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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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