikr el-Khitat + w'el-'Asár ("The Admonition and Examples in Commemorating Habitations and + Traditions") in A.H. 825 (= A.D. 1421), during the latter part of the + second Mamlúk dynasty; and he brings down the history to the reign of + Kansu Ghori, whose fort we shall see at El-'Akabah. He tells us (edition + of Gottingen, 1848, Sahífah 48), "The loftiest mountain in Madyan is + called Zubayr.<a href="#linknote-74" name="linknoteref-74" + id="linknoteref-74"><small>74</small></a> . . . It is also related that + amongst the settlements of the (Madyanite) tribe are the villages of + Petræa (), namely, the Kúrat (circuit) of El-Tor, and Fárán (Pharan), and + Ráyeh, and Kulzum, and Aylah (El-'Akabah) with its surroundings; Madyan + with its surroundings; and Awíd and Haurá (Leukè-Kóme) with their + surroundings, and Badá<a href="#linknote-75" name="linknoteref-75" + id="linknoteref-75"><small>75</small></a> and Shaghab."<a + href="#linknote-76" name="linknoteref-76" id="linknoteref-76"><small>76</small></a> + He speaks of many ruined cities whose inhabitants had disappeared: forty, + however, remained; some with, and others without, names. Between El-Hejaz + and Egypt-Syria were sixteen cities, ten of them lying towards Palestine. + The most important were El-Khalasah,<a href="#linknote-77" + name="linknoteref-77" id="linknoteref-77"><small>77</small></a> with its + idol-temple destroyed by Mohammed, and El-Sani'tah, whose stones had been + removed to build Ghazzah (Gaza). The others were El-Mederah, El-Minyah, + El-A'waj, El-Khuwayrak, El-Bírayn, El-Máayn, El-Sebá, and El-Mu'allak.<a + href="#linknote-78" name="linknoteref-78" id="linknoteref-78"><small>78</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The Marásid el-Ittílá 'alá Asmá el-Amkanat w'el-Buká' ("Observations of + Information on the Names of Places and Countries"), which contains two + dates in the body of the work, viz. A.H. 997 ( = A.D. 1589) and A.H. 1168 + (A.D. = 1755), and which is probably compiled from El-Kazwíní, says sub + voce Madyan, after giving the "movement" of the word: "It is a city of the + tribe of Shu'ayb, opposite Tabúk, and upon the sea of El-Kulzum, six + stages (Maráhil) separating the two. It is larger than Tabúk, and in it is + the well whence Moses watered the flocks of Shu'ayb." Finally, it repeats + that Madyan is under the district of "Tabariyyá" or Tiberias<a + href="#linknote-79" name="linknoteref-79" id="linknoteref-79"><small>79</small></a> + (vol. iii. p. 64, edidit. T. G. J. Juynboll, Lugduni Batavorum, 1854, e + duobus Codd. MSS.). + </p> + <p> + I conclude this unpopular chapter with some remarks by Dr. Badger + concerning the apparent connection of Jethro and El-Medínah:<a + href="#linknote-80" name="linknoteref-80" id="linknoteref-80"><small>80</small></a> + "It struck me when studying 'Madyan,' which is the name of a place as well + as of a man,<a href="#linknote-81" name="linknoteref-81" + id="linknoteref-81"><small>81</small></a> that 'Yáthrib,' the ancient term + of al-Madínah, might have served the same double purpose. At all events, + it was singular to find a Yáthrib somewhere near Madyan, and that the word + was not far removed from the (Yithro), the name given in Hebrew to Moses' + Midianite father-in-law. I also note that the Septuagint renders the + Hebrew Yithro by Peshito by (Yathrûn), which the new Arabic version of the + Bible, published at Bairu't (Syria), follows; making it (Yáthrûn). The + name in Hebrew (Exod. iv. 18) is also written (Yether). + </p> + <p> + "My theory is this. Firstly, there is no dependence to be placed on the + Masoretic points, especially when affixed to names of places. Secondly, we + have no certain knowledge of the language used by the Midianites in those + ancient times. Their territory extended northwards towards Palestine, and + from their very intimate relations with the Israelites, as friends and as + enemies, both nations appear to have understood each other perfectly. May + not their language, then, have been a dialect of the Aramean?<a + href="#linknote-82" name="linknoteref-82" id="linknoteref-82"><small>82</small></a> + If so, the (Yithro) of the Bible might have been (Yithrab, Yathrib, etc.). + Instances of the apocopated (b) are common in the Chaldean or + Syro-Chaldaic at the present day; e.g. (Yáheb Alaha) is pronounced + Yáu-Alaha; (Yashuá'-yaheb) becomes Yashuá-yau, etc., the final Beth (b) or + the (heb) being converted into a (w). Hence why may not (Yithro) have been + originally (Yithrab or Yathrib)? Of course, this is only a conjecture of + mine." + </p> + <p> + Mr. E. Stanley Poole (loc. cit.) says that the Arabs dispute whether the + name "Medyen" be foreign or Arabic; and whether "Medyen" spoke Arabic. He + considers the absurd enumeration of the alphabetical kings (El-Mas'údi, + quoted above) to be curious, as possibly containing some vague reference + to the language of Midian. When these kings are said contemporaneously to + have ruled over Meccah, Western Nejd, Yemen, "Medyen," Egypt, etc., it is + extremely improbable that Midian ever penetrated into Yemen, + notwithstanding the hints of Arab authors to the contrary. Yákút el-Hamawi + (born A.H. 574 or 575 = A.D. 1178-79, and died A.H. 626 = A.D. 1228), in + the Mu'jam el-Buldán (cited in the Journ. of the Deutsch. Morgen. + Gesellschaft), declares that a South Arabic dialect is of Midian, and + El-Mas'údi (apud Schultens, pp. 158-159) inserts a Midianite king among + the rulers of Yemen. The latter, however, is more probable than the + former; it may be an accidental and individual, not a material occurrence. + </p> + <p> + The following list of ruins, some cities, others towns, were all, with two + exceptions (Nos. 2 and 18), visited or explored by the second Khedivial + Expedition. The Mashghal, ateliers or subsidiary workshops, were in cases + learned only by hearsay:— + </p> + <p> + 1. Old 'Akabah (Aylah) Mashghal, up Valley el-Yitm. 3. + </p> + <p> + 2. El-Hakl (pronounced "Hagul"), the of Ptolemy: it was seen from the sea, + and notes were taken of its ruins and furnaces. + </p> + <p> + 3. Nakhil Tayyib Ism, in mountain of the same name: its ruined dam (?) and + buildings were surveyed by Lieutenant Amir. + </p> + <p> + 4. Makná. Twice visited. + </p> + <p> + 5. Magháir Shu'ayb. Two ateliers inspected, and one heard of on the Jebel + el-Lauz: total, 3. + </p> + <p> + 6. 'Aynúnah. In Jebel Zahd (ruins and furnaces). 1. + </p> + <p> + 7. Sharmá. An atelier on the Jebel Fás, and another on the Jebel Harb, + both high up: total, 2. + </p> + <p> + 8. Tiryam. An atelier in the Wady Urnub. 1. + </p> + <p> + 9. Abu Hawáwít, near El-Muwaylah. Scoriæ found about the fort of + El-Muwaylah and near Sharm Yáhárr. 2. + </p> + <p> + 10. Zibayyib in Wady Surr. Atelier Sayl Umm Laban (Wady Sadr). 1. + </p> + <p> + 11. Khulasah.<a href="#linknote-83" name="linknoteref-83" + id="linknoteref-83"><small>83</small></a> Saw specimens of worked metal + from Wady Kh'shabríyyah, and the upper Wady Surr; also ruins in the Sayl + Abú Sha'r, south-west and seawards of the Shárr block. + </p> + <p> + 12. Ma' el-Badá, alias Diyár el-Nasárá, in the upper Wady Dámah. + </p> + <p> + 13. Shuwák, the of Ptolemy. Atelier in Jebel el-Sání. 1. + </p> + <p> + 14. Shaghab, another large city mentioned by El-Makrízi. + </p> + <p> + 15. Ruins of El-Khandakí. Broken quartz, and made road at El-Kutayyifah; + two other ateliers in Wady Ruways to the west: total, 3. + </p> + <p> + 16. Umm Amil. Near it an atelier still called El-Dayr, or the Convent. 1. + </p> + <p> + 17. Ziba', old town; Umm Jirmah to the north. 1. + </p> + <p> + 18. Majirmah (pronounced M'jirmah), one day's march south of Zibá. Large + ruins, supposed to have been the classical Rhaunathos. + </p> + <p> + Thus, besides a total of eighteen ruins, more or less extensive, twenty + ateliers were seen or heard of; making up a total of thirty-eight—not + far removed from the forty traditional settlements of the mediæval Arab + geographers. + </p> + <p> + In the plateau of New Red Sandstone called El-Hismá, ruins and + inscriptions are said to be found at the Jebel Rawiyán, whose Wady is + mentioned by Wallin (p. 308); at Ruáfá, between the two hills + El-Rakhamatayn; and at sundry other places, which we were unable to visit. + Beyond the Hisma' I also collected notices of El-Karáyyá, large ruins + first alluded to by Wallin (p. 316).<a href="#linknote-84" + name="linknoteref-84" id="linknoteref-84"><small>84</small></a> + </p> + <p> + During our exploration of the region below El-Muwaylah (my Southern + Midian), and our cruise to El-Haura', the following sites were either seen + or reported:— + </p> + <p> + 1. Ruins in the Wady Dukhán, south of the Wady el-Azlam: north of El-Wijh. + </p> + <p> + 2. El-Nabaghah, in the Wady el-Marrah: north of El-Wijh. + </p> + <p> + 3. Ruins, furnaces and quartz-strews, in the Fara't Lebayyiz. + </p> + <p> + 4. El-Wijh, the port of Strabo's "Egra" (?). + </p> + <p> + 5. Inland fort of El-Wijh; an old metal-working ground. + </p> + <p> + 6. The great mine and ruins, Umm el-Karayya't, everywhere surrounded by + ateliers. + </p> + <p> + 7. El-Kubbah, a small isolated ruin to the east of No. 6. + </p> + <p> + 8. El-Khaur, a working-place to the west of No. 6. + </p> + <p> + 9. The large works called Umm el-Hara'b, with two ruined ateliers near + them. + </p> + <p> + 10. Aba'l-Gezáz, a working-place in the watercourse of the same name, an + upper branch of the Wady Salbah. + </p> + <p> + 11. The fine plain of Bada', with the Mashghal el-'Arayfát heard of to the + north. + </p> + <p> + 12. Marwát, ruins on a ridge near Badá, and signs of a settlement in the + valley. In the Wady Laylah, remains also spoken of. + </p> + <p> + 13. Aba'l-Marú, probably the Zu'l-Marwah of Bilázurí; extensive remains of + buildings; a huge reef of quartz, carefully worked, and smaller ruins + further down the valley. + </p> + <p> + 14. The classical temple or tomb on the left bank of the great Wady Hamz, + dividing Southern Midian from El-Hejaz in the Turkish dominions. + </p> + <p> + 15. Large remains, in two divisions, at El-Haurá.<a href="#linknote-85" + name="linknoteref-85" id="linknoteref-85"><small>85</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Concerning the ateliers, details will be found in the following pages. + Many of them suggest a kind of compromise between the camps and + settlements of the Stone Age, where, e.g. at Pressigny and Grimes' Graves, + the only remnant of man is a vast strew of worked silexes; and the + wandering fraternity of Freemasons who hutted themselves near the work in + hand. And I would here lay special stress upon my suspicion that the + ancestors of the despised Hutaym may have been the Gypsy-caste that worked + the metals in Midian. + </p> + <p> + For the date of the many ruins which stud the country, I will assume + empirically that their destruction is coeval with that of the Christian + Churches in Negeb, or the South Country,<a href="#linknote-86" + name="linknoteref-86" id="linknoteref-86"><small>86</small></a> that + adjoins Midian Proper on the north-west. It may date from either the + invasion of Khusrau Anúshírawán, the conquering Sassanian King Chosroes + (A.D. 531-579); or from the expedition, sent by the Caliph Omar and his + successors, beginning in A.D. 651. But, as will appear in the course of + these pages, there was a second destruction; and that evidently dates from + the early sixteenth century, when Sultán Selim laid out his maritime road + for the Hajj-caravan. Before that time the Egyptian caravans, as will be + seen, marched inland, and often passed from Midian to El-Hijr. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter V.— Work At, and Excursions From, Magháir Shu'Ayb. + </h2> + <p> + By the blessing of Nebi Shu'ayb and a glance from his eyrie, I at once + suspected that the western Shigd was the "Mountain on a mountain" alluded + to by Haji Wali;<a href="#linknote-87" name="linknoteref-87" + id="linknoteref-87"><small>87</small></a> and, on January 12, 1878, I + ascertained that such was the case. The old man had given me a hand-sketch + of the most artless, showing a gorge between two rocks, a hill of two + stages to the left or west, and a couple of Wadys draining it to the sea; + one (Wady Makná) trending northwest, and the other (Wady 'Afál) + south-west. The word "Ishmah," affixed to the northern part of the route, + is evidently the Hismá plateau, and not, as I had supposed it to be, the + Jebel Tayyib Ism. + </p> + <p> + Nor had we any difficulty in discovering Haji Wali's tree, a solitary + Mimosa to the right of the caravan-track, springing from the sands of the + Shigdawayn gorge. The latter is formed by the sister-blocks before alluded + to. The western Shigd, on the right of the Wady 'Afál, is composed of + carbonate of lime and sandstones dyed with manganese, the whole resting + upon a core of grey granite; the formation is the same as the eastern + feature, but the lines of the latter are gentler, and the culminating + tower is wanting. + </p> + <p> + The western Shigd, indeed, is sufficiently peculiar. It is the southern + apex of a short range, numbering some four heads: the eastern flank + discharges the Wady Kizáz, which feeds the 'Afál; and the western the Wady + Makná. The summit of the broken and spiny cone is a huge perpendicular + block, apparently inaccessible as a tower, and composed of the dull yellow + ferruginous conglomerate called "El-Safrá:" the tint contrasts strongly + with a long line of bright white Rugham (gypsum), bisecting the head of + the Wady Makná. Below the apex is a thick stratum of manganese-stained + rock: the upper line, with a dip of 15 deg. towards the main valley, looks + much like a row of bulwarks which had slipped from the horizontal, while + still bluff between the north-east and east. Indeed, the shape is so + regular that M. Lacaze, at first sight, asked if it was une construction. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the washing-trough was brought up from Sharmá, we opened + operations by digging a trench, at least twelve feet deep, in the + re-entering angle of the bed close to the Mimosa tree. The sand, pink + above and chloritic yellow below, ended in a thick bed of water-rolled + pebbles, not in ground-rock; nor did it show the couch of excellent clay + which usually underlies the surface, and which, I have said, is extracted + through pits to make sun-dried brick, swish, and other building materials. + We also secured some of the blood-red earth from the eastern tail of the + northern "Shigh," the manganese-stained Tauá and the gravelly sand washed + out of the Cascalho-gravel, the latter very promising. The result of our + careless working, however, was not successful; the normal ilmenite, black + sand of magnetic iron, took the place of gold-dust. And this unlooked-for + end again made us suspicious of my old friend's proceedings: the first + occasion was that of his notable "malingering." Had he bought a pinch of + "Tibr" (pure gold) from the Bedawin, and mixed it with the handful of + surface stuff ? Had the assayer at Alexandria played him a trick ? Or had + an exceptionally heavy torrent really washed down auriferous "tailings"? I + willingly believe the latter to have been the case; and we shall presently + see it is within the range of possibility. Traces of gold were found by + Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. Ross, through his pyrological process, in the + sandy clays brought from the mouth of Wady Makná. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, despite our magnificent offers, the Arabs managed to keep + inviolate their secret—if they had one. An old man, now a rich + merchant and householder at Suez, had repeatedly declared to Mr. A. G. K. + Levick, that in his young days the Bedawin washed gold in Midian, till the + industry fell into disrepute. During my last visit he was unfortunately + absent upon a pilgrimage; after our return he asserted that he had sent + for specimens of the sand, but that it paid too little even for transport. + This 'Abd el-Hámid el-Shámi, interviewed, after our return, by Mr. Clarke, + declared more than once, and still declares, that many years ago he + obtained from the Wady Zibá, behind the settlement, a certain quantity of + reddish sand which appeared auriferous. He roasted and washed the contents + of three small baskets called "Coffas"<a href="#linknote-88" + name="linknoteref-88" id="linknoteref-88"><small>88</small></a> by + Europeans; and this yielded a pinch of "what looked like pure gold." + </p> + <p> + In camp our men spoke freely of Tibr stored in quills, carried behind the + ear, and sold at Suez—not at Cairo for fear of consequences. Yet + neither promises nor bribes would persuade the poorest to break through + the rule of silence. The whole might have been a canard: on the other + hand, there was also a valid reason for reticence; the open mouth would + not long have led to a sound throat. So our many informants contented + themselves with telling us frequent tales of gold ornaments picked up + after rain; they showed us a ring made from a bit found on the Tabúk road, + and they invariably assure us that we shall find wondrous things—about + the next station. + </p> + <p> + At Magháir Shu'ayb we wasted a whole fortnight (January 11-24, 1878) in + vain works; and I afterwards bitterly repented that the time had not been + given to South Midian. Yet the delay was pleasant enough, after the month + which is required to acquire, or to recover, the habit of tent-life. The + halting-day was mostly spent as follows: At six a.m., and somewhat later + on cold mornings, the Boruji sounds his réveillé—Kum, yá Habíbí, sáh + el-Naum ("Rise, friend! sleep is done"), as the Egyptian officers + interpret the call. A curious business he makes of it, when his fingers + are half frozen; yet Bugler Mersál Abú Dunya is a man of ambition, who + persistently, and despite the coarse laughter of Europeans, repairs for + quiet practicing to the bush. We drink tea or coffee made by Engineer Ali + Marie, or by Quartermaster Yusuf, not by Europeans; two camels supply us + with sweet milk; butter we have brought; and nothing is wanted for + complete comfort but bread. + </p> + <p> + We then separate to our work, after telling off the quarrymen to their + several tasks. Inveterate idlers and ne'er-do-weels, their only object in + life is not to labour; a dozen of them will pass a day in breaking ten + pounds' weight of stone. They pound in the style of the Eastern + tobacconist, with a very short stroke and a very long stay. At last they + burst the sieves in order to enjoy a quieter life. They will do nothing + without superintendence; whilst the officer is absent they sit and chat, + smoke, or lie down to rest; and they are never to be entrusted with a + water-skin or a bottle of spirits. The fellows will station one of their + number on the nearest hill, whilst their comrades enjoy a sounder sleep; + they are the greatest of cowards, and yet none would thus have acted + sentinel even in the presence of the enemy. These useful articles all + expect a liberal "bakhshísh" when the journey is done, with the usual + Asiatic feeling: they know that they deserve nothing, but my "dignity" + obliges me to largess. On this occasion it did not. + </p> + <p> + Those told off to dig prefer to make a deep pit, because fewer can work + together at it, rather than scrape off and sift the two feet of surface + which yield "antíka's." They rob what they can: every scrap of metal + stylus, manilla, or ring is carefully tested, scraped, broken or filed, in + order to see whether it be gold. Punishment is plentifully administered, + but in vain; we cannot even cure their unclean habits of washing in and + polluting the fountain source. Three Europeans would easily do the work of + these thirty poor devils. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Clarke is our camp-manager in general: he is also our jäger; he shoots + the wild poultry, duck and partridge, sand-grouse, and "Bob White" the + quail, for half our dinners; and the Arabs call him the "Angel of Death + belonging to the Birds." He failed to secure a noble eagle in the Wady + 'Afál, whose nest was built upon an inaccessible cliff: he described the + bird as standing as high as our table, and with a width of six to seven + feet from wing to wing. He also brought tidings of a large (horned?) owl, + possibly the same species as the fine bird noted at Sinai. The Arabs call + it classically Búmah, and vulgarly Umm Kuwayk ("Mother of Squeaking"): the + Fellahin believe that it sucks out children's eyes, and hence their name, + "Massásah." Here, as in the Sinaitic Peninsula, "the owl and the hyena are + used as charms; and the burnt feathers of the former, and the boiled flesh + of the latter (superior filth!), are considered as infallible specifics + for numerous disorders." In other parts of Arabia the hooting of the owl + portends death; and the cry, Fát—fát, is interpreted, "He is gone, + gone." + </p> + <p> + The two Staff-officers make plans and sketches of the new places, or they + protract their field-books, working very hard and very slowly. I have but + little confidence in their route-surveys: sights are taken from mule-back, + and distances are judged by the eye. True, the protractions come out well, + but this is all the worse, suggesting the process commonly called + "doctoring." For the style of thing, however, "dead reckoning" did well + enough. + </p> + <p> + M. Lacaze is the most ardent. Accompanied by his favourite orderly, + Salámat el-Nahhás, an intelligent negro from Dár-For, he sets out after + breakfast with a bit of bread, a flagon of water, a tent-umbrella, and his + tools, which he loses with remarkable punctuality, to spend the whole day + sketching, painting, and photographing. M. Philipin is our useful man: he + superintends the washing-cradle; he wanders far and wide, gun in hand, + bringing us specimens of everything that strikes the eye; and he is great + at his forge: the Bedawin sit for hours, gazing attentively as he converts + a file into a knife, and illustrating the reverence with which, in early + days, men regarded Vulcan and Wayland Smith. + </p> + <p> + At eleven a.m. the bugle sounds Tijrí taakul! ("Run and feed"), a signal + for déjeuner à la fourchette. It is a soup, a stew, and a Puláo ("pilaff") + of rice and meat, sheep or goat, the only provisions that poor Midian can + afford, accompanied by onions and garlic, which are eaten like apples, + washed down with bon ordinaire; followed by cheese when we have it, and + ending with tea or coffee. George the cook proves himself an excellent man + when deprived of oil and undemoralized by contact with his fellow Greeks. + After feeding, the idlers, who have slumbered, or rather have remained in + bed, between eight p.m. and six to seven a.m., generally manage a couple + of hours' siesta, loudly declaring that they have been wide awake. One of + the party seems to live by the blessing of him who invented sleep, and he + is always good for half of the twenty-four hours—how they must envy + him whose unhappy brains can be stupefied only by poisonous chloral! + </p> + <p> + At two p.m., after drinking tea or coffee once more, we proceed to another + four hours' spell of work. As sunset and the cold hours draw near, all + assemble about the fire, generally two or three huge palm trunks, whose + blaze gladdens the soul of the lonely night-sentinel; and, assembling the + Shaykhs of the Arabs, we gather from them information geographical, + historical, and ethnological. The amount of invention, of pure fancy, of + airy lying, is truly sensational; while at the same time they conceal from + us everything they can; and, more especially, everything we most wish to + know. Firstly, they do not want us to spy out the secrets of the land; + and, secondly, they count upon fleecing us through another season. During + the whole day, but notably at this hour, we have the normal distractions + of the Arabian journey. One man brings, and expects "bakhshísh" for, a bit + of broken metal or some ridiculous stone; another grumbles for meat; and a + third wants tobacco, medicine, or something to be had for the asking. I am + careful to pay liberally, as by so doing the country is well scoured. + </p> + <p> + Dinner, at seven p.m., is a copy of what was served before noon. It is + followed by another sitting round the fire, which is built inside the mess + tent when cold compels. At times the conversation lasts till midnight; + and, when cognac or whisky is plentiful, I have heard it abut upon the + Battle of Waterloo and the Immortality of the Soul. Piquet and écarté are + reserved for life on board ship. Our only reading consists of newspapers, + which come by camel post every three weeks; and a few "Tauchnitz," often + odd volumes. I marvel, as much as Hamlet ever did, to see the passionate + influence of the storyteller upon those full-grown children, bearded men; + to find them, in the midst of this wild new nature, so utterly absorbed by + the fictitious weal and woe of some poor creature of the author's brain, + that they neglect even what they call their "meals ;" allow their "teas" + to cool, and strain their eyesight poring over page after page in the dim + light of a rusty lantern. Thus also the Egyptian, after sitting in his + café with all his ears and eyes opened their widest, whilst the + story-teller drones out the old tale of Abú Zayd, will dispute till + midnight, and walk home disputing about what, under such and such + circumstances, they themselves would have done. To me the main use of + "Tauchnitz" was to make Arabia appear the happier, by viewing, from the + calm vantage-ground of the Desert, the meanness and the littlenesses of + civilized life—in novels. + </p> + <p> + The marching-day is only the halting-day in movement. By seven a.m. in + winter and four a.m. in spring, we have breakfasted and are ready to mount + mule or dromedary; more generally, however, we set out, accompanied by the + Sayyid and the Shaykhs, for a morning walk. The tents and, most important + of all, the tent-table are left to follow under the charge of the Egyptian + officers, who allow no dawdling. With us are the cook and the two + body-servants, riding of course: they carry meat, drink, and tobacco in my + big tin cylinder intended to collect plants; and they prefer to give us + cold whilst we fight for hot breakfasts. After resting between ten a.m. + and noon in some shady spot, generally under a thorn, we ride on to the + camping-ground, which we reach between two and three p.m. This is the + worst part of the day for man and beast, especially for the mules—hence + the necessity of early rising. + </p> + <p> + The average work rarely exceeds six hours (= eighteen to twenty miles). + Even this, if kept up day after day, is hard labour for our montures, + venerable animals whose chests, galled by the breast-straps, show that + they have not been broken to the saddle. Accustomed through life to ply in + a state of semi-somnolence, between Cairo and the Citadel, they begin by + proving how unintelligent want of education can make one of the most + intelligent of beasts. They trip over every pebble, and are almost useless + on rough and broken ground; they start and swerve at a man, a tree, a + rock, a distant view or a glimpse of the sea; they will not leave one + another, and they indulge their pet dislikes: this shies at a camel, that + kicks at a dog. Presently Tamaddun, as the Arabs say, "urbanity," or, more + literally, being "citified," asserts itself, as in the human cockney; and + at last they become cleverer and more knowing than any country-bred. They + climb up the ladders of stone with marvellous caution, and slip down the + slopes of sand on their haunches; they round every rat-hole which would + admit a hoof; and they know better than we do where water is. They are not + always well treated; the "galloping griff" is amongst us, who enjoys + "lambing" and "bucketing" even a half-donkey. Of course, the more sensible + animal of the two is knocked up; whilst the rider assumes the airs of one + versed in the haute école. The only difficulty, by no fault of the mules, + was the matter of irons: shoeless they could travel only in sand; and, as + has been said, the farrier was forgotten. + </p> + <p> + Amongst our recreant Shaykhs I must not include Furayj bin Rafí'a + el-Huwaytí, a man of whom any tribe might be proud, and a living proof + that the Bedawi may still be a true gentleman. A short figure, meagre of + course, as becomes the denizen of the Desert, but "hard as nails," he has + straight comely features, a clean dark skin, and a comparatively full + beard, already, like his hair, waxing white, although he cannot be + forty-five. A bullet in the back, and both hands distorted by sabre-cuts, + attempts at assassination due to his own kin, do not prevent his using + sword, gun, and pistol. He is the 'Agíd of the tribe, the African "Captain + of War;" as opposed to the civil authority, the Shayhk, and to the + judicial, the Kázi. At first it is somewhat startling to hear him + prescribe a slit weasand as a cure for lying; yet he seems to be known, + loved, and respected by all around him, including his hereditary foes, the + Ma'ázah. He is the only Bedawi in camp who prays. Naturally he is a + genealogist, rich in local lore. He counteracts all the intrigues by which + that rat-faced little rascal, Shaykh Hasan el-'Ukbi, tries to breed + mischief between friends. He is a walking map; it would be easy to draw up + a rude plan of the country from his information. He does not know hours + and miles, but he can tell to a nicety the comparative length of a march; + and, when ignorant, he has the courage to say M'adri, "don't know." He + never asked me for anything, nor told a lie, nor even hid a water-hole. + Willing and ready to undertake the longest march, the hardest work, his + word is Házir—"I'm here"—and he will even walk to mount a + tired man. Seated upon his loud-voiced little Hijn,<a href="#linknote-89" + name="linknoteref-89" id="linknoteref-89"><small>89</small></a> remarkable + because it is of the noble Bishári strain, bred between the Nile and the + Red Sea, he is ever the guide in chief. At last it ends with Nádi Shaykh + Furayj!—"Call Shaykh Furayj"—when anything is to be done, to + be explained, to be discovered. I would willingly have recommended him for + the chieftainship of his tribe, but he is not wealthy; he wisely prefers + to see the dignity in the hands of his cousin 'Alayán, who, by-the-by, is + helpless without him. He remained with us to the end: he seemed to take a + pride in accompanying the expedition by sea to El-Haurá, and by land to + the Wady Hamz, far beyond the limits of his tribe. When derided for + mounting a pair of Government "bluchers," tied over bare feet, with bits + of glaring tassel-string from his camel-saddle, he quoted the proverb, + "Whoso liveth with a people forty days becomes of them." We parted after + the most friendly adieu, or rather au revoir, and he was delighted with + some small gifts of useful weapons:—I wonder whether Shaykh Furayj + will prove "milk," to use Sir Walter Scott's phrase, "which can stand more + than one skimming." + </p> + <p> + In such wild travel, the traveller's comfort depends mainly upon weather. + Usually the air of Magháir Shu'ayb was keen, pure, and invigorating, with + a distinct alternation of land-breeze by night, and of sea-breeze by day. + Nothing could be more charming than the flushing of the mountains at + sunrise and sunset, and the magnificence of the windy, wintry noon. The + rocky spires, pinnacles, and domes, glowing with gorgeous golden light, + and the lower ranges, shaded with hazy blue, umber-red, and luminous + purple, fell into picture and formed prospects indescribably pure and + pellucid. But the average of the aneroid (29.19) gave an altitude of eight + hundred feet; and even in this submaritime region, the minimum temperature + was 42 deg. F., ranging to a maximum of 85 deg F. in the shade. These are + extremes which the soft Egyptian body, reared in the house or the hut, + could hardly support. + </p> + <p> + Darwaysh Effendi followed suit after Yusuf Effendi; it was a study to see + him swathed to the nose, bundled in the thickest clothes, with an umbrella + opened against the sun, and with a soldier leading his staid old mule. + Bukhayt Ahmar and several of the soldiers were laid up; Ahmed Kaptán was + incapacitated for work by an old and inveterate hernia, the effect, he + said, of riding his violent little beast; and a sound ague and fever, + which continued three days, obliterated in my own case the last evils of + Karlsbad. We had one night of rain (January 15), beginning gently at 2.30 + a.m., and ending in a heavy downfall—unfortunately a pluviometer was + one of the forgotten articles. Before the shower, earth was dry as a bone; + shortly after it, sprouts of the greenest grass began to appear in the low + places, and under the shadow of the perennial shrubs. The cold damp seemed + to make even the snakes torpid: for the first time in my life I trod upon + one—a clairvoyante having already warned me against serpents and + scorpions. There were also bursts of heat, ending in the normal three grey + days of raw piercing norther; and followed by a still warmer spell. Upon + the Gulf of El-'Akabah a violent gale was blowing. On the whole the winter + climate of inland Midian is trying, and a speedy return to the seaboard + air is at times advisable, while South Midian feels like Thebes after + Cairo. The coast climate is simply perfect, save and except when El-Aylí, + the storm-wind from 'Akabat Aylah, is abroad. My meteorological journal + was carefully kept, despite the imperfection of the instruments. Mr. + Clarke registered the observations during my illness; Mr. Duguid and Násir + Kaptán made simultaneous observations on board the ships; and Dr. Maclean + kindly corrected the instrumental errors after our return to Cairo.<a + href="#linknote-90" name="linknoteref-90" id="linknoteref-90"><small>90</small></a> + </p> + <p> + I had proposed to march upon the Hismá, or sandy plateau to the east, + which can be made from Magháir Shu'ayb without the mortification of a + Nakb, or ladder of stone. Thereupon our Tagaygát-Huwaytát Shaykhs and + camel-men began to express great fear of the 'Imran-Huwaytát, refusing to + enter their lands without express leave and the presence of a Ghafír + ("surety"). Our caravan-leader, the gallant Sayyid, at once set off in + search of 'Brahim bin Makbúl, second chief of the 'Imrán, and recognized + by the Egyptian Government as the avocat, spokesman and diplomatist, the + liar and intriguer of his tribe. This man was found near El-Hakl (Hagul), + two long marches ahead: he came in readily enough, holding in hand my + kerchief as a pledge of protection, and accompanied by three petty chiefs, + Musallam, Sa'd, and Muhaysin, all with an eye to "bakhshísh." In fact, + every naked-footed "cousin," a little above the average clansman, would + call himself a Shaykh, and claim his Musháhirah, or monthly pay; not a + cateran came near us but affected to hold himself dishonoured if not + provided at once with the regular salary. 'Brahim was wholly beardless, + and our Egyptians quoted their proverb, Sabáh el-Kurúd, wa lá Sabán + el-'Ajrúd—"Better (see ill-omened) monkeys in the morning than the + beardless man." As the corruption of the best turns to the worst, so the + Bedawi, a noble race in its own wilds, becomes thoroughly degraded by + contact with civilization. I remember a certain chief of the Wuld Ali + tribe, near Damascus, who was made a Freemason at Bayrút, and the result + was that "brother" Mohammed became a model villain. + </p> + <p> + By way of payment for escort and conveyance to the Hismá, 'Brahim expected + a recognition of his claim upon the soil of Magháir Shu'ayb, which belongs + to the wretched Masá'id. He held the true Ishmaelitic tenet, that as + Sayyidná (our Lord) Ádam had died intestate, so all men (Arabs) have a + right to all things, provided the right can be established by might. Hence + the saying of the Fellah, "Shun the Arab and the itch." Thus encouraged by + the Shaykhs, the "dodges" of the clansmen became as manifold as they were + palpable. They wanted us to pay for camping-ground; they complained aloud + when we cut a palm-frond for palms, or used a rotten fallen trunk for + fuel. They made their sheep appear fat by drenching them with water. The + people of the Fort el-Muwaylah, determined not to déroger, sent to us, for + sale, the eggs laid by our own fowls. And so forth. + </p> + <p> + Presently 'Brahim brought in his elder brother, Khizr bin Makbúl, about as + ill-conditioned a "cuss" as himself. Very dark, with the left eye clean + gone, this worthy appeared pretentiously dressed in the pink of Desert + fashion—a scarlet cloak, sheepskin-lined, and bearing a huge patch + of blue cloth between the shoulders; a crimson caftan, and red morocco + boots with irons resembling ice-cramps at the heels. Like 'Brahim, he uses + his Bákúr, or crooked stick, to trace lines and dots upon the ground; + similarly, the Yankee whittles to hide the trick that lurks in his eyes. + Khizr tents in the Hismá, and his manners are wild and rough as his + dwelling-place; possibly manly, brusque certainly, like the Desert Druzes + of the Jebel Haurán. He paid his first visit when our Shaykhs were being + operated upon by the photographer: I fancied that such a novelty would + have attracted his attention for the moment. But no: his first question + was, Aysh 'Ujratí?—"What is the hire for my camels?" Finally, these + men threw so many difficulties in our way, that I was compelled to defer + our exploration of the eastern region to a later day. + </p> + <p> + After a week of washing for metals at Magháir Shu'ayb, it was time to move + further afield. On January 17th, the Egyptian Staff-officers rode up the + Wady 'Afál, and beyond the two pyramidal rocks of white stone, which have + fallen from the towered "Shigd," they found on its right bank the ruins of + a small atelier. It lies nearly opposite the mouth of the Wady Tafrígh, + which is bounded north by a hill of the same name; and south by the lesser + "Shigd." Beyond it comes the Wady Nimir, the broad drain of the Jibál + el-Nimir, "Hills of the Leopard," feeding the 'Afál: the upper valley is + said to have water and palms. After a "leg" to the north-east (45 deg. + mag.), they found the 'Afál running from due north; and one hour (= three + miles) led them to other ruins on the eastern side of the low hills that + prolong to the north the greater "Shigd." The names of both sites were + unknown even to Shaykh Furayj. The foundations of uncut boulders showed a + semicircle of buildings measuring 229 paces across the horseshoe. They + counted eleven tenements—probably occupied by the slave-owners and + superintendents—squares and oblongs, separated by intervals of from + forty-five to ninety-seven or a hundred paces. On the north-north-east lay + the chief furnace, a parallelogram of some twenty-three paces, built of + stone and surrounded by scatters of broken white quartz and scoriæ. These + two workshops seem to argue that the country was formerly much better + watered than it is now. Moreover, it convinced me that the only rock + regularly treated by the ancients, in this region, was the metallic Marú + (quartz). + </p> + <p> + I had heard by mere chance of a "White Mountain," at no great distance, in + the mass of hills bounding to the north the Secondary formations of + Magháir Shu'ayb. On January 21st, M. Marie and Lieutenant Amir were + detached to inspect it. They were guided by the active Furayj and a Bedawi + lad, Hamdán of the Amírát, who on receiving a "stone dollar" (i.e. silver) + could not understand its use. Travelling in a general northern direction, + the little party reached their destination in about three hours (= nine + miles). They found some difficulty in threading a mile and a quarter of + very ugly road, a Nakb, passing through rocks glittering with mica; a + ladder of stony steps and overfalls, with angles and zigzags where camels + can carry only half-loads. The European dismounted; the Egyptian, who was + firm in the saddle, rode his mule the whole way. We afterwards, however, + explored a comparatively good road, viâ the Wady Murákh, to the seaboard, + which will spare the future metal-smelter much trouble and expense. + </p> + <p> + The quartz mountain is, like almost all the others, the expanded + mushroom-like head of a huge filon or vein; and minor filets thread all + the neighbouring heights. The latter are the foot-hills of the great Jebel + Zánah, a towering, dark, and dome-shaped mass clearly visible from Magháir + Shu'ayb. This remarkable block appeared to me the tallest we had hitherto + seen; it is probably the "Tayyibat Ism, 6000," of the Hydrographic Chart. + The travellers ascended the Jebel el-Marú, trembling the while with cold; + and from its summit, some fifteen hundred feet above sea-level, they had a + grand view of the seaboard and the sea. They brought home specimens of the + rock, and fondly fancied that they had struck gold: it was again that + abominable "crow-gold" (pyrites), which has played the unwary traveller so + many a foul practical joke. + </p> + <p> + During our stay at Magháir Shu'ayb the camp had been much excited by + Bedawi reports of many marvels in the lands to the north and the + north-east. The Arabs soon learned to think that everything was worth + showing: they led M. Lacaze for long miles to a rock where bees were + hiving. A half-naked 'Umayri shepherd, one Suwayd bin Sa'íd, had told us + of a Hajar masdúd ("closed stone") about the size of a tent, with another + of darker colour set in it; the Arabs had been unable to break it open, + but they succeeded with a similar rock in the Hismá, finding inside only + Tibn ("tribulated straw") and charcoal. Another had seen a Kidr Dahab + ("golden pot"), in the 'Aligán section of the Wady el-Hakl (Hagul) where + it leaves the Hismá; and a matchlock-man had brought down with his bullet + a bit of precious metal from the upper part. This report prevails in many + places: it may have come all the way from "Pharaoh's Treasury" at Petra, + or from the Sinaitic Wady Lejá. At the mouth of the latter is the Hajar + el-Kidr ("Potrock"), which every passing Arab either stones or strikes + with his staff, hoping that the mysterious utensil will burst and shed its + golden shower. Moreover, a half-witted Ma'ázi, by name Masá'í, had + tantalized us with a glorious account of the "House of 'Antar" in the + Hismá, and the cistern where that negro hero and poet used to water his + horses. Near its massive walls rises a Hazbah ("steep and solitary + hillock") with Dims or layers of ashlar atop: he had actually broken off a + bit of greenstone sticking in the masonry, and sold it to a man from Tor + (Khwájeh Kostantin?) for a large sum—two napoleons, a new shirt, and + a quantity of coffee. A similar story is found in the Bádiyat el-Tíh, the + Desert north of the Sinaitic Peninsula. At the ruined cairns of Khara'bat + Lussán (the ancient Lysa), an Arab saw a glimmer of light proceeding from + a bit of curiously cut stone. "This he carried away with him and sold to a + Christian at Jerusalem for three pounds."<a href="#linknote-91" + name="linknoteref-91" id="linknoteref-91"><small>91</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Shaykh 'Brahím had also heard of this marvel; but he called it the Haráb + 'Antar ("Ruin of 'Antar"), and he placed it in the Wady el-Hakl, about an + hour's ride south of the Wady 'Afál. Finally, a tablet in the Wady + Hawwayi', adorned with a dragon and other animals, was reported to me; and + the memory of inscriptions mentioned in the Jihan-numá was still + importunate. Evidently all these were mere fancies; or, at best, gross + distortions of facts. The Bedawin repeat them in the forlorn hope of + "bakhshísh," and never expect action to be taken: next morning they will + probably declare the whole to be an invention. Yet it is never safe to + neglect the cry of "wolf": our most remarkable discovery, the Temple at + the Wady Hamz, was made when report promised least. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly, on January 24th, I despatched, with Shaykhs Khizr and 'Brahím + as guides, Mr. Clarke and the two Staff-lieutenants towards El-Rijm, the + next station of the pilgrim-caravan. Riding up the Wady 'Afál, they + reached, after an hour and three-quarters, the ruins known as Igár Muás—a + name of truly barbarous sound. The settlement had occupied both banks, but + the principal mass was on the left: here two blocks, separated by a + hillock, lay to north-east and south-west of each other. Apparently + dwelling-places, they were composed of a masonry-cistern and of fourteen + buildings, detached squares and oblongs, irregular both in orientation and + in size; the largest measuring eighty by fifty metres, and the smallest + five by four. The material was of water-rolled boulders, huge pebbles + without mortar or cement. There were no signs of a furnace, nor were the + usual fragments of glass and pottery strewed about. To the north and + running up the north-north-eastern slope stood a line of wall two metres + broad and three hundred long: it ended at the south-western extremity in + five round towers razed to their foundations. It was suggested that this + formed part of a street, laid out on the plan of the Jebel el-Safrá, the + hauteville of Magháir Shu'ayb. On the right bank of the Wady appeared a + heap of stones suggesting a Burj. Fine, hard, compact, and purple-blue + slate was collected in the ruins; and the red conglomerates on either side + of the watercourse suggested that Cascalho had been worked. + </p> + <p> + After riding their dromedaries some three hours, halts not included, the + travellers were asked why they had not brought their tents. "Because we + expect to return to camp this evening!" Then it leaked out that they had + not reached half-way to the "closed stone," while the dragon-tablet would + take a whole day. Unprepared for a wintry night in the open, some twelve + hundred feet above sea-level, they rode back at full speed, greatly to the + disgust of the Arabs, who, at this hungry season, rarely push their lean + beasts beyond three and a half to four miles an hour. Lieutenant Amir, who + is invaluable in the field, would have pressed forward: not so the + European. + </p> + <p> + I did not see Shaykhs Khizr or 'Brahím for many a day; nor did we attempt + any more reconnaissances to the north of Magháir Shu'ayb. + </p> + <p> + Not the least pleasant part of our evening's work was collecting + information concerning the origin of the tribes inhabiting modern Midian; + and, as on such occasions a mixed multitude was always present, angry + passions were often let rise. As my previous volume showed, the tribes in + this Egyptian corner of North-Western Arabia number three—the + Huwaytát, the Maknáwi, and the Beni 'Ukbah; the two former of late date, + and all more or less connected with the Nile Valley. Amongst them I do not + include the Hutaym or Hitaym, a tribe of Pariahs who, like the Akhdám + ("serviles") of Maskat and Yemen, live scattered amongst, although never + intermarrying with, their neighbours. As a rule the numbers of all these + tribes are grossly exaggerated, the object being to impose upon the + pilgrim-caravans, and to draw black-mail from the Government of Egypt. The + Huwaytát, for instance, modestly declare that they can put 5000 matchlocks + into the field: I do not believe that they have 500. The Ma'ázah speak of + 2000, which may be reduced in the same proportion; whilst the Baliyy have + introduced their 37,000 into European books of geography, when 370 would + be nearer the mark. I anticipate no difficulty in persuading these + Egypto-Arabs to do a fair day's work for a fair and moderate wage. The + Bedawin flocked to the Suez Canal, took an active part in the diggings, + and left a good name there. They will be as useful to the mines; and thus + shall Midian escape the mortification of the "red-flannel-shirted Jove," + while enjoying his golden shower. + </p> + <p> + I first took the opportunity of rectifying my notes on the origin of the + Huwayta't tribe.<a href="#linknote-92" name="linknoteref-92" + id="linknoteref-92"><small>92</small></a> According to their own oral + genealogists, the first forefather was a lad called 'Alayán, who, + travelling in company with certain Shurafá ("descendants of the Apostle"), + and ergò held by his descendants to have been also a Sherif, fell sick on + the way. At El-'Akabah he was taken in charge by 'Atíyyah, Shaykh of the + then powerful Ma'ázah tribe, who owned the land upon which the fort + stands. A "clerk," able to read and to write, he served his adopted father + by superintending the accounts of stores and provisions supplied to the + Hajj. The Arabs, who before that time embezzled at discretion, called him + El-Huwayti' ("the Man of the Little Wall") because his learning was a + fence against their frauds He was sent for by his Egyptian friends; these, + however, were satisfied by a false report of his death: he married his + benefactor's daughter; he became Shaykh after the demise of his + father-in-law; he drove the Ma'ázah from El-'Akabah, and he left four + sons, the progenitors and eponymi of the Midianite Huwaytát. Their names + are 'Alwán, 'Imrán, Suway'id, and Sa'id; and the list of nineteen tribes, + which I gave in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," is confined to the descendants + of the third brother. + </p> + <p> + The Huwaytát tribe is not only an intruder, it is also the aggressive + element in the Midianite family of Bedawin; and, of late years, it has + made great additions to its territory. If it advances at the present rate + it will, after a few generations, either "eat up," as Africans say, all + the other races or, by a more peaceful process, assimilate them to its own + body. + </p> + <p> + We also consulted Shaykh Hasan and his cousin Ahmed, alias Abú Khartúm, + concerning the origin of his tribe, the Beni 'Ukbah. According to our + friend Furayj, the name means "Sons of the Heel" ('Akab) because, in the + early wars and conquests of El-Islám, they fought during the day by the + Moslems' side; and at night, when going over to the Nazarenes, they lost + the "spoor" by wearing their sandals heel foremost, and by shoeing their + horses the wrong way. All this they indignantly deny; and they are borne + out by the written genealogies, who derive them from "Ukbah, the son of + Maghrabah, son of Heram," of the Kahtániyyah (Joctanite) Arabs, some of + the noblest of Bedawi blood. They preserve the memory of their ancestor + 'Ukbah, and declare that they come from the south; that is, they are of + Hejázi descent, consequently far more ancient than the Huwaytát. At first + called "El-Musálimah," they were lords of all the broad lands extending + southward between Shámah (Syria) and the Wady Dámah below the port of + Zibá; and this fine valley retains, under its Huwayti occupants, the title + of 'Ukbíyyah—'Ukbah-land. Thus they still claim as Milk, or + "unalienable property," the Wadys Gharr, Sharmá, 'Aynúnah, and others; + whilst their right to the ground upon which Fort el-Muwaylah is built has + never been questioned. + </p> + <p> + The first notable event in the history of the Beni 'Ukbah was a quarrel + that arose between them and their brother-tribe, the Beni 'Amr. The 'Ayn + el-Tabbákhah,<a href="#linknote-93" name="linknoteref-93" + id="linknoteref-93"><small>93</small></a> the fine water of Wady Madyan, + now called Wady Makná, was discovered by a Hutaymi shepherd of the Beni + 'Ali clan, while tending his flocks; others say that the lucky man was a + hunter following a gazelle. However that may be, the find was reported to + the Shaykh of the Musálimah (Beni 'Ukbah), who had married 'Ayayfah, the + sister of Ali ibn Nejdi, the Beni 'Amr chief, whilst the latter had also + taken his brother-in-law's sister to wife. The discoverer was promised a + Jinu or Sabátah ("date-bunch") from each palm-tree; and the rivals waxed + hot upon the subject. The Musálimah declared that they would never yield + their rights, a certain ancestor, 'Asaylah, having first pitched tent upon + the Rughámat Makná, or white "horse" of Makná. A furious quarrel ensued, + and, as usual in Arabia as in Hibernia, both claimants prepared to fight + it out. + </p> + <p> + To repeat the words of our oral genealogist, Furayj: "Now, when the wife + of the Shaykh of the Musálimah had heard and understood what Satan was + tempting her husband to do against her tribe, she rose up, and sent a + secret message to her brother of the Beni 'Amr, warning him that a certain + person (Fulán) was about to lay violent hands on the beautiful valley of + El-Madyan. Hearing this, the Beni 'Amr mustered their young men, and + mounted their horses and dromedaries, and rode forth with jingling arms; + and at midnight they found their opponents asleep in El-Khabt,<a + href="#linknote-94" name="linknoteref-94" id="linknoteref-94"><small>94</small></a> + the beasts being tied up by the side of their lords. So they cut the cords + of the camels, they gagged the hunter who guided the attack, they + threatened him with death if he refused to obey, and they carried him away + with them towards Makná. + </p> + <p> + "When the Musálimah awoke, they discovered the deceit, they secured their + beasts, and they hastened after the enemy, following his track like + Azrail. Both met at Makná, when a battle took place, and Allah inclined + the balance towards the Beni 'Amr. The Musálimah, therefore, became + exiles, and took refuge in Egypt. And in the flow of days it so happened + that the Shaykh of the Beni' Amr awoke suddenly at midnight, and heard his + wife, as she sat grinding at the quern, sing this quatrain:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'If the handmill (of Fate) grind down our tribe + We will bear it, O Thou (Allah) that aidest to bear! + But if the mill grind the foeman tribe, + We will pound and pound them as thin as flour.' +</pre> + <p> + "Whereupon the Shaykh, in his wrath, seized a stone, and cast it at his + wife, and knocked out one of her front teeth. She said nothing, but she + took the tooth and wrapped it in a rag, and sent it with a message to her + brother, the Shaykh of the Musálimah. Now, this chief was unable to + revenge his sister single-handed, so he travelled to Syria, and threw + himself at the feet of the great Shaykh of the Wuhaydi tribe, who was also + a Sherif. + </p> + <p> + "The Wuhaydi despatched his host together with the warriors of the + Musálimah, and both went forth to do battle with the Beni 'Amr. The latter + being camped in a valley near 'Aynúnah, tethered their dogs and, some say, + left behind their old people,<a href="#linknote-95" name="linknoteref-95" + id="linknoteref-95"><small>95</small></a> and lit huge bonfires; whence + the name of the place is Wady Umm Nírán ('the Mother of Fires') to this + day. Before early dawn they had reached in flight the Wady 'Arawwah of the + Jibál el-Tihámah. In the morning the Musálimah and the Wuhaydi, finding + that a trick had been practiced upon them, followed the foe, and beat him + in the Wady 'Arawwah, killing the Shaykh. And the chief of the Musálimah + gave his widowed sister as wife to the Wuhaydi, and settled with his + people in their old homes. The Beni 'Amr fled to the Hismá, and exiled + themselves to Kerak in Syria, where they still dwell, owning the plain + called Ganán Shabíb. There is now peace between the Beni 'Ukbah and their + kinsmen the Beni 'Amr." + </p> + <p> + The second event in the history of the tribe, the "Tale of Abú Rísh,"<a + href="#linknote-96" name="linknoteref-96" id="linknoteref-96"><small>96</small></a> + shall also be told in the words of Furayj:—"After the course of time + the Beni 'Ukbah, aided by the Ma'ázah, made war against the Shurafá, who + were great lords in those days, and plundered them and drove them from + their lands. The victors were headed by one Salámah, a Huwayti who dwelt + at El-'Akabah, and who had become their guest. In those ages the daughters + of the tribe were wont to ride before the host in their Hawádig + ('camel-litters'), singing the war-song to make the warriors brave. As + Salámah was the chief Mubáriz ('champion in single combat'), the girls + begged him to wear, when fighting, a white ostrich feather in his + chain-helmet, that they might note his deeds and chant in his name. Hence + his title, Abú Rísh—the 'Father of a Feather.' The Sherifs, being + beaten, made peace, taking the lands between Wady Dámah and El-Hejaz; + whilst the Beni 'Ukbah occupied Midian Proper (North Midian), between + 'Dámah' and 'Shámah' (Syria). + </p> + <p> + "Abú Rísh, who was a friend to both victor and vanquished, settled among + the Sherifs in the Sirr country south of Wady Dámah. He had received to + wife, as a reward for his bravery, the daughter of the Shaykh of the Beni + 'Ukbah; and she bare him a son, 'Id, whose tomb is in the Wady Ghál, + between Zibá and El-Muwaylah. On the Yaum el-Subúh ('seventh day after + birth'), the mother of 'Id followed the custom of the Arabs; and, after + the usual banquet, presented the babe to the guests, including her father, + who made over Wady 'Aynúnah in free gift to his grandson. Now, 'Id used to + lead caravans to Cairo, for the purpose of buying provisions; and he was + often plundered by the Ma'ázah, who had occupied by force the Wadys + Sharmá, Tiryam, and Surr of El-Muwaylah. + </p> + <p> + "This 'Id ibn Salámah left, by a Huwayti woman, a son 'Alayán, surnamed + Abú Takíkah ('Father of a Scar') from a sabre-cut in the forehead: he was + the founder of the Tugaygát-Huwaytát clan, and his descendants still swear + by his name. Once upon a time, when leading his caravan, he reached the + Wady 'Afál, and he learned that his enemies, the Ma'ázah, and the black + slaves who garrisoned El-Muwaylah, were lurking in the Wady Marayr. So he + placed his loads under a strong guard; and he hastened, with his kinsmen + of the Huwaytát, to the Hismá, where the Ma'ázah had left their camels + undefended: these he drove off, and rejoined his caravan rejoicing. The + Ma'ázah, hearing of their disaster, hurried inland to find out the extent + of the loss, abandoning the black slaves, who, nevertheless, were still + determined to plunder the Káfilah. 'Alayán was apprized of their project; + and, reaching the Wady Umm Gehaylah, he left his caravan under a guard, + and secretly posted fifty matchlock-men in El-Suwayrah, east of the hills + of El-Muwaylah. He then (behold his cunning!) tethered between the two + hosts, at a place called Zila'h, east of the tomb of Shaykh Abdullah,<a + href="#linknote-97" name="linknoteref-97" id="linknoteref-97"><small>97</small></a> + ten camel-colts without their dams. Roused by the bleating, the negro + slaves followed the sound and fell into the ambush, and were all slain. + </p> + <p> + "'Alayán returned to the Sirr country, when his tribe, the Huwaytát, said + to him, 'Hayya (up!) to battle with these Ma'ázah and Beni 'Ukbah; either + they uproot us or we uproot them!' So he gathered the clan, and marched to + a place called El-Bayzá,<a href="#linknote-98" name="linknoteref-98" + id="linknoteref-98"><small>98</small></a> where he found the foe in front. + On the next day the battle began, and it was fought out from Friday to + Friday; a truce was then made, and it was covenanted to last between + evening and morning. But at midnight the enemy arose, left his tents + pitched, and fled to the Hismá. 'Alayán followed the fugitives, came up + with them in the Wady Sadr, and broke them to pieces. Upon this they took + refuge in Egypt and Syria. + </p> + <p> + "After a time the Beni 'Ukbah returned, and obtained pardon from 'Alaya'n + the Huwayti, who imposed upon them six conditions. Firstly, having lost + all right to the land, they thus became 'brothers' (i.e. serviles). + Secondly, they agreed to give up the privilege of escorting the + Hajj-caravan. Thirdly, if a Huwayti were proved to have plundered a + pilgrim, his tribe should make good the loss; but if the thief escaped + detection, the Beni 'Ukbah should pay the value of the stolen property in + coin or in kind. Fourthly, they were bound not to receive as guests any + tribe (enumerating a score or so) at enmity with the Huwaytát. Fifthly, if + a Shaykh of Huwaytát fancied a dromedary belonging to one of the Beni + 'Ukbah, the latter must sell it under cost price. And, sixthly, the Beni + 'Ukbah were not allowed to wear the 'Abá or Arab cloak."<a + href="#linknote-99" name="linknoteref-99" id="linknoteref-99"><small>99</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The Beni 'Ukbah were again attacked and worsted, in the days of Sultan + Selim, by their hereditary foe, the Ma'ázah. They complained at Cairo; and + the Mamlúk Beys sent down an army which beat the enemy in the Wady Surr. + They had many quarrels with their southern neighbours, the Baliyy: at last + peace was made, and the land was divided, the Beni 'Ukbah taking the tract + between Wadys Da'mah and El-Muzayrib. Since that time the tribe has been + much encroached upon by the Huwayta't. It still claims, however, as has + been said, all the lands between El-Muwaylah and Makná, where they have + settlements, and the Jebel Harb, where they feed their camels. They number + some twenty-five to thirty tents, boasting that they have hundreds; and, + as will appear, their Shaykh, Hasan el-'Ukbi, amuses himself by + occasionally attacking and plundering the wretched Maknáwis, or people of + Makná, a tribe weaker than his own. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VI. — To Makná, and Our Work There—the Magáni or + Maknáwis. + </h2> + <p> + After a silly fortnight at old Madiáma, I resolved to march upon its + seaport, Makná, the of Ptolemy, which the people call also "Madyan."<a + href="#linknote-100" name="linknoteref-100" id="linknoteref-100"><small>100</small></a> + We set out at seven a.m. (January 25th); and, after a walk of forty-five + minutes, we were shown by Furayj a Ghadír, or shallow basin of clay, + shining and bald as an old scalp from the chronic sinking of water. In the + middle stood two low heaps of fine white cement, mixed with brick and + gravel; while to the west we could trace the framework of a mortared + Fiskíyyah ("cistern"), measuring five metres each way. The ruin lies a + little south of west (241 deg. mag.) from the greater "Shigd;" and it is + directly under the catacombed hill which bears the "Praying-place of + Jethro." A tank in these regions always presupposes a water-pit, and there + are lingering traditions that this is the "Well of Moses," so generally + noticed by mediæval Arab geographers. It is the only one in the Wady + Makná, not to mention a modern pit about an hour and a half further down + the valley, sunk by the Bedawin some twenty feet deep: the walls of the + latter are apparently falling in, and it is now bone-dry. But the + veritable "Moses' Well" seems to have been upon the coast; and, if such be + the case, it is clean forgotten. True, Masá'íd, the mad old Ma'ázi, + attempted to trace a well inside our camp by the seashore; but the Beni + 'Ukbah, to whom the land belongs, had never heard of it. + </p> + <p> + After marching about six miles, we entered a gorge called Umm el-Bíbán, + "the Mother of Gates," formed by the stony spurs of the Wady bank: the + number of birds and trees, especially in the syenitic valleys, showed that + water could not be far off. At 10.10 a.m. a halt was called at the + half-way place, a bay or hollow in the left cliff, El-Humayrah—"the + Little Red"—an overhanging wall of ruddy grit some eighty feet high, + with strata varying in depth from a few lines to as many fathoms, all + differing in colour, and all honeycombed, fretted, and sculptured by wind + and rain. Above the red grit, weathered into a thousand queer shapes, + stood strata of chloritic sand, a pale yellow-green, and capping it rose + the usual dull-brown carbonate of lime. Large fossil oysters lay in + numbers about the base, suggesting a prehistoric feast of the Titans. + Amongst them is the monstrous Tridacna (gigantea), which sometimes attains + a growth of a yard and a half; one of these is used as a bénitier at the + church of Saint Sulpice, Paris. Amongst the layers were wavy bands of + water-rolled crystals, jaspers, bloodstones, iron-revetted pebbles, and + "almonds," which, in the Brazil, accompany and betray the diamond.<a + href="#linknote-101" name="linknoteref-101" id="linknoteref-101"><small>101</small></a> + We had no time to make a serious search; but, when the metals shall be + worked, it will, perhaps, be advisable to import a skilled prospecter from + the Brazil or the Cape of Good Hope. + </p> + <p> + At noon we met the "heaven-sent, life-sustaining sea-breeze;" and now the + broad and well-marked Wady Makná, with its rosy-pink sands, narrowed to a + gut, flanked and choked on both sides, north and south, by rocks of the + strangest tricolour, green-black, yellow-white, and rusty-red. The gloomy + peak, which had long appeared capping the heights ahead, proved to be the + culmination of a huge upthrust of porphyritic trap. Bottle-green when seen + under certain angles, and dull dead sable at others, it was variegated by + cliffs and slopes polished like dark mirrors, and by sooty sand-shunts + disposed at the natural slope. Crumbling outside, the lower strata pass + from the cellular to the compact, and are often metalliferous when in + contact with the quartz: at these Salbandes the richest mineral deposits + are always found. Set in and on the black flanks, and looking from afar + like the gouts of a bloodstone, are horizontal beds, perpendicular spines, + and detached blocks of felsitic porphyry and of rusty-red syenite, + altered, broken, and burnt by plutonic heat. In places, where the trap has + cut through the more modern formations, it has been degraded by time from + a dyke to a ditch, the latter walled by the ruddy rocks, and sharply cut + as a castle-moat. And already we could see, on the right of the Wady, + those cones and crests of ghastly, glaring white gypsum, which we had + called "the Hats." + </p> + <p> + These gloomy cliffs, approaching the maritime plain, sweep away to the + south, and melt into the "Red Hills" visited on our first excursion. They + are known as the Jebel el-'Abdayn—"of the Two Slaves:" this, + perhaps, is the Doric pronunciation of the Bedawin for Abdín—"slaves." + Presently we sighted the familiar features of the seaboard, described in + my first volume, especially the Rughámat el-Margas to the north; and + westward the Gulf of 'Akabah, looking cool and blue in the Arabian glare. + After five hours and thirty minutes (= seventeen miles and a half) in the + saddle we reached Makná. + </p> + <p> + I had thought of encamping near the "Praying-place of Moses," a fine + breezy site which storms would have made untenable. As at Sharmá, camels + must turn off to the right over the banks when approaching the mouth of + the Wady Madyan, whose bed is made impassable by rocks and palm-thicket. + We then proposed to pitch the tents upon the valley sands within the + "Gate," but this was overruled by the Sayyid, who told grisly tales of + fever and ague. Finally, we returned to our former ground, near the old + conglomerates and the mass of new shells, which ledge the shore of the + little harbour. Approaching it, we were delighted to see the gunboat + Mukhbir steaming up, despite the contrary wind, from Sharm Yáhárr; she was + towing the Sambúk, which brought from 'Aynúnah Bay our heavy gear, + rations, and tools. This was a stroke of good luck: already we were on + half rations, and provant for men and mules threatened to run short. + </p> + <p> + Our week at Makná (January 25—February 2) justified the pleasant + impression left by the first visit, and enabled us to correct the + inaccuracies of a flying survey. + </p> + <p> + This "Valley of Waters," with its pink and yellow (chloritic) sands, is + bounded on the right near the sea by a sandbank about one hundred feet + high, a loose sheet thinly covering the dykes of syenite and the + porphyritic trap which in places peep out. Possibly it contains, like the + left flank, veins of quartz, lowered by corrosion, and concealed by the + sand-drift spread by the prevalent western winds. The high-level abounds + in detached springs, probably the drainage of the Rughámat Makná, the huge + "horse" or buttress of gypsum bearing north-east from the harbour. The + principal veins number three. The uppermost and sweetest is the Ayn + el-Tabbákhah; in the middle height is El-Túyuri (Umm el-Tuyúr), with the + dwarf cataract and its tinkling song; whilst the brackish 'Ayn el-Fara'í + occupies the valley sole. Besides these a streak of palms, perpendicular + to the run of the Wady, shows a rain-basin, dry during the droughts, and, + higher up, the outlying dates springing from the arid sands, are fed by + thin veins which damp the rocky base. Hence, probably, Dr. Beke identified + the place with the "Elim" of the Exodus: his artist's sketch from the sea + (p. 340) is, however, absolutely unrecognizable. + </p> + <p> + The high-level spring and the middle water rise in sandy basins; course + down deeply furrowed beds of grit; and, after passing through a tangle of + vegetation, a dense forest of palms, alive and dead, and open patches sown + with grain, wilfully waste their treasures in the upper slope of the right + bank. This abundance of water has developed a certain amount of industry; + although the Bedawin tear to pieces the young male-dates, whose tender + green growth, at the base of the fronds, supplies them with a "chaw." A + number of artificial runners has been trained to water dwarf barley-plots, + whose fences of date-fronds defend them from sheep and goats; and further + down the bank are the fruit trees which first attracted our attention. + </p> + <p> + The low-level water consists of two springs. The upper is the 'Ayn + el-'Aryánah, springing from the sands under the date-trees which line the + right and left sides: apparently it is the drainage of a gypsum "hat," + called El-Kulayb, "the Little Dog"—in their Doric the Bedawin + pronounce the word Galáib. Further down the bed, and divided by a tract of + dry sand, is the 'Ayn el-Fara'i, which also rises from both banks, forms a + single stream, sleeps in deep pellucid pools like fairy baths among the + huge boulders of grey granite, and finally sinks before reaching the + shore. When these waters shall again be regulated, as of old, they will + prove amply sufficient for the vegetable and the mineral. Anton, the + Greek, who everywhere saw the shop, was so charmed with the spot, that he + at once laid out his establishment: here shall be the hotel; there the + billiard and gambling room, and there the garden, the kiosk, the buvette—in + fact, he projected a miner's paradise. + </p> + <p> + On the crest of this right bank, above the vegetation, lies the + traditional Musallat Musá ("Moses' Oratory"), of which the foundations, or + rather the base-stones, are in situ. The larger enceinte measures, without + including two walls projecting from the north-east and north-west angles, + an oblong of thirty-seven by twenty-five feet; and, as usual with + Midianite ruins, it has been built of all manner of material. The inner + sanctum opens to the west, the northern and southern basement-lines only + remaining: the former is composed of eight blocks of gypsum resembling + alabaster, five being larger than the others; and the southern of three. + Upon these the Bedawin still deposit their simple ex-votos, oyster and + other shells, potsherds, and coloured pebbles.<a href="#linknote-102" + name="linknoteref-102" id="linknoteref-102"><small>102</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The left or opposite bank, which wants water, is formed by the tall + conglomerate-capped cliffs, which support the "Muttali'" or hauteville, + and by the warty block called Jebel el-Fahísát. In "The Gold-Mines of + Midian" (Chap. XII.) it is called El-Muzayndi, an error of my informants + for El-Muzeúdi: the latter is the name of the small red hill north of our + camp. I again visited the high town, which is about a hundred feet above + the valley: presently it will disappear bodily, as its base is being + corroded, like the Jebel el-Safrá of Magháir Shu'ayb. The walls still + standing form a long room running north-south; and the two adjoining + closets set off to the north-east and south-east. This sadly shrunken + upper settlement covers the remnant of the rocky plateau to the east: + there are also traces of building on the southern slopes. Ruined heaps of + the usual material, gypsum, dot and line the short broad valley to the + north, which rejoices in the neat and handy name, Wady Majrá Sayl Jebel + el-Marú. Here, however, they are hardly to be distinguished from the + chloritic spines and natural sandbanks that stud the bed. The only + antiquities found in the "Muttali"' were a stone cut into parallel bands, + and the fragment of a basalt door with its pivot acting as hinge in the + upper part: it reminded me of the Græco-Roman townlets in the Haurán, + where the credulous discovered "giant Cities" and similar ineptitudes. Our + search for Midianite money was in vain; Mr. Clarke, however, picked up, + near the sea, a silver "Taymúr," the Moghal, with a curiously twisted + Kufic inscription. (A.H. 734). + </p> + <p> + The 'Ushash or frond-huts of the Maknáwi and the Beni 'Ukbah were still + mostly empty. At this season, all along the seaboard of North-Western + Arabia, the Bedawin are grazing their animals in the uplands, and they + will not return coastwards till July and August supply the date-harvest. + The village shows the inconséquence of doors and wooden keys to defend an + interior made of Cadjan, or "dry date-fronds," which, bound in bundles, + make a good hedge, but at all times a bad wall. One of its peculiar + features is what looks like a truncated and roofless oven; in this swish + cylinder they pound without soaking the date-kernels that feed their + camels, sheep, and goats. A few youths, however, who remained in this + apology for a "deserted village," assisted us in night-fishing with the + lantern; and they brought from the adjoining reefs the most delicate of + shell and scale fish. The best were the langoustes (Palinurus vulgaris), + the clawless lobsters called crawfish (crayfish) in the United States, and + the agosta or avagosta of the Adriatic: it was confounded by the Egyptian + officers with "Abú Galambo,"<a href="#linknote-103" name="linknoteref-103" + id="linknoteref-103"><small>103</small></a> the crab (Cancer pelagicus). + The echinidae of various species, large-spined and small-spined, the + latter white as well as dull-red, were preserved in spirits.<a + href="#linknote-104" name="linknoteref-104" id="linknoteref-104"><small>104</small></a> + Amongst the excellent fish, the Marján (a Sciœna) the Sultan el-Bahr, the + Palamita (Scomber), the Makli (red mullets, Mugil cephalus), and the Búri, + were monstrous animals, with big eyes and long beaks like woodcocks; some + of these were garnished with rows of ridiculously big teeth. I failed to + procure live specimens of small turtle, and yet the huts were full of + carapaces, all broken and eight-ribbed. One species, the Sakar, supplies + tortoise-shell sold at Suez for 150 piastres per Ratl or pound; the + Bísa'h, another large kind without carapace, is used only for eating: both + are caught off the reefs and islets. An eel-like water-snake (Marrína = + Murœna Ophis) showed fight when attacked. The Arabs do not eat it, yet + they will not refuse the Shaggah, or large black land-snake. + </p> + <p> + The enforced delay at Makná gave us the opportunity of making careful + reconnaissances in its neighbourhood. During the last spring I had heard + of a Jebel el-Kibí't ("sulphur-hill") on the road to 'Aynúnah, but no + guide was then procurable. Shortly after our return, a Bedawi named Jázi + brought in fine specimens of brimstone, pure crystals adhering to the + Secondary calcaire, and possibly formed by decomposition of the sulphate + of lime. If this be the case we may hope to find the mineral generally + diffused throughout these immense formations; of course, in some places + the yield will be richer and in others poorer. Further investigation + introduced us, as will be seen, to two southern deposits, without + including one heard of in Northern Sinai. All lie within a short distance + of the sea, and all are virgin: the Bedawin import their sulphur from the + "Barr el-'Ajam," the popular name for Egypt, properly meaning Persia or + any non-Arab land. Thus, in one important article Midian rivals, if not + excels, the riches of the opposite African shore, where for a single mine + thirty millions of francs have been demanded by way of indemnity. + </p> + <p> + Betimes on January 26th, a caravan of four camels, for the two quarrymen + and the guide, set off southwards, carrying sacks, tools, and other + necessaries. They did not return till the morning of the third day; Jázi + had lost the road, and the Bedawin rather repented of having been so ready + to disclose their treasures. Of course, our men could not ascertain the + extent of the deposits; but they brought back rich specimens which + determined me to have the place surveyed. Unfortunately I had forgotten a + sulphur-still; and the engineer vainly attempted to extract the ore by + luting together two iron mortars, and by heating them to a red heat. The + only result was the diffusion of the sulphur crystals in the surrounding + gypsum. This discovery gave me abundant trouble; the second search-party + was a failure; and it was not till February 18th that I could obtain a + satisfactory plan of the northern Jebel el-Kibrít. + </p> + <p> + At Makná I was much puzzled by the presence of the porous basalt, which + had yielded to the first Expedition a veinlet of "electron"—gold and + silver mixed by the hand of Nature. The plutonic rock, absent from the + Wady Makná, appears in scatters along the shore to the north. Our friend + Furayj knew nothing nearer than El-Harrah, the volcanic tract bounding the + Hismá on the east, and distant some five days' march. This was going too + far; querns of the same material, found in all the ruins, suggested a + neighbouring outcrop. Moreover, during the last spring, I had heard of a + mining site called Nakhil Tayyib Ism, the "Palm-orchard (of the Mountain) + of the Good Name," in the so-called range to the north of Makná. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Amir was despatched (January 27th) to seek for basalt, with a + small dromedary-caravan, under the lead of Shaykh Furayj. After winding + for about two hours along the shore, which is cut by the broad mouths of + many a Wady; and whose corallines, grits, and limestones are weathered + into the strangest shapes; he left to the right (east) the light-coloured + Jebel Sukk. On the southern side of the Wady (Sukk) which drains it to the + sea, a hill of the porous stone which the Arabs call "Hajar el-Harrah" + appeared. The specimens brought home, si vera sunt exposita, if they be + really taken from an outcrop, prove that volcanic centres, detached, + sporadic, and unexpected, like those found further north, occur even along + the shore. As will afterwards appear, another little "Harrah" was remarked + by Burckhardt ("Syria," p. 522), about one hour and a quarter north of + Sinaitic Sherm. He says, "Here for the first and only time, I saw volcanic + rocks," and he considers that their extension towards Ras Abú(?) Mohammed + may have given rise to the name . + </p> + <p> + Wellsted,<a href="#linknote-105" name="linknoteref-105" + id="linknoteref-105"><small>105</small></a> who apparently had not read + Burckhardt, makes the same remark. The many eruptive centres in the + limestones of Syria and Palestine were discovered chiefly by my late + friend, the loved and lamented Charles F. Tyrwhitt-Drake. It would be + interesting to ascertain the relation which they bear to tile great lines + of vulcanism in the far interior, the Haura'n and the Harrah, subtending + the coast mountains. And Dr. Beke, another friend now no more, would have + been delighted to know that his "True Mount Sinai" was not unconnected + with a volcanic outbreak. + </p> + <p> + Beyond the Wady Sukk, a bad rough path leads along the base of the Tayyih + Ism Mountain; then the cliffs fall sheer into the sea, explaining why + caravans never travel that way. Yet there was a maritime road, for we know + that Abú Sufyán, on his way from Syria to fight the battle of "Bedr" (A.H. + 2), passed by a roundabout path for safety, along the shore of Midian. + Thus compelled, the track bends inland, and enters a Nakb, a gash + conspicuous from the Gulf, an immense cañon or couloir that looks as if + ready to receive a dyke or vein. Curious to say, a precisely similar + formation, prolonged to the south-west, cuts the cliffs south of Marsá + Dahab in the Sinaitic Peninsula. The southern entrance to the gorge bears + signs of human habitation: a parallelogram of stones, 120 paces by 91, has + been partially buried by a land-slip (?); and there are remnants of a dam + measuring about a hundred metres in length (?). About three hundred yards + higher up, water appears in abundance, and palm clumps grow on both sides + of it. Here, however, all trace of man is wanting; the winter torrents + must be dangerous; and there is no grass for sheep. The crevasse now + becomes very wild; the Pass narrows from fifty to ten paces, and, in one + section, a loaded camel can hardly squeeze through; whilst the cliff-walls + of red and grey granite (?) tower some two thousand feet above the thread + of path.<a href="#linknote-106" name="linknoteref-106" id="linknoteref-106"><small>106</small></a> + Water which, as usual, sinks in the sand, is abundant enough in three + other places to supply a large caravan; and two date-clumps were passed. + Hence, if all here told be true, the "Nakhil (palm-plantation) Tayyib Ism" + reported to the first Expedition. + </p> + <p> + After covering sixteen miles in five hours, the caravan had not made more + than half the distance to the Bir el-Máshi, where a small Marsá, or + anchorage-ground, called El-Suwayhil ("the Little Shore") nestles in the + long sand-slope between the mountain Tayyib Ism and its huge northern + neighbour, the Mazhafah block. From this "Well of the Walker," a pass + leads to the Wady Marsha', where, according to certain Bedawin, are found + extensive ruins and Bíbán ("doors"), or catacombs. The whole is, however, + an invention; our Sayyid had ridden down the valley during his journey to + El-Hakl. + </p> + <p> + On the next day another reconnaissance was made. I had been shown fine + specimens of quartz from the Eastern highlands; moreover, a bottle of + "bitter" or sulphur-water from the Wady Mab'úg, the "oblique" or "crooked" + valley, mentioned in "The Gold-Mines of Midian,"<a href="#linknote-107" + name="linknoteref-107" id="linknoteref-107"><small>107</small></a> had + been brought to us with much ceremony. Those who tasted it, indeed, were + divided as to whether it smacked more of brimstone or of ammonia. + Accordingly, Mr. Clarke and Lieutenant Yusuf walked up the Wady Makná, and + ascended the Mab'úg, where the mineral spring proved to be a shallow pool + of rain-water, much frequented by animals, camels included. Search for the + "Marú" was more successful: they found a network of veins in the sandstone + grits (?) of the Jebel Umm Lasaf; and they thus established the fact that + the "white stone" abounds to the east as well as to the south of Makná. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile we were working hard at the Jebel el-Fahísát, the great + discovery of the northern journey. I had been struck by the name of the + watercourse to the north of the hauteville, Wady Majrá Sayl Jebel el-Marú—"the + Nullah of the Divide of the Torrent (that pours) from the Mountain of + Quartz." Moreover, a Makna'wi lad, 'Id bin Mohsin, had brought in fine + specimens of the Negro or iridescent variety, offering to show the place. + Lastly, other Bedawi had contributed fine specimens of Marú, with the grey + copper standing out of it in veins. On the evening of January 27th we + walked up the picturesque mouth of the Makná valley. After passing the + conglomerate "Gate," and the dwarf plantations on both sides above it, we + reached in forty-five minutes the spot where the lower water, 'Ayn + el-Fara'í, tumbles over rocks of grit and granite. On the left bank, + denoted by a luxuriant growth of rushes, is an influent called Sha'b + el-Kázi, or "the Judge's Pass."<a href="#linknote-108" + name="linknoteref-108" id="linknoteref-108"><small>108</small></a> + Ascending it for a few paces, we struck up the broad and open Fiumara, + which I shall call for shortness "Wady Majrá." The main trunk of many + branches, it is a smooth incline, perfectly practicable to camels; with + banks and buttresses of green-yellow chloritic sands, and longitudinal + spines outcropping from the under surface. It carries off the surplus + water from the north-western slopes of that strange wavelike formation, + the Jebel el-Fahísát, which bounds the right (southern) bank of the Wady + Makná. Presently we sighted the Jebel el-Maru', the strangest spectacle. + The apex of the gloomy porphyritic trap is a long spine of the tenderest + azure-white, filmy as the finials of Milan Cathedral, and apparently + melting into thin air. Its crest seems abnormally tall and distant; and + below it a huge grey vein, horizontal and wavy, cuts and pierces the + peaklet of red rock; and is cut and pierced, in its turn, by two + perpendicular dykes of porphyritic trap, one flanking the right and the + left shoulders of the low cone. When standing upon the hauteville during + my first visit, I had remarked this "white Lady" of a vein, without, + however, attaching to it any importance. + </p> + <p> + After a quarter of an hour's walk up the Wady Majrá, we came to the sandy + base of the rocky Fahísát; and climbed up a torrent-ladder with drops and + stiff gradients, which were presently levelled for the convenience of our + quarrymen. A few minutes' "swarming" placed us upon the narrow knife-like + ridge of snowy quartz, so weathered that it breaks under the hand: this is + the aerial head which from below appears so far. The summit, distant from + our camp about one direct mile and a quarter, gives 355 degrees to the + Gypsum-hill, Ras el-Tárah, on the shore; 358 degrees to the palm-clump + nearest the sea, and due north (360 degrees, all magnetic) to the tents, + which are well in sight. The altitude is about six hundred feet (aner. + 29.40). + </p> + <p> + The view from this summit of the Fahísát is charming as it is extensive. + Westward and broad stretching to the north-west lies the fair blue gulf + that shows, on its far side, the broken mountains of the Sinaitic + Peninsula. Northwards, at our feet, stretch the palm-groves of Makná, a + torrent of verdure pouring towards the shore. A little to the left, + sheltered from the boreal wind by the white gypseous ridge, Ras el-Târah + ("the Head that surrounds"), and flanked at both ends by its triangular + reefs, the Sharm Makná, the past and future port of the mines, supports + the miniature gunboat no larger than a "cock," and the Sambúk dwarfed to a + buoy. Beyond the purpling harbour, along the glaring yellow shore, cut by + broad Wady-mouths and dotted here and there with a date-clump, the + corallines, grits, and sandstones are weathered to the quaintest forms, + giant pins and mushrooms, columns and ruined castles. These maritime + lowlands are bounded on the north by heights in three distinct planes: the + nearest is the Jebel Sukk, low and white; farther rises Tayyib Ism, a + chocolate-coloured mass studded with small peaks; while the horizon is + closed by the grand blue wall, the Jebel el-Mazhafah. In places their + precipices drop bluff to the sea; but the huge valley-mouths separating + the two greater ridges, have vomited a quantity of sand, forming the + tapering tongue and tip known as the "Little Shore." Turning to the east + and the south-east we have for horizon the Wady el-Kharaj (El-Akhraj?), + backed by its immense right bank of yellow gypsum, which dwarfs even the + Rughámat Makná, and over it we catch sight of the dark and gloomy Kalb + el-Nakhlah, a ridge which, running parallel with and inland of the + Fahísát, will be worked when the latter is exhausted. + </p> + <p> + We at once recognized the value of this discovery when, reaching the + tents, we examined the quartz, and found it seamed and pitted with veins + and geodes containing Colorado, earthy and crumbling metallic dust, + chlorure, iodure, and bromure of silver, with various colours, red, + ochre-yellow, and dark chocolate-brown. It stained the fingers, and was + suspiciously light—n'importe. I must regret that here, as indeed + throughout the exploration, all our specimens were taken from the surface: + we had not time to dig even a couple of feet deep. The lad 'Id almost + fainted with joy and surprise when the silver dollars were dropped into + his hand, one by one, with the reiteration of "Here's another for you! and + here's another!" This lavishness served to stimulate cupidity, and every + day the Bedawin brought in specimens from half a dozen different places. + But the satisfaction was at its height when the crucible produced, after + cupellation, a button of "silver" weighing some twenty grammes from the + hundred grammes of what the grumbling Californian miners had called, in + their wrath, "dashed black dust;"<a href="#linknote-109" + name="linknoteref-109" id="linknoteref-109"><small>109</small></a> and + when a second experiment yielded twenty-eight grammes (each fifteen grains + and a half) and ten centigrammes from 111 grammes, or about a quarter of a + pound avoirdupois. In the latter experiment also, the culot came away + without the litharge, which almost always contains traces of silver and + antimony. Hence we concluded that the proportions were 30:110—a + magnificent result, considering that 12-1/2:100 is held to be rich ore in + the silver mines of the Pacific States.<a href="#linknote-110" + name="linknoteref-110" id="linknoteref-110"><small>110</small></a> The + engineer was radieux with pride and joy. The yellow tint of the "buttons" + promised gold—two per cent.? Three per cent.? Immense wealth lay + before us: a ton of silver is worth 250,000 francs. Meanwhile—and + now I take blame to myself—no one thought of testing the find, even + by a blow with the hammer. + </p> + <p> + Alas! THE "SPLENDID BUTTONS" PROVED TO BE IRON, CONTAINING ONLY TWO AND A + HALF GRAMMES OF SILVER TO ONE HUNDRED KILOGRAMMES.<a href="#linknote-111" + name="linknoteref-111" id="linknoteref-111"><small>111</small></a> + </p> + <p> + I can afford to make merry on the absurd mistake, which at the time filled + the camp with happiness. The Jebel el-Fahísát played us an ugly trick; yet + it is, not the less, a glorious metalliferous block, and I am sure of its + future. + </p> + <p> + The rest of our time at Makná was given to the study of this discovery. + The great quartz-wall or vein runs nearly due north and south, with a dip + of 5 degrees west; it has pierced the syenite, forming a sheet down one + peak, spanning a second, and finally appearing in an apparently isolated + knob, that bore from the apex 215 degrees (mag.) The upper part, like that + of the Jebel el-Abyaz, is apparently sterile: at a lower horizon it + becomes panaché; and at last almost all is iridescent—in fact, it is + the Filon Husayn, still richer in veins and geodes. The filets and fibrils + of dust are exposed to sight in the flanks, and near the base of the great + quartz-vein: we should never have been able to remove the barren upper + capping. + </p> + <p> + Every day's work brought with it some novelty. The Jebel el-Mará, the + centre or focus of the formation, was found to push out veins to the + north, extending within a few yards of the Wady Makná's mouth. Here, + however, the quartz imbedded in grey granite appears cupriferous, + producing fine grey copper (?); and the same is the case to the east of + the Fahísát block. Other green-tinged veins were found bearing 205 degrees + (mag.) from our camp. There is also a quartz-hill whose valley-drain, + about a mile and a third long, leads down to the sea, about two minutes' + walk south of the southern clump of "tabernacles" occupied by the + Maknáwis. The dust is richest, as usual, at the walls where the vein is in + immediate contact with the heat-altered granites, whose red variety, + containing very little mica, becomes quasi-syenitic. Certain of the + Expedition thought that the Fahísát showed signs of having been worked by + the ancients: my eyes could see nothing of the kind. And here, as in other + parts of our strange country, there is a medley, a confusion of different + formations. + </p> + <p> + On February 2nd, the day before we left Makná, the Arabs brought in heavy + masses of purple-black, metalliferous rock, scattered over the gorges and + valleys south of the Jebel el-Fahísát; while others declared that they + could point out a vein in situ. Our engineer declared it to be + argentiferous galena, but it proved to be magnetic iron. His assays were + of the rudest: he broke at least one crucible per day, lamenting the while + that he had been supplied with English articles, instead of creusets de + Bourgogne. And no wonder! He treated them by a strong blast in a furious + coal-fire without previous warming. His muffle was a wreck, and such by + degrees became the condition of all his apparatus. However, as we sought, + so we found: hardly a Bedawi lad in camp but unpouched some form of + metallic specimens. The Shaykhs declared that the wealth of "Kárún" must + have been dug here; and I vainly told them that the place of punishment of + Korah, Dathan, and Abiram is still shown by Christians in the Convent of + Mount Sinai.<a href="#linknote-112" name="linknoteref-112" + id="linknoteref-112"><small>112</small></a> + </p> + <p> + On January 28th, after a ruddy and cloudy sunset, El-Ayli, the 'Akabah + wind, beginning at eleven p.m., gave us a taste of his quality. These + northers are the Tyrants of the Gulf; which, comparatively unbroken by + capes and headlands, allows them all their own way, carrying a strong + swell, and at times huge waves, to meet the tide inflowing from the Red + Sea. The storm began with a rush and a roar, as if it came from above. The + gravel, striking the canvas, sounded like hail or heavy rain-drops; it + then kicked down at one blow the two large tents: they had been carefully + pitched above the reach of water, when wind only was to be guarded + against. Fortunately most of our goods were packed, in expectation of + embarking on the morrow; but the fall broke all the breakables that were + not under cover, and carried newspapers and pamphlets, including—again, + alas!—the Reseau Pentagonal of Elie de Beaumont, over the plain + southwards till arrested by the heights of Jebel el-Fahísát. This Bora, as + it would be called on the Adriatic, makes the air exceptionally cold and + raw before dawn: it appears to abate between noon and sunset, and it is + most violent at night: it either sensibly increases or lessens in + turbulence with moonrise; and it usually lasts from three to seven days. + We rigged up one of the native huts with the awning of a tent, till it + looked very like a Gypsy dwelling, and in patience we possessed our souls, + grumbling horridly like Britons. + </p> + <p> + Poor Captain Mohammed of the Mukhbir, who had already escaped one + shipwreck, was in mortal terror: he at once got up steam, and kept his + weary vigil all night. He was perfectly safe, as the northern reef, under + which the Sambúk Musahhil rode easily as if in smooth water, and the + headland, Ras el-Tárah, formed a complete defence against the Aylí, while + the natural pier to the south would have protected him from its + complement, the Azyab or "south-easter." But it would have been very + different had the storm veered to the west, and the terrible Gharbi set + in. The port of Makná, which has been described in "The Gold-Mines of + Midian,"<a href="#linknote-113" name="linknoteref-113" id="linknoteref-113"><small>113</small></a> + can hardly be called safe; on the other hand, its floor has not been + surveyed, and a single brise-lame seawards would convert it into a dock. I + should propose a gallegiante, a floating breakwater, tree-trunks in + bundles strongly bound together with iron cramps and bands, connected by + stout rings and staples and made fast by anchors to the bottom. And, at + any rate, on the Sinaitic shore opposite, at the distance of thirteen + knots, there is, as will appear, an admirable harbour of refuge. + </p> + <p> + Next day the cloud-veil lifted; and the mountains of Sinai and Midian, + which before had been hidden as if by a November fog in London, again + stood out in sharp and steely blue. I proposed to board the gunboat. + Afloat we should have been much more comfortable than ashore in the raw, + high, and dusty-laden wind. The Egyptian officers, however, quoted the + unnautical Fellah's favourite saws, El-barro birr li-Ahlihi—"Earth + is a blessing to those upon her"—Zirtat el-Jimál, wa lá tasbíh + el-Samak—"The roar of the camels and not the prayer<a + href="#linknote-114" name="linknoteref-114" id="linknoteref-114"><small>114</small></a> + of the fish;" and the sailors' saying, Kalb el-Barr, wa lá Sabá el-Bahr—"Better + be a dog ashore than a lion afloat." The public voice was decidedly + against embarking; so two more days of gale were spent in adding to our + collection of mineralogy. On the other hand, the Sayyid and the three + Shaykhs were anxious for a speedy return to El-Muwaylah, where the + Hajj-caravan was expected on Safar 10 (= February 11th), and where their + presence would be officially required. + </p> + <p> + On the last day of January I boated off to the Mukhbir several tons of the + specimens collected during the northern march; including the iron, the + sulphur, and the fine white gypsum, crystalline and amorphous, which forms + the Rughámat Makná Lieutenant Yusuf and M. Philipin were directed to + remain in camp until they should have collected and placed upon the + seashore, ready for embarkation on our return, one ton of white quartz, + three tons (= one cubic metre) of the iridescent variety, and four boxes + half full of the "silver" (iron) dust whose veins and pockets seam the + Negro. They were also to wash in the cradle two tons of the pounded + Cascalho (conglomerate gravel); one ton of the green-yellow chloritic or + serpentine sand forming the under surface of the Wady Makná, reduced to + four Girbahs or "water-sacks;" and five tons of the dark metal (not + argentiferous galena). After that they were to visit the northern + Sulphur-hill; estimate its contents, trace, if possible, its connection + with adjoining formations; map the country and prospect for wood, water, + and harbour. Lastly, they were ordered to march with the whole camp, + including our mules, upon El-Muwaylah, and there to await my return. + </p> + <p> + The three normal days of El-Aylí had come and gone; still the Fortuna<a + href="#linknote-115" name="linknoteref-115" id="linknoteref-115"><small>115</small></a> + did not fall. The water, paved with dark slate, and domed with an awning + of milky-white clouds, patched here and there with rags and shreds of + black wintry mist that poured westward from the Suez Gulf, showed us how + ugly the Birkat 'Akabah can look. As in Iceland also, the higher rose the + barometer, the higher rose the norther; the latter being a cold dry wind + is, consequently, a heavy wind. And when the sky was comparatively clear + and blue, the display of cirri was noticeable. In some places they formed + filmy crosses and thready lozenges; in others the wrack fell into the + shape of the letter Z; and from the western horizon the curl-clouds shot + up thin rays, with a common centre hid behind the mountains of Sinai, + affecting all the airs of the sun. + </p> + <p> + Before leaving Makná I must give an account of its peculiar tribe, + concerning which "The Gold-Mines of Midian"<a href="#linknote-116" + name="linknoteref-116" id="linknoteref-116"><small>116</small></a> + contained sundry inaccuracies. These men are not the "pauper descendants + of the wealthy Midianites; they cannot boast of ancient race or of noble + blood; and their speech differs in nothing from that of the Arabs around + them. There can be no greater mistake than to suppose that they represent + in any way the ancient Nabathæans. In features, complexion, and dress they + resemble the half-settled Bedawin around them; and, like these, they show + a kind of connection with the Sinaitic tribes. The Magáni,<a + href="#linknote-117" name="linknoteref-117" id="linknoteref-117"><small>117</small></a> + to whom only the southern clump of huts at Makná belongs, call themselves + Fawá'idah, Zubáidah, and Ramázání, after families of the Juhayni stock; + and the Fawá'idah have, by descent, some title to the name. They are, + however, considered to be Khaddamín ("serviles"), like the Hutaym race, by + their neighbours, who give tile following account of their origin. + </p> + <p> + An Egyptian silk-seller, who accompanied the Hajj-caravan, happened to + fall asleep at Kubázah, between the stations of 'Aynúnah and Magháir + Shu'ayb. His companions went their ways, and he, like a "bean-eater" as he + was, fearing to follow them alone, made for Makná. Having married and + settled there, and seeing in the fertility of the soil a prospective + spec., he sent to his native country for Fellahín—cultivateurs and + peasants—who were collected from every part of Pharoah-land and its + neighbourhood. The new-comers were compelled to pay one-half of their + harvest, by way of El-Akháwah ("the brother-tax"), in token of + subjugation, to the Beni 'Ukbah, the owners of the soil. They have + gradually acquired Milk ("legal title") to the ground. According to some, + they first settled at Makná in the days of the Beni 'Amr, whom they + subsequently accompanied to the Hismá, when flying from the victorious + Musálimah. After peace was patched up, they were compelled to make over + one-fourth of the date-harvest as El-Akháwah to the 'Imrán-Huwaytát and to + the Ma'ázah; whilst the Tagaygát-Huwaytát claimed a Bursh, or "mat of fine + reeds," as a poll-tax from every head of man. Under these hard conditions + they are left unmolested; and everything taken from them is restored by + the Shaykhs who receive tribute. They have no chief, although one Sálim + ibn Juwayfili claims the title. + </p> + <p> + Before 1866 the Magáni numbered about a hundred tents: the Wady Makná was + then, they say, a garden; and its cultivators were remarkable for their + goodness and hospitality to strangers. But in that year a feud with the + Beni 'Ukbah was excited, as often happens, by the belli teterrima causa; + the women quarrelled with one another, saying, + </p> + <p> + "Thy husband is a slave to my husband," and so forth. The little tribe, + hoisting two flags of red and white calico with green palm-fronds for + staves, dared the foe to attack it; after a loss of four killed and sundry + wounded, all ran away manfully, leaving their goods at the mercy of the + conqueror. Shaykh Hasan el-'Ukbí was assisted by the Ma'ázah in looting + the Magáni huts, and in carrying off the camels, while Shaykh Furayj + vainly attempted conciliation. Shortly afterwards the Maknáwis went in a + body to beg aid from Hammád el-Sofi, Shaykh of the Turábín tribe, which + extends from Ghazzah (Gaza) westwards to Egypt. Marching with a host of + armed followers, he took possession of the palm-huts belonging to the Beni + 'Ukbah, when the owners fled in turn, leaving behind their women and + children. Furayj hastened from 'Aynúnah to settle the quarrel; and at last + the Sofi said to him, "Whilst I protect the Magáni, do thou protect the + Beni 'Ukbah." Whereupon the latter returned from their mountain-refuge to + El-Muwaylah. The Magáni at the present time are mostly camped about + 'Aynúnah; and only some fifteen head, old men, women, and boys, who did + not take part in the fight, and who live by fishing, remain at Makná under + the protection of the Beni 'Ukbah. Hence the waters are waste and the + fields are mostly unhoed. + </p> + <p> + Such is the normal condition of Arabia and the Arabs. What one does the + other undoes; what this creates, that destroys. Professor Palmer tells us, + "Another misconception is that all Arabs are habitual thieves and + murderers."<a href="#linknote-118" name="linknoteref-118" + id="linknoteref-118"><small>118</small></a> Fear of the terrible vendetta, + the blood feud and the blut-geld, amounting to about eight hundred + dollars, prevents the Bedawin, here as elsewhere, slaying any but + strangers. The traveller's experience, however, was chiefly of the Towarah + or Sinaitic Bedawin, a race which, bad as bad could be in the early + quarter of the present century, has been thoroughly tamed and cowed by the + "fear of Allah and the Consul." And the curse pronounced by the Jews + against their brother Ishmael, "his hand shall be against every man," + etc., must, as was known even in the days of Gibbon, be taken with many a + grain of salt. + </p> + <p> + Yet the Bedawin of Midian have till late years been a turbulent "mixed + multitude," and are ready to become troublesome again. It is only by + building forts and by holding the land militarily, that the civilized can + hope to tame this vermin. I repeat, however, my conviction that the + charming Makná Valley is fated to see happy years; and that the Wild Man + who, when ruled by an iron hand, is ever ready to do a fair day's work for + a fair wage (especially victuals), will presently sit under the shadow of + his own secular vines and fig-trees. + </p> + <p> + About midnight on February 2nd, the tempestuous northerly gale, which had + now lasted four days and five nights, ceased almost suddenly: the signs of + the approaching calm were the falling of the mercury, the increased warmth + of the atmosphere, and the shifting of the wind towards the east. All + hailed the change with joy. The travellers looked forward to ending their + peregrinations, while the voyagers, myself included, hoped safely to steam + round the Gulf el-'Akabah, and to trace, as correctly as possible, the + extent, the trend, and the puissance of the quartz-formations. At Cairo + Mr. Consul Rogers told me he had found them in large quantities veining + the red grits of Petra; and I thought it possible that the "white stone" + may extend under the waters of 'Akabah into the peninsula of Sinai. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VII. — Cruise from Maknáto El-'Akabah. + </h2> + <p> + This "Red Sea in the Land of Edom" (1 Kings ix. 26) is still, as Wellsted + entitles it, "a vast and solitary Gulf." It bears a quaint resemblance to + that eastern fork of the northern Adriatic, the Quarnero, whose name + expresses its terrible storms; while the Suez branch shows the longer + stretch of the Triestine bifurcation. Yamm Elath or Eloth, as the Hebrews + called El-'Akabah, has, by the upheaval of the land, lost more of its fair + proportions than its western sister. It was at one time the embouchure of + the Jordan, extending up the Wady el-'Arabah to the Asphaltite Lake (Dead + Sea), before the former became, so to speak, a hill and the latter a hole. + This view dates from olden times. "Si suppone," says Cornelius à Lapide,<a + href="#linknote-119" name="linknoteref-119" id="linknoteref-119"><small>119</small></a> + "che sia un sollevamento che accadde, mentre un abbassamento formava il + Mar Morto; e che il Giordano si gettasse nel Golfo Elanitico (Yamm + Ailath), ciò é nel Mar Rosso, prima della destruzione di Sodoma." For the + latter date we have only to read, "When a movement of depression sank the + lower Jordan Valley, and its present reservoirs, the Tiberias Lake and the + Dead Sea, to their actual level." There is nothing marvellous nor unique + in the feature, as it appears to those suffering from that strange malady, + "Holy Land on the Brain." The Oxus and the Caspian show an identical + formation, only the sinking has been on a smaller scale. + </p> + <p> + Wellsted was unfortunate, both in his weather and in his craft. To + encounter a "sea of breakers" and "northerly gales with a high and + dangerous swell" in a wretched "bugalá" (i.e. Sambúk), and in that perfect + tub, the Palinurus, was somewhat like tempting Providence,—if such + operation be possible. No wonder that "in this Gulf, in a course of only + ninety miles, the nautical mishaps were numerous and varied." The + surveyor, however, neglected a matter of the highest interest and + importance, namely, to ascertain whether there be any difference of level + between the heads of the Suez and the 'Akabah waters. The vicinity of + continuous maritime chains, varying from six to nearly nine thousand feet, + suggests an amount of attraction (theoretically) sufficient to cause a + sensible difference of plane. It would be well worth while to run two + lines of survey, one from El-'Akabah to Suez, and the other down the + eastern flank of the Sinaitic Peninsula. + </p> + <p> + The Mukhbir, like the Palinurus, promised a certain amount of excitement. + Her boiler, I have said, was honeycombed; it was easy to thrust one's fist + through it. Mr. David Duguid, the engineer, who on one occasion worked + thirty-six hours at a stretch, had applied for sixty new tubes, and he + wanted one hundred and fifty: we began with two hundred and forty; we + lost, when in the Gulf, from three to nine per diem, a total of seventy + five; and the work of the engine-room and the ship's carpenters consisted + in plugging fractures with stays, plates, and wedges. Presently the + steam-gauge (manomètre) gave way, making it impossible to register + pressure; the combustion chamber showed a rent of eighteen inches long by + one wide, the result of too rapid cooling; and, lastly, the donkey-engine + struck work. Under these happy circumstances bursting was not to be + expected; breaking down was, a regular collapse which would have left us + like a log upon the stormy waves. A new boiler might have cost, perhaps, + £900, and the want of one daily endangered a good ship which could not be + replaced for £9000. I therefore determined upon a "Safer Khoriyyah," that + is, steaming by day and anchoring at night in some snug bay. It was also + agreed, nem. con., to tow the Sambúk El-Musahhil, in order that, should + accidents happen, it might in turn act tug to the steamer; or even, at a + pinch, serve us as a lifeboat. + </p> + <p> + Nothing becomes Makná better than the view on leaving it. A varied and + attractive picture this, with the turquoise-blue of the deep water, the + purple and leek-green tints of the shoaly and sandy little port, and the + tawny shore dotted by six distinct palm-tufts. They are outliers of the + main line, yon flood of verdure, climbing up and streaming down from the + high, dry, and barren banks of arenaceous drift, heaped up and filmed over + by the wind, and, lastly, surging through its narrow "Gate," with the + clifflets of conglomerate forming the old coast. Add the bluff headland of + the Ras el-Tárah to the north of the harbour, and behind it the Rughámat + Makná, the greenish-yellow, flat-backed "horse" of Madyan, which, + shimmering in the sunset with a pearly lustre, forms the best of + landmarks. Finish to the south of the Wady with the quaint chopping + outlines of the Jebel el-Fahísát, resembling from afar a huge alligator + lying on the water; with the similar but lower forms to the north of the + valley, both reflected in the Jibál el-Hamrá (the Red Hills), whose + curtains of green-black trap are broken by sheets of dull dead-white + plaster. Cap the whole with the mighty double quoin of gypseous Jebel + el-Kharaj, buttressing the eastern flank of its valley, and with the low, + dark metal-revetted hills of the Kalb el-Nakhlah, a copy of the Fahísát. + Throw in the background, slowly rising as you recede from the shore, a + curtain of plutonic peaks and buttresses, cones, quoins, cupolas, + parrot-beaks; with every trick of shape, from the lumpy Zahd to the + buttressed and pinnacled 'Urnub; with every shade of mountain-tint between + lapis-lazuli and plum-purple. Dome the whole with that marvellous + transparent sky, the ocean of the air, that spreads loveliness over the + rugged cheek of the Desert; and you have a picture which, though + distinctly Arabian, you can hardly expect to see in Arabia. + </p> + <p> + From the offing, also, we note how the later formations, granite and + syenite, seamed with a network, and often topped by cones, of porphyritic + trap, have upthrust, pierced, and isolated the older Secondaries. We + traced this huge deposit of sulphates and carbonates of lime from the + southern Wady Hamz, through the islets at the mouth of the Birkat 'Akabah, + all along the shore of North Midian. Here it crosses diagonally the + northern third of the 'Akabah Gulf, and forms the north-eastern base of + the Sinaitic Peninsula; whilst eastward it stretches inland as far as + Magháir Shu'ayb. The general disposition suggests that before the upheaval + of the Gháts, the Jibál el-Tihámah, this vast gypseous sheet was a plain + and plateau covering the whole country, till a movement of depression, + caused by the upheaval of the igneous mountains, sank in it the Gulf of + 'Akabah. At present the surface is here flat, there hilly like huge + billows breaking mostly to the north, and reaching an altitude of twelve + hundred feet above the surface. Hence the lines stretching north-south, + the Fahísát, the Red Hills, and the Kalb el-Nakhlah, look like so many + volcanic island-reefs floating in a sea of greenish-yellow Secondaries. + </p> + <p> + Like the old Irish post-horse, the difficulty and danger of our "kettle" + consisted in starting it: two tubes at once burst, and a new hole yawned + in the boiler; moreover, our anchor had been thrown out in a depth of + seventy-three feet. Enfin! At nine a.m. (February 3rd) we stood straight + for the Sinaitic shore, distant thirteen miles (direct geographical), and + in three hours we made the Sharm, Marsá or Minat el-Dahab—the + "Golden Anchorage, Cove, or Port."<a href="#linknote-120" + name="linknoteref-120" id="linknoteref-120"><small>120</small></a> Another + hour was spent in steaming southwards to the Dock-harbour, wrongly so + called in the charts; the pilots, and the many Sambúks that take refuge in + it, know the place only as Mínát Ginái (Jinái). The northern baylet, + preferred when southerly winds blow, is simply the embouchure of the Wady + Dahab ("Fiumara of Gold"). The name is properly applied to the + sub-maritime section of the valley draining the eastern flanks of the + so-called Mount Sinai. This great watercourse breaks through the Gháts + which, always fringing similar peninsulas, peak to the south. It reaches + the Gulf at a shallow sag marked by a line of palms, the centre of three: + they are fed by their several Nullahs, and are watered with the brackish + produce of sundry wells. The statio malefida is defended to the north by a + short sandspit and a submerged reef; and southwards by a projection of + sandstone conglomerate. The latter, running from north-east to south-west, + subtends this part of the coast, and serves to build up the land; after a + few years the débris swept down by the watercourses will warp up the + shallows, dividing shore from outlier. Such, in fact, seems to be the + general origin of these sandspits; beginning as coralline reefs, they have + been covered with conglomerates, and converted into terra firma by the + rubbish shot out by the Wady-mouths. + </p> + <p> + The southern port, "Ginái," is formed by a bend in the reef which sweeps + round from east to south-west like a scorpion's tail. The natural + sea-wall, at once dangerous and safety-giving, protects, to the south and + south-east, diabolitos of black rock visible only at high tide: inshore + the sickle-shaped breakwater runs by east to south-west, becoming a "sandy + hook," and enclosing a basin whose depth ranges from seven to twelve + fathoms. Its approach from the south is clean; and the western opening is + protected by the tall screen of coast cliffs, the Jebel el-Ginái, whose + deep-black porphyritic gorge seemingly prolongs that of Midianite Tayyib + Ism. This is a section of the Jibál el-Samghi, the coast-range which + extends as far north as the Wady Wati'r. The Dock-port, so useful when the + terrible norther blows, has an admirable landmark, visible even from + Sináfir Island, and conspicuous at the entrance of the Gulf. Where the + sandy slopes of South-Eastern Sinai-land end, appears a large white blot, + apparently supporting a block, built, like a bastion, upon a tall hill of + porphyritic trap. We called this remnant of material harder than the rest, + Burj el-Dahab—"the Tower Hill of Dahab." I have been minute in + describing the Golden Harbour: scant justice has been done to it by the + Hydrographic Chart, and it will prove valuable when the Makna' mines are + opened. Ahmed Kaptán vainly attempted soundings—he was too ill to + work. Wellsted's identification of the site with Ezion-geber (ii. ix.), + and the reef with the rock-ledge which wrecked Jehosaphat's fleet, has one + great objection—no ruins are known to exist near it.<a + href="#linknote-121" name="linknoteref-121" id="linknoteref-121"><small>121</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The formation of this part of Sinai, as far as we can see from the shore, + reflects, in wilder forms and more abrupt lines, the opposite coast of + Midian: there is, however, the important difference that the Secondaries + and the quartz-veins, there so important, are here wanting. The skeletons + of mountain and hill appear as if prolonged under water. The ruddy syenite + is dyked and veined by the familiar network of green-black porphyritic + trap; the filons are disposed in parallels striking north-south, with a + little easting; the dip is westerly (about 35 degrees mag.), and the + thickness extends to hundreds of feet, often forming a foundation for the + upper cliff. The subaerial parts are the same warty and pimply growth + which appears on the other side. Nothing could be more wearisome to the + Alpine climber than such a country: he would scale the peaks and ridges + for fifty feet, to descend thirty on the other side; and the frequent + Wadys, ankle-deep in loose sand, generally end in steep stony couloirs. + The watercourses, whose broad mouths are scattered with thin green, + contain pebbles and rolled quartzes, including fine specimens of the + crystallized variety. + </p> + <p> + We landed, after an hour's row in the gig, at the central or main line of + palms; and on the banks of Wady Dahab, here a full mile wide, we found the + works of man, like those of Nature, a copy of Makná. The date trees and + clumps are hedge-closed; two scatters of 'Ushash (tabernacles) show round + towers of rough stone, broken and patched with palm-frond; and, further + north of the Golden Valley, a few old Arab graves have been weathered into + mere heaps of large stones. These are the Kubur el-Nasárá ("Nazarene's + Graves") of Burckhardt,<a href="#linknote-122" name="linknoteref-122" + id="linknoteref-122"><small>122</small></a> a name apparently forgotten by + the present generation. We vainly sought and asked after ruins: of old, + however, "Dí'zahab" might have served to disembark cargo which, by taking + the land-route northwards, as the Christian pilgrims still do from + El-Nuwaybi', would avoid the dangerous headwaters of El-'Akabah. Nor could + we believe with Pococke<a href="#linknote-123" name="linknoteref-123" + id="linknoteref-123"><small>123</small></a> that the place derived its + name from the mica shining like gold; his theory is stultified by the fact + that mica is by no means a prominent feature, even had the Ancients been + so ignorant as to be deceived by it. + </p> + <p> + The people were by no means communicative. An elderly man, with a red + turban and sword by side, hurried away from us when we addressed him, + leaving his middle-aged wife to follow with a babe on shoulder and a boy + in hand: she also refused to speak, waving her hand by way of reply to + every question. At last a semi-civilized being, acquainted with the + Convent of St. Catherine, Selím bin Husayn, of the Muzaynah tribe, + satisfied our curiosity in view of tobacco, and offered a rudely stuffed + ibex-head for a shilling. In the evening our fishermen visited the reef, + which supplied admirable rock-cod, a bream (?) called Sultan el-Bahr, and + Marján (a Sciæna); but they neglected the fine Sirinjah ("sponges"), which + here grow two feet long. The night was dark and painfully still, showing + nought but the youngest of moons, and the gloomiest silhouettes of + spectral mountains. + </p> + <p> + We set out at seven a.m. on the next day, when an Azyab or south-easterly + wind was promised by the damp air, the slaty sea, and the gloomy nimbi on + the hill-tops. A small party landed after two hours' steaming, in search + of quartz, which proved to be chloritic sandstones and limestones. In the + broad valley they found a few Muzayni families, with their camels, sheep, + and goats. These unfortunates had no tents, sleeping under the trees; they + were desperate beggars, and, although half-starved, they asked a napoleon + for a kid, declaring that such was its price at the quarantine station of + Tor. Here the errors of the Hydrographic Chart, which have been copied + literally by the latest and best popular books such as Professor Palmer's + "Desert of the Exodus," began to excite our astonishment. For instance, + Ras Kusayr ("the Short One") becomes Ras Arser—what a name for a + headland! A good survey will presently become a sine quâ non. + Unfortunately Ahmed Kaptán was suffering so much that I could not ask him + to make solar observations; while the rest of us had other matters in + hand. It was a great disappointment, where so much useful work remains to + be done. + </p> + <p> + Hereabouts the sterile horrors of the hideous Sinaitic shore seem to reach + their climax. The mountains become huge rubbish-heaps, without even colour + to clothe their indecently nude forms; and each strives with its neighbour + for the prize of repulsiveness. The valleys are mere dust-shunts that + shoot out their rubbish, stones, gravel, and sand, in a solid flow, like + discharges of lava. And, as Jebel Mazhafah, on the opposite coast, is the + apex of the visible eastern Gháts, so beyond this point the Sinaitic + sea-chain of mountains begins to decline into mere hills, while longer + sand-points project seawards. Such is the near, the real aspect of what, + viewed from Makná, appears a scene in fairy-land, decked and dight in + heavenly hues of blue and purple and rosy light— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Where the bald blear skull of the Desert + With golden mountains is crowned." +</pre> + <p> + The first sign of a change of formation appeared near the "Lower + (southern) Nuwaybi'" ("the Little Spring"), which the chart calls "Wasit." + Here the shore shows blots of dead-white and mauve-red, in which our + engineer at once detected quartz. Seeing it prolonged in straight + horizontal lines, and the red overlying the white, I suspected kaolin and + the normal Tauá (coloured clays): my conjecture was confirmed on the next + day. Hereabouts, Wellsted (ii. 151) also remarked the colouring of the + hills, which resemble those of "Sherm;" some of a deep-blue tinge, and + others streaked with a brilliant red and violet. We then doubled a long + sandspit running out to sea eastward, and forming, on the north, a deep + bay well protected from the souther; whilst several lines of reef and + shallow to the north defend it from the angry Bora. This anchorage is + known to the pilots as "Wásit;" and it occupies the southern half of the + bay, the northern half and its palm-groves being called the "Upper + Nuwaybi'." About "Wásit" the date-palms are scattered, and the large + sand-drifts ever threaten to bury them alive. Behind it yawns the great + gash, "Wady Watír," which shows its grand lines even from the opposite + side of the gulf: this is the route by which Christian pilgrims from Syria + make the Sinai monastery, rounding on camels the northern end of + El-'Akabah. The main valley receives from the north the Wady el-'Ayn, + which can be reached in half a day. From the south, distant one whole + march, comes the Wady el-Hazrah. This is doubtless the Hazeroth of the + Exodus, meaning the fenced enclosures of a pastoral people; and a modern + traveller figures and describes it as "the most beautiful and romantic + landscape in the Desert." At least, so said the lately shipped guide, + Mabru'k ibn Sulayyim el-Muzayni. + </p> + <p> + After a run of six hours and thirty minutes (= thirty miles), we cast + anchor off Wásit: there was nothing to see ashore, save some wretched + Muzaynah, two males and three females, helpmates meet for them, living + like savages on fish and shell-molluscs; drinking brackish water, and + sleeping in the "bush," rather than take the trouble to repair the huts. + They have no sheep, but a few camels; and, by way of boats, they use + catamarans composed of two palm-trunks: their home-made hooks resemble the + schoolboy's crooked pin. Yet these starvelings would not fetch specimens + of the white stuff, distant, perhaps, two direct miles of cross-cut, seen + near Nuwaybi', and still visible. They also refused, without preliminary + "bakhshísh," to show or even to tell where certain ruins, concerning which + they spoke or romanced, are found in their hills. And yet there are + theologians who would raise Poverty, the most demoralizing of all + conditions, to the rank of an "ecclesiastical virtue." + </p> + <p> + At 6 30 a.m. on the next day, the Mukhbir stood eastwards to avoid the + northern reef. Presently we passed the "Upper Nuwaybi'," a creeklet to the + north-west of Wásit, with a straggling line of palms fed by the huge Wady + Muzayríj. From this point to the 'Akabah head all the coast is clean of + man. The Jibál el-Samghi now become the Sinaitic Jibál el-Shafah ("Lip + Mountains"), the latter stretching northwards to the Hajj-road, and + forming the western wall of the 'Arabah valley, whose name they assume + (Jibál el-'Arabah). The scene abruptly shifts. A mottle of clouds sheds + moving shadows over the hill-crests, and relieves them from the appalling + monotony of yesterday. Brilliant rainbow hues, red, green, mauve, purple, + yellow and white clays, gleam in the lowlands, and form dwarf bluffs; + while inland, peering above the granites, the syenites, and the porphyries + of the coast, pale quoins and naked cones again show the familiar + Secondary formation of Midianitish Makná. We were not surprised to hear + that sulphur had been found in the gypsum of these eastern Gháts of Sinai, + when a Jebel el-Kibí't, approached by the Wady Suwayr, was pointed out to + us. The natural deduction is that the brimstone formation is, like the + turquoise, the copper, and the manganese, a continuation of the beds that + gave a name to Mafka-land; while the metalliferous strata round, in + horseshoe-form, the head of El-'Akabah, and run down the Arabian shore, + till they become parallel with those subtending the seaboard of Africa. + </p> + <p> + The view of the eastern or Midianite coast was even more varied and + suggestive. Far inland, and tinged light-blue by distance, rose the sharp, + jagged, and sawlike crests of El-Sharaf, under which the Hajj-caravan + wends its weary way, thus escaping the mountains which dip perpendicularly + into the sea. Then come the broad and sandy slopes, here and there + streaked with dark ridges, spanned by the Sultáni or Sultan's high-road, + and stretching from the Gulf to the inner heights. The latter are no + longer a double parallel chain: they bend from south-south-east to + north-north-west, and become the Jibál el-Shará', anciently "Mount Seir;" + in fact, the eastern retaining-wall of the great Wady 'Arabah. Evidently + they are primary, but a white and purple patch, visible from afar, + suggested a Secondary remnant. Several of the peaks, especially the blue + block El-Yitm, appeared to be of great height; we all remarked its + towering stature and trifid headpiece, apparently upwards of five thousand + feet high, before we had heard the tale attached to it. Abreast of us and + on the shore, lie the large inlet and little islet El-Humayzah: the + surveyors have abominably corrupted it to "Omeider." North of it a palm + grove, lining the mouth of a broad Wady which snakes high up among the + sands and stones, denotes the Hajj-station, El-Hakl (Hagul), backed by + tall arenaceous buttresses. + </p> + <p> + After six hours (= twenty-two knots and a half), we anchored in the deep + channel, about three-quarters of a kilometre wide, that separates the + Sinaitic mainland from the northern one of the only two islands known in + the 'Akabah Gulf, a scrap of rock crowned with picturesque grey ruins. The + Jezírat Fara'ún of the maps, the Isle of Pharaoh, concerning whom + traditions are still current, it is known to the 'Akabites only as Jebel + el-Kala'h or "Fort-hill:" hence El-Graa in Laborde, and Jezírat El-Q reieh + in Arconati.<a href="#linknote-124" name="linknoteref-124" + id="linknoteref-124"><small>124</small></a> Burckhardt alone mentions that + the ruins are known as El-Dayr—"the Convent." This human lair is + encircled by barrier-reefs of coralline, broad to the south-west and large + in scattered places: eastward they form a shallow wall-like ledge, beyond + which blue water at once begins. The island-formation is that of the + opposite coasts, Midian and Sinai, grey granite dyked with decaying + porphyritic trap, and everywhere veined with white and various-coloured + quartzes. The shape is a long oval of about three hundred and twenty by + one hundred and fifty-two metres; a saddleback with two stony heads, the + higher to the north, rising a hundred feet or so above sea-level. Pommel + and cantle are connected by a low seat, a few yards of isthmus; and the + three divisions, all strongly marked, bear buildings. The profile from + east and west shows four groups: to the extreme north a tower, backed by + the castle donjon, on the knob of granite here and there scarped; the + works upon the thread of isthmus; and the walls and bastions crowning the + southern knob, which, being lower, is even more elaborately cut to a + perpendicular. + </p> + <p> + We landed upon the eastern side of the islet rock, where the trunk of a + broken mole is covered in rear by a ruined work. Here, being most liable + to attack, the fortifications are strongest; whereas on the west side only + a single wall, now strewn on the ground, with square Burj at intervals, + defends the little boat-harbour. The latter appears at present in the + shape of a fish-pond, measuring sixty by forty metres; sunk below + sea-level, fed by percolation, and exceedingly salt. To the east of this + water, black cineraceous earth shows where the smith had been at work: we + applied the quarrymen to sift it, without other results but bits of glass, + copper, and iron nails. + </p> + <p> + The pier leads to a covered way, enabling the garrison safely to circulate + round the base of the islet. Behind it a path, much broken and cumbered by + débris of the walls, winds up the southern face of the northern hill, + which supports the body of the place: it meets another track from the + west, and a small work defends their junction. Below it, outside the + walls, we found a well sunk about eight feet in the granite, and cemented + with fine lime, the red plaster in places remaining. Above this pit a + Mihráb, or prayer-niche, fronting Meccah-wards (more exactly 175 degrees + mag.) shows the now ruinous mosque: the Bedawi declare that it was built + by a "Pasha." Higher again, upon a terreplein, are lines of tanks laid out + with all that lavishness of labour which distinguishes similar works in + Syria: it is, however, difficult to assign any date to these + constructions. The cisterns were explored by Mr. Clarke and Lieutenant + Amir, who dug into and planned them. They descended by ropes, although + there are two flights of steps to the west and the south-west. The tanks + are built up from the base with blocks one foot nine inches long: seven + inches deep of rubbish were cleared away before reaching the floor, + composed of black stones bedded in layers of cement above and below, and + resting upon the ground-rock. The diggings yielded only big pieces of salt + fallen from the walls, and a broken handmill of basalt. The sides are + supported by pilasters of cut stone, and the crown by four pillars in a + double row: the dividing arches, according to the plan, are not + symmetrical. Hard by, measuring twelve metres by twelve, is the quarry + whence the stone was taken; and near it stands the normal Egyptian + pigeon-tower, with its nest-niches. + </p> + <p> + The donjon or body is defended by an enceinte, opening northwards upon a + large yard, where, doubtless, the garrison mustered, and whence a flight + of steps leads to the wicket. The inside of the works shows the roofless + party-walls still standing; and the ground is scattered over with the + remains of many different races: there are drums of columns and fragments + of marble pillars, but no sign of an inscription. Even in the upper + ramparts two epochs are distinctly traceable, the mediæval and the modern. + The lower ashlar, mostly yellow grit, is cut and carefully cemented; the + upper part is generally of rough dry stone, the plutonic formations of the + islet heaped up with scanty care. The embrasures are framed with decaying + palm-trunks; the loop-holes belong partly to the age of archery; and + nothing can be ruder than the battlements placed close together, as if to + be manned by bowmen, while in not a few places there are the remains of + matting between the courses. At the highest part we found another + carefully cemented Sehrij, or underground cistern, with two sharp-topped + arches divided by a tall column, Saracenic certainly and not Doric:<a + href="#linknote-125" name="linknoteref-125" id="linknoteref-125"><small>125</small></a> + above it a circular aperture, arched round with the finest bricks, serves + to lighten the superstructure. It communicates to the north with a Hammám, + whose plan is easily traced by the double flues and earthenware tubes, + well made and mortared together. Here we found inscribed on the plaster, + "Arona Linant 22 Mars 1846." + </p> + <p> + The southern knob of the islet supports similar but inferior + constructions, still more ruinous withal: its quarry is on the lower + slopes, and its granitic base has also been scarped seawards. Two stout + walls, twelve feet thick below and six above, crossing the length of the + rock from north to south, here meet in a Burj which shows signs of fine + tiles on an upper floor; whilst a third wall forms a southern spine + bisecting the tail of the "Jezírat." The castle is much more dilapidated + than when sketched by Ruppell, the first Frank who visited El-'Akabah, in + 1826. His illustration (p. 214) of Ruinen auf der Insel Emrag shows a + single compact building in good preservation, the towers being round, when + all are square; and it is garnished with the impossible foreground and + background of his epoch; the former, enlivened with a Noah's-Ark camel, + being placed quite close, when it is distant some ten miles. In the German + naturalist's time, the now desolate island was occupied by die Emradi, a + tribe which he suspected to be Jewish, and of which he told the queerest + tales: I presume they are the 'Imrám-Huwaytát of El-Hakl and the Hismá. + Wellsted's short description (II. ix) is still correct as in 1838. + </p> + <p> + The castle is evidently European, built during the days when the Crusaders + held El-'Akabah; but it probably rests upon Roman ruins; and the latter, + perhaps, upon Egyptian remains of far older date. It protected one section + of the oldest overland route, when the islet formed the key of the + Gulf-head. It subsequently became an eyrie whence its robber knights and + barons—including possibly "John, the Christian ruler of 'Akabah" + (A.D. 630), and, long after him, madcap Rainald de Chatillon (A.D. 1182)—could + live comfortably and sally out to plunder merchants and pilgrims. The + Saracenic buildings may date, as the popular superstition has it, from the + reign of Saláh el-Dín (Saladin) who, in A.D. 1167, cleared his country of + the Infidel invader by carrying ships on camel-back from Cairo. Later + generations of thieves, pirates, and fishermen naturally made it their + refuge and abode. I hardly anticipate for it great things in the immediate + future, although it has been proposed for a coal-depôt. + </p> + <p> + After a day given to tube-tinkering with tompions, stays, plugs, plates, + and wedges, to the distraction of the ship's carpenter and blacksmith, + steam was coaxed up; and, at 9.15 a.m. (February 7th), we ran northwards + through the deep narrow channel, rounding the upper end of the Pharaohnic + islet. Here the encircling wall is defended by two square Burj, to the + north-east and to the northwest, flanking what is probably the main + entrance. On the Sinaitic mainland to port, the broad mouth of the Wady + el-Masri leads to the Nakb, the rocky Pass which, so much dreaded till + repaired by Abba's Pasha, is popularly said to be described in El-'Akabah—"the + Steep." The Bedawin, however, declare that the locale is so called because + the Gulf here "heels" (Ya'kkab el-Bahr), that is, comes to an end. At the + head of the sea, the confused mass of the Sinaitic mountains range + themselves in line to the west, fronting its sister wall, the grand block + El-Shará' (Seir); while in the middle lies the southern section of the + "Ghor," the noble and memorious Wady el-'Akabah, supposed to have given a + name to Arabia.<a href="#linknote-126" name="linknoteref-126" + id="linknoteref-126"><small>126</small></a> The surface-water still rolls + down it after rains; and the mirage veiling the valley-sole prolongs the + Gulf-waters far to the north, their bed in the old geologic ages. The view + was charming to us; for the first time since leaving Suez we saw the + contrast of perpendicular and horizontal, of height and flat. Nothing + could be more refreshing, more gladdening to the eye, after niente che + montagne, as the poor Italian described the Morea, than the soft sweeps + and the level lines of the hollow plain: it was enjoyable as a heavy + shower after an Egyptian summer. On the next day also, the play of light + and shade, and the hide and seek of sun-ray and water-cloud, gave the view + a cachet of its own. I am sorry to see that scientific geologist, Mr. John + Milne, F.G.S.,<a href="#linknote-127" name="linknoteref-127" + id="linknoteref-127"><small>127</small></a> proposing to cut through the + two to five hundred feet of elevation which separate the Gulf from the + Dead Sea, some thirteen hundred feet below water level. Does he reflect + that he simply proposes to obliterate the whole lower Jordan? to bury + Tiberias and its lake about eight hundred feet under the waves? in fact, + to overwhelm half the Holy Land in a brand-new nineteenth-century deluge, + the Deluge of Milne? + </p> + <p> + All were delighted at having reached our northernmost point, without + another visit from El-Ayli'. After one hour and thirty-five minutes (= + seven miles) the Mukhbir anchored, in twelve fathoms of water, a couple of + hundred yards off the fort and its dependent group of brown-grey mud + buildings, half concealed by the luxuriant palms. The roads are safe + enough: here the north wind has not yet gained impetus; the south-easter + is bluffed off by a long point; and in only the strongest Gharbí + ("westers") ships must run for refuge under the cliffs of Sinai. + </p> + <p> + This is not the place to enter into the history of Elath, Ailat, Ailah, + Ælana, 'Akabah, or 'Akabat-Aylah: Robinson (i. 250-254) and a host of + others give ample and reliable details. Suffice it to say that the site is + mentioned in the Wanderings (Deut. ii. 8), which must not be confounded + with the Exodus. It is subsequently connected with the gold-fleet (I Kings + ix. 26, etc.); and, conquered by Rezin, king of Syria (B.C. 740), it was + permanently lost to the Jews (2 Kings xvi. 6). Under the Romans, this + great station upon the "Overland" between the southernmost Nabathæan port, + Leukè Kóme, and Petra, the western capital, was a Præsidium held by the + Tenth Legion; and a highway connected it with Gaza (Ghazzah), measuring + one hundred and twenty direct miles, when the Isthmus of Suez numbers only + ninety-five. In Christian times it had a prince and a bishop; and, under + Mohammed and the early Moslems, it preserved an importance which lasted + till the days of the Crusaders. El-Makrízi describes its ruins, and here + places the northern frontier of the Hejaz: in his day "Madyan" was thus a + section of the Tihámat el-Hejaz, the maritime region of the Moslems' Holy + Land. + </p> + <p> + A group of camels had gathered on the shore; and inland lay a mob of + pilgrims, the Hajj el-Magháribah, numbering some three thousand North-West + Africans; an equally large division had already preceded them to Suez. + Letters from Egypt assured us that cholera had broken out at Meccah and + Jeddah, killing in both places ninety-eight per diem. Here the pilgrims + swore by their Allah that all were, and ever had been, in perfect health; + it is every man's business to ignore the truth, to hide the sick, and to + bury the dead out of sight. Hard swearing, however, did not prevent the + Hajj undergoing a long quarantine before entering Suez. The English + journals had reported another disaster: "Now that the Sultán's power is + collapsing, the most powerful Bedaween tribes are rising because their + subsidies are withheld. For weeks the great pilgrim-traffic of autumn (? + add the other three seasons) was arrested by them; and even between Medina + and Mecca the road is unsafe." Of this I could hear nothing. + </p> + <p> + We awaited, on board, the departure of the pauper and infected + "Mogrebbins:" when the place was clear we fired a gun, and, after an + answer of three, I received the visits of the fort officials. They were + civility itself; they immensely admired our two "splendid buttons" of poor + iron; and they privily remarked, with much penetration, that the colour + was that of brass: they were, in truth, far wiser than we had been. With + them came Mohammed ibn Jád (not Iját) el-'Alawí (of the + 'Alawlyyin-Huwaytát), who styles himself "Shaykh of El-'Akabah:" he is + remarkable for frank countenance, pleasant manners, and exceeding greed. + He was gorgeously arrayed in an overall ('Abáyah) of red silk and gold + thread (Gasab), covering a similar cloak of black wool: besides which, a + long-sleeved Egyptian caftán, striped stuff of silk and wool, invested his + cotton Kamís and Libás ("bag-breeches"). To his A'kál or "fillet" of white + fleecy wool hung a talisman; his Khuff ("riding-boots") were of red + morocco, and his sword-scabbard was covered with the same material. The + Arab ever loves scarlet, and all varieties of the sanguine hue are as dear + to him as to the British soldier. + </p> + <p> + We held sundry long confabs with Shaykh Mohammed, who seemed to know the + neighbourhood unusually well. He declared that there were ruins but no + trees at 'Ayn el-Ghadya'n, distant one day's march up the Wady el-'Arabah, + and lying near the western wall. This is the place first identified by + Robinson, who says nothing about the remains, with Ezion-geber, while Dean + Stanley ("Sinai," etc., p. 85) opines that we have no means of fixing the + position of the "Giant's shoulder-blade."<a href="#linknote-128" + name="linknoteref-128" id="linknoteref-128"><small>128</small></a> + Josephus ("Antiq.," viii. 6, 4) places it near Ælana; and the present + distance from the sea, like that of Heroopolis (Shaykh el-Ajrúd?) from + Suez, may show the rise of the Wady el-'Arabah within historic times. The + Shaykh assured us that "Marú" was to be found everywhere among the hills + east of El-'Akabah, and Mr. Milne (Beke, p. 405) brought from the very + summit of the "true Mount Sinai" (Jebel el-Yitm) a "fine piece of quartz, + the same kind of stone as the Brazilian pebbles of which they make the + best spectacles." We carried off a specimen of native copper from the + Sinaitic Jebel and Wady Raddádí, some six hours to the north-west of the + fort: it is found strewed upon the ground but not in veins (?). The stone + looked so new that we concluded it to be the work of later generations; + and the traces of smelting furnaces at old Elath confirmed the idea. + </p> + <p> + Shaykh Mohammed, who boasted that his tribe could mount five hundred + horses—by which understand five—offered his safeguard to the + Hismá, three easy marches, without pass or climax, up the Wady Yitm to the + east, and behind the range El-Shará'. He made the region begin northwards + at one day south of El-Ma'án, the fort lying to the east-south-east of + Petra; and he confirmed the accounts of Mabrúk, the guide, who was never + tired of expatiating upon its merits. The fountains flow in winter, in + summer the wells are never dry; the people, especially the Huwaytát, are + kind and hospitable; sheep are cheap as dirt. At Jebel Saur a Maghrabi + magician raised a Kidr Dahab ("golden pot"); but, his incense failing at + the critical moment, it sank before yielding its treasures. + </p> + <p> + Pointing north-eastwards to the majestic pile in the Shara" or Seir + Mountains, the Jebel el-Yitm,<a href="#linknote-129" name="linknoteref-129" + id="linknoteref-129"><small>129</small></a> a corruption of El-Yatim, the + Shaykh told us a tale that greatly interested us. It appears, I have said, + a remarkable formation from whose group of terminal domes and pinnacles + the tomb of Aaron on Mount Hor is,<a href="#linknote-130" + name="linknoteref-130" id="linknoteref-130"><small>130</small></a> they + say, visible; and it is certainly the highest visible peak of the grand + wall that forms the right bank of the Wady Yitm. Thus it is but one of a + long range; and the Bedawin visit it, to make sacrifice, according to + universal custom, at the tomb of a certain Shaykh Bákir. Here, some years + ago, came an old man and a young man in a steamer (Erin) belonging to his + Highness the Khediv: the former told the Arabs that in his books the + height was called the Jebel el-Núr ("Mountain of Light"), a title which + apparently he had first applied to the Jebel el-Lauz; and the latter + climbed to the mountain-top. After that they went their way. + </p> + <p> + I quite agree with my lamented friend, Dr. Beke, that it is an enormous + blunder to transfer Midian, the "East Country," to the west of El-'Arabah, + and to place it south of the South Country (El-Negeb, Gen. xx. I). I own + that it is ridiculous to make the Lawgiver lead his fugitives into a + veritable cul-de-sac, then a centre of Egyptian conquest. Evidently we + have still to find the "true Mount Sinai," if at least it be not a myth, + pure and simple. The profound Egyptologist, Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey, + observes that the vulgar official site lies to the south of and far from + the line taken by the Beni Israil, and that the papyri show no route + leading to it; whilst many have remarked that the Sinai of the Exodus is + described as a single isolated mountain or hill, not as one projection + from a range of heights.<a href="#linknote-131" name="linknoteref-131" + id="linknoteref-131"><small>131</small></a> I would also suggest that the + best proof of how empirical is the actual identification, will be found in + the fact that the Jews—except only the Rev. Jos. Wolff (1821)—have + never visited, nor made pilgrimages to, what ought to be one of their + holiest of holy places. This crucial point has been utterly neglected by + the officers of the Ordnance Survey of Sinai. It is evident that Jebel + Serbal dates only from the early days of Koptic Christianity; that Jebel + Musá, its Greek rival, rose after the visions of Helena in the fourth + century; whilst the building of the convent by Justinian belongs to A.D. + 527. Ras Sufsafah, its rival to the north, is an affair of yesterday, and + may be called the invention of Robinson; and Jebel Katerina, to the south, + is the property of Ruppell. Thus the oft-quoted legends of the Sinaitic + Arabs are mere monkish traditions, adopted by Ishmaelitic ignorance. The + great Lawgiver probably led his horde of fugitive slaves over the plains + of El-Negeb and El-Tih, north of the so-called Sinaitic mountain-blocks, + marching in small divisions like those of a modern Bedawi tribe; and we + know from the latest surveys that the land, now alternately a fiery or + frozen wilderness, was once well supplied with wood and water. The "true + Mount Sinai" is probably some unimportant elevation in the Desert named by + moderns after the Wanderings. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Beke, I am persuaded, is right in denying that Mount Sinai occupies + the site at present assigned to it; but I cannot believe that he has found + it in the Jebel el-Yitm, near El-'Akabah. His "Mount Bárghir" is evidently + a corruption of the "Wali" on the summit, Shaykh Bákir—a common Arab + name. His "Mountain of Light" is a term wholly unknown to the Arabs, + except so far as they would assign the term to any saintly place. The + "sounds heard in the mountain like the firing of a cannon," is a legend + applied to two other neighbouring places. All the Bedawin still sacrifice + at the tombs of their Santons: at the little white building which covers + the reputed tomb of Aaron, sheep are slaughtered and boiled in a huge + black cauldron. The "pile of large rounded boulders" bearing "cut Sinaitic + inscriptions" (p. 423) are clearly Wusúm: these tribal-marks, which the + highly imaginative M. de Saulcy calls "planetary signs," are found + throughout Midian. The name of the Wady is, I have said, not El-Ithem, but + El-Yitm, a very different word. Lastly, the "Mountain Eretówa," or + "Ertówa" (p. 404), is probably a corruption of El-Taur (El-Hismá), the + "inaccessible wall" of the plateau, which Dr. Beke calls Jebel Hismá. My + old friend, with his usual candour and straightforwardness, honestly + admitted that he had been "egregiously mistaken with respect to the + volcanic character of (the true) 'Mount Sinai."' But without the eruption, + the "fire and smoke theory," what becomes of his whole argument?<a + href="#linknote-132" name="linknoteref-132" id="linknoteref-132"><small>132</small></a> + Save for the death of my friend, I should have greatly enjoyed the comical + side of his subject; the horror and disgust with which he, one of the + greatest of geographical innovators, regards a younger rival theory, the + exodist innovation of Dr. Heinrich Brugsch-Bey. The latter is the first + who has rescued the "March of the Children of Israel" from the condition + of mere guesswork described by the Rev. Mr. Holland. + </p> + <p> + Under the guidance of our new acquaintances, we rowed to the site of + Elath, which evidently extended all round the Gulf-head from north-east to + north-west. Linant and Laborde ("Voyage de l'Arabie Petrée," etc., Paris, + 1830) confine it to the western shore, near the mouth of the Wady + el-'Arabah, and make Ezion-geber to face it as suggested by the writings + of the Hebrews. Disembarking at the northern palm-clump, we inspected + El-Dár, the old halting-place of the pilgrim-caravan before New 'Akabah + was founded. The only ruins<a href="#linknote-133" name="linknoteref-133" + id="linknoteref-133"><small>133</small></a> are large blocks under the + clearest water, and off a beach of the softest sand, which would make the + fortune of a bathing-place in Europe. Further eastward lies an enclosed + date-orchard called El-Hammám: the two pits in it are said to be wells, + but I suspect the treasure-seeker. Inland and to the north rise the mounds + and tumuli, the sole remains of ancient Elath, once the port of Petra, + which is distant only two dromedary marches. During rain-floods the site + is an island: to the west flows the surface-water of the Wady el-'Arabah, + and eastward the drainage of the Wady Yitm has dug a well-defined bed. A + line of larger heaps to the north shows where, according to the people, + ran the city wall: finding it thickly strewed with scoriae, old and new, I + decided that this was the Siyághah or "smiths' quarter." Between it and + the sea the surface is scattered with glass, shards, and slag: I inquired + in vain for "written stones," and for the petroleum reported to exist in + the neighbourhood. + </p> + <p> + Shaykh Mohammed declared that of old a chain stretched from the Pharaohnic + island-castle to the Jebel el-Burayj or Kasr el-Bedawi on the Midianite + shore: this chain is a lieu commun of Eastern legends. The "Bedawi's + Castle" is mentioned by Robinson and Burckhardt ("Syria," p. 510), as + lying one hour south of El-'Akabah. Moreover, the Wady Yitm, whose upper + bed shows two ruins, was closed, at the narrow above the mouth, by a + fortified wall of stone and lime, thus cutting off all intercourse with + the interior. The Bedawin declare it to be the work of King Hadíd (Iron), + who thus kept out the Bení Hilál of El-Nejd. We were shown large + earth-dams, thrown across the embouchure of the torrent to prevent the + floods injuring the palm-groves of New 'Akabah. These may date from + ancient days, when the old city here extended its south-eastern suburb; as + usual, they have become a cemetery, modern and Moslem; and on the summit + of the largest the holy Shaykh el-Girmí (Jirmí) still names his ruined + tomb. + </p> + <p> + Walking round the eastern bay, where the ubiquitous black sand striped the + yellow shore, we observed that the tide here rises only one foot,<a + href="#linknote-134" name="linknoteref-134" id="linknoteref-134"><small>134</small></a> + whereas at Suez it may reach a metre and a half to seven feet. According + to the chart, the springs attain four feet at "Omeider" (El-Humayzah), + some nineteen direct knots to the south; and in the Sharm Yáhárr we found + them about one metre. Presently we entered, by wooden doors with locks and + keys, the carefully kept palm-groves, walled with pisé and dry stone. + Wells were being sunk; and a depth of nine to ten feet gave tolerably + sweet water. Striking the broad northern trail which leads to the Wady + Yitm and to the upper El-'Arabah, still a favourite camping-ground of the + tribes,<a href="#linknote-135" name="linknoteref-135" id="linknoteref-135"><small>135</small></a> + we reached the modern settlement, which has something of the aspect of a + townlet, not composed, like El-Muwaylah, of a single house. The women fled + at our approach, as we threaded the alleys formed by the mud tenements. + </p> + <p> + The fort<a href="#linknote-136" name="linknoteref-136" id="linknoteref-136"><small>136</small></a> + is usually supposed to have been built by Sulta'n Selim I., in A.D. 1517, + or three years before his death, after he had subdued the military + aristocracy of the Mamlúks, who had ruled Egypt for three centuries. Much + smaller than that of El-Muwaylah, it is the normal affair: an enceinte + once striped red and white; curtains flanked by four Burj, all circular, + except the new polygon to the north-west; and a huge, gloomy main-gateway + fronting north, and flanked by two bastions. On the proper right side is a + circle of stone bearing, without date, the name of "Sultán Selim Khan + el-Fátih," who first laid out the pilgrim-route along the Red Sea shore. + Inside the dark cool porch a large inscription bears the name "El-Ashraf + Kansúr (sic)<a href="#linknote-137" name="linknoteref-137" + id="linknoteref-137"><small>137</small></a> El-Ghori," the last but one of + the Circassian Mamlúk kings of Egypt, who was defeated and slain by the + Turkish conqueror near Aleppo in A.D. 1501. Above it stand two stone + shields dated A.H. 992 (= A.D. 1583—1584). In the southern wall of + the courtyard is the mosque, fronted by a large deep well dug, they say, + during the building of the fort: it still supplies the whole Hajj-caravan + with warmish sweet water. On the ground lies a good brass gun with Arabic + inscription and numerals; and the towers, commanding the little + kitchen-gardens outside the fort-wall, are armed with old iron carronades. + The garrison, consisting of half a dozen gunners and a few Ba'sh-Buzuks, + looks pale, bloodless, and unwholesome: the heats of summer are almost + unsupportable; and 'Akabah has the name of a "little hell." Moreover, they + eat, drink, smoke, sleep, chat, quarrel, and never take exercise: the + officers complained sadly that I had made them walk perhaps a mile round + the bay-head. And yet they have, within two days of sharp ride, that + finest of sanitaria, the Hismá, which extends as far north and south as + they please to go. + </p> + <p> + I at once made arrangements for a dromedary-post to Suez, and wrote + officially to Prince Husayn Pasha, requesting that his Highness would + exchange the Mukhbir for a steamer less likely to drown herself. Moreover, + the delay at Magháir Shu'ayb had exhausted our resources; and the + Expedition required a month's additional rations for men and mules. The + application was, it will appear, granted in the most gracious manner, with + as little delay as possible; and my wife, who had reached Cairo, saw that + the execution of the order was not put off till the end of March. Messrs. + Voltéra Brothers were also requested to forward another instalment of + necessaries and comforts; and they were as punctual and satisfactory as + before. For this postal service, and by way of propitiatory present, + Shaykh Mohammed received ten dollars, of which probably two were + disbursed. We therefore parted fast friends, he giving me an especial + invitation to his home in the Hismá, and I accepting it with the firm + intention of visiting him as soon as possible. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Mr. Clarke and Ali Marie were busy with buying up such stores as + El-'Akabah contains; and the officers of the fort, who stayed with us to + the last, were profuse in kind expressions and in little gifts which, as + usual, cost us double their worth. In these lands one must expect to be + "done" as surely as in Italy. What the process will be, no one knows till + it discloses itself; but all experts feel that it is in preparation. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTE ON THE SUPPLIES TO BE BOUGHT AT EL-'AKABAH. + </h2> + <p> + The following is a list of the stores with their prices. It must be borne + in mind that the Hajj-caravan was passing at the time we visited + El-'Akabah. + </p> + <p> + A large sheep cost half a napoleon; the same was the price of a small + sheep, with a kid. + </p> + <p> + Fowls (seventy-one bought), thirteen pence each; pigeons, sixpence a head. + </p> + <p> + Eggs (sixty), two for threepence. + </p> + <p> + Tobacco (8 lbs.), coarse and uncut, but welcome to the Bedawin, one + shilling per pound. + </p> + <p> + Samn ("liquefied butter" for the kitchen) also one shilling per pound. + This article is always dear in Arabia, but much cheaper than in Egypt. + </p> + <p> + Pomegranates (fifty), four shillings a hundred. + </p> + <p> + Onions (one kanta'r or cwt.), one sovereign. + </p> + <p> + Thin-skinned Syrian raisins, fivepence per pound. + </p> + <p> + Dried figs, twopence halfpenny per pound. + </p> + <p> + Matches (sixteen boxes), three halfpence per box. + </p> + <p> + A small quantity of grain may be bought. Lentils (Revalenta Arabica) are + to be had in any quantity, and they make an admirable travelling soup. + Unfortunately it is supposed to be a food for Fellahs, and the cook shirks + it—the same is the case with junk, salt pork, and pease-pudding on + board an English cruiser. Sour limes are not yet in season; they will be + plentiful in April. A little garden stuff may be had for salads. The list + of deficiencies is great; including bread and beef, potatoes, 'Ráki, and + all forms of "diffusable stimulants." + </p> + <p> + Here, as at Cairo, the piastre is of two kinds, metallic (debased silver) + and non-metallic. Government pays in the former, which is called Ságh + ("coin"); and the same is the term throughout Egypt. The value fluctuates, + but 97-1/2 may be assumed = one sovereign (English), and one hundred to + the Egyptian "lira." The second kind, used for small purchases, is not + quite half the value of the former (205:100); in North-Western Arabia it + is called Abyas ("white"), and Tarífá ("tariff"); the latter term in Cairo + always signifying the Ságh or metallic. The dodges of the Shroffs, or + "money-changers," make housekeeping throughout Egypt a study of + arithmetic. They cannot change the value of gold, but they "rush" the + silver as they please; and thus the "dollar-sinko" (i.e. the five-franc + piece), formerly fetching 19.10, has been reduced to 18.30. The Khurdah, + or "copper-piastre," was once worth a piastre; now this "coin of the + realm" has been so debased, that it has gradually declined through 195 to + 500 and even 650 for the sovereign. Moreover, not being a legal tender, it + is almost useless in the market. + </p> + <p> + As regards the money to be carried by such expeditions, anything current + in Egypt will do. The Bedawin prefer sovereigns when offered five-franc + pieces, and vice versa. The Egyptian sovereign of 100 piastres (metallic) + or 250 "current" must not be confounded with the Turkish = 87.30 (curr. + 175.20 to 180). The napoleon averages 77.6 (curr. 160); the dollar varies + according to its kind; the shilling is 3.35 (curr. 10), and the franc 3.35 + (curr. 8). It is necessary to lay in a large quantity of small change by + way of "bakhshísh," such as ten and twenty parah bits (40 = 1 piastre). + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VIII. — Cruise from El-'Akabah to El-Muwaylah—the + Shipwreck Escaped–-Résumé of the Northern Journey. + </h2> + <p> + I resolved upon hastening back with all speed to El-Muwaylah, finishing, + by the way, our work of quartz-prospecting on the 'Akabah Gulf. Thus far + it had been a success; we heard of "Marú" in all directions. But all had + not gone equally well. We had already on two occasions been prevented by + circumstances from visiting the mysterious Hismá, and we now determined to + devote all our energies to its exploration. + </p> + <p> + Two heavy showers having fallen during the dark hours, on February 8th + Aurora looked as if she had passed a very bad night indeed. The mist-rack + trailed along the rock slopes, and rested upon the Wady-sands; the + mountains veiled their heads in clouds, and— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Above them lightnings to and fro ran coursing evermore, + Till, like a red, bewildered map, the skies were +scribbled o'er." +</pre> + <p> + Meanwhile, in the north-west and south-west we saw—rare thing in + Arabia!—Iris holding two perfect bows at the same time, not to speak + of "wind dogs." Zephyrus, the wester, here a noted bad character, rose + from his rocky couch strong and rough, beating down the mercury to 56 + degrees F.: after an hour he made way for Eurus; and the latter was + presently greeted by Boreas in one of his most boisterous and blustering + moods. + </p> + <p> + We steamed off, with only a single stoppage for half an hour to cool the + engine-bearings, at 7.30 a.m.; and, after one mile we passed, on the + Arabian side, a ruin called Kasr el-Bint—"the Girl's Palace." Beyond + it lies the Kasr el-Bedawi, alias El-Burayj ("of the Little Tower or + Bastion"), the traditional holding-pier of the great chain. When Wellsted + (ii. 146) says, "Here (i.e. at the Kasr el-Bedawi), I am told, there is a + chain extending from the shore to a pier built in the sea"—he + evidently misunderstood the Arabs. The eastern coast of El-'Akabah begins + with an abrupt mountain-wall, like that which subtends the whole of the + Sinai shore, till it trends south of the Mí'nat el-Dahab. After three + miles the heights fall into a stony, sandy plain, which rises regularly as + a "rake," or stage-slope, to the Shará' (Seir) range, which closes the + horizon. After two hours and forty five minutes we passed into the fine, + open, treacherous Bay of "Hagul" (El-Hakl), distant thirteen knots from + El-'Akabah Fort, to which it is the nearest caravan-station. On the + north-east, and stretching eastward, are the high "horse," or dorsum, and + the big buttresses of the long, broad Wady, which comes winding from the + south-east. They appear to be a body of sand; but, as usual on this coast, + the superficial sheet, the skin, hardly covers the syenite and porphyritic + trap that form the charpente. Between west and south, a long spit, high + inland, and falling low till where its sandstone blufflet meets the sea, + proves to be the base of a large and formidable reef, which extends in + verdigris patches over the blue waters of the bay. It is not mentioned by + Wellsted (ii. 149), who describes "Ha'gool on the Arabian shore," as "a + small boat-harbour much exposed to the northerly winds." The embouchure of + the Wady nourishes four distinct clumps of date-trees, well walled round; + a few charred and burnt, the most of them green and luxuriant. These lines + are broken by the channels which drain the surface water; and between the + two western sections appear the ragged frond-huts. Not a soul was seen on + shore. + </p> + <p> + The wind blew great guns outside the bay, and the inside proved anything + but calm. As the water was fifty-eight fathoms deep near the coast, our + captain found no moorings for his ship, except to the dangerous reef; and + we kept drifting about in a way which would have distracted sensitive + nerves. I had been told of ruins and tumuli at El-Hakl, which denote, + according to most authorities, the Mesogeian town (Ancale): Ptolemy (vi. + 7, 27) places this oppidum Mediterraneum between Mákna or Maína (Madyan), + and Madiáma (Magháir Shu'ayb), the old capital. + </p> + <p> + Unwilling, however, to risk the safety of the gunboat, where nothing was + to be expected beyond what we had seen at El-'Akabah, I resolved, after + waiting half an hour, not to land. The Sambúk received a cargo of + quarrymen and sacks, in order to ship at Makná the "argentiferous galena" + and other rocks left by Lieutenant Yusuf and M. Philipin upon the shore; + and, that done, she was directed to rejoin us at Tírán Island. As long as + the norther coursed high, she beat us hollow; in the afternoon, however, + when the gale, as usual, abated, she fell off, perhaps purposely, not + wishing to pass a night in the open. By sunset her white sail had clean + disappeared, having slipped into some snug cove. + </p> + <p> + The Arabian shore is here of simpler construction than that of Sinai; + consequently the chart has had a better chance. The Mukhbir resumed her + way southwards in glorious weather, a fresh breath blowing from the north; + and fleecy clouds variegating the sky, which was almost as blue as the + waves After six miles and a half from El-Hakl and nearly twenty from + El-Akabah, she ran to the west of El-Humayzah Island, the "Omasír" of + Wellsted (ii. 149), between which and the mainland is a well sheltered + berth. It is a great contrast with the "Hill of the Fort," the Pharaohnic + rock, this lump some eighty feet high, built of Secondary gypsum and + yellow serpentine like the coast behind it. Gleaming deadly white, pale as + a corpse in the gorgeous sunshine, and utterly bare, except for a single + shrub, it is based upon a broad, dark-coloured barrier-reef. Local + tradition here places the Kasr el-Bedawíyyah, "Palace of the Bedawi Woman + (or Girl)," but we saw neither sign of building nor trace of population in + the second island which the Gulf el-'Akabah owns. + </p> + <p> + We then passed sundry uninteresting features, and night fell upon us off + Jebel Tayyib Ism, where familiar scenes began to present themselves. The + captain had already reduced speed from four and a half to three knots, his + object being to reach the Bugház or "Gulf-mouth" after dawn. But as + midnight drew near it became necessary to ride out the furious gale with + the gunboat's head turned northwards. M. Lacaze, a stout-hearted little + man, worked half the night at the engine, assisting Mr. Duguid. About four + a.m. (February 8th) a lull in the storm allowed her to resume her + southerly course; but two hours afterwards, an attempt to make the Makná + shore, placing her broadside on to the wind, created much confusion in the + crockery and commotion among the men. Always a lively craft, she now + showed a Vokes-like agility; for, as is ever the case, she had no ballast, + and who would take the trouble to ship a few tons of sand? At such moments + the engine was our sole stand-by: had it played one of its usual tricks, + the Mukhbir, humanly speaking, was lost; that is, she would have been + swamped and water-logged. As for setting sail, it was not till our narrow + escape that I could get the canvas out of stowage in the hold. + </p> + <p> + As the morning wore on the Gulf became even rougher, with its deep and + hollow waves; they seemed to come from below, as if bent upon hoisting us + in the air. The surface-water shivered; and the upper spray was swept off + by the north wind, which waxed colder and more biting as we steered + sunwards. The Sinaitic side now showed its long slopes; and at 9.45 a.m. + we passed the palms of the Nebíkí anchorage, some six miles from the + "Gate." On the shore of Midian, south of the dark Fahísát Mountains, four + several buttresses of gypsum, decreasing in size as they followed one + another eastwards, trended diagonally away from the sea. This part of the + Arabian coast ends in a thin point: the maps call it "Ras Fartak;" and the + pilots "Shaykh Hamí,"<a href="#linknote-138" name="linknoteref-138" + id="linknoteref-138"><small>138</small></a> from a holy man's tomb to + which pious visitation is made. The other land-tongue, adjoining to the + south, is known as the Umm Ruús, or "Mother of Heads." I cannot find out + whence Ruppell borrowed his "Omel Hassanie" (Umm el-Hassání?). + </p> + <p> + As we approached the ugly gape of the formidable Gulf, the waves increased + in size, and coursed to all directions, as if distorted by the sunken + reefs. The eastern jamb is formed by Tírán Island; the western by the + sandy Ras Nasráni, whose glaring tawny slope is dotted with dark basaltic + cones, detached and disposed like great ninepins. Beyond this cape the + Sinaitic coast, as far as Ras Mohammed, the apex of the triangle, is + fretted with little indentations; hence its name, El-Shurúm—"the + Creeks." Near one of these baylets, Wellsted chanced upon "volcanic rocks + which are not found in any other part of the peninsula:" this sporadic + outbreak gives credibility to the little "Harrah" reported to be found + upon the bank of the Midianitish "Wady Sukk." A hideous, horrid reef, + dirty brown and muddy green, with white horses madly charging the black + diabolitos, whose ugly heads form chevaux de frise, a stony tongue based + upon Tírán Island, and apparently connected from the eastern coast behind, + extends its tip to mid-channel. The clear way of the dreaded Bugház is + easily found in the daytime: at night it would be almost impossible; and + when Midian shall be "rehabilitated," this reef will require a Pharos. + </p> + <p> + Adieu, small spitfire of a Gulf! The change from the inside to the outside + of the Birkat el-Akabah was magical. We at once glided into summer seas, a + mosaic of turquoise and amethyst, fanned by the softest of breezes, the + thermometer showing on deck 63 deg F. Perhaps the natural joy at our lucky + escape from "making a hole in the water" caused the beauties of the + weather and the glories of the scenery to appear doubly charming. Our + captain might have saved fifteen miles by taking the short cut north of + Tírán Island, under whose shelter we required a day for boiler-tinkering. + His pilot, however, would not risk it, and we were compelled, nothing loth + and little knowing what we did, to round for a second time the western and + southern shores. + </p> + <p> + The "Hill of Birds," which some have identified with the classical Island + of Isis,<a href="#linknote-139" name="linknoteref-139" id="linknoteref-139"><small>139</small></a> + shows a triune profile, what the Brazilians call a Moela or "gizzard." Of + its three peaks the lowest is the eastern; and the central is the highest, + reaching seven hundred, not a thousand, feet. Viewed from within the Gulf, + it is a slope of sand which has been blown in sheets up the backing hills. + The ground plan, as seen from a balloon, would represent a round head to + the north, a thin neck, and a body rudely triangular, the whole measuring + a maximum of five miles in length: the sandy northern circlet, connected + by the narrowest of isthmuses, sweeping eastward, forms the noted port. + The material is the normal Secondary formation, sulphates and carbonates + of lime supporting modern corallines and conglomerates of shell. + Horizontal lines of harder stone are disposed in huge steps or roads that + number three to six on the flank of the western peak: the + manganese-coloured strata which appeared at Magháir Shu'ayb, and in the + rent bowels of the Rughámat Makná, are conspicuous from the south. The + whole has been upheaved by syenite, which, again, has been cut by dykes of + plutonic stone, trap and porphyry. + </p> + <p> + At two p.m. we anchored in a roadstead to the south-east of the island, + open to every wind except the norther. I had sent Lieutenant Amir and + sundry quarrymen ashore, to inspect what looked like a vein of sulphur. + They delayed two hours, instead of a few minutes; the boiler was grumbling + for rest, and, not wishing to leave them adrift in an open boat, I + imprudently consented to await them in a roadstead where the coast was + dangerous, instead of proceeding, as had been intended, to the fine + land-locked port, nature-hollowed in the eastern side of the island. The + old captain pitifully represented to me that his crew could not row; and + this I found to be generally the case: ten miles with the oar would be + considered a terrible corvée by the Egyptian man-o'-war's man. + </p> + <p> + After blowing off steam, we at once went a-fishing. The only remarkable + result was the discovery that this corner of the Red Sea is a + breeding-ground for sharks: we had not seen one in the Gulf of El-'Akabah, + where last April they swarmed. Here, however, the school contained all + sizes and every age, and they regarded us curiously with their cat's eyes, + large, dark, and yellow-striped down the middle. A small specimen, that + had just cut its teeth, was handed over to the cook, despite his loudly + expressed disgust. The meat was somewhat mealy and shortfibred; but we + pronounced in committee the seadog to be thoroughly eatable when corrected + by pepper, garlic, and Worcester sauce. The corallines near the shore were + finely developed: each bunch, like a tropical tree, formed a small + zoological museum; and they supplied a variety of animalculae, including a + tiny shrimp. The evening saw a well-defined halo encircling the moon at a + considerable distance; and Mr. Duguid quoted the Scotch saw— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "A far-awa' bruch's a near-awa' blast." +</pre> + <p> + The blast was nearer than we expected; and, during the rest of the + journey, the "bruch" rarely if ever deceived us. Yet the night was not + much disturbed by the furious northerly gusts, showing that the storm + which we had escaped was raging in the still-vexed 'Akabah. + </p> + <p> + Next morning we landed to the south-west of Tírán's easternmost peak, with + a view of prospecting and adding to our collections. On the shore, about + three hundred feet from the sea, is a bank of dead shells which are not + found on the northern or sandy end of the island: near the water most of + them are tenanted by paguri ("hermits"). We caught a number of crabs and + small fish, and we carried off a single rock-oyster: as yet we had not + found out that the Ustrída—the vulgar form of the Hellenic and + classical "Istiridiyá"—abounds in these seas. After thirty minutes' + walk up the southern plane of the prism, composed of gypseous and + coralline rocks, veins of white petrosilex resembling broken columels, + streaks of magnetic black sand, and scatters of grit and harder stones, we + reached the summit of the little ridge. It afforded a fine bird's-eye view + of the splendid middle port; of the false harbour; of the real shoal to + its south-east, and of the basin which seems to form Sináfir Island. + </p> + <p> + We now bent to the south-west. Here the surface is much cut and broken by + sandy Wadys, dotted with a few straggling plants: to our right was a Goz + or inclined arenaceous bank, where the south wind had sifted the sand from + the gravel, disposing the former in the hollows, and the latter on the + crest of the ripples. Presently we reached a strange formation which, seen + from the east, appears a huge vein, red and rusty, beginning close to the + sea, and crossing the body of the island from south to north, while a + black cone is so disposed that its southern front simulates a crater. A + narrow gorge opens upon a semicircular hollow lined with ochraceous or + ferruginous matter; in fact, part of the filon, which sends off fibrils in + all directions. The confusion of formations was startling. The floor was + here of white petrosilex, there of grey granite, variegated with squares + and lozenges, drops and pineapples, red, green, neutral tinted, and + disposed by oxides of iron and copper in natural designs that looked + artificial. Scattered over the bed of the upper ravine beyond the hollow, + were carbonates of lime, ruddy brown and chocolate-hued, here a + pudding-stone, there porous like basalt: the calcareous sulphates were + both amorphous and crystalline, the latter affected by contact with + plutonic matter. The walls of the gash showed a medley of clay breccias, + disposed in every imaginable way; and divided by horizontal veins of + heat-altered quartz. A few paces further led to the head of the ravine, + where a tumble of huge rocks, choking the bed, showed that the + rain-torrents must at times be violent. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, Mr. Clarke and Lieutenant Amir had walked to the large central + harbour, hoping there to hit upon sweet water and some stray Hutaym + fishermen, who would show us what we wanted. They did not find even the + vestige of a hut. The two exploring parties saw only three birds in the + "Isle of Birds," and not one of the venomous snakes mentioned at "Tehran" + by Wellsted (II. ix.), and described as "measuring about thirty inches, of + a slender form, with black and white spots." We also utterly failed to + discover the sulphur which was once abundant and the naphtha which, + according to the same authority, was produced here in considerable + quantities, and was used "by the Arab mariners to pay their boats." + </p> + <p> + The evening was exceptionally fine and calm; and we expected on the morrow + (February 11th) a quiet return to El-Muwaylah. Yet a manner of + presentiment induced me to summon the engineer and his native assistants, + and to promise the latter a liberal "bakhshísh," if by hard work at the + boiler all night, and by rigging up the ship's pump instead of a + donkey-engine, they could steam off at dawn. + </p> + <p> + Unexpectedly, about four a.m., a violent sandy and misty wester began to + blow; and all fancied that we had set sail to the south. Quite the + contrary! The engine was still under repair. The Mukhbir was being tossed + and rolled by the inshore set, and the sequel is quickest told by an + extract from my "Penny":— + </p> + <p> + "Written in sight of Death. Wind roaring furiously for victims: waves + worse. No chain can stand these sledge-hammer shocks. Chain parts,<a + href="#linknote-140" name="linknoteref-140" id="linknoteref-140"><small>140</small></a> + and best sheet-anchor with it. Bower and kedge anchors thrown out and + drag. Fast stranding broadside on: sharp coralline reef to leeward, + distant 150 yards. Sharks! Packed up necessaries. Sambúk has bolted, and + quite right too! Engine starts some ten minutes before the bump. Engineer + admirably cool; never left his post for a moment, even to look at the sea. + Giorgi (cook) skinning a sheep: he has been wrecked four times, and don't + care. Deck-pump acting poorly. Off in very nick of time, 9.15 a.m. General + joy, damped by broadside turned to huge billows. Lashed down boxes of + specimens on deck, and wore round safely. Made for Sináfir, followed by + waves threatening to poop us. Howling wind tears mist to shreds. Second + danger worse than first. Run into green water: fangs of naked rock on both + sides within biscuit-throw; stumps show when the waves yawn. Nice position + for a band-box of old iron! With much difficulty slipped into blue water. + Rounded south end of spit, and turned north into glorious Sináfir Bay. + Safe anchorage in eight fathoms. Anchor down at 10:15 a.m., after one hour + of cold sweat. Distance seven miles on chart, nine by course: Mukhbir + never went so fast; blown like chaff before wind. Faces cleared up. + All-round shaking of hands; ‘El-Hamdu li'lláhi,' followed by a drink. Some + wept for joy." + </p> + <p> + The engine, or rather the engineer, had saved us: as the saying is, it was + touch and go—the nearest thing I ever did see. Had the rotten old + boiler struck work for five minutes when we were clearing out of Tírán, or + steaming along Sináfir shore, nothing could have kept the ship afloat. + Those who behaved best, a fireman, a boy who crept into the + combustion-chamber to clear it, and helmsman who, having been at + Liverpool, spoke a little English, were duly "bakhshísh'd." The same + reward was given by mistake to the boilermaker, Mohammed Sa'íd Haddád, who + had malingered, instead of working, through the night. At Suez he had the + impudence to ask me for a Shahádah ("testimony") to his good character. On + the whole the conduct of the crew was worthy of all praise. + </p> + <p> + In a decently equipped English steamer we should have laughed at this + storm, and whistled for more wind; but the condition of the Mukhbir quite + changed the case. The masts might have rolled out, or she might have + sprung a leak at any moment. And supposing that we had escaped the crash + upon the reef, the huge waves, and the schools of sharks, our situation + would have been anything but pleasant. The Island of Tírán, as has been + shown, is a grisly scrap of desert: it has no sweet water; and its three + birds would not long have satisfied thirty hungry men. It is far from the + mainland; the storm, which lasted through two days, was too violent for + raft or boat to live, and at so early a season native craft are never seen + on these seas. Briefly, a week might have elapsed before our friends at + El-Muwaylah, who were startled by the wildness of the wind, could have + learned our plight, or could have taken measures to relieve the castaways. + </p> + <p> + Sináfir Island, which we have to thank for giving us hospitality on two + occasions, consists mainly of a bay. Viewed by the norma verticalis, it is + shaped like an ugly duckling, with an oval (Wellsted says a circular) body + of high ground disposed north-east to south-west; and with head and neck + drooping westward so as to form a mighty pier or breakwater. The watery + plain within is out of all proportion to the amount of terra firma. The + body-profile shows straight-backed heaps of gypsum, some two hundred feet + high, which become quoin-shaped about the middle of the isle: these + hillocks are connected by low strips of sand growing the usual vegetation, + especially the pink Statice pruinosa. + </p> + <p> + Presently our Sambúk, which had also lost chain and anchor before she + could run out of the storm, appeared to the north-west of the bay; and a + pilgrim-craft, bound for Suez, was our companion in good fortune. A party + landed to examine Sináfir, which still shows signs of a junction with + Tírán. In days when the Secondary formation was an unbroken street, the + whole segment of a circle, extending from Sharm Yáhárr to northern Sinai, + must have been dry land; these reefs and islands are now the only + remnants. The islet itself seems lately to have been two: the neck and + head are one, and the body is another; an evident sea-cliff marks the + junction, and what appears like a Wady below it, is the upraised sea-bed + of coralline. To the north-west, and outside this strip, lies the little + port defended by a network of reefs, in which our Sambúk had first taken + refuge. The bay-shore bears traces of more than one wreck; and in the + graveyard used by the native sailor, an open awning of flotsam and jetsam + looks from afar like a tumble-down log-hut. The number of reefs and shoals + shown by stripes of vivid green water promised excellent fishing, and + failed to keep its promise. + </p> + <p> + At length, after a third wasted day, we managed, despite a new hole in the + old boiler, to steam out of hospitable Sináfir at 6:30 a.m. on the + auspicious Wednesday, February 13. The appearance of the Mukhbir must have + been originale enough: her canvas had been fished out of the hold, but in + the place of a mainsail she had hoisted a topsail. We passed as close as + possible to the islet-line of Secondary formation, beginning with + Shu'shu', the wedge bluff-faced to south: the Palinurus anchored here in a + small bight on the north-east side, between two reefs, and narrowly + escaped being wrecked by a northerly gale. At 10:45 a.m. we were alongside + of Baráhkán, a double feature, lumpy and cliffy, connected by a low sandy + isthmus: the eastern flank gives good shelter to native crafts. Lastly + came Yubá', the compound quoin, the loftiest of the group, upwards of 350 + feet high, with its low-lying neighbour Wálih. These islets have classical + names, as I have before mentioned,<a href="#linknote-141" + name="linknoteref-141" id="linknoteref-141"><small>141</small></a> and + appear once to have been inhabited: even at Yubú', the least likely of + all, we heard from several authorities of a deep rock-cut well, covered + with a stone which the Arabs could not raise. + </p> + <p> + And now we were able to cast an intelligent glance in review of the scenes + made familiar by our first or northern march. The surpassing purity of the + transparent atmosphere, especially at this season, causes the land to look + as near at twenty as at ten miles; and thus both distances, showing the + horizon with the utmost distinctness, appear equally close to the ship. + Beginning towards El-‘Akabah, the Jebel el-Zánah behind Magháir Shu'ayb, + and its mighty neighbour, the Jebel el-Lauz, form the horizon of mountains + which are not the least amongst the giants. Southwards appear the Jibál + el-Tihámah, the noble forms of the seaboard, the parallel chains noting + the eastern boundary of Madyan (Proper); while behind them the Jibál + el-Shafah, reduced to blue heads and fragments of purple wall, are + evidently disposed on a far more distant plane. + </p> + <p> + As regards the Jibál el-Tihámah, I have registered ad nauseam the names of + the eight several blocks into which, between El-Zahd north and El-Shárr + south, the curtain, rising from a sea-horizon, seems to divide itself. + Every one consulted gave me a new or a different term; and apparently + seamen and landsmen have their separate nomenclature. Thus, the pilots + call the Fás, Harb and Dibbagh blocks, Jibál el-Musaybah, Tiryam, and + Dámah, after the Wadys and main valleys that drain them. The Bedawin, + again, will name the whole block after the part most interesting to them: + thus the tower-like formation characterizing Jebel Dibbagh was often + called "Jebel el-Jimm," and even this, as will afterwards appear, was not + quite exact.<a href="#linknote-142" name="linknoteref-142" + id="linknoteref-142"><small>142</small></a> + </p> + <p> + We fired a gun off El-Muwaylah, where our camp, ranged in long line, + looked clean and natty. At five p.m. we were once more at home in our old + quarters, the Sharm Yáhárr: the day's work had numbered fifty direct + geographical miles between Sina'fir and El-Muwaylah, with five more to our + dock. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Résumé +</pre> + <p> + Our journey through Madyan Proper (North Midian) had lasted fifty-four + days (December 19, 1877, to February 13, 1878). During nearly two months + the Expedition had covered only 105 to 107 miles of ground: this, however, + does not include the various by-trips made by the members, which would + more than double the total; nor the cruise of two hundred miles round the + Gulf of ‘Akabah, ending at El-Muwaylah. The total of camels employed + varied from 106 to 61, and their hire, including "bakhshísh" and all minor + charges, amounted, according to Mr. Clarke, to £316 14s. 3d. + </p> + <p> + This section of North Midian may be described as essentially a mining + country, which, strange to say of a province so near Egypt, has been + little worked by the Ancients. The first Khedivial Expedition brought back + specimens of free gold found in basalt, apparently eruptive, and in + corundophyllite, which the engineer called greenstone porphyry: silver + appeared in the red sands, in the chloritic quartz, and in the + titaniferous iron of the Jebel el-Abayz; the value being 265 to 300 francs + per ton, with traces in the scoriæ. The second Expedition failed to find + gold, but brought back argentiferous galena in copper-stained quartz, and + possibly in the ochraceous red veins seaming the Secondary gypsum; with + silicates and carbonates of copper: select specimens of the latter + yielding the enormous proportion of forty per cent. In this northern + region the great focus of metallic deposit appears to lie between north + lat. 28° 40' and 27° 50'; that is, from the Jebel Tayyib Ism, north of + Makná, to the southern basin which contains the Jebel el-Abyaz or "White + Mountain." Its characteristics are the argentiferous and cupriferous ores, + whereas in South Midian gold and silver were worked; and the parallelogram + whose limits are assigned above, might be converted into a Northern Grant. + Concerning the immense abundance of gypsum, and the sulphur which is + suspected to be diffused throughout the Secondary formation, ample details + have been given in the preceding pages. + </p> + <p> + The principal ruins of ancient settlements, and the ateliers, all of them + showing vestiges of metal-working, numbered eight: these are, beginning + from the south, Tiryam, Sharmá, ‘Aynúnah, the Jebel el-Abyaz, Magháir + Shu'ayb, Makná', Tayyib Ism, and El-‘Akabah. Magháir Shu'ayb, the Madiáma + of Ptolemy, is evidently the ancient capital of the district. It was the + only place which supplied Midianitish (Nabathæan) coins. Moreover, it + yielded graffiti from the catacombs; fragments of bronze which it will be + interesting to compare by assay with the metal of the European prehistoric + age; and, finally, stone implements, worked as well as rude. + </p> + <p> + I will end with a few words concerning the future industry of North + Midian. + </p> + <p> + For the success of these mines the greatest economy will be necessary. The + poorest ore can be treated on the spot by crushing and washing, where no + expenditure of fuel is required. The richer stone, that wants roasting and + smelting, would be shipped, when worth the while, from North Midian to + Suez: there coal is abundant, and the deserted premises of Dussaud-Bey, + belonging to the Egyptian Government, would form an excellent site for a + great usine centrale. Finally, the richest specimens—especially + those containing, as many do, a medley of metals—would be treated + with the least expenditure, and the greatest advantage, at Swansea or in + other parts of England, where there are large establishments which make + such work their specialty. + </p> + <p> + The following analyses of the specimens brought home by the first + Khedivial Expedition, were made at the Citadel, Cairo, by the well-known + chemist, Gastinel-Bey, in conjunction with M. George Marie, the engineer + attached to the Expedition:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +Analyses (Mm. Gastinel-bey and George Marie of Cairo) of Rocks + Brought Home by the First Khedivial Expedition. +</pre> + <p> + (All by Voie Sèche.) + </p> + <p> + Gold (assay on 100 grammes)— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1. In basalt (lava?). + + 2. In serpentine. + (None in white quartz.) +</pre> + <p> + Silver— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1. In Filon Husayn, 1/1000 = 265 to 300 francs per ton (very +good). + + 2. In red sands, 1/10,000 (= 20 francs per ton). + + 3. In scoriæ, traces. + (None in white quartz or in the black sands.) +</pre> + <p> + Copper— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1. In ‘Aynúnah quartz, 4 1/2 per 100. + + 2. In Filon Husayn, 2 1/2 to 3.40 per cent. + Filon Husayn = Titaniferous iron, 86.50 + Silica, 10.10 + Copper, 3.40. + + 3. In chloritic slate, 1.40 per cent. + (Chloritic slate of Makná' = + Silica, 90.50 + Carbonate of lime, 5.60 + Oxide of iron, 2.30 + Copper, 1.40.) +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +Sulphur (Jebel el-Kibri't of El-Muwaylah)— + 4 per cent. above. 9 ditto below. +</pre> + <p> + Lead everywhere. + </p> + <p> + Calamine (zinc) very rich. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Part II. — The March Through Central and Eastern Midian. + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IX. — Work in and Around El-Muwaylah. + </h2> + <p> + We arrived at El-Muwaylah too late to meet the Hajj-caravan, which, home + returning, had passed hurriedly through the station on February 9th. This + institution has sadly fallen off from its high estate of a quarter of a + century ago. Then commanded by an Amir el-Hajj—"Lord of the + Pilgrimage"—in the shape of two Pashas (generals), it is now under + the direction of a single Bey (colonel). The "True Believers," once + numbering thousands, were reduced in 1877-78 to some eight hundred souls, + of whom only eighty appeared at El-Muwaylah; and the peculiar modification + of modern days is that the Mahmal is escorted only by paupers. Yet the + actual number of the Hájis who stand upon Jebel ‘Arafát, instead of + diminishing, has greatly increased. The majority prefer voyaging to + travelling; the rich hire state-cabins on board well-appointed "Infidel" + steamers, and the poor content themselves with "Faithful" Sambúks. Indeed, + it would seem that all the present measures, quarantines of sixty days (!) + and detention at wretched Tor, comfortless enough to make the healthiest + lose health, are intended to discourage and deter "palmers" from + proceeding by land. If this course be continued, a very few years will see + the venerable institution represented by only the Mahmal and its guard. + The late Sa'id Pasha of Egypt once consigned the memorial litter per + steam-frigate to Jeddah: the innovation saved Ghafr ("blackmail") to the + Bedawin; but it was not approved of by the Moslem world. + </p> + <p> + The Hájis were so poor that they had nothing for barter or for sale. + Happily, however, there was a farrier amongst them, and Lieutenant Yusuf + took care that our mules were properly shod. M. Philipin had been a + maréchal ferrant, but a kick or two had left him no stomach for the craft. + Our two fellow-travellers, with the whole camp, had set out from Makná on + February 6th, and marched up the great Wady el-Kharaj. Along the eastern + flank of the Jebel el-Fahísát, the "Iron Mountain," they found many + outcrops of quartz, a rock which appears sporadically all the way to the + northern soufrière. In two places it was green-stained, showing copper, + while in another hydrated oxide and chromate of iron (hematite)<a + href="#linknote-143" name="linknoteref-143" id="linknoteref-143"><small>143</small></a> + abounded. After a stage of four hours and twenty minutes they left the + caravan, struck off to the west, accompanied by Shaykh Furayj, and reached + their destination. Here, however, they met with accidents: the mules + bolted, followed by the Shaykh's dromedary, and they were obliged to hurry + off for fear of losing the caravan, now well ahead of them. Thus, when I + had ordered Lieutenant Yusuf to make a detailed plan of the formation, he + had spent exactly ten minutes on the spot, and he appeared not a little + proud of his work. + </p> + <p> + This young officer was not a pleasant companion. He had doubtless received + his orders, but he carried them out in a peculiarly disagreeable way, + taking notes of all our proceedings under our eyes. Together with + Lieutenant Amir, he began to make a collection of geology: both, being + utterly innocent of all knowledge, imitated us in picking up specimens; + mixed them together without notes or labels; and, on return to Cairo, duly + presented them at the Citadel. This was all that was required. The papers + were "written to" and reported as follows: "Closer examination has shown + that the ‘turquoises' brought to Cairo are merely malachite (!); and that + the existence of any such quantity of gold as would pay for the working + is, to say the least of it, very doubtful."<a href="#linknote-144" + name="linknoteref-144" id="linknoteref-144"><small>144</small></a> + </p> + <p> + The whole camp, indeed, was seized with a mania for collecting: old Háji + Wali again gathered bits of quartz, which he once more presented as + gold-stone to his friends and acquaintances at Zagázig; and Anton, the + dragoman, triumphantly bore away fragments bristling with mica-slate, + whose glitter he fondly conceived to be silver. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Yusuf was presently despatched with three soldiers, three + quarrymen, Jází, the Arab guide of a former visit, and eight camels, to + bring back specimens of the copper silicate to the south of ‘Aynánah, and + to make a regular survey of the northern solfatara. He set out early on + February 18th, and after twenty-one hours of caravan-marching reached the + Jebel el-Fara'. Here the outcrop is bounded north by the Wady el-Fara', + and south by the Wadys el-Maríkhah and Umm Nírán, the latter forming the + general recipient of these Nullahs. The Jebel is about 120 feet high, of + oval form, stretching 1750 metres from north-north-west to + south-south-east. The rich silicate (not carbonate) of copper, which + disdains a streak and affects the file, is found, as usual with this ore, + only in one part of the valley to the south-west, some thirty-five feet + above the sole: it is a pocket, a "circumscribed deposit," as opposed to a + "true vein" or a "vein-fissure." The adjoining rocks contain carbonates of + iron and copper, and the ore-mass is apparently carbonate of lime. This + second visit generally confirmed the report of Ahmed Kaptán, except that + there were no signs of working, as he had supposed. The travellers passed + the whole of February 20th at the diggings, made a plan, and sent back two + camel-loads (four sacks) of the gangue, in charge of a soldier, to the + Fort of El-Muwaylah. + </p> + <p> + On the next day the little party made for the Wady ‘Aynúnah, and, striking + to the left of the straight line, crossed the maritime country, here a + mass of Wadys, including our old friend the ‘Afál. This highway to the + northern Hismá falls, I have said, into the Mínat el-‘Ayánát, a portlet + useful to Sambúks: its sickle-shaped natural breakwater, curving from west + to south, resembles that of Sinaitic Marsá el-Ginái, and those which are + so common in Western Iceland. On February 22nd, a very devious path, + narrow and rocky, lasting for one hour, led them, about noon, to the + northern Jebel el-Kibrít. The distance from El-Muwaylah is about sixty-six + miles; and the country west of a line drawn from ‘Aynúnah to Makná was, + before this march, utterly unknown to us, consequently to all the + civilized world. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Yusuf's two journals checking each other, his plan and his + specimens enable me to describe the northern deposit with more or less + accuracy. The Sulphur-hill is a long oval of four hundred metres + (east-west), by a maximum of one hundred and eighty (north-south); but it + extends branches in all directions: the mineral was also found in a + rounded piton, a knob on the Wady Musayr, attached to the north-eastern + side. The flattened dome is from fifty to sixty feet high, and the piton + one hundred and forty. The metal underlying a dark crust, some twelve to + fifteen centimetres thick, appears in regular crystals and amorphous + fragments of pure brimstone pitting the chalky sulphate of lime: blasting + was not required; the soft material yielded readily to the pick. This + gypseous or Secondary formation was found to extend, not only over the + adjacent hills, but everywhere along the road to Makná. The important + point which now remains to be determined is, I repeat, whether + sulphur-veins can be found diffused throughout these non-plutonic rocks. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Yusuf fixed his position by climbing the adjacent hills, whence + Sina'fir bore 190°, and Shu'shu' 150° (both magnetic); while greater + elevations to the west shut out the view of lofty Ti'ra'n, and even of the + Sinaitic range. The nearest water in the Wady el-Nakhil to the north-east + was reported to be a two hours' march with loaded camels (= five miles) + Several little ports, quite unknown to the Hydrographic Chart, were + visited. These are, beginning from the north, the Mínat Hamdán, lying + between Makná and Dabbah; a refuge for Sambúks defended, like that of old + "Madyan," by rising ground to the north. About three miles and a quarter + further south is the Sharm Dabbah, the "Sherm Dhaba, good anchorage" of + the Chart: this mass of reefs and shoals may have been one of the + "excellent harbours" mentioned by Procopius. It receives the Wady Sha'b + el-Gánn (Jánn), "the Watercourse of the Demons' (Ja'nn) Ravine," flowing + from a haunted hill of red stone, near which no Arab dares to sleep. From + that point the travellers struck nine miles and a half to south-east of + Ghubbat Suwayhil: this roadstead, used only by native craft, lies eastward + of the long point forming the Arabian staple of the Gulf el-‘Akabah's + gate, where the coast-line of Midian bends at a right angle towards the + rising sun. Adjoining it to the east, and separated by a long thin spit, + is the Ghubbat el-Wagab (Wajb), the mouth of the watercourse similarly + named: it is also known to the Katírah or "smaller vessel," and about a + mile up its bed, which comes from the north-east, there is a well. + According to Jázi, the guide, this Ghubbah ("gulf"), distant only four to + five hours of slow marching from the Sulphur-hill, will be the properest + place for shipping produce. In another eastern feature, the Wady Giyál + (Jiyál), distant some eleven miles and a half from ‘Aynúnah and ending in + a kind of sink, there is a fine growth of palms, about a quarter of a mile + long, and a supply of "wild" (brackish) water in wells and rain-pools. + These uninteresting details will become valuable when the sulphur-mines of + North Midian are ripe for working. + </p> + <p> + From the Ghubbat el-Wagab, the path, easy travelling over flat ground, + strikes to the north-east; and, fourteen miles and a half beyond, joins + the ‘Aynúnah highway. On February 26th, at the end of nine days' work, + Lieutenant Yusuf returned to El-Muwaylah with two sacks of sulphur-bearing + chalk which justified his previous report. As will appear, the Expedition + was still travelling through the interior: after a halt for rest at + head-quarters, he rejoined us on our northward route from Zibá, and I + again found useful occupation for his energies. + </p> + <p> + Upon our happy return "home," i.e. Sharm Yáhárr, preparations for a march + upon the Hismá were at once begun. My heart was firmly fixed upon this + project, hoping to find an "unworked California" to the east of the Harrah + volcanoes; but the Shaykhs and camel-men, who did not like the prospect of + a rough reception by the Ma'ázah bandits, threw sundry small + stumbling-blocks in our path. It was evidently useless to notice them so + far from the spot; they would develop themselves only too well as we + approached the tribal frontier. While these obstacles were being cleared + away, we carefully examined the little dock that had so often given us + shelter in the hour of need; and I set a small party to work at the + central Jebel el-Kibri't, which had been explored by the first Expedition. + </p> + <p> + Sharm Yáhárr is the usual distorted T, a long channel heading in a shorter + cross-piece: it is formed by the confluence of four valleys, all composed + of corallines and conglomerates of new sandstone. Those to the north and + the north-west show distinct signs of upheaval; the two eastern features, + known as the Wady el-Hárr ("the Hot Watercourse"), of which Yáhárr appears + to be a corruption, bear marks of man's hand. The dock is divided into an + outer and inner "port" by a projecting northern point which is not + sufficiently marked in the Chart (enlarged plan). At this place, where the + tide rises a full metre, the crew of the Mukhbir had built a jetty of + rough boulders, by way of passe-temps and to prevent wading. Native craft + lie inside, opposite the ruins of a stone house: the existence of a former + population is shown by the many graves on the upper plateau. In the + northern Wady el-Hárr, also, we picked up specimens of obsidian, oligistic + iron, and admirably treated modern (?) slags showing copper and iron; + evidently some Gypsy-like atelier must once have worked upon the Wady + Yáhárr. The obsidian also has apparently been subjected to the artificial + fire; and a splinter of it contains a paillette of free copper. + </p> + <p> + What concerned us most, however, was the discovery of oysters, which, + adhering to the reefs projected under water from the rocky northern cliff, + formed a live conglomerate; and from the present time forwards we found + the succulent molluscs in almost every bay. Those to the south, where the + shallows overlie sand and mud, are not so good. At this season the Ustrída + is flat, fleshy, and full sized; the shell has a purple border, and the + hinge muscle of the savage, far stronger than that of the civilized + animal, together with its exceeding irregularity of shape, giving no + purchase to the knife, makes oyster-opening a sore trouble. We tried fire, + but the thick-skinned things resisted it for a long time; and, when they + did gape, the liquor had disappeared, thereby spoiling the flavour. The + "beard" was neither black, like that of the Irish, nor colourless, as in + the English oyster. The Bedawin, who ignore the delicacy, could not answer + any questions about the "spatting season"—probably it is earlier + than ours, which extends through June; whether also a close time is + required, as in England to August 4th, we could not guess. The young + probably find a natural "culch" in the many shells, cockle and others, + that strew the rock, sand, and clay. + </p> + <p> + Knowing that my gallant friend, Admiral McKillop (Pasha) of Alexandria, + takes great interest in "ostreoculture," I sent him from Suez a barrel of + the best Midianites The water had escaped by the carelessness of the + magazine-man: enough, however, remained alive to be thrown into the + harbour Eunostos, where they will, I hope, become the parents of a fine + large progeny of "natives." Similarly we had laid in a store of forty-two + langoustes (crayfish) for presentation at Court, and to gladden the hearts + of Cairéne friends: our Greeks placed the tubs in the sun and so close to + the funnel, that, after about three hours, all the fine collection + perished ignobly. + </p> + <p> + We will now proceed to the central Jebel el-Kibri't; a superficial + examination of which by the first Expedition<a href="#linknote-145" + name="linknoteref-145" id="linknoteref-145"><small>145</small></a> proved + that the upper rock yielded four, and the lower nine, per cent. of + tolerably pure brimstone. The shortest cut from the dock-harbour lies up + the southern Wady Ha'rr, with its strangely weathered sandstone rocks, + soft modern grits that look worm-eaten. Amongst them is a ledge-like block + with undermined base projecting from the left bank: both the upper and the + lower parts are scattered over with Wasm, or Arab tribal marks. On our + return from El-Wijh we found this sandstone tongue broken in two: the + massive root remained in situ, but the terminal half had fallen on the + ground. This was probably the work of an earthquake which we felt at Sharm + Dumayghah on March 22nd.<a href="#linknote-146" name="linknoteref-146" + id="linknoteref-146"><small>146</small></a> The track then strikes the + modern Hajj-road, which runs west of and close to the Sulphur-hill; the + line is a succession of watercourses,<a href="#linknote-147" + name="linknoteref-147" id="linknoteref-147"><small>147</small></a> and in + Wady Khirgah we found blocks of the hydrous silicate, corundophyllite + which may be Serpentine: it is composed of a multitude of elements, + especially pyrites. After an hour and a quarter's sharp walking, we hit + the broad Wady el-Kibrít, which rounds its Jebel to the south-east, and + which feeds the Wady el-Jibbah, itself a feeder of the Sharm Jibbah. The + latter, which gave us shelter in the corvette Sinnár (Captain Ali Bey), is + a long blue line of water bounding the western base of the Sulphur-hill. + </p> + <p> + This central Tuwayyil el-Kibrít is an isolated knob, rising abruptly from + Wady-ground; measuring some 240 feet in height, and about 880 metres in + diameter, not including its tail of four vertebræ which sets off from + north-west to south-east. Viewed from the north it is, as the Egyptian + officers remarked, a regular Haram ("pyramid"), with a kidney-formed + capping of precipitous rock. Drinkable water, like that of the Wady + el-Ghál, is said to be found in the Wady el-Kibrít to the north-east; and + the country is everywhere tolerably wooded. The Bedawin brought us small + specimens of rock-crystal and fragments of Negro-quartz, apparently rich + in metal, from a neighbouring "Maru." They placed it amongst the + hill-masses to the east and south; and we afterwards found it for + ourselves.<a href="#linknote-148" name="linknoteref-148" + id="linknoteref-148"><small>148</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Our middle Sulphur-hill differs essentially from the other two deposits, + the northern near Makná, and the southern near El-Wijh, in being plutonic + and not sedimentary. One would almost say that it smokes, and the + heat-altered condition of the granite, the greenstone, and other rocks, + looking as if fresh from a fire, suggests that it may be one of the + igneous veins, thrown westward by the great volcanic region, El-Harrah. In + parts it is a conglomerate, where a quantity of quartz takes the place of + chalk and gypsum. Other deposits are iron-stained and have the appearance + of the decomposed iron pyrites which abounds in this neighbourhood. + Usually the yield is the normal brimstone-yellow, yet some of the beds are + deep red, as if coloured by ochre or oxide of iron: this variety is very + common in the solfataras of Iceland; and I have heard of it in the Jebel + Mokattam, near Cairo. The colour is probably due to molecular changes, and + possibly shows greater age than the yellow. + </p> + <p> + M. Philipin was directed to take charge of Sergeant Mabrúk, the nine + quarrymen, and the Bedawi owners of two camels to carry his boring-irons, + forge, and water from El-Muwaylah. I advised him to dig at least forty + feet down all round the pyramid, wherever surface-indications attracted + notice: old experience had taught me that such depth is necessary before + one can expect to find brimstone beds like those of Sicily. The borings + brought up sulphur from fourteen metres; beyond these, six were pierced, + but they yielded nothing. In and around the pyramid M. Philipin sank five + pits; the northernmost shaft, half-way up the hill, gave crystals of the + purest sulphur. + </p> + <p> + If the depth of the deposit be not great, the surface extent is. The + pyramid evidently forms the apex of a large vein which strikes + north-south. The field consists of this cone with its dependencies, + especially the yellow cliffs to the north and the south, facing, in the + latter direction, a large plain cut by the Wady el-Kibrít. Moreover, a + vein of the red variety, about three kilometres long by twenty-five to + thirty metres broad, lies to the south-east near a gypsum hill: the latter + also yields the crystallized salt which so often accompanies sulphur, and + heaps of gigantic half-fossilized oyster-shells are strewed about it. + </p> + <p> + M. Philipin here remained sixteen days (February 18—March 5), during + our absence in the East Country; on return we found our good blacksmith + much changed for the worse. Whilst in hard work he had been half-starved, + the Jeráfín Bedawin of the neighbourhood having disappeared with their + flocks; he had been terribly worried by the cameleers, and he had been at + perpetual feud with the miserable quarrymen. I never saw a man less fitted + to deal with (two-legged) "natives." The latter instinctively divined that + he would rather work himself than force others to work; and they acted + accordingly. + </p> + <p> + The Expedition was thus divided into four, three working parties and one + of idlers. Anton and Petros were left behind to do nothing as + magazine-men. + </p> + <p> + Lieutenant Darwaysh (the linesman) who was too weak to ride, and + Sub-Lieutenant Mohammed (the miner) who was too old to travel, had charge + of the sick; both found the far niente equally sweet. On February 17th I + again bade adieu to the gunboat Mukhbir, and marched with the largest + party upon our camp at El-Muwaylah, distant about six miles (=one hour and + forty-five minutes). The path from Sharm Yáhárr crosses the hard sands of + the maritime plain, metalled with the natural macadam of the Desert. The + stone is mostly dark silex, the "hen's liver" of the Brazil, and its + surface is kept finely polished, and free from "patina," by the friction + of the dust-laden winds. The line is deeply gashed by short, broad + gullies: the Hajj-road, running further east, heads these ugly Nullahs. + The third and largest channel is Wady Surr, the great valley of + El-Muwaylah, which may be regarded as the southern frontier of "Madyan" + (Proper): we shall trace it to its head in the Hismá. + </p> + <p> + I had left the camp-pitching at El-Muwaylah to the Egyptian officers, who + naturally chose the site nearest the two northern wells; a wave of ground + hot by day, cold at night, windy and dusty at all times; moreover, the + water was near enough to be horribly fouled. No wonder that in such a + place many of the men fell ill, and that one subsequently died—our + only loss during the four months' march. + </p> + <p> + On February 18th we proceeded, under the misguidance of a Básh-Buzúk of + the fort, Ahmed Sálih el-Mal'ún, to inspect a neighbouring ruin called Abá + Hawáwít—"the Father of (Dwelling-) Walls." Wallin (p. 30) declares + that, "finding no mention made of Muweilih in Arab manuscripts, nor traces + or traditions among the existing generation in the land, pointing to a + high antiquity," he is inclined to consider it a town of modern origin, in + fact the growth of the Egyptian pilgrimage. His error is excusable. He was + a passing traveller; and I well remember that for a whole year the true + name of a hill immediately behind our house at Damascus remained unknown + to me: we had called it after our own fashion, and the term had at once + been adopted by all our over-polite native friends. Indeed, this is one of + the serious difficulties to be encountered, throughout the East, by the + scrupulous traveller whose greatest fear is that of misleading others. The + Expedition had paid four several visits to El-Muwaylah, and had never + heard a word about ruins, when I happened to read out before the Shaykhs + assembled at Magháir Shu'ayb a passage from El-Makrízi treating of the + destroyed cities of Madyan. They at once mentioned half a dozen names + lying within short distances of the "little salt." Amongst them was Abú + Hawáwít, literally meaning "tenement walls," but here applied, in the + short form Hawáwít, to ruins in general. + </p> + <p> + Had "Wali Háji," as Wallin was called by the Bedawin, looked only ten feet + beyond the north-eastern tower of the fort, near the ruins of a modern + Mastabah ("masonry bench"), he would have found long- forgotten vestiges + of ovens and slags containing copper and iron. The same will prove to be + the case about the inland defence of El- Wijh; in fact, all these works + seem for obvious reasons to have been built upon sites that have been + utilized long before their modern day. El-Muwaylah was probably a more + important place than it is at present, when the reef-harbour, which now + admits native craft only by a gap to the south-west, had not been choked + by shoals. The sandy soil wants only water to produce a luxuriant + perennial growth, and every garden can have its well. But more life is + wanting; a man heaps up a thorn-hedge, or builds a swish-wall of the + brick-clay underlying the Wady, and he forgets only to lay out the field + within. Local history does not, it is true, extend beyond two hundred + years or so, the probable date of Shaykh Abdullah's venerated sepulchre, a + truncated parallelogram of cut coralline on the Wady Sughayyir to the + north of the settlement. Yet this "little salt" is too remarkable a site + to have remained unoccupied. Possibly it is the "," the Horse Village (and + fort ?), which Ptolemy (vi. II) places in north lat. 26° 40' (true 27° + 40'), whilst his "" would be the glorious Shárr, correctly consigned to + north lat. 27° 20'. This argues an error of nearly sixty miles by the + geographer or his copyists. But Chapter XII. will attempt to show that the + latitude of , the modern Shuwák, is also one degree too low. So on the + East African coast Ptolemy places his Aromata Promontorium, which can only + be "Guardafui," between north lat. 5° and 7°, whereas it lies in north + lat. 11° 41' 4". + </p> + <p> + The Awwal Hawáwít, or first ruins, begin on the right bank of the Surr + after one mile and three quarters from camp; and bear north-east (55° + mag.) from the minaret of El-Muwaylah Fort. The position is a sandy basin, + containing old Bedawi graves, bounded by a low ridge forming a + boulder-clad buttress to the Wady, while the circuit of the two may be a + mile and a half. A crumbling modern tower, crowning the right bank, and + two Mahrákah ("rub-stones") were the principal remains. The situation must + have been well chosen in the days when the heights were wooded, and the + Wady was a river. We afterwards mapped the body of the place, lying about + three miles from the fort, showing the Yubú' bank to north-west (298° + mag.); and nearly due west (260° mag.) El-Muwaylah's only house, the + Sayyid's. The site is a holm or island in the Wady Surr, which here runs + east-west, and splits: the main line is the southern, and a small branch, + a mere gully, occupies the northern bed-side. + </p> + <p> + The chief ruin is an oblong of twenty metres by sixteen, the short ends + facing 195° (mag.); the whole built of huge pebbles. The interior is + composed of one large room to the north, with sundry smaller divisions to + the south, east, and west. Defence was secured by a wall, distant 142 + metres, thrown across the whole eastern part of the islet: outside it are + three large pits, evidently the site of cisterns. The people also told us + of a well, the Bir el-Ashgham, which has long been mysteriously hidden. + Immense labour has also been expended in revetting the northern and + southern banks, both of the islet and the smaller branch-bed, for many + hundreds of yards with round and water-rolled boulders, even on a larger + scale than at Magháir Shu'ayb. What all this work meant we were unable to + divine. Perhaps it belonged to the days when the seaboard of Midian was + agricultural; and it was intended as a protection against the two + torrents, the Wadys el-Zila' and Abú Zabah, which here fall into the + northern bank. + </p> + <p> + The 18th of February also made itself memorable to the second Expedition. + M. Marie was strolling near the old furnaces to the north-east of the fort + where, in 1877, he had picked up an auriferous specimen, unfortunately + lost before it reached Cairo. Here he again found a fragment of + serpentine, broken and water-rolled into the semblance of half a globe; it + showed crust and stains of iron, filets of white quartz, and a curve (~) + of bright yellow dots, disposed like the chainlet of an aneroid. + Thereupon, we gravely debated whether these were the remains of a vein, or + had been brought to the surface by the rubbing and polishing of the stone + in water. + </p> + <p> + I could not but remark that the interior, which appeared pyritiferous, did + not show the slightest trace of precious metal. Still the discovery gave + fresh courage to all our people. The trophy was shown to every Bedawi, far + and near, with the promise of a large reward (fifty dollars) to the lucky + wight who could lead us to the rock in situ. The general voice declared + that the "gold-stone" was the produce of Jebel Malayh (Malíh): we + afterwards ascertained by marching up the Wady Surr that it was not. In + fact, the whole neighbourhood was thoroughly well scoured; but the results + were nil. In due course of time the tarnishing and the disappearance of + the metal reduced my scepticism to a certainty: the "gold dots" were the + trace of some pilgrim or soldier's copper-nailed boot. It was the first + time that this ludicrous mistake arose, but not the last—our native + friends were ever falling into the same trap. + </p> + <p> + Amongst the minor industries of the Fort el-Muwaylah must be reckoned + selling gazelles. The Bedawin bring them in, and so succeed in taming the + timid things that they will follow their owner like dogs, and amuse + themselves with hopping upon his shoulders. When thus trained, "Ariel" is + supposed to be worth half a napoleon. The wild ones may be bought at + almost every fort, as Zibá or El-Wijh. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter X. — Through East Midian to the Hismá. + </h2> + <p> + The Land of Midian is by no means one of the late Prince Metternich's + "geographical expressions." The present tenants of the soil give a precise + and practical definition of its limits. Their Arz Madyan extends from + El-‘Akabah north (north lat. 29° 28') to El-Muwaylah with its Wady, + El-Surr (north lat. 27° 40'). It has thus a total latitudinal length of + 108 direct geographical miles.<a href="#linknote-149" + name="linknoteref-149" id="linknoteref-149"><small>149</small></a> South + of this line, the seaboard of North-Western Arabia, as far as El-Hejaz, + has no generic name. The Bedawin are contented with such vague terms, + derived from some striking feature, as "the Lands of Zibá," "of Wady + Salmá," "of Wady Dámah," "of El-Wijh," to denote the tract lying between + the parallels of El-Muwaylah and of Wady Hamz () in north lat. 25° 55' 15. + Thus the north-south length of the southern moiety would be 105 direct + geographical miles, or a little less than the northern; and the grand + total would be 213 miles. + </p> + <p> + The breadth of this Egyptian province is determined by the distance from + the sea to the maritime mountains. In Madyan Proper, or North Midian, the + extremes would be twenty-four and thirty-five miles. For the southern half + these figures may be doubled. Here, again, the Bedawin are definitive as + regards limits. All the Tihámah or "lowlands" and their ranges belong to + Egypt; east of it the Daulat Shám, or Government of Syria, claims + possession. + </p> + <p> + I have taken the liberty of calling the whole tract Midian; the section + above El-Muwaylah (Madyan Proper) I would term "North Midian," and that + below it "South Midian." In the days of the ancient Midianites the + frontiers were so elastic that, at times, but never for a continuity, they + embraced Sinai, and were pushed forward even into Central Palestine. + Moreover, I would prolong the limits eastward as far as the + Damascus-Medínah road. This would be politically and ethnologically + correct. With the exception of the Ma'ázah country, the whole belongs to + Egypt; and all the tribes, formerly Nabathæan, are now more or less + Egypto-Arab, never questioning the rights of his Highness the Viceroy, who + garrisons the seaboard forts. Of the other points, historical and + geographical, I am not so sure. My learned friend, Aloys Sprenger, + remarks: "Let me observe that your extending the name ‘Midian' over the + whole country, as far south as the dominions of the Porte, appears to me + an innovation by which the identity of the race along the shore of the + Gulf of ‘Akabah, coast down to Wajh and Hawrá, is prejudged. Would it not + be better to leave Midian where it always has been, and to consider Badá<a + href="#linknote-150" name="linknoteref-150" id="linknoteref-150"><small>150</small></a> + the centre of Thamûditis, as it was at the time of Pliny and Ptolemy, and + as it continued to be until the Balee (Baliyy), and other Qodhâ' (Kudá') + tribes, came from Southern Arabia, and exterminated the Thamûdites?" This + is, doubtless, a valid objection: its only weak point is that it goes too + far back. We cannot be Conservatives in geography and ethnology; nor can + we attach much importance, in the nineteenth century, to a race, the Beni + Tamúd, which had wholly disappeared before the seventh. On the whole, it + still appears to me that by adopting my innovation we gain more than we + lose; but the question must be left for others to decide. + </p> + <p> + In our days, two great Sultánis or "highways" bound Madyan the Less and + Midian the Greater. The western, followed by the Hajj el-Misri (Egyptian + caravan), dates from the age of Sultán Selim Khán the Conqueror; who, + before making over the province to the later Mamlúk Beys, levelled rocks, + cut through ridges, dug wells, laid out the track, and defended the line + by forts. Before that time the road ran, for convenience of water, to the + east or inland: it was, in fact, the old Nabathaean highway which, + according to Strabo, connected Leukè Kóme with the western capital, Petra. + Further east, and far beyond the double chain of maritime mountains, is + the highway followed by the Hajj el-Shámi (Syrian or Damascus caravan), + which sets out from Constantinople, musters at Damascus, and represents + the Sultan. On both these main lines water is procurable at almost every + station; and to them military expeditions are perforce limited. The + parallelogram between the two, varying in breadth, according to Wallin, + from 90 to 120 miles (direct and geographical), is irregularly supplied in + places with springs, wells, and rain-pits, which can always be filled up + or salted by the Bedawin. + </p> + <p> + The main body of the Expedition, Mr. Clarke, MM. Marie and Lacaze, Ahmed + Kaptán, and Lieutenant Amir, set out from El-Muwaylah at 6.30 a.m. + (February 19th), escorted by the Sayyid and the three salaried Shaykhs, + including our friend Furayj. The Remingtons numbered ten, and there were + also ten picks, of whom five waited upon the mules; of the sixty-one + camels six were dromedaries, and as the road grew lighter our beasts of + burden increased, somehow or other, to sixty-four. The caravan now loads + in twenty minutes instead of five hours; and when politiké, or fear of + danger, does not delay us, we start in a quarter of an hour after the last + bugle-sound. This operation is under charge of Lieutenant Amir, who does + his best to introduce Dar-Forian discipline: the camels being first + charged with the Finátís ("metal water-barrels"), then with the boxes, and + lastly with the tents. + </p> + <p> + After passing the ruins of Abú Hawáwit, we began at 9:15 a.m. to exchange + the broad Wady Surr of the flat seaboard, with its tall banks of stiff + drab clay, for a gorge walled with old conglomerates, and threading the + ruddy and dark-green foot-hills of the main Ghát. As in the Wady + el-Maka'dah and other "winter-brooks," the red porphyritic trap, + heat-altered argil, easily distinguished by its fracture from the syenites + of the same hue, appeared to be iron-clad, coated with a thin crust of + shiny black or brown peroxide (?). This peculiarity was noticed by Tuckey + in the Congo, by Humboldt in the Orinoco, and by myself in the São + Francisco river; I also saw it upon the sandstones of the wild mountains + east of Jerusalem, where, as here, air and not water must affect the oxide + of iron. In both cases, however, the cause would be the same, and the + polish would be a burnishing of Nature on a grand scale. + </p> + <p> + After six very slow miles we halted, for rest and refection, at a thread + of water in the section of the Surr which receives the Wady el-Najil. The + sides were crowded with sheep and goats, the latter, as in the Syrian + lowlands, almost invariably black; and the adjoining rocks had peculiar + attractions for hares, hawks, and partridge. In these upland regions water + is almost everywhere, and generally it is drinkable; hence the Bedawin + naturally prefer them to the coast. An umbrella-shaped thorn-tree, + actually growing on a hill-top, and defined by the sky-line, excited our + wonder and admiration; for here, as in Pontus— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Rara, nec hæc felix, in apertis eminet arvis + Arbor, et in terra est altera forma maris." +</pre> + <p> + Indeed, throughout our journey this spectacle always retained its charms, + aiding Fancy to restore the barrens to what they had been in the + prosperous days of yore. + </p> + <p> + The Wady Surr now began to widen out, and to become more riant, whilst + porphyry was almost the only visible rock. After a total of ten "dawdling" + miles, marching almost due east, we found our tents pitched in a broad and + quasi-circular basin, called El-Safh ("the level ground of") Jebel Malíh + ("Mount Pleasant"?), which the broad-speaking Bedawin lengthen to Malayh. + Our camel-men had halted exactly between two waters, and equally distant + from both, so as to force upon us the hire of extra animals. We did not + grumble, however, as we were anxious to inspect the Afrán ("furnaces") + said to be found upon the upper heights of the Shárr—of these + apocryphal features more hereafter. Fresh difficulties! The + Jeráfín-Huwaytát tribe, that owns the country south of the Surr, could not + be reached under a whole day of dromedary-riding: in reality they were + camped a few furlongs off, but anything to gain £8 per diem for doing + nothing! Two Bedawi shepherd-lads promised to act guides next morning, and + duly failed to appear, or, more probably, were forbidden to appear. They + had also romanced about ruins, fountains, palms, and rushes in the Wady + el-Kusayb, the south-eastern influent. At night Ahmed el-‘Ukbi, surnamed + Abú Khartúm, arrived in camp: he had travelled more than once to Tabúk, + carrying grain, and though he had failed as a merchant, he retained his + reputation as a guide. As regards the furnaces, he also, like Furayj, + could speak only from hearsay. Opinions were divided in camp: I saw + clearly that a stand was being made to delay us for four or five days; + and, despite grumbling, I resolved upon deferring the visit till our + return from the interior. + </p> + <p> + The first march had led us eastward, instead of north-eastward, in order + to inspect the Wady Surr. From the seaboard, this line, which drains the + northern flank of the Shárr Mountains, appears the directest road into the + interior. We shall presently see, however, why the devious northern way of + the Wady Sadr has become the main commercial route connecting El-Muwaylah + with Tabúk.<a href="#linknote-151" name="linknoteref-151" + id="linknoteref-151"><small>151</small></a> During the evening we walked + up the Wady Surr, finding, in its precipitous walls, immense veins of + serpentine and porphyritic greenstone, but not a speck of gold. The upper + part of the Fiumara also showed abundant scatters of water-rolled stones, + serpentines, and hard felspars, whose dove-coloured surface was streaked + with fibrils and at times with regular veins of silvery lustre, as if + brought out by friction of the surface. I offered a considerable sum to a + Jeráfín Bedawi if he would show the rock in situ; he was evidently + ignorant of it, but, like others, he referred us to Jebel Malíh. + </p> + <p> + The whole of the next day (February 20th) was spent in northing. Leaving + the noisy braying caravan to march straight on its destination, we set out + (6.15 a.m.) up the Wady Guwaymarah, guided by Hasan el-‘Ukbí, who declared + that he well knew the sites of the ruined settlements El-Khulasah and + El-Zibayyib. After walking half an hour we turned eastward into a feeder + of the Surr, the Wady el-Khulasah, whose aspect charmed me: this drain of + the inner Jedayl block was the replica of a Fiumara in Somali-land, a + broad tree-dotted flat of golden sand, bordered on either side by an + emerald avenue of dense Mimosas, forming line under the green-stone hills + to the right, and the red-stone heights to the left. The interior, we + again remarked, is evidently more rained upon, and therefore less sterile + and desolate, than the coast and the sub-maritime regions; and here one + can well imagine large towns being built. At last, after walking about an + hour and a half (= four miles and a half) towards the Shárr, with our + backs turned upon our goal, the rat-faced little intriguer, Hasan, + declared that he knew nothing about El-Khulasah, but that Zibayyib lay + there! pointing to a bright-red cliffy peak, "Abá'l-bárid," on the left + bank of the Wady, and to others whose heads were blue enough and low + enough to argue considerable distance. He had intended his cousin Gabr to + be the real guide, and to take to himself all the credit; but I had sent + off the parlous "judge" in another direction. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Clarke, whose cantering mule had no objection to leave its fellows, + rode off with the recreant Hasan, whilst we awaited his return under a + tree. + </p> + <p> + Instead of hugging Abá'l-bárid, behind which a watercourse would have + taken him straight to his destination, he struck away from the Wady + el-Khulasah. Then crossing on foot, and hauling his animal over, a rough + divide, he fell, after six miles instead of two, into the upper course of + the Wady Surr, which he reported to be choked with stones, and refusing + passage to loaded camels—as will afterwards appear, the reverse is + the case. The ruins of El-Zibayyib lie at a junction of three, or rather + four, watercourses. The eastern is the Surr, here about five hundred yards + broad, forming a bulge in the bed, and then bending abruptly to the south; + a short line from the south-west, the Wady Zibayyib, drains the + Aba'‘l-bárid peak; and the northernmost is the Wady el-Safrá,<a + href="#linknote-152" name="linknoteref-152" id="linknoteref-152"><small>152</small></a> + upon which the old place stands à cheval. The western part is the larger + and the more ruinous. The thin line, three hundred yards long by thirty + broad, never shows more than two tenements deep, owing to the hill that + rises behind it: here the only furnace was found. The eastern block + measures one hundred yards by forty; both are razed to their basements, + resembling the miners' settlement on the Sharmá cliff. They attract + attention only by their material, red boulders being used instead of the + green porphyries of the hills; and the now desolate spot shows no signs of + water or of palm-groves. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Clarke rejoined us after a couple of hours, having lost the dog + ‘Brahim: under a sudden change of diet it had become too confident of its + strength, and thus it is that dogs and men come to grief. We retraced our + steps down the Wady el-Khulasah, whose Jebel is the crupper of the little + block Umm Jedayl. The lower valley shows a few broken walls, old Arab + graves, and other signs of ancient habitation; but I am convinced that we + missed the ruins which lay somewhere in the neighbourhood. One Sulaymán, a + Bedawi of the Selálimah-Huwaytát tribe, who had been rascalized by + residence at El-Muwaylah, was hunted up by the energetic Sayyid; hoping, + as usual, that no action would be taken upon mere words, he declared that + El-Khulasah stood on the top of a trap-lump. We halted to inspect it, and + Lieutenant Amir rode the Shaytánah, his vicious little she-mule, up and + down steeps fit only for a goat. Again all was in vain. + </p> + <p> + We then travelled over granite gravel along the western foot-hills of Umm + Jedayl, in which a human figure or statue had been reported to me: now, + however, it became a Sarbút, or "upright stone." Along the flanks of the + chief outlier, the Jebel el-Ramzah, distinguished by its red crest and + veins, the slope was one strew of quartz, whole and broken; like that + which we had seen to the north, and which we were to see on our southern + journey. Despising the "rotten water" offered in two places by the Umm + Jedayl, we pitched camp on the fine gravel of the Sayl Wady el-Jimm. Here + I heard for the first time, after sighting it for many weeks, that the + latter is the name, not of a mountain,<a href="#linknote-153" + name="linknoteref-153" id="linknoteref-153"><small>153</small></a> but of + a Sha'b or "gully" in the Jebel Dibbagh where waters "meet." The Wady + Kh'shabriyyah, separating the Umm Jedayl from its northern neighbour, the + Dibbagh, looks like a highway; but all declare that it is closed to camels + by Wa'r, or "stony ground." Of its ruins more when we travel to the Shárr. + This day's march of four hours (= ten miles and a half) had been a series + of zigzags—north, north-east, west, and again north. + </p> + <p> + After a cool, pleasant night we set out at 6.30 a.m. (February 21st), + across the broad Sayl, towards a bay in the mountains bearing + north-north-west, the mouth of the Wady Zennárah. Entering the block, we + made two short cuts to save great bends in the bed. The first was the + Sha'b el-Liwéwi', the Weiwî of Wallin (p. 304)—wild riding enough; + the path often winding almost due east, when the general direction was + north-north-east. We saw, for the first time, pure greenish-yellow + chlorite outcropping from the granite. The animals were apparently + hibernating, and plants were rare; we remarked chiefly the sorrel and the + blue thistle, or rather wild artichoke, the Shauk el-Jemel, a thorn loved + by camels (Blepharis edulis), which recalled to mind the highlands of + Syria. The second short-cut, the Wady el-Ga'agah, alias Sawáwín, was the + worse of the two: the deep drops and narrow gutters in the quartz-veined + granite induced even the Shaykhs to dismount before attacking the + descents. This is rarely done when ascending, for their beasts climb like + Iceland ponies. One of M. Lacaze's most effective croquis is that showing + monture and man disappearing in the black depths of a crevice. Some of the + hill-crests were weathered with forms resembling the artificial. At the + mid-day halting-ground we saw a stone-mother nursing a rock-child, which + might still be utilized in lands where "thaumaturgy" is not yet obsolete. + </p> + <p> + Our course thence lay eastward up the easy bed of the Fiumara, an eastern + section of an old friend, the Wady Tiryam; it now takes the well-known + name "Wady Sadr," and we shall follow it to its head in the Hismá. The + scene is rocky enough for Scotland or Scandinavia, with its huge walls + bristling in broken rocks and blocks, its blue slides, and its polished + sheets of dry watercourse which, from afar, flash in the sun like living + cataracts. On the northern or right bank rises the mighty Harb, whose + dome, single when seen from the west, here becomes a Tridactylon, + splitting into three several heads. Facing it, the northernmost end of the + Dibbagh range forms a truncated tower, conspicuous far out at sea: having + no name, it was called by us Burj Jebel Dibbagh. A little further to the + east it will prove to be the monstrous pommel of a dwarf saddleback, + everywhere a favourite shape with the granite outcrop. + </p> + <p> + MM. Clarke and Lacaze, who had never before seen anything higher that the + hillocks of the Isle of Wight or the Buttes de Montmartre were hot upon + ascending the almost perpendicular sides of the Burj, relying upon the + parallel and horizontal fissures in the face, which were at least ten to + twenty feet apart. These dark marks, probably stained by oxide of iron, + reminded me of those which wrinkle the granitic peaks about Rio de + Janeiro, and which have been mistaken for "hieroglyphs." + </p> + <p> + The valley-sole is parti-coloured; the sands of the deeper line to the + right are tinctured a pale and sickly green by the degradation of the + porphyritic traps, here towering in the largest masses yet seen; while the + gravel of the left bank is warm, and lively with red grit and syenitic + granite. Looking down the long and gently waving line, we feel still + connected with the civilized world by the blue and purple screen of Sinai + forming the splendid back-ground. Everything around us appears deserted; + the Ma'ázah are up country, and the Beni ‘Ukbah have temporarily quitted + these grazing-grounds for the Surr of El-Muwaylah. We camped for the + night, after a total march of eleven miles, at the Sayl el-Nagwah, a short + Nullah at the foot of a granite block similarly named; and a gap supplied + us with tolerable rain-water. + </p> + <p> + On the next day (February 22nd) we left the "Nagwah" at seven instead of + six a.m., and passed to the right a granitic outcrop in the Wady bed, a + reduced edition of the Burj. After an hour's slow walking we were led by a + Bedawi lad, Hasan bin Husayn, to a rock-spur projected northwards from the + left side and separating two adjacent Sayls or "torrent-beds," mere bays + in the bank of mountains. A cut road runs to the top of the granite + tongue, which faces the westernmost or down-stream outbreaks of the huge + porphyritic masses on the other side of the Wady Sadr. The ridge itself is + strewed with spalled stone, quartz broken from the veins that seam the + granite, and with slag as usual admirably worked. Not a trace of human + habitation appears, nor is there any tradition of a settlement having + existed here; consequently we concluded that this was another atelier of + wandering workmen. Below the rock-tongue we found for the first time + oxydulated iron and copper, either free or engaged in trap and basaltic + dykes: the former metal, also attached in layers to dark-red vermeilled + jasper, here appears streaked with white quartz. + </p> + <p> + Resuming our ride, we dismounted, after four miles, at the half-way + Mahattah ("halting-place"): it is a rond-point in the Wady Sadr, marked + from afar by a tall blue pyramid, the Jebel el-Ga'lah (Jálah). We spent + some time examining this interesting bulge. Here the Jibál el-Tihámah end, + and the eastern parallel range, the Jibál el-Shafah, begins. The former + belong to the Huwaytát and to Egypt; the latter, partly to the Ma'ázah and + to Syria. The geographical frontier is well marked by two large + watercourses disposed upon a meridian, and both feeding the main drain, + the Sadr-Tiryam. To the north the Wady Sawádah divides the granitic Harb + from the porphyritic Jebel Sawádah; while the southern Wady Aylán + separates the Dibbagh from the Jebel Aylán, a tall form distinctly visible + from the Upper Shárr. The rest of our eastward march will now be through + the Shafah massif. It resembles on a lower scale the Tihámah Gháts; but it + wholly wants their variety, their beauty, and their grandeur. The granites + which before pierced the porphyritic traps in all directions, now appear + only at intervals; and this, I am told, is the case throughout the + northern, as we found it to be in the southern, prolongation of the + "Lip"-range. At the same time there is no distinct geographical separation + between the two parallels; and both appear, not as if parted by neutral + ground, but rather as topographical continuations of each other. + </p> + <p> + While breaking our fast and resting the mules, a few shots ringing ahead + caused general excitement: we were now on the edge of the enemy's country. + Presently three of the Ma'ázah came in and explained, with their barking + voices, that their people had been practicing at the Níshán ("target"); + which meant "We have powder in abundance." One of them, at once dubbed + El-Nasnás ("the Satyr") from his exceeding monstrous ugliness—a + baboon's muzzle with a scatter of beard—kindly volunteered to guide + us, with the intention of losing the way. The dialogue that took place was + something as follows:— + </p> + <p> + What are your names ? + </p> + <p> + A. Na'akal wa nashrab! Our names are "We eat and We drink!" + </p> + <p> + Where do we find water to-day? + </p> + <p> + Furayj ejaculates, "The water of the Rikáb!" + </p> + <p> + A. No, by Allah! The Arabs will never allow you to drink! You should be + killed for carrying off in Dumús ("skins") the sand of the Wady Jahd + (alluding to Lieutenant Amir's trip). + </p> + <p> + We did not pay much heed to these evil signs. Ahmed el-‘Ukbí had been sent + forward to obtain a free pass from the chiefs, and we hardly expected that + the outlying thieves would be daring enough to attack us. + </p> + <p> + Resuming our way, in a cold wind and a warm sun, up the upper Wady Sadr, + we threaded the various bends to the south and south-east, with a general + south-south-eastern direction. The normal dark-green traps and burnished + red porphyries and grits were sparsely clad with the Shauhat and the Yasár + trees, resembling the Salvadora and the Tamarix. The country began to show + a few donkeys and large flocks of sheep and goats; the muttons have a fine + "tog," and sell for three dollars and a half. The women in charge, whose + complexions appeared notably lighter than those of the seaboard, barked + like the men. They were much puzzled by a curious bleating which came from + the mules; and hurriedly counted their kids, suspecting that one had been + purloined, whilst they had some trouble to prevent the whole flock + following us. All roared with laughter when they found that Mr. Clarke was + the performer. + </p> + <p> + We crossed two short cuts over long bends in the Wady; and at the second + found a pot-hole of rain-water by no means fragrant, except to nostrils + that love impure ammonia. It has a grand name, Muwah (for Miyáh) el-Rikáb + ("the Waters of the Caravan"); and we made free with it, despite the + morning's threats. We again camped in the valley at an altitude of 2200 + feet (aner. 27.80); and, though the thermometer showed 66° F. at five + p.m., fires inside and outside the mess-tent were required. A wester or + sea-breeze, deflected by the ravines to a norther, was blowing; and in + these regions, as in the sub-frigid zones of Europe, wind makes all the + difference of temperature. During the evening we were visited by the + Ma'ázah Bedawin of a neighbouring encampment: they began to notice stolen + camels and to wrangle over past times—another bad sign. + </p> + <p> + Setting out on a splendidly lucent morning (6:45 a.m., February 23rd), + when the towering heads of Harb and Dibbagh looked only a few furlongs + distant, we committed the imprudence of preceding, as usual, the escort. + Our men had become so timid, starting at the sight of every wretched + Bedawi, that they made one long for a "rash act." After walking about a + mile and a half, we passed some black tents on the left bank, where the + Sadr enters a narrow rocky gorge; and suddenly about a dozen varlets were + seen scampering over the walls, manning the Pass, and with lighted matches + threatening to fire. Then loud rang the war-song— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Hill el-Zawáib, hilla-há; + W'abdi Nuhúdak kulla-há!" + + "Loose thy top-locks with a loosing (like a lion's mane); + And advance thy breast, all of it (opponite pectora without +shrinking)." +</pre> + <p> + Other varieties of the slogan are:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "O man of small mouth (un misérable)! + If we fail, who shall win?" +</pre> + <p> + And— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "By thy eyes (I swear), O she-camel, if we go (to the +attack) and gird (the sword), + We will make it a day of sorrow to them, and avert from +ourselves every ill." +</pre> + <p> + We dismounted, looked to our weapons, and began to parley. The ragged + ruffians, some of them mere boys, and these always the readiest to blow + the matches of guns longer than themselves, began with high pretensions. + They declared that they would be satisfied with nothing less than + plundering us; they flouted Shaykh Furayj, and they insulted the Sayyid, + threatening to take away his sword. + </p> + <p> + Presently the escort and the Arab camel-men were seen coming up at the + double. The Ma'ázah at once became abject; kissed our heads and declared + "there was some mistake." I had already remarked, whilst the matchlock-men + were swarming up the Wady-sides, that the women and children remained in + camp, and the sheep and goats were not driven off. This convinced me that + nothing serious had been intended: probably the demonstration was ordered + from head-quarters in order to strike us with a wholesome awe. + </p> + <p> + The fellows gently reproached us with travelling through their country + without engaging (and paying) Ghafír—"guides and protectors." So + far, as owners of the soil, they were "in their right;" and manning a pass + is here the popular way of levying transit dues. On this occasion the + number of our Remingtons sufficed to punish their insolence by putting the + men to flight, and by carrying off their camels and flocks; but such a + step would have stopped the journey, and what would not the "Aborigines + Protection Society" have said and done? I therefore hired one of the + varlets, and both parties went their ways rejoicing that the peace had not + been broken. + </p> + <p> + The valley, winding through the red and green hills, was dull and warm + till the cool morning easter, which usually set about eight a.m., began to + blow. The effect of increasing altitude showed itself in the vegetation. + We now saw for the first time the Kidád (Astragalus), with horrid thorns + and a flower resembling from afar the gooseberry: it is common on the + Hismá and in the South Country. The Kahlá (Echium), a bugloss, a + borage-like plant, with viscous leaves and flowers of two colours,—the + young light-pink and the old dark-blue,—everywhere beautified the + sands, and reminded me of the Istrian hills, where it is plentiful as in + the Nile Valley. The Jarad-thorn was not in bloom; and the same was the + case with the hyacinth (Dipcadi erythraeum), so abundant in the Hisma', + which some of us mistook for a "wild onion." The Zayti (Lavandula) had + just donned its pretty azure bloom. There were Reseda, wild indigo, + Tribulus (terrestris), the blue Aristida, the pale Stipa, and the Bromus + grass, red and yellow. The Ratam (spartium), with delicate white and pink + blossoms, was a reminiscence of Tenerife and its glorious crater; whilst a + little higher up, the amene Cytisus, flowering with gold, carried our + thoughts back to the far past. + </p> + <p> + Presently the great Fiumara opened upon a large basin denoting the Ras + ("head") Wady Sadr: native travellers consider this their second stage + from El-Muwaylah. In front the Jibál Sadr extended far to the right and + left, a slight depression showing the Khuraytah, or "Pass," which we were + to ascend on the morrow. Buttressing the left bank of the broad + watercourse was the dwarf hill of which we had been told so many tales. By + day its red sands gleam and glisten like burnished copper; during the + night fire flashes from the summit: in truth, its sole peculiarity is that + of being yellow amongst the gloomy heights around it; whilst the Wady + el-Safrá, higher up to the left, discharges from its Jebel a torrent of + quartz and syenite, gravel and sand. Abú Khartám, the author of the + romance, was among the party: he only smiled when complimented upon the + power of his imagination. + </p> + <p> + This was a day of excitement: even the mules kept their ears pricked up. + After a short nine miles we had camped below the Jebel Kibár, and we had + remounted our animals to ascend a neighbouring hill commanding a + bird's-eye view of the Hismá plain. There was evidently much excitement + amongst the Bedawi shepherds around us; and presently Ahmed el-‘Ukbí, our + messenger, appeared in sight, officially heading the five chiefs of the + Ma'ázah, who were followed by a tail of some thirty clansmen. Only two + rode horses, wretched garrons stolen from the Ruwalá, the great branch of + the Anezah, which holds the eastern regions; the rest rode fine sturdy and + long-coated camels, which looked Syrian rather than Midianite.<a + href="#linknote-154" name="linknoteref-154" id="linknoteref-154"><small>154</small></a> + We returned hurriedly to make arrangements for the reception: our Shaykhs + could not, without derogating, go forth to meet the strangers; but the + latter were saluted with due ceremony by the bugler and the escort, drawn + up in line before the mess-tent. + </p> + <p> + After the usual half-hour's delay, the "palaver," to speak Africanicè, + "came up," and M. Lacaze had a good opportunity of privily sketching the + scene. The Shaykh, Mohammed bin ‘Atíyyah, who boasts (falsely) that he + commands more than half the two thousand males composing the tribe, is a + tall, sinewy man of about fifty, straight-featured, full-bearded, and + gruff-voiced: his official style of speaking from the throat, a kind of + vaccine low, imitated in camp for many a day, never failed to cause + merriment. His costume rose to the height of Desert-fashion, described + when pourtraying Shaykh Khizr the ‘Imráni; his manners were those of a + gentleman below the Pass, and above it he became an unmitigated ruffian, + who merited his soubriquet El-Kalb ("the Hound"). On one side sat his son + Sálim, a large, beardless lad, who had begun work by presenting us with a + sheep—Giorgi (cook) said it cost us £40. On the other was his eldest + brother and alter ego: the wrinkled Sagr (Sakr) has been a resident at + Cairo, and still boasts that he received the "tribute" of a horse from the + Viceroy, whom he affects to treat as an equal or rather an inferior. The + others were old Sagr's ill-visaged son Ali, and, lastly, a cunning-eyed + villain, ‘Abayd bin Sálim, the rightful heir to the chieftainship, which, + however, he had been unable to keep. All the Shaykhs were dressed in + brand-new garments and glaring glossy Kúfíyahs ("head-kerchiefs"); they + trade chiefly with Mezáríb in the Haurán; and, during the annual passage + to and fro of the Damascus caravan, they await it at Tabúk, and threaten + to cut off the road unless liberally propitiated with presents of raiment + and rations. The Murátibah (honorarium) contributed by El-Shám would be + about one hundred dollars in ready money to the headman, diminishing with + degree to one dollar per annum: this would not include "free gifts" by + pilgrims. The Ma'ázah are under Syria, that is, under no rule at all; and + they are supposed to be tributary to, when in reality they demand tribute + from, the Porte. In fact, nothing can be more pronounced than the contrast + of the Bedawin who are subject to Egypt, and those supposed to be governed + by the wretched Ottoman. + </p> + <p> + During the palaver all outside was sweet as honey, to use the Arab phrase, + and bitter as gall inside. The Ma'ázah, many of whom now saw Europeans for + the first time, eyed the barnetá (hat) curiously, with a certain facial + movement which meant, "This is the first time we have let Christian dogs + into our land!" They were minute in observing the escort, and not a little + astonished to find that all were negroes—in the old day Egyptian + soldiers, under the great Mohammed Ali Pasha and his stepson, Ibrahim + Pasha, had made themselves a terror to the Wild Man. "What had now become + of them?" was the mental question. When asked whence they had procured the + two horses, they answered curtly, Min Rabbiná—"From our Lord," thus + signifying stolen goods; and, like mediaeval knights, they took a pride in + avowing that not one of their number could read or write. Finally a tent + was assigned to them; food was ordered, and they promised us escort to + their dens on the morrow. + </p> + <p> + During the raw and gusty night the mercury sank to 38° F., the aneroid + (26.91) showing about three thousand feet above sea-level; and blazing + fires kept up within and without the tents, hardly sufficed for comfort. + On the morning of February 24th + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Over the wold the wind blew cold;" +</pre> + <p> + and the Egyptian officers all donned their gloves. The early hours were + spent in a last struggle with our Shaykhs, who now felt themselves and + their camels hopelessly entering the lion's lair. The sole available + pretext for delay was that their animals could never carry the boxes and + tents up the Pass; but, though very ugly reports prevailed concerning the + reception of Ahmed el-‘Ukbí, and the observations that had been made last + night, not a word was suffered to reach my ears until our retreat had been + resolved upon. Such concealment would have been inexcusable in a European; + in the East it is the rule. + </p> + <p> + At 7.15 a.m. we struck the camp at Jebel Kibár, and moved due eastward + towards the Pass. This north-eastern Khuraytah (Col) is termed the + Khuraytat el-Hismá or el-Jils, after a hillock on the plateau-summit, to + distinguish it from the similar feature to the south-west: the latter is + known as the Khuraytat el-Zibá; or el-T h m , the local pronunciation of + Tihámah. About two miles of rough and broken ground lead to the foot of + the ladder. The zigzags then follow the line of a mountain torrent, the + natural Pass, crossing its bed from left to right and from right again to + left: the path is the rudest of corniches, worn by the feet of man and + beast; and showing some ugly abrupt turns. The absolute height of the + ascent is about 450 feet (aner. 26.70—26.25) and the length half a + mile. The ground, composed mostly of irregular rock-steps, has little + difficulty for horses and mules; but camels laden with boards (the + mess-table) and long tent-poles must have had a queer time—I should + almost expect after this to see an oyster walking up stairs. Of course, + they took their leisure, feeling each stone before they trusted it, but + they all arrived without the shadow of an accident; and the same was the + case during the two subsequent descents. + </p> + <p> + We halted on the Sath el-Nakb ("the Passtop") to expect the caravan, and + to prospect the surrounding novelties. Heaps and piles of dark trap dotted + the summit like old graves; many of the stones were inscribed with tribal + marks, and not a few were capped with snowy lumps of quartz detached from + their veins in the porphyry. This custom, which appears universal + throughout Midian, has many interpretations. According to some it denotes + the terminus of a successful raid; others make it show where a dispute was + settled without bloodshed; whilst as a rule it is an expression of + gratitude: the Bedawi erects it in honour of the man who protected or who + did a service to him, saying at the same time, Abyaz ‘alayk yá Fula'n—"White + (or happy) be it to thee!" naming the person. Amongst these votive stones + we picked up copper-stained quartz like that of ‘Aynúnah, fine specimens + of iron, and the dove-coloured serpentine, with silvery threads, so + plentiful in the Wady Surr. The Wasm in most cases showed some form of a + cross, which is held to be a potent charm by the Sinaitic Bedawin; and on + two detached water-rolled pebbles were distinctly inscribed lH and Vl, + which looked exceedingly like Europe. Apparently the custom is dying out: + the modern Midianites have forgotten the art and mystery of tribal signs + (Wusúm). In many places the people cannot distinguish between inscriptions + and "Bill Snooks his mark," and they can interpret very few of the latter. + </p> + <p> + Looking westward through the inverted arch formed by the two hill-staples + of the Khuraytah, and down the long valley which had given us passage, the + eye distinguishes a dozen distances whose several planes are marked by all + the shades of colour that the most varied vegetation can show. There are + black-browns, chocolate-browns, and light umber-browns; bright-reds and + dull-reds; grass-greens and cypress-greens; neutral tints and French greys + contrasting with the rosy pinks, the azures, the purples, and the golden + yellows with which distance paints the horizon. From a few feet above the + Col-floor appear the eastern faces of the giants of the coast-range; and + our altitude, some 3800 feet, gave us to a certain extent a measure of + their grand proportions. + </p> + <p> + We now stand upon the westernmost edge of the great central Arabian + plateau, known as El-Nejd ("the Highlands"), opposed to El-Tihámah, the + lowland regions. In Africa we should call it the "true" subtending the + "false" coast; delightful Dahome compared with leprous Lagos. This upland, + running parallel with the "Lip"-range and with the maritime Gháts, is the + far-famed Hismá. It probably represents a remnant of the old terrace + which, like the Secondary gypseous formation, has been torn to pieces by + the volcanic region to the east, and by the plutonic upheavals to the + west. The length may be 170 miles; the northern limit is either close to + or a little south of Fort Ma'án; and we shall see its southern terminus + sharply defined on a parallel with the central Shárr, not including + "El-Jaww."<a href="#linknote-155" name="linknoteref-155" + id="linknoteref-155"><small>155</small></a> An inaccessible fortress to + the south, it is approached on the south-west by difficult passes, easily + defended against man and beast. Further north, however, the Wadys ‘Afál + near El-Sharaf, El-Hakl (Hagul), and El-Yitm at El-‘Akabah, are easy lines + without Wa'r ("stony ground") or Nakb ("ravines"). + </p> + <p> + The Hismá material is a loose modern sandstone, showing every hue between + blood-red, rose pink, and dead, dull white: again and again fragments had + been pointed out to us near the coast, in ruined buildings and in the + remains of handmills and rub-stones. Possibly the true coal-measures may + underlie it, especially if the rocks east of Petra be, as some travellers + state, a region of the Old, not the New Red. According to my informants, + the Hismá has no hills of quartz, a rock which appears everywhere except + here; nor should I expect the region to be metalliferous. + </p> + <p> + We ascended the Jebel el-Khuraytah, a trap hillock some 120 feet high, the + southern jamb of the Khuraytah gate: the summit, where stands a ruined + Burj measuring fourteen metres in diameter, gives a striking and + suggestive view. After hard dry living on grisly mountain and unlovely + Wady, this fine open plain, slightly concave in the centre, was a + delightful change of diet to the eye—the first enjoyable sensation + of the kind, since we had gazed lovingly upon the broad bosom of the Wady + el-‘Arabah. The general appearance is that of Eastern Syria, especially + the Haurán: at the present season all is a sheet of pinkish red, which in + later March will turn to lively green. On this parallel the diameter does + not exceed a day's march, but we see it broadening to the north. Looking + in that direction over the gloomy-metalled porphyritic slopes upon which + we stand, the glance extends to a manner of sea-horizon; while the several + planes below it are dotted with hills and hill-ranges, white, red, and + black, all dwarfed by distance to the size of thimbles and pincushions. + The guides especially pointed out the ridge El-Mukaykam, a red block upon + red sands, and a far-famed rendezvous for raid and razzia. Nearer, the + dark lumps of El-Khayráni rise from a similar surface; nearer still lie + the two white dots, El-Rakhamatayn; and nearest is the ruddy ridge Jebel + and Jils el-Rawiyán, containing, they say, ruins and inscriptions of which + Wallin did not even hear. + </p> + <p> + The eastern versant of the Hismá is marked by long chaplets of tree and + shrub, disposed along the selvage of the watercourses; and the latter are + pitted with wells sunk after the fashion of the Bedawin. In this rhumb the + horizon is bounded by El-Harrah, the volcanic region whose black porous + lavas and honey-combed basalts, often charged with white zeolite, are + still brought down even to the coast to serve as mortars and handmills. + The profile is a long straight and regular line, as if formed under water, + capped here and there by a tiny head like the Syrian Kulayb Haurán: its + peculiar dorsum makes it distinguishable from afar, and we could easily + trace it from the upper heights of the Shárr. It is evidently a section of + the mighty plutonic outburst which has done so much to change the aspect + of the parallel Midian seaboard. Wallin's account of it (p. 307) is + confined to the place where he crossed the lava-flood; and he rendered + El-Harrah, which in Arabic always applies to a burnt region, by + "red-coloured sandstone." + </p> + <p> + The Bedawin far more reasonably declare that this Harrah is not a mere + patch as it appears in Wallin's map, a narrow oblong not exceeding sixty + miles (north lat. 27°—28°), disposed diagonally from north-west to + south-east. According to them, it is a region at least as large as the + Hismá; and it extends southwards not only to the parallel of El-Medínah, + but to the neighbourhood of Yambú'. The upper region has two great + divisions: the Harrat-Hismá or the Harrah par excellence, which belongs to + the Ma'ázah, and which extends southwards through El-Sulaysilah as far as + the Jaww. The latter region, a tract of yellow sand, dotted with ruddy + hills, apparently a prolongation of the Hismá, separates it from the + Harrat el-‘Awayraz, in which the Jebel el-Muharrak lies.<a + href="#linknote-156" name="linknoteref-156" id="linknoteref-156"><small>156</small></a> + This line of volcanism is continued south by the Harrat el-Mushrif (P.N. + of a man); by the Harrat Sutúh Jaydá; and, finally, by the Harrat + el-Buhayri. the latter shows close behind the shore at El-Haurá, in nearly + the same latitude as El-Medínah, where we shall presently sight it. There + is great interest and a general importance in this large coast-subtending + eruptive range, whose eastern counterslope demands long and careful study. + </p> + <p> + Sweeping the glance round to south, we see the southern of the two + Jilsayn, tall mounds of horizontal strata, with ironstone in harder lines + and finial blocks. This is the Jils el-Dáim, so distinguished from the + northern Jils el-Rawiyán. The lower edge of the Hismá swells up in red and + quoin-like masses, the Jibál el-Záwiyah, and then falls suddenly, with a + succession of great breaks, into the sub-maritime levels. During our next + ten days' travel we shall be almost in continuous sight of its southern + ramparts and buttresses. Far over the precipices lie the low yellow sands + of the Rahabah, alias the Wady Dámah; and behind it rises the sky-blue + mountain block, which takes a name from the ruins of Shaghab and Shuwák. + </p> + <p> + We breakfasted upon the Khuraytah crest; and Mr. Clarke set out to shoot + the fine red-legged "Greek" partridges (caccabis) that haunt the hilltops, + whilst the rest of us marched with the caravan to the nearest + camping-ground. About a mile from the Col, and lying to the west of the + Jils el-Rawiyán, it is supplied with excellent drinking-water by the Miyáh + el-Jedayd, lying nine hundred to a thousand metres to the south-east. On + the other hand, fuel, here a necessary of life, was wanting; nor could the + camels find forage. Thus we were camped upon the western edge of the + Hismá. The Ma'ázah Shaykhs, who vainly urged us forwards, showed a + suspicious disappointment at our not reaching their quarters on the far + side, where, they said, a camel was awaiting to be slaughtered for our + reception. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, we were enjoying the reverse of hospitality. The Bedawin + evidently now held that all which was ours had become theirs. Their + excessive greed made them imprudent. Not satisfied with "eating us up," + with a coffee-pot ever on the fire, with demanding endless tobacco, and + with making their two garrons devour more barley than our eight mules, + they began to debate, aloud as usual, how much ready money they should + demand. This was at last settled at four hundred dollars; and the talk was + reported to me by the Básh-Buzúk Husayn, whom they had compelled to cook + for them. At the same time unpleasant discussions were beginning: "This + man stole my camel!" "That man killed my father," already took the form of + threats; in fact, I almost repented having brought the Huwaytát and their + camels into the trap. Still they all respected Furayj, as might be seen by + their rising and making room for him whenever he approached the fire. + </p> + <p> + At last an evil rumour arose that the Ma'ázah had determined to supply us + with transport, and had sent messengers in all directions to collect the + animals. This step looked uncommonly like a gathering of war-men. I was + sorely disappointed, for more reasons than one. The state of affairs + rendered a distant march to the east highly unadvisable. The principal + object of this journey had been to investigate the inland depth of the + metalliferous deposits; in fact, their extent from west to east. Their + north-south length would be easily ascertained, but the width would still + remain unknown. The "Land of Midian," through which we have been + travelling, has evidently been worked, and in places well worked; thus the + only chance of finding a virgin California would be in the unknown tracts + lying to the east of the "Harrahs." Too bad to be thwarted in such a + project by the exorbitant demands of a handful of thieves! + </p> + <p> + The disappointment was aggravated by other considerations. From all that I + had heard, the Hismá is a region full of archæological interest. Already + we were almost in sight of the ruins of Ruáfá, lying to the north between + the two white dots El-Rakhamatayn. Further eastward, and north of the + pilgrim-station Zát-Hajj, are the remains of Karáyyá, still unvisited by + Europeans. Finally, I had been shown, when too late to inspect the place, + a fragment of a Nabathæan inscription, finely cut in soft white sandstone:<a + href="#linknote-157" name="linknoteref-157" id="linknoteref-157"><small>157</small></a> + it had been barbarously broken, and two other pieces were en route. The + stone is said to be ten feet long (?), all covered with "writings," from + which annalistic information might be expected: it lies, or is said to + lie, about two hours' ride north of our camp, and beyond the Jils + el-Rawiyán famed for Hawáwít. At first I thought of having it cut to + portable size; but second thoughts determined me to leave it for another + visit or for some more fortunate visitor. Lastly, we were informed, a few + weeks afterwards, that the Ma'ázah Shaykhs had carried it off to their + tents—I fear piecemeal. + </p> + <p> + It was not pleasant to beat a retreat; but, under the circumstances, what + else could be done? No one was to be relied upon but the Europeans, and + not all even of them. The black escort, emancipated slaves, would have run + away at the first shot; except only Acting-Corporal Khayr. And when I told + the officers assembled at mess that we should march back early next + morning, the general joy showed how little they relished the prospect of + an advance. Then came out in mass the details—many doubtless + apocryphal—which should have been reported to me, and which had + carefully been kept secret. The Ma'ázah, when our messenger first notified + our visit, had declared that they would have no Nazarenes in their + mountains; that they did not care a fico for Egypt. Why had not + "Effendíná" written to them? they were his equals, not his subjects! It + was then debated whether they should not raise a force of dromedary-men to + fall upon us. Some of them proposed to summon to their aid the rival + chief, Ibn Hermás; but the majority thought it would be better to reserve + for themselves the hundred dollars per diem, of which they proposed to + fleece us. + </p> + <p> + Of course, everything around us was intrigue; the Máyat taht el-Tibn + ("water under the straw") of the Arab saying. Furayj, it is true, looked + serene, and privately offered me to fight the affair out; but he was alone + in the idea. The Sayyid was tranquil, as usual; Hasan the ‘Ukbi wore an + unpleasant appearance of satisfaction, as if he had been offered a share + in the plunder of the Huwaytát; and ‘Alayán, a brave man on his own + ground, could hardly conceal his dejection. I might, it is evident, have + seized Shaykh Mohammed, placed a pistol to his ear, and carried him off a + prisoner; but such grands moyens must be reserved for great occasions. The + worst symptoms in camp were that the Ma'ázah at once knew the whole of my + project; while the Egyptian officers were ever going to their tents, and + one stayed talking with them till near midnight. + </p> + <p> + February 25th was a day of humiliation. I aroused the camp at 4.30 a.m., + and at once gave orders to strike the tents and load. The command was + obeyed in double quick time; but not before Shaykh Mohammed had visited us + to propose a march to his home in the east. He was not comfortable; + probably his reinforcements had still to arrive: his face was calm, as the + Eastern's generally is; but his feet trembled, and his toes twitched. I + drily told him of our changed plans, and he left us in high dudgeon. The + tragi-comedy which followed may be divided into six acts:— + </p> + <p> + 1. The Ma'ázah mount their horses and camels: I walk up to them, and + expostulate about so abrupt a departure without even drinking a friendly + cup of coffee. + </p> + <p> + 2. They dismount, and squat in council round the fire, sending on three + dromedary-riders to crown a hill commanding the pass. The "burning + question" is now whether armed clansmen are or are not lurking behind the + heights. + </p> + <p> + 3. Shaykh Mohammed comes forward, and demands blackmail to the extent of + two hundred dollars. I offer one hundred dollars. + </p> + <p> + 4. Our hosts break off the debate in a towering rage; refuse coffee, and + declare that the caravan of "Effendíná" (the Viceroy) shall not be loaded. + Mohammed's feet twitch more violently as the camels are made to kneel. + </p> + <p> + 5. The caravan shows too much emotion. I pay the two hundred dollars into + the chief's hands. He at once demands his Sharaf ("honour") in the shape + of a Kiswah, or handsome dress, and, that failing, an additional + twenty-five dollars for each of the five headmen. I promise that a robe + shall be sent from El-Muwaylah.<a href="#linknote-158" + name="linknoteref-158" id="linknoteref-158"><small>158</small></a> + </p> + <p> + 6. The caravan sets out for the Pass, when the three dromedary-riders open + with the war-cry: it is stopped with much apparatus by the Shaykhs, who + affect to look upon it as dangerous. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + We now marched without delay upon the Col, which was reached at 8:15 a.m.; + Mohammed bin ‘Atíyyah having meanwhile disappeared. We descended the + Khuraytat el-Jils in twenty-six minutes, and dismissed the remainder of + our Ma'ázah escort at the foot. I vainly offered them safeguard to + El-Muwaylah, which they have not visited for the last dozen years; all + refused absolutely to pass their own frontiers. + </p> + <p> + Au revoir Mohammed ibn ‘Atíyyah and company! + </p> + <p> + Having broken our fast and sent forward the caravan, we at once began to + descend the southern Pass, the Khuraytat el-Zibá. Here the watershed of + the Wady Surr heads; and merchants object to travel by its shorter line, + because their camels must ascend two ladders of rocks, instead of one at + the top of the Wady Sadr. The Col was much longer and but little less + troublesome than its northern neighbour; the formation was the same, and + forty-five minutes placed us in a gully, that presently widened to a big + valley, the Wady Dahal or El-Khuraytah. We reached it at 12:30 p.m., and + laid down the distance from the summit of the northern Col at about five + miles and a quarter. The air felt tepid, the sun waxed hot; drinking-water + was found on the left of the bed, and a hole in the sole represented a + spring, which the people say is perennial: we were dismounting to quench + our thirst at the latter, when Juno plunged into it, and stood quietly + eyeing us with an air of intense satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + We spent that night at a place lower down the Wady Dahal, known as the + Jayb el-Khuraytah ("Collar of the Col"). The term "Jayb" is locally + applied to two places only; the other being the Jayb el-Sa'lúwwah, which + we shall presently visit. A larger feature than a Wady, it reminds us of a + Norfolk "broad," but it is of course waterless. Guards were placed around + the camp; and a wholesome dread of the Ma'ázah kept them wide awake. The + only evil which resulted was that none dared to lead our mules to water; + and the poor animals were hardly rideable on the next day. + </p> + <p> + Of the Hismá in its present state, we may say as of Ushant, Qui voit + Ouessant, voit la mort. Nothing can be done towards working the mines of + Midian until this den of thieves is cleared out. It is an asylum for every + murderer and bandit who can make his way there—a centre of + turbulence which spreads trouble all around it. Under the sham rule of + miserable Shám (Syria), with its Turkish Wális, men like the late Ráshid + Pasha, matters can only wax worse. Subject to Egypt, the people will learn + discipline and cease to torment the land. + </p> + <p> + Happily for their neighbours there will be no difficulty in reducing the + Ma'ázah. They are surrounded by enemies, and they have lately been obliged + to pay "brother-tax" to the Ruwalá as a defence against being plundered: + the tribute consists of one piece of hair-cloth about twenty cubits long. + On the north, as far as El-Ma'án, they meet the hostile Beni Sakr + (Jawázi), under the Shaykh Mohammed ibn Jázi; southwards the Baliyy, + commanded by Shaykh ‘Afnán, are on terms of "blood" with them; eastward + stand the ‘Anezah and the warlike Sharárát-Hutaym, who ever covet their + two thousand camels: westward lie in wait their hereditary foes, the + Huwaytát. Shaykh Furayj, the tactician, has long ago proposed a general + onslaught of his tribesmen by a simultaneous movement up the Wadys Surr, + Sadr, Urnub, and ‘Afál: they seemed to have some inkling of his + intentions, as they hastened to conclude with him a five months' ‘Altwah + or "truce." Finally, a small disciplined force, marching down the + Damascus-Medínah pilgrimage-road to the east, and co-operating with the + Huwayta't on the west would place this vermin between two fires. + </p> + <p> + The tale of my disappointment may conclude with an ethnological notice of + those who caused it. + </p> + <p> + The Ma'ázah is a Syro-Egypto-Bedawi clan, originally Arab, or rather + Syrian, but migratory, as are all Arabs. It now extends high up the valley + of the Nile, and it is still found in the Wady Musá (of Suez) and on the + Za'faránah block. Even in Egypt it is turbulent and dangerous: the men are + professional robbers; and their treachery is uncontrolled by the Bedawi + law of honour—they will eat bread and salt with the traveller whom + they intend to murder. For many years it was unsafe to visit the camps + within sight of Suez, until a compulsory residence at head-quarters taught + the Shaykhs manners. The habitat in Arabia stretches from the Wady Musá of + Petra, where they are kinsmen of the Tiyáhah, the Bedawin of the + Tíh-desert; and through Ma'án as far as the Birkat el-Mu'azzamah, south of + Tabúk. Finally, they occupy the greater part of the Hismá and the northern + Harrah. + </p> + <p> + According to Mohammed el-Kalb, these bandits own the bluest of blue blood. + Their forefather was one Wáíl, who left by his descendants two great + tribes. The first and the eldest took a name from their Ma'áz + ("he-goats"); while the junior called themselves after the Annáz + ("she-goats"): from the latter sprung the great Anezah family, which + occupies the largest and the choicest provinces of the Arabian peninsula. + Meanwhile genealogists ignore the Ma'ázah. + </p> + <p> + Wallin would divide the tribe into two, the Ma'ázah and the "Beni ‘Atiyá:" + of the latter in Midian I could hear nothing except that they represent + the kinsmen of the Shaykh's family. We find "Benoo Ateeyah" in maps like + that of Crichton's (1834), where the Ma'ázah are laid down further south; + and northwards the Beni ‘Atiyyah are a powerful clan who push their + razzias as far as the frontiers of Moab. My informants declare that the + numbers of fighting men in the Midianite division of the race may be two + thousand (two hundred?), and that they are separated only by allegiance to + two rival Shaykhs. The greater half, under Ibn Hermás, is distributed into + five clans, of whom the first, ‘Orbán Khumaysah, contain two septs. Under + Mohammed ibn ‘Atíyyah (El-Kalb) they number also five divisions. Amongst + them are the Subút or Beni Sabt, "Sons of the Sabbath," that is, Saturday; + whom Wallin suspects to be of Jewish origin, relying, it would appear, + principally upon their name. The ringing of the large bell suspended to + the middle pole of the tents at sunset, "to hail the return of the camels + and the mystic hour of descending night," is an old custom still + maintained, because it confers a Barakat ("blessing") upon the flocks and + herds. Certainly there is nothing of the Bedawi in this practice, and it + is distinctly contrary to the tradition of El-Islam; yet many such + survivals hold their ground amongst the highly conservative Wild Men, and + they must be looked upon only as local and tribal peculiarities. + </p> + <p> + End of Vol. I. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FOOT" id="link2H_FOOT"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOOTNOTES + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ My collection dates from + between the first century B.C. and the first century A.D.; this can be + gathered from comparison with the coins of Alexander Jannaeus and his + successor, Alexander II. The tetradrachm may belong to the reign of + Alexander the Great, or the ages preceding it.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ Here probably disappeared + some fine specimens of silicate of copper which caused a delay of three + months in the report.—R. F. B.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ Messrs. Edgar Jackson found + in the same box:— + </p> + <p class="foot"> + Silver (per statute ton)...............2 oz. 17 dwts. 11 grs.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ "Box No. 37" yielded + silver....13 dwts. 1.6 grs.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ "Box. No. 47" yielded + silver...12 dwts. 1.6 grms.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ In boxes Nos. 48 and 51 Mr. + Jenken found silver 2 oz. 13 dwts. 8 grs.; and 4 oz. 5 dwts. 12 grms.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ In a fragment of similar + "turquoise rock," from the same site (Ziba), Dr. L. Karl Moser, of + Trieste, found silver.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ In a fragment of similar + chalcedony, from the same site (Aba'l-Maru), Dr. Moser found specks of + "free gold."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ This was the "splendid + button" smelted at Makna.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ The "button" was + pronounced to be almost pure antimony in the Government Establishment of + Mines, Trieste.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ In "box No. 4" Messrs. + Jackson found rough crystals of corundum; and a qualitative analysis of + this sample and "box No. 7" yielded quartz, carbonate of lime, alumina, + and oxide of iron.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ The italics are mine. Mr. + Mathey remarks of the specimen containing 48 grains of gold per ton, "It + would be worthless in its present condition; if however, it could be + enriched by proper washing and dressing, and the cost in labour, etc., be + not too great, it might be made to give fair returns."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ "Little health" at Cairo + prevented my choosing the instruments; and the result was that at last I + had to depend upon my pocket-set by Casella. Even this excellent maker's + maxima and minima failed to stand the camel-jolting. The barometer, lent + by the Chief of Staff (Elliott Brothers, 24), contained amalgam, not + mercury. The patent messrad, or odometer (Wittmann, Wien), with its works + of soft brass instead of steel, was fit only to measure a drawing-room + carpet. M. Ebner sold us, at the highest prices, absolutely useless maxima + and minima, plus a baromètre aneroide, whose chain was unhooked when it + left the box. M. Sussmann, of the Muski, supplied, for fifty francs, a + good and useful microscope magnifying seventy-five times. The watches from + M. Meyer ("Dent and Co.!") were cheap and nasty Swiss articles; but they + were also subjected to terrible treatment:—I once saw the wearers + opening them with table-knives. Fortunately M. Lacaze, the artist, had a + good practical knowledge of instruments; and this did us many a good + turn.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ For Arabian travel I + should advise aconite, instead of Dover's powder; Cockle's pills, in lieu + of blue mass; Warburg's Drops, in addition to quinine; pyretic saline and + Karlsbad, besides Epsom salts; and chloral, together with chlorodyne. + "Pain Killer" is useful amongst wild people, and Oxley's ginger, with the + simple root, is equally prized. A little borax serves for eye-water and + alum for sore mouth. I need not mention special medicines like the liqueur + Laville, and the invaluable Waldöl (oil of the maritime pine), which each + traveller must choose for himself.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ It is Lane's "Kiyakh, + vulgó Kiyák," and Michell's "Kyhak, the ancient Khoiak," or fourth month. + The Copts begin their solar year on our September 10-11; and date from the + 2nd of Diocletian, or the Era of the "Martyrs" (A.D. 284). It is the old + Sothic, or annus quadratus, which became the Alexandrine under the + Ptolemies; and which Sosigenes, the Egyptian, converted into the Julian, + by assuming the Urbs condita as a point de départ, and by transferring New + Year's Day from the equinox to the solstice.] + </p> + <p class="foot"> + Thus Kayhák I, 1594, would correspond with December 9, A.D. 1877, and with + Zúl-Hijjah 4, A.H. 1294. On the evening of Kayhák 14 (December 22nd) + winter is supposed to set in. The fifth month, Tubá—Lane's "Toobeh," + and Michell's "Toubeh, the ancient Tobi"—is the coldest of the year + at Suez, on the isthmus and in the adjacent parts of Arabia; rigorous + weather generally lasts from January 20th to February 20th. In Amshír, + about early March, torrents of rain are expected to fall for a few hours. + The people say of it, in their rhyming way, Amshír, Za'bíb el-kathir—"Amshír + hath many a blast;" and + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Amshir + Yakul li'l-Zará 'Sir! + Wa yalhak bi'l-tawi'l el-kasi'r."' +</pre> + <p class="foot"> + "Amshír saith to the plants, 'Go (forth), and the little shall reach the + big."' It is divided into three 'Asharát or tens—1. 'Asharat + el-'Ajúz ("of the old man"), from the cold and killing wind El-Husúm; 2. + 'Asharat el-'Anzah ("of the she-goat"), from the blasts and gales; and 3. + 'Asharat el-Rá'í' ("of the shepherd"), from its change to genial warmth. + Concerning Barmahát (vulgó Barambát), of old Phamenoth (seventh month), + the popular jingle is, Ruh el-Ghayt wa hát—"Go to the field and + bring (what it yields);" this being the month of flowers, when the world + is green. Barmúdah (Pharmuthi)! dukh bi'l-'amúdah ("April! pound with the + pestle!") alludes to the ripening of the spring crops; and so forth almost + ad infinitum. For more information see the "Egyptian Calendar," etc. + (Alexandria: Mourès, 1878), a valuable compilation by our friend Mr. + Roland L. N. Michell, who will, let us hope, prefix his name to a future + edition, enlarged and enriched with more copious quotations from the + weather-rhymes and the folk-lore of Egypt.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ This is a most + interesting feature. According to Forskâl (Descriptiones xxix.), "Suénsia + litora, a recedente mari serius orta, nesciunt corallia;" and he makes the + submaritime "Cryptogama regio animalis" begin at Tor (Raitha) and extend + to (Gonfoda). Near Suez is the Newport Shoal, which could be sailed over + with impunity twenty years ago, and which is now dangerous: it resembles, + in fact, the other reef at the entrance of the Gulf, where tile soundings + have changed, in late years, from 7-7 1/2 fathoms to 3-3 1/2. Geologists + differ as to the cause—elevation or accretion by current-borne + drift.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ In Chap. XIV, we will + return to this subject.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," etc. (London: C. Kegan Paul & Co., 1878).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Assuming the sovereign at + 97 piastres 40 parahs, this hire would be in round numbers one and two + shillings; the shilling being exactly 4 piastres 24 parahs. See Chap. VII. + for further details.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Besides a popular account + of the stages in "The Gold Mines of Midian," a geographical itinerary has + been offered to the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ They were, perhaps, a + trifle too long for small beasts: seventy-seven centimètres (better + seventy); and too deep, sixty, instead of fifty-eight. The width + (forty-six) was all right. The best were painted, and defended from wet by + an upper plate of zinc; the angles and the bottoms were strengthened with + iron bands in pairs; and they were closed with hasps. At each end was a + small block, carrying a strong looped rope for slinging the load to the + pack-saddle; of these, duplicates should be provided. In order to defend + our delicate apparatus from excessive shaking, we divided the inside, by + battens, into several compartments. The smaller cases of bottles and + breakables should have been cut to fit into the larger, but this had been + neglected at Cairo. Finally, not a single box gave way on the march: that + was reserved for the Suez-Cairo Railway, and for landing at the London + Docks.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ MM. Gastinel (Bey) and + Marie give it per cent.:— + </p> + <p class="foot"> + Titaniferous iron . . . .. . . . . . . 86.50 Silica . . . . . . . . . . . + . . . . . 10.10 Copper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.40 (2 1/2 per + cent.) Silver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ Hence, evidently, the + derivation of the "Marwah" hill near Meccah, and the famous "Marwah" gold + mine which we shall visit in South Midian. The Arabs here use Jebel + el-Mará and Jebel el-Abyaz (plur. Jibál el-Bayzá) synonymously.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ Spon: London, 1875. A + book opening a new epoch, and duly neglected.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ So said the engineer. He + relied chiefly upon M. Amedée Burat, p. 229, "Géologic Appliquáe" (Paris: + Garnier, 1870), who quotes the compte rendu of M. Guillemin, C.E. to the + Exposition of 1867. The latter gentleman, who probably did not, like the + former, place Mexico in South America, makes the metalliferous lands + measure four-fifths of the total surface. I am much mistaken if the same + is not the case with Midian.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ In "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," p. 171, I erroneously asserted that the Beden does not extend to + these mountains. The second Expedition could learn nothing about the stag + with large branches vaguely spoken of by the Bedawin.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ When "miles" are given, I + mean the statute of 1760 yards as opposed to the geographical; the latter + equals 1 minute (of a degree) = 1 Italian or Arab = 1/4 German = 1 1/4 + Roman = 10 stadia.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Were I a wealthy man, + nothing would delight me more than to introduce London to La Zarzuela, the + Spanish and Portuguese opera bouffe. Sir Julius Benedict tells me that it + has reached Paris.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ See Le Pionnier, Chemin + de Fer Abyssinien d'apré's les desseins de M. J. L. Haddan. Another + valuable form is "The Economical" (Mr. Russell Shaw).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-30" id="linknote-30"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 30 (<a href="#linknoteref-30">return</a>)<br /> [ Chloritic slate is the + matrix of gold in the Brazil and in Upper Styria.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-31" id="linknote-31"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 31 (<a href="#linknoteref-31">return</a>)<br /> [ Chap. IX.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-32" id="linknote-32"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 32 (<a href="#linknoteref-32">return</a>)<br /> [ Not Tayyibat Ism, as I + wrongly wrote in "The Gold Mines of Midian," misled by the Hydrographic + Chart. None of the Bedawin could explain the origin of the flattering + title.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-33" id="linknote-33"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 33 (<a href="#linknoteref-33">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Gold-Mines of + Midian." Chap. XII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-34" id="linknote-34"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 34 (<a href="#linknoteref-34">return</a>)<br /> [ The so-called Oriental, + stalactitic, or variegated alabaster of Upper Egypt was nowhere hit upon.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-35" id="linknote-35"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 35 (<a href="#linknoteref-35">return</a>)<br /> [ The Ptolemeian parallel + is nearly right; the place must not be confounded with Modi'ana or Modouna + (ibid.), a coast-settlement in north lat. 27 degrees 45', between Onne and + the Hippos Mons, Monte Cavallo.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-36" id="linknote-36"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 36 (<a href="#linknoteref-36">return</a>)<br /> [ I have no wish to + criticize my able predecessor. His map, all things considered, is a marvel + of accuracy; and the high praise of Wellsted (ii. 148) only does it + justice.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-37" id="linknote-37"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 37 (<a href="#linknoteref-37">return</a>)<br /> [ The "Muttali" (high town) + when small is termed a Burj, pyrgos, tower, Pergamus (?)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-38" id="linknote-38"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 38 (<a href="#linknoteref-38">return</a>)<br /> [ The Masháb or + "camel-stick" of all Arabia is that carried by the Osiris (mummy), and its + crook is originally the jackal-headed Anubis.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-39" id="linknote-39"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 39 (<a href="#linknoteref-39">return</a>)<br /> [ The collection has been + submitted to Mr. R. Stanley Poole, who kindly offered them for inspection + to the Numismatic Society of London (Nov. 21, 1878).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-40" id="linknote-40"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 40 (<a href="#linknoteref-40">return</a>)<br /> [ "Ægypten," etc., p. 269, + et seq.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-41" id="linknote-41"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 41 (<a href="#linknoteref-41">return</a>)<br /> [ "Les Inscriptions des + Mines d'Or," etc. Paris, 1862.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-42" id="linknote-42"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 42 (<a href="#linknoteref-42">return</a>)<br /> [ In Tafel viii. (p. 387), + he has added some cursory notes on the Sepulcral-Monumente in dem Thale + Beden.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-43" id="linknote-43"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 43 (<a href="#linknoteref-43">return</a>)<br /> [ Wellsted, vol. ii., + appendix.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-44" id="linknote-44"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 44 (<a href="#linknoteref-44">return</a>)<br /> [ All the useful matter has + already been borrowed from Abulfeda. Dr. Badger tells me that he looked + through his Jarídat el-'Ajáib, wa Farídat el-Gharáib, by Siráj el-Din Umar + ibn el-Wardí, A.H. 940 (= A.D. 1533—1534), where he expected to + find, but did not find, notices of Madyan.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-45" id="linknote-45"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 45 (<a href="#linknoteref-45">return</a>)<br /> [ Geschichte Ægyptens unter + den Pharaonen. Nach den Denkmählern bearbeitet, von Dr. Heinrich + Brugsch-Bey. Erste deutsche Ausgabe. Leipzig: Hinrichs'sche Buchhandlung, + 1877. Already the Première Partie had appeared in French, "Histoire + d'Égypte, Introduction—Histoire des Dynasties i.—xvii.;" + published by the same house with a second edition in 1875. An English + translation of this most valuable compendium, whose German is of the + hardest, is now being printed in London.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-46" id="linknote-46"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 46 (<a href="#linknoteref-46">return</a>)<br /> [ Pun, or Punt, the region + on both sides of the Red Seamouth, including El-Yemen and Cape Guardafui, + was made holy by the birth of Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Dr. Brugsch-Bey + shows that one of the titles of the he-god was Bass, the cat or the + leopard (whence our "Puss"); whilst his wife, Bast (the bissat or + tabby-cat of modern Arabic), gave her name to Bubastis (Pi-Bast, the city + of Bast). From the Osiric term (Bass) the learned Egyptologist would + derive Bacchus and his priests, the Bacchoi and the Bacchantes, whose + dress was the leopard's skin. Could Osiris have belonged to the race whose + degenerate descendants are the murderous Somal of modern days?] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-47" id="linknote-47"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 47 (<a href="#linknoteref-47">return</a>)<br /> [ Vulg. Snefrou, "he who + makes it good;" the ninth of the third Dynasty; the twenty-fourth + successor of Mena (Menes) in the papyri, and the twenty-sixth according to + Manetho the priest. He conquered the "Mafka-land," as the Sinaitic + Peninsula was then called; and Wady Maghárah still shows his statue, + habited in warrior garb, with the proud inscription, "Vanquisher of + Stranger Races." This campaign lends some colour to my suspicion that + Sináfir Island, at the mouth of the Gulf el-'Akabah, may preserve his + name.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-48" id="linknote-48"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 48 (<a href="#linknoteref-48">return</a>)<br /> [ The German Türkis, and + the English and French Turquoise, are both evidently derived from Gemma + Turcica, Western Turkistan being considered tile source of the finest + stones.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-49" id="linknote-49"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 49 (<a href="#linknoteref-49">return</a>)<br /> [ The accompanying + lithograph gives a list of the letters and the syllabic signs which occur + in the inscription. {not included in this e-text}] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-50" id="linknote-50"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 50 (<a href="#linknoteref-50">return</a>)<br /> [ The article "Ná" is + emphatic, the with the sense of that or those.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-51" id="linknote-51"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 51 (<a href="#linknoteref-51">return</a>)<br /> [ "Khomet" signifies, 1. + Copper, 2. Metal generally, as argent, etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-52" id="linknote-52"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 52 (<a href="#linknoteref-52">return</a>)<br /> [ "Mensh" is always applied + to sea-going ships, as opposed to Bari, Uáu, Kerer, etc., riverine craft.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-53" id="linknote-53"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 53 (<a href="#linknoteref-53">return</a>)<br /> [ "Kemi" signifies, 1. + Found, 2. Found out, discovered.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-54" id="linknote-54"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 54 (<a href="#linknoteref-54">return</a>)<br /> [ That is, the royal + pavilion at Thebes.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-55" id="linknote-55"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 55 (<a href="#linknoteref-55">return</a>)<br /> [ The word "Deb" (brick) + still survives in the Arabic Tob, and, perverted to the Iberian Adobe + (Et-tob) it has travelled to Mexico.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-56" id="linknote-56"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 56 (<a href="#linknoteref-56">return</a>)<br /> [ "Hefennu," as is shown by + the ideograph to the right over the three perpendiculars denoting + plurality, may be either a frog or a lakh (one hundred thousand).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-57" id="linknote-57"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 57 (<a href="#linknoteref-57">return</a>)<br /> [ The Egyptians divided + gold into four qualities—1, 2, 3, and two-thirds. But it is not + known whether No. 1 was the best, and we can only guess that two-thirds + alluded to some alloy.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-58" id="linknote-58"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 58 (<a href="#linknoteref-58">return</a>)<br /> [ The same as the Shu'ayb + of my pages.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-59" id="linknote-59"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 59 (<a href="#linknoteref-59">return</a>)<br /> [ For a notice of "Moses' + Well," now quite forgotten by the Arabs, see Chapter VI.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-60" id="linknote-60"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 60 (<a href="#linknoteref-60">return</a>)<br /> [ For an account of these + diggings, see "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. IX.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-61" id="linknote-61"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 61 (<a href="#linknoteref-61">return</a>)<br /> [ This strange legend will + be found copied into many subsequent authors.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-62" id="linknote-62"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 62 (<a href="#linknoteref-62">return</a>)<br /> [ El-Abjad, the oldest + existing form of the Arabic alphabet; to judge from its being identical + with the Hebrew. It is supposed to date from after the beginning of the + Christian era, when the Himyaritic form fell into disuse, and it is now + used in chronograms only.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-63" id="linknote-63"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 63 (<a href="#linknoteref-63">return</a>)<br /> [ L'auteur est doublement + inexact en avanc, ant que l'Aboudjed se compose de vingt-quatre lettres + seulement, d'abord parce que les six mots qu'il énumère ne renferment que + vingt-deux lettres, et en second lieu, parce qu'il oublie de citer les + deux derniers mots techniques, et , lesquels complétent les vingt-huit + lettres prises comme valeurs nume'riques ("Voyez l'Exposé des signes de + numération chez les Orientaux," par M. Pihan, p. 199 et suiv.). To this I + may add that the French translators have sadly corrupted the words which + should be Abjad, Hawwaz, Hutti, Kalaman, Sa'fas, and Karashat; whilst + Sakhiz and Zuzigh are not found in the Hebrew and cognate dialects.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-64" id="linknote-64"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 64 (<a href="#linknoteref-64">return</a>)<br /> [ The "Gate of + Lamentation," vulgarly and most erroneously written, "Babelmandel."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-65" id="linknote-65"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 65 (<a href="#linknoteref-65">return</a>)<br /> [ That is, "spoiled," dry; + instead of "honoured," respected. The difference of the words is in the + "pointing" of the third letter, and the change of m and l.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-66" id="linknote-66"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 66 (<a href="#linknoteref-66">return</a>)<br /> [ Not to be confounded with + a cosmography of the same name by Ahmed ibn Yahyá el-Shá'ir. Cf. Journal + of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xx. of 1850, p. 343.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-67" id="linknote-67"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 67 (<a href="#linknoteref-67">return</a>)<br /> [ This route, from Suez to + El-'Akabah, probably one of the oldest in this world, has been traversed + perfunctorily by Burckhardt and by Beke. It still wants a detailed survey, + and even hieroglyphic inscriptions may be expected. Beke's map marks + Hawáwit ("ruins") near one of his nighting-places, but apparently the + remains were not visited.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-68" id="linknote-68"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 68 (<a href="#linknoteref-68">return</a>)<br /> [ The Syrian Hajj no longer + pass through El-'Akabah to Makná, but inland or eastward of it. The reason + is made evident in Chap. VII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-69" id="linknote-69"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 69 (<a href="#linknoteref-69">return</a>)<br /> [ Thus the Khálú or Khárú + of the old Egyptians, meaning a "mixed multitude," were originally + Phoenicians and domiciled from earliest ages about Lake Menzálah. So the + "mixed multitude," or mingled people, which followed Israel from Egypt + would be a riff-raff of strangers. D'Herbelot says (sub voce Midian): + "Quoyque les Madianites soient reputez pour Arabes, neanmoins ils ne sont + pas du nombre des Tribus qui partageoient l'Arabie, et dont les Auteurs + nous ont rendu un compte exact dans leur Histoire et dans leurs + Genealogies; de sorte qu'il passe pour un peuple étranger qui s'est établi + parmi eux." Yet, as we have seen by the foregoing extracts, Madyan was + reckoned within the territory of El-Medi'nah, i.e. the Hejaz. + </p> + <p class="foot"> + Caussin de Perceval ("Essai sur l'Histoire des Arabs avant l'Islamisme") + regards the old Midianites as one of the "Races éteintes;" and he makes + them (vol. i. p. 23) descendants of Céthura, Abraham's second wife. In + vol. ii. p. 232, he brings the Banu-Djodha'm (Juzám) from El-Yemen, and + settles them in the country of the ancient Midianites. He adds: "La region + sur laquelle ils étaient répandus avec leurs frères les Benou-Lakhm, et, + je crois aussi, avec les families Codhaites, de Bali (Baliyy) et de Cayn, + touchait par l'ouest à la Mer Rouge, par le nord au pays que les Romains + appelaient troisième Palestine, par le sud aux déserts . . . par l'est, + enfin, au territoire de Daumat-Djandal sur laquelle campaient les + Benou-Kelb, tribu Codhaïte, alors Chrétienne, et alliée ou sujette des + Romains." In vol. iii. p. 159, he recounts from the Táríkh el-Khamísí, and + the Sírat el-Rasúl, how Zayd made an expedition against the "Djodhám + (Juzám) established at Madyan on the coast of the Red Sea." The warrior + captured a number of women and children who were exposed for sale, but the + "Prophet," hearing the wails of the mothers, ordered that the young ones + should not be sold apart from the parents.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-70" id="linknote-70"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 70 (<a href="#linknoteref-70">return</a>)<br /> [ The "Burd," or "Burdah," + was worn by Mohammed, as we know from a celebrated poem, for which see + D'Herbelot, sub voce "Bordah."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-71" id="linknote-71"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 71 (<a href="#linknoteref-71">return</a>)<br /> [ Michaud ("Hist. des + Croisades," ii. 27) says: "Une fois qu'il (Saladin) fût maitre de la + capitale (Damascus); son armée victorieuse et l'or pur appelé Obreysum + (Ubraysun ou Hubraysum) qu'il tirait de l'E'gypte, lui soumirent les + autres cités de la Syrie." The question is whether this gold was not from + Midian: my friend Yacoub Artin Bey, who supplied me with the quotation, + thinks that it was.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-72" id="linknote-72"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 72 (<a href="#linknoteref-72">return</a>)<br /> [ The most curious form, + perhaps, which the ancient Midianitic tradition has assumed, was in the + thirteenth century, when the Russians believed that the Tartars, "with + their four-cornered faces," were the ancient Midianites coming in the + latter days to conquer the world. Lieutenant C. R. Conder, R.E. ("Tentwork + in Palestine," Bentley, 1878), has done his best to rival this style of + ethnology by declaring that "the hosts of Midian" were, no doubt, the + ancestors of the modern Bedawin.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-73" id="linknote-73"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 73 (<a href="#linknoteref-73">return</a>)<br /> [ Alluding to the legend + that the shepherds, after watering their flocks, rolled a great stone over + the mouth of the well, so that the contents might not be used by Jethro's + daughters. Musá waxed wroth, and, weak as he was with travel, gave the + stone such a kick that it went flying full forty cubits from the spot. See + "Desert of the Exodus," Appendix, p. 539.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-74" id="linknote-74"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 74 (<a href="#linknoteref-74">return</a>)<br /> [ A name now unknown to the + Bedawin of Madyan. The culminating peak is now supposed to be either the + Shárr, the Jebel el-Lauz, or the Jebel Zánah.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-75" id="linknote-75"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 75 (<a href="#linknoteref-75">return</a>)<br /> [ The Badais of Ptolemy, + which we shall presently visit.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-76" id="linknote-76"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 76 (<a href="#linknoteref-76">return</a>)<br /> [ A large ruin east of + Zibá, also visited.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-77" id="linknote-77"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 77 (<a href="#linknoteref-77">return</a>)<br /> [ For a notice of + El-Khalasah, also called El-Khulusah, El-Khulsah, or Zu'l-Khalasah, + consult the art. "Midian," Smith's "Dict. of the Bible," by E. S. Poole, + vol. ii. p. 356. For the Khalasah of the Negeb, "where Venus was + worshipped with all the licentious pomp of the Pagan ritual," see + Professor Palmer's "Desert of the Exodus," p. 385. The text, however, + alludes to a ruin called El-Khulasah, one march from El-Muwaylah to the + east (Chap. VIII.).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-78" id="linknote-78"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 78 (<a href="#linknoteref-78">return</a>)<br /> [ El-Mederah is possibly + Hasíyat el-Madrá, which, like El-A'waj, El-Bírayn, and Ma'ín, is now + included in Syria. El-Mu'allak may be Jebel Yalak,—at least, so say + the Bedawin.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-79" id="linknote-79"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 79 (<a href="#linknoteref-79">return</a>)<br /> [ In the last remark, also + found in El-Kazwíní, the Madyan of El-Shu'ayb is referred to the district + of Tiberias. Thus it would belong to Syria, whilst the majority of + geographers refer it to the Hejaz, and a minority to El-Yemen.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-80" id="linknote-80"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 80 (<a href="#linknoteref-80">return</a>)<br /> [ Alluded to in a note to + p. 331 of "The Gold Mines of Midian," etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-81" id="linknote-81"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 81 (<a href="#linknoteref-81">return</a>)<br /> [ This means only according + to Hebrew and Arabic tradition, neither of them being, in this case, of + much value. As I remarked before ("The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 177), the + hieroglyphic name of the land is Mádí, in the plural Mádí-án or Mádí-ná; + on the other hand, we have no information concerning the origin and + derivation of Mádí, except that it is not Egyptian.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-82" id="linknote-82"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 82 (<a href="#linknoteref-82">return</a>)<br /> [ None of the tribes or + families now inhabiting Midian represent the ancient Midianites; and all + speak the vulgar half-Fellah Arabic, without any difference of accent or + vocabulary from their neighbours.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-83" id="linknote-83"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 83 (<a href="#linknoteref-83">return</a>)<br /> [ See the preceding notes + on El-Makrízi.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-84" id="linknote-84"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 84 (<a href="#linknoteref-84">return</a>)<br /> [ The Ma'ázah spoke of + Kanátir (arches, i.e. aqueducts) and Bibán (doors or catacombs).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-85" id="linknote-85"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 85 (<a href="#linknoteref-85">return</a>)<br /> [ I inquired in vain + concerning the ruins near Sharm Burayttah, south of Yambú' in the Harb + country. Wellsted, who visited the site (11. xi.), conjectures them to be + Niebuhr's "El-Jár." He makes that near the point "as large as Yembo, + extending about a mile in length, and half that space in breadth, with a + square fort in the vicinity, the remains of which have towers at the + corners and gates." Near the middle on either side, the tall walls are six + feet thick, strong enough where artillery is unknown. At the landing-place + are a quay paved with large hewn stones, and a jetty of solid masonry in + ruins. The sailors dug and found only shapeless fragments of corroded + copper and brass; coloured glass, as usual more opaque than the modern, + and earthenware of the kind scattered about Egyptian ruins. About one mile + from the fort were other remains, built of coral, now much blackened by + exposure; and similar constructions on the further side of the Sharm could + not be examined, as the Harb Bedawin were jealous and hostile.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-86" id="linknote-86"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 86 (<a href="#linknoteref-86">return</a>)<br /> [ The name is from Gen. xx. + 1, and it signifies the country lying to the south of Palestine. See "The + Negeb," by the late Rev. E. Wilton (London, 1863), and vol. ii. "The + Desert of the Exodus," so often alluded to in these pages.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-87" id="linknote-87"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 87 (<a href="#linknoteref-87">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," Chap. IX.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-88" id="linknote-88"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 88 (<a href="#linknoteref-88">return</a>)<br /> [ Kúfah or in Persian means + a basket or a coffin.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-89" id="linknote-89"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 89 (<a href="#linknoteref-89">return</a>)<br /> [ Roaring when the rider + mounts, halts, or dismounts, is considered a proof of snobbish blood among + the Bisha'ri'n: for some months the camel-colt is generally muzzled on + such occasions till it learns the sterling worth of silence. + </p> + <p class="foot"> + For an admirable description, far too detailed to place before the general + public, of the likeness and the difference between the dromedary of the + Bishárín and the Númaní and Maskatí, the purest blood of the Arabs, see + pp. 145—154, "L' Etbaye, etc., Mines d Or," by my old friend Linant + de Bellefonds Bey, now Sulayman Pasha. Paris: Arthus Bertrand (no date).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-90" id="linknote-90"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 90 (<a href="#linknoteref-90">return</a>)<br /> [ The contents worked into + shape by Mr. William J. Turner, of the Royal Geographical Society, appear + in the Appendix.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-91" id="linknote-91"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 91 (<a href="#linknoteref-91">return</a>)<br /> [ "Desert of the Exodus," + p. 347.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-92" id="linknote-92"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 92 (<a href="#linknoteref-92">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," Chap. VI.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-93" id="linknote-93"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 93 (<a href="#linknoteref-93">return</a>)<br /> [ In "The Gold-Mines of + Midian" (passim) this "Spring of the She-Cook" appeared as the + "She-Cork!"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-94" id="linknote-94"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 94 (<a href="#linknoteref-94">return</a>)<br /> [ A region to the + north-west of 'Aynúnah, afterwards visited by Lieutenant Yusuf. See Chap. + IX.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-95" id="linknote-95"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 95 (<a href="#linknoteref-95">return</a>)<br /> [ Such an act would + disgrace an Arab tribe, and of course it is denied by the Beni 'Ukbah. We + visited this valley, which is one of the influents of the Wady 'Aynúnah, + during the first Expedition ("The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. 165).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-96" id="linknote-96"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 96 (<a href="#linknoteref-96">return</a>)<br /> [ The modern Beni 'Ukbah + ignore the story of Abú Rísh, not wishing to confess their obligations to + the Huwaytát.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-97" id="linknote-97"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 97 (<a href="#linknoteref-97">return</a>)<br /> [ The tomb on the hillock + north of El-Muwaylah.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-98" id="linknote-98"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 98 (<a href="#linknoteref-98">return</a>)<br /> [ South-east of + EI-Muwaylah.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-99" id="linknote-99"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 99 (<a href="#linknoteref-99">return</a>)<br /> [ These hard conditions + were actually renewed some twenty-five years ago.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-100" id="linknote-100"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 100 (<a href="#linknoteref-100">return</a>)<br /> [ For ample notices on + this subject, see "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. XII. In p. 337, + however, I made the mistake of supposing Makná to be the capital, instead + of the port of the capital. The true position is north lat. 28 degrees + 24'.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-101" id="linknote-101"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 101 (<a href="#linknoteref-101">return</a>)<br /> [ For historical notices + of the diamond in North-Western Arabia, see "The Gold-Mines of Midian," p. + 168.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-102" id="linknote-102"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 102 (<a href="#linknoteref-102">return</a>)<br /> [ Dr. Beke's artist made + a plan of this rude affair (p. 349), and nothing can be worse. The + Egyptian Staff-officers drew the ruin correctly; but the poor remains by + no means deserve the honour of a wood-cut.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-103" id="linknote-103"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 103 (<a href="#linknoteref-103">return</a>)<br /> [ The word is corrupted + from Jamb, "the side," alluding to the animal's gait; we did not find the + true lobster (Homarus vulgaris), the astica of the Adriatic, whose + northern waters produce such noble specimens.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-104" id="linknote-104"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 104 (<a href="#linknoteref-104">return</a>)<br /> [ The spirit-tins, + prepared for me at Trieste, were as most things there are, very dear and + very bad; after a short use they became full of holes. So the + bowie-knives, expressly made to order at old Tergeste, proved to be of + iron not of steel.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-105" id="linknote-105"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 105 (<a href="#linknoteref-105">return</a>)<br /> [ "Travels," Vol. II. + Chap. IV.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-106" id="linknote-106"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 106 (<a href="#linknoteref-106">return</a>)<br /> [ Confirmed by Dr. Beke, + p. 533.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-107" id="linknote-107"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 107 (<a href="#linknoteref-107">return</a>)<br /> [ P. 351.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-108" id="linknote-108"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 108 (<a href="#linknoteref-108">return</a>)<br /> [ I am doubtful about + this name, which the Bedawi apply to more than one place.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-109" id="linknote-109"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 109 (<a href="#linknoteref-109">return</a>)<br /> [ Strictly speaking, the + dust of the Nevada country was oxide of silver.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-110" id="linknote-110"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 110 (<a href="#linknoteref-110">return</a>)<br /> [ M. Burat ("Géologie + Appliqée," i. 8) gives the following minima proportions in which metal may + be worked on a grand scale, of course under the most favourable + circumstances. The extremes are 0.25 (iron), and 0.00001 (gold); and + antimony, bismuth, cobalt, and nickel are neglected, because the + proportions vary so much. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Iron, 0.25 + Zinc, 0.20 + Lead, 0.02 (two per cent.) + Copper and mercury, 0.01 + Tin, 0.005 (1/2 per cent.) + Silver, 0.0005 (1/2 per 1000) + Gold, 0.00001 (1/100,000) +</pre> + <p class="foot"> + This table is recommended to the many "profane" who do not believe a rock + to be auriferous or argentiferous, unless they can see the gold and silver + with the naked eye.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-111" id="linknote-111"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 111 (<a href="#linknoteref-111">return</a>)<br /> [ The button, when + assayed by the official mining office at Trieste, was pronounced to be + antimony! It was extracted from ruddle (red ochre) and limonite (brown + ochre or hydrous oxide of iron): both are sesquioxides (Fe2O3) which + become dark when heated and change to magnetic oxide (Fe3O4). M. Marie is + probably the first who ever "ran down" iron oxide with lead. No wonder + that Colonel Ross pronounced his culot a marvellous alloy.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-112" id="linknote-112"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 112 (<a href="#linknoteref-112">return</a>)<br /> [ Kárún was a pauper + cousin of Musá, who had learned alchemy from Kulsum, the Lawgiver's + sister. The keys of his treasure loaded forty mules; and his palace had + doors and roof of fine gold. As he waxed fat he kicked against his chief, + who as usual became exceeding wroth, and prayed that the earth might + swallow him.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-113" id="linknote-113"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 113 (<a href="#linknoteref-113">return</a>)<br /> [ Pp. 337—339.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-114" id="linknote-114"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 114 (<a href="#linknoteref-114">return</a>)<br /> [ "Tasbíh" literally + means uttering Subhán Allah!—"Praise be to Allah!"] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-115" id="linknote-115"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 115 (<a href="#linknoteref-115">return</a>)<br /> [ It is curious how this + goddess has extended, through the Dalmatian "Fortunale" and the Slav + "Fortunja" of the Bosnian peasants, to Turkey, Egypt, and even Arabia. + Applied to a violent storm, perhaps it is a euphuism for the Latin word in + the sense of good sign or omen; so in Propertius—"Nulla ne placatæ + veniet fortuna procellæ."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-116" id="linknote-116"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 116 (<a href="#linknoteref-116">return</a>)<br /> [ P. 341.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-117" id="linknote-117"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 117 (<a href="#linknoteref-117">return</a>)<br /> [ The singular is + Maknáwi, pronounced Magnáwi.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-118" id="linknote-118"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 118 (<a href="#linknoteref-118">return</a>)<br /> [ Loc. cit. p. 79.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-119" id="linknote-119"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 119 (<a href="#linknoteref-119">return</a>)<br /> [ The passage was brought + to my notice by my excellent friend, Mr. James Pincherle of Trieste. In + the "Atlante Storico e Geografico della Terra Santa, esposto in 14 Tavole + e 14 Quadri storici della Palestina," republished (without date) by + Francesco Pagnoni of Milan, appears an annexed commentary by Cornelius à + Lapide. The latter, Cornelius Van den Steen (Corneille de la Pierre), born + near Liege, a learned Jesuit, profound theologian, and accomplished + historian, was famous as a Hebraist and lecturer on Holy Writ. He died at + Rome March 12, 1637; and a collected edition of his works in sixteen + volumes, folio, appeared at Venice in 1711, and at Lyons in 1732. It is + related of him that, being called to preach in the presence of the Pope, + he began his sermon on his knees. The Holy Father commanded him to rise, + and he obeyed; but his stature was so short that he appeared to be still + kneeling. The order was reiterated; whereupon Zacchaeus, understanding its + cause, said modestly, "Beatissime Pater, ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi + nos."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-120" id="linknote-120"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 120 (<a href="#linknoteref-120">return</a>)<br /> [ The name and other + points connected with it have been noticed in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," + p. 338.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-121" id="linknote-121"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 121 (<a href="#linknoteref-121">return</a>)<br /> [ See "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," p. 338.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-122" id="linknote-122"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 122 (<a href="#linknoteref-122">return</a>)<br /> [ "Travels in Syria, + etc.," p. 524.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-123" id="linknote-123"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 123 (<a href="#linknoteref-123">return</a>)<br /> [ In "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," p. 338, this name became, by virtue of the author's cacography, + "Beoche."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-124" id="linknote-124"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 124 (<a href="#linknoteref-124">return</a>)<br /> [ "Diario in Arabia + Petrea" (1865) di Visconte Giammartino Arconati. Roma, 1872.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-125" id="linknote-125"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 125 (<a href="#linknoteref-125">return</a>)<br /> [ Wellsted, ii. 143.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-126" id="linknote-126"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 126 (<a href="#linknoteref-126">return</a>)<br /> [ "Ghor" is the whole + depression including the Jordan and the Dead Sea, while El-'Akabah is its + southernmost section. In older maps this gulf is made to fork at the north—a + topographical absurdity. I have also fallen into a notable blunder about + the Jebel el-Shará', in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," note ?, p. 175.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-127" id="linknote-127"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 127 (<a href="#linknoteref-127">return</a>)<br /> [ See Appendix, p. 537, + "Geological Notes," etc., in Dr. Beke's "Sinai in Arabia."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-128" id="linknote-128"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 128 (<a href="#linknoteref-128">return</a>)<br /> [ See "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," pp. 338, 339.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-129" id="linknote-129"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 129 (<a href="#linknoteref-129">return</a>)<br /> [ This Yitm, which + Burckhardt first wrote El-Ithem, unfortunately gave Dr. Beke an + opportunity of finding, in his "Wady el-Ithem," the "Etham of the Exodus." + (See "The Gold-Mines of Midian," pp. 359—361). The latter has been + conclusively shown by Brugsch-Bey in his lecture, "La Sortie des Hébreux + d'E'gypte" (Alexandrie: Mourès, 1874), p. 31, to be the great fort of + Khatom, on the highway to Phoenicia. The roots Khatam, Asham, Tam, like + the Arabic "Khatm" () signify to seal up, close; and thus Khatom in + Egyptian, as Atham, Etham in Hebrew, means a closed place, a fortress. + Wallin calls the "Yitm," which he never visited, "Wâdî Lithm, a cross + valley opening through the chain at about eight hours (twenty-four miles) + north of 'Akaba'"—possibly Lithm is a misprint, but it is repeated + in more than one page.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-130" id="linknote-130"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 130 (<a href="#linknoteref-130">return</a>)<br /> [ Dr. Beke, who + afterwards changed his mind, would identify Hor, the burial-place of + Aaron, with Horeb of the Rock ("Orig. Biblicae," 195). He then adopted + ("Sinai in Arabia," p. 77) the opinion of St. Jerome ("De Situ," etc., p. + 191), "Mihi autem videtur quod duplice nomine mons nunc Sina, nunc Choreb + vocatur." Wellsted (ii. 103) also makes Horeb synonymous with "Wilderness + of Sinai." Professor Palmer (118) translates Horeb by "ground that has + been drained and left dry:" he would include in it the whole Desert of + Sinai, together with "the Mountain;" whilst he warns us that the monks + call the whole southern portion of their mountain "Horeb." Others confine + "Horeb" to Jebel Musá, and even to its eastern shoulder.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-131" id="linknote-131"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 131 (<a href="#linknoteref-131">return</a>)<br /> [ For the Mount or + Mountain see Exodus xix. 2, 12, 20, 23; also xxxii. 19; Deut. iv. II, and + v. 23; Heb. xii. 18. Josephus ("Antiq.," II. ii. I) speaks of it similarly + as a "mountain," and describes it with all the apparatus of fable; while + his compatriot and contemporary, St. Paul (Epist. to the Galatians iv. + 25), calls it only "Mount Sinai in Arabia," i.e. east of Jordan.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-132" id="linknote-132"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 132 (<a href="#linknoteref-132">return</a>)<br /> [ See Athenaeum, February + 8th and 15th, 1873.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-133" id="linknote-133"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 133 (<a href="#linknoteref-133">return</a>)<br /> [ They were heard of by + Burckhardt ("Syria," p. 510).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-134" id="linknote-134"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 134 (<a href="#linknoteref-134">return</a>)<br /> [ Beke (p. 446), on + February 6th, estimated the rise of the tide at 'Akabah head to be three + to four feet. This is greatly in excess of actuality; but, then, he was + finding out some rational way of drowning "Pharaoh and his host."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-135" id="linknote-135"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 135 (<a href="#linknoteref-135">return</a>)<br /> [ Those living further + north, the 'Ammárín and the Liyásinah, are unmitigated scoundrels and + dangerous ruffians: amongst the former Shaykh Sala'mah ibn 'Awwád with his + brother, and among the latter Ibrahím el-Hasanát, simply deserve hanging. + In Edom, too, 'Abd el-Rahmán el-'Awar ("the One-eyed"), Shaykh of the + Fellahín, is "wanted;" and the 'Alawín-Huwaytát would be greatly improved + were they to be placed under Egyptian, instead of Syrian, rule.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-136" id="linknote-136"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 136 (<a href="#linknoteref-136">return</a>)<br /> [ Dr. Beke's artist (p. + 374) has produced a work of imagination, especially in the foreground and + background of his "Migdol or Castle of Akaba."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-137" id="linknote-137"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 137 (<a href="#linknoteref-137">return</a>)<br /> [ Commonly written Kansúh + (Kansooh) and corrupted by Europeans to Campson (like Sampson) Goree.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-138" id="linknote-138"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 138 (<a href="#linknoteref-138">return</a>)<br /> [ Not Hámid, as some + mispronounce the word.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-139" id="linknote-139"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 139 (<a href="#linknoteref-139">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," Chap. XII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-140" id="linknote-140"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 140 (<a href="#linknoteref-140">return</a>)<br /> [ The chain did not part. + The anchor was afterwards fished up by divers from El-Muwaylah, and its + shank was found broken clean across like a carrot. Yet there was no sign + of a flaw. Mr. Duguid calculated the transverse breaking strain of average + anchor-iron (8 1/2 inches x 4 = 22 square inches), at 83 1/10 tons; and + the tensile breaking strain at 484 tons, or 22 tons to the square inch; + while the stud-length cable of 1 1/8 inch chain, 150 fathoms long, would + carry, if proof, 24 tons. Captain Mohammed was persevering enough, after + the divers had failed, to recover his chain when on his cruise homewards; + and the Rais of the Sambúk was equally lucky.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-141" id="linknote-141"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 141 (<a href="#linknoteref-141">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," Ch. XII. p. 317.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-142" id="linknote-142"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 142 (<a href="#linknoteref-142">return</a>)<br /> [ See Chap. X.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-143" id="linknote-143"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 143 (<a href="#linknoteref-143">return</a>)<br /> [ Lieutenant-Colonel + Bolton kindly compared the specimens with those in his cabinet. The first, + which was accompanied by quartz, resembled the produce of Orenburg. A + Peruvian mine-proprietor had pronounced it to be "Rosicler" silver. The + magnetic sand bore a tantalizing resemblance to the highly auriferous + black sand of Ekaterinburg.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-144" id="linknote-144"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 144 (<a href="#linknoteref-144">return</a>)<br /> [ Correspondence of the + Sheffield Telegraph (May 18), copied into the Globe of May 25, etc., etc., + etc.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-145" id="linknote-145"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 145 (<a href="#linknoteref-145">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," Chap. XI. It was then visited from its creek, Sharm Jibbah.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-146" id="linknote-146"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 146 (<a href="#linknoteref-146">return</a>)<br /> [ Chap. XIV.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-147" id="linknote-147"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 147 (<a href="#linknoteref-147">return</a>)<br /> [ A water-rolled fragment + of this rock is called Korundogeschieb by Dr. L. Karl Moser, Professor of + Natural History at the Gymnasium of Trieste, who kindly examined my little + private collection of "show things."] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-148" id="linknote-148"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 148 (<a href="#linknoteref-148">return</a>)<br /> [ Chap. XII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-149" id="linknote-149"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 149 (<a href="#linknoteref-149">return</a>)<br /> [ Let me at once protest + against the assertions contained in an able review of "The Gold-Mines of + Midian" (Pall Mall Gazette, June 7, 1878). The writer makes ancient Midian + extend from the north of the Arabic Gulf (El-'Akabah?) and Arabia Felix + (which? of the classics or of the moderns?) to the plains of Moab"—exactly + where it assuredly does not now extend.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-150" id="linknote-150"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 150 (<a href="#linknoteref-150">return</a>)<br /> [ Described in Chap. XV.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-151" id="linknote-151"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 151 (<a href="#linknoteref-151">return</a>)<br /> [ This place is noticed + in "The Gold-Mines of Midian," Chap. X.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-152" id="linknote-152"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 152 (<a href="#linknoteref-152">return</a>)<br /> [ I am not certain of + this name, as several variants were given to me. For historical notices of + the ruined town of Khulasah, see Chap. IV.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-153" id="linknote-153"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 153 (<a href="#linknoteref-153">return</a>)<br /> [ In "The Gold-Mines of + Midian," Chap. V., occur several differences of nomenclature, which may or + may not be mistakes. They are corrected in my "Itineraries," part ii. + sect. 2.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-154" id="linknote-154"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 154 (<a href="#linknoteref-154">return</a>)<br /> [ To this breed belonged + the beast which carried me on the first Expedition.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-155" id="linknote-155"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 155 (<a href="#linknoteref-155">return</a>)<br /> [ For a short notice of + this region, hitherto unvisited by Europeans, see Chap. XVIII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-156" id="linknote-156"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 156 (<a href="#linknoteref-156">return</a>)<br /> [ For a note on the + "Burnt Mountain," so well known at El-Wijh, see Chap. XVIII.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-157" id="linknote-157"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 157 (<a href="#linknoteref-157">return</a>)<br /> [ It was afterwards + exhibited at the Hippodrome, Cairo, and was carefully photographed by M. + Lacaze. Others said that it came from the east of our camp, near the Jils + el-Dáim.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-158" id="linknote-158"> </a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 158 (<a href="#linknoteref-158">return</a>)<br /> [ It was duly committed + to the charge of our Sayyid.] + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Land of Midian, Vol. 1, by Richard Burton + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LAND OF MIDIAN, VOL. 1 *** + +This file should be named 7111-h.htm or 7111-h.zip + +Etext produced by JC Byers and proofread by MaryAnn Short + +HTML file produced by David Widger + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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