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diff --git a/old/74874-0.txt b/old/74874-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e1eafc1..0000000 --- a/old/74874-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8667 +0,0 @@ - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74874 *** - - SIWA - - -[Illustration: THE WALLS OF SIWA] - - SIWA - - THE OASIS OF JUPITER AMMON - - BY C. DALRYMPLE BELGRAVE - - WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY - GENERAL SIR REGINALD WINGATE - BART., G.C.B., ETC. ETC. ILLUSTRATED - WITH SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS - BY THE AUTHOR - - JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LTD. - LONDON: VIGO STREET, W. 1 - - - _First Published in 1923_ - - Printed in Great Britain at - _The Mayflower Press, Plymouth_. William Brendon & Son, Ltd. - - - TO - MY MOTHER - - - - - CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER I - - THE COAST - - Siwa — Whereabouts — The ex-Khedive and Germans — The - ancient Libyans — The coastal belt — The Mariut Railway - — Mersa Matruh — The Bay — Antony and Cleopatra — Greek - Traders — Motor Maniacs — Sponge fishers — From Matruh to - Sollum — Barrani and Bagbag — Sollum Bay — Western Desert - Arabs, characteristics, tents, carpets, appearance, marriage - customs, women — An Arab meal — “Gold tooth” — Buried - money — Horses — Hawking — Silugi hounds — Hunting — - Shooting — The Scarp — Flowers — The Rains — Houses — - The Cruiser _Abdel Moneim_ — A tripper 1 - - CHAPTER II - - THE DESERT - - The Frontier Districts Administration — The Camel Corps — - Harimat — Story of a stove — The Booza Camp — The men — - Diary of trek from Sollum to Siwa — Departure — Augerin, - a Roman cistern — Bir Hamed — A desert dance — Ascent - of Scarp — Qur el Beid — Camel riding — Evening on the - desert — Camp — Utter desert — Mud pans — Mirage — - “Khuz” bread — Desert tracks — Bisharin trackers — - Night marching — A caravan — “The country of Dogs” — - Among the ravines — The Megahiz Spring — Siwa — District - Officer’s House — “Taking over” wives — A typical day - — Siwan manners — The Sheikhs — The staff — View from - Siwa — Aghourmi village — A slave woman — A rifle raid 37 - - CHAPTER III - - THE HISTORY OF SIWA - - FIRST PERIOD. THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER AMMON - - The Siwan Deity — A local religion — Legendary origin of - the God — Herodotus — The Kingdom of the Ammonians — - Lysander’s visit — Cambyses — A lost army — Cimon’s - death foretold — The “Fountain of the Sun” — The temples - — The King’s court — The temple to-day — Alexander visits - Siwa — His adventures on the way — Ritual of the temple — - Decline of its fame — Strabo’s theory — The Romans — - Christianity 74 - - SECOND PERIOD. MEDIÆVAL SIWA - - Arab invasion of Egypt — Attempts to subjugate the oasis — - Arab historians — The marvels of Siwa — Hidden cities — - Emerald mines — Siwans become Mohammedans — King Rashwan - — “The Thirty” — Sidi Suliman — Legends about him — - Style of living — Quarrel between east and west — Civil wars - — Recent disturbance — Browne at Siwa — Hornemann 89 - - THIRD PERIOD. THE TURKISH RULE - - Invasion of Siwa — Hassein Bey — Colonel Butin — Ali Balli, - the Omda — Hamilton at Siwa, his imprisonment — Punitive - expedition — Death of Yousif Ali — Turkish mamurs — A - desert firebrand — “The Widow’s War” — Osman Habun - — Abdel Arti, smuggler — Death of “The Habun” 102 - - FOURTH PERIOD. SIWA AND THE WAR - - The Italians in Tripoli — German intrigues — The Senussi - confraternity — Mohammed el Senussi, his life at Siwa — Caves - of the Kasr Hassuna — Growth of the Senussi — Mohammed el - Mahdi — Sayed Ahmed — The situation in 1915 — Evacuation - of Sollum — Capture of the crew of the _Tara_ — Matruh — - Battle on Christmas Day — Wadi Majid — Battle of Agagia and - occupation of Barrani — Sayed Ahmed at Siwa — Occupation - of Sollum — Sayed Ahmed goes to Dakhla and back — Siwans - revolt — Battle of Girba — Occupation of Siwa — Rescue - of _Tara_ crew by Duke of Westminster — Sayed Ahmed retires - to Constantinople 117 - - CHAPTER IV - - SIWA TOWN - - The town — Architecture — Wells — Custom of whitewash — - Date Markets — Mosques — School — Shops — Interior of - houses — The Roofs — “Dululas” — The Siwan race — - Men — Women — Appearance — Clothes — Religious sects — - Springs, gardens, irrigation, water rights — Salt lakes — - Fever — Spring cleaning — “Sultan Mousa” — A luncheon - party — The ceremony of tea — Appetites — Dog eaters — - Life of an Englishman in Siwa — Two “cases” — Women - witnesses — Bakshish 133 - - CHAPTER V - - SUBURBAN OASES - - Zeitoun and Kareished — The oasis of Gara — The village — - The curse of Sheikh Abdel Sayed — A legend of Gara — The - Mejberry pass — El Areg and Bahrein — The Arabs of Maragi - — The northern oases — Jerabub — Sheikh Ithneini and his - treasures — _Terra incognita_ — Kufra — Excavating in - Siwa — The “Oldest Inhabitant” his wedding — Industries, - baskets, mats, and earthenware — The “Bedouin Industries” - — Animals and birds — Snakes, snake charming 177 - - CHAPTER VI - - CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS - - Belief in Superstitions — Divine and Satanic magic — Demons - — A birthday — Naming the child — Women — Marriage and - divorce — A wedding, the bride’s bath, fetching the bride, - presents — “Ghrula,” customs of a widow — The Town Crier - — Funerals — Cemeteries — Evil Eye, charms to avert the - curse — A visit to a witch — Methods used to obtain a husband - — Invoking demons — Discovering stolen property — Exposing - a thief — Divination and fortune telling — Sacrificing a bull - — The Pilgrimage, rolling the bangles, to ensure a safe journey - — “Yom el Asher,” the children’s “Christmas” 207 - - CHAPTER VII - - “FANTASIAS” - - Social life in Siwa — Games — “Lubki” drinkers — Giving - alms to the poor — Sheikhs in fiction and in fact — “Beit - el Mal” — Ramadan, the Mohammedan Lent — The Mulid of Sidi - Suliman — Paying calls — Etiquette of eating — The religious - dance of the Medinia — The “Zikr” — Bacchanalian revels - — Siwan music and singing — Women dancers 239 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - The Walls of Siwa Frontispiece - - Col. The Honble. M. G. Talbot, C.B.; Sheikh - Idris el Senussi; and The Idrisi of Luxor to face foreword - - The Author „ page 2 - - A Falconer outside a Bedouin Camp „ „ 26 - - Silugi Hounds „ „ 30 - - Camel Corps „ „ 44 - - Camel Corps trekking to Siwa, near Megahiz Pass „ „ 58 - - Sheikh Mahdi Abdel Nebi, of Aghourmi, with his - Daughter and Cousin „ „ 70 - - Ruins of “Omm Beyda,” The Temple of Jupiter - Ammon „ „ 86 - - The Citadel and Mosque of El Atik „ „ 98 - - Gate into the Western Quarter „ „ 112 - - “Kasr Hassuna,” The District Officer’s House „ „ 120 - - Sheikh Mohammed Idris, the Chief of the Senussi „ „ 132 - - The Western Quarter from an Eastern Roof „ „ 144 - - Cleaning Tamousy Spring „ „ 160 - - In the Western Quarter „ „ 176 - - The Spring of Zeitoun „ „ 178 - - Siwa Town from the South „ „ 200 - - A Bride — The Daughter of Bashu Habun before - her Wedding „ „ 214 - - The Town-Crier’s Daughter „ „ 222 - - A Little Siwan Girl „ „ 238 - - A “Fantasia” at the tomb of Sidi Suliman „ „ 252 - - Map. - - - - -[Illustration: COL. THE HONBLE. M. G. TALBOT, C.B.; SHEIKH IDRIS EL -SENUSSI; AND THE IDRISI OF LUXOR] - - FOREWORD - - - KNOCKENHAIR, - DUNBAR, - _2nd November_, 1922. - - DEAR MR. BELGRAVE, - - When you begged me to write a “Foreword” for your first book -on Siwa, you asked me if I remembered you as a Junior Officer in -the British Camel Company at Khartoum in the early days of the -Great War—and later in the Camel Corps of the Frontier Districts -Administration of Egypt. My answer is that I remember you well in -both capacities, and I have a very happy recollection of the excellent -services rendered by both the units in which you served. The appearance -of British soldiers patrolling on camels up the White and Blue Niles -had the best possible effect in cementing and consolidating the -good relations existing between the Sudanese populations and our -troops and confirming that spirit of loyalty and goodwill which, -throughout the war, characterized the once fanatical Dervishes of -Mahdist times—a truly marvellous transformation which had changed -them from a fierce and ruthless enemy into loyal and brave soldiers -and peaceful inhabitants, who were enabled to render the British -cause wholehearted and ready support at a most critical period of -our history. - -Your transfer to the Frontier Districts Administration of Egypt also -interests me, for it may not be known to you that one of the first -reforms I instituted on my own transfer from the Governor-Generalship -of the Sudan to the High Commissionership of Egypt at the end of -1916 was the organization of the new Administration to which you -were appointed. - -Before our reconquest of the Sudan I had, as Director of Military -Intelligence in Egypt, some connection with the oases of the -Libyan Desert and the activities of the Senussi, as well as with the -government of the Sinai Peninsula. In those early days of the British -occupation of Egypt, Turkish rule prevailed in Tripoli, and the actual -frontier between that province and Egypt was often in dispute—whilst -a somewhat similar condition existed on Egypt’s eastern frontier in -Sinai. It was thought politically desirable at that time to maintain -the _status quo_ and to avoid trouble with the Turkish authorities -to whom Egypt still owed a nominal Suzerainty—that this was not -always feasible is evidenced by the celebrated “Akaba incident” -which at one time threatened to disturb the peace between the two -countries. The preservation of the _status quo_ to which I refer, -meant the maintenance on the extreme eastern and western frontiers -of Egypt of the purely Egyptian administrative control which, owing -to the almost total absence of supervision, was of the lightest and -could hardly be designated as efficient. The necessity of inaugurating -some improvement in both directions had frequently been mooted, -but it was not until the advent of the Great War and the military -operations against the Turks in Sinai, on the one hand, and against -the Senussi invasion of Egypt, on the other, that the long-postponed -reorganization became possible. By that time Italian had given -place to Turkish control in Tripoli, whilst it was also evident that -Palestine and Arabia were no longer to remain an integral portion of -the Turkish Empire. - -These facts made it very desirable to establish a closer Administrative -Control in both directions, and it is to me a matter of great -satisfaction that an organization known as the Frontiers District -Administration materialized, under the able direction of Colonel -G. G. Hunter and his efficient staff of British and Egyptian officers -and officials, with its well-equipped Camel Corps, its patrolling -system, and its more intimate and sympathetic government of the -oases and of the somewhat unruly nomad tribes on both western and -eastern frontiers. - -The mere fact that you, as one of these District Officers, have -been resident for nearly two years in the important, though remote -and little-known, Oasis of Siwa, and have been able to write a very -interesting and useful account of your experiences—together with an -admirable survey of its ancient, mediæval and recent history—its -customs, superstitions and its social life, is but one proof amongst -many others of the value of this new organization which, in spite of -the various political changes in Egypt, has, I hope, come to stay. - -As an ex-officer and one who was lately in Egypt, you are wise to -avoid in your book all reference to recent political events and the -complicated situations to which they have given rise. In this letter -I shall observe a similar reticence, and the more so having regard -to the positions I have held in Egypt and the Sudan. Remarks on so -controversial a subject must be complete and detailed if they are to -assist the general public in forming a true estimate of the “tangled -skein” which the political situation now represents—a situation -in which truth and fiction are almost inextricably involved. - -The perusal of the proof sheets you have sent me, together with your -excellent series of illustrations (and here may I congratulate you on -the artistic skill of the charming sketches displayed in the coloured -reproductions?), recall that “lure of the desert” which is so -fascinating to all of us whose lot has been cast in those countries -bordering on the Great Nile waterway and the illimitable stretches -of sandy desert beyond. Your apt quotations at the beginning of each -chapter show that the “lure” has seized you also, and I can -well understand your desire to undertake further service in those -regions which so evidently attract you, and in which you have won the -sympathy and respect of the nomad Arab and sedentary Berber tribes -of the Western Desert. - -The title of your book is well explained in Part I, Chapter III, -and you are wise to add a bibliography of the various works you have -consulted, for there is no subject more debatable than the origin -of the Berber tribes of whom you write. “This crossing to Africa -by the Northern Mediterranean peoples,” says Professor Breasted -in his _History of Egypt_, “is but one of the many such ventures -which in prehistoric ages brought over the white race whom we know -as Libyans.” His remarks refer to events in the thirteenth century -B.C., when people known as the Tehenu lived on the western borders of -the Delta of Egypt, beyond them were the Libyans, and still further -to the west were the Meshwesh or Maxyes of Herodotus—all of them -doubtless ancestors of the great Berber tribes of North Africa. - -In the reign of the Pharaoh Mereneptah, the successor of Rameses -the Great, it appears that one Meryey, King of the Libyans, forced -the Tehenu to join him, and supported by roving bands of maritime -adventurers from the coast (the Sherden or Sardinians, the Sikeli, -natives of early Sicily, the Lysians and the Etruscans), invaded -Egypt. It is with these wandering marauders that the peoples of Europe -emerge for the first time upon the arena of history. - -It is probable that not long before this invasion a great Canaanite -migration into Libya had taken place, for it is recorded by the -historian Procopius, a native of Cæsarea (565 B.C.), how the Hebrews, -after quitting Egypt, attacked Palestine from beyond Jordan under -Joshua. After the capture of Jericho they advanced westwards, drove -out the Gergazites, Jebusites and other tribes inhabiting the eastern -shores of the Mediterranean, and forced them to flee into Egypt, -where they were not allowed to settle, but were obliged to move -westwards along the North African coast and into the oases. There -is also evidence that some of these emigrants, under Roman pressure, -were forced further westwards to Morocco and were called Moors. Later -on they, in their turn, were followed by a similar migration of Jews -from Palestine. - -Thus it would appear that as far back as the thirteenth century -B.C. the original Libyans, a warlike race, became co-mingled with -maritime adventurers from Southern Europe, with Canaanites, Jews -and Egyptians—a truly wonderful admixture of Asiatics, Africans and -Europeans, and it is with the ancestors of this international potpourri -that you deal so interestingly when you trace onwards, through the -ages down to the present day, the history of those desert nomads and -those sedentary dwellers of the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. Surely your -story will stimulate interest not only in the archæologist, but in -all who desire to trace the manners, customs and characteristics -of present-day peoples to their original sources. Those Siwans of -whom you make a special study are of all people perhaps the most -interesting, for, living, as it were, on an island, in a sea of desert, -they—like the Abyssinians on the east—have been less affected -by the world-changes than those who inhabit the main highways of -the great African continent. The cult of Ammon and the seat of the -Great Oracle, it is true, brought countless hordes of strangers to -that mystic depression lying some seventy feet below the level of the -Mediterranean, but the leading characteristics of the inhabitants have -probably altered little, and religion—from Ammon worship to Islam, -with an occasional admixture of Christian, Jewish and Pagan rites -(the last brought by countless slaves from Central Africa)—has -remained the all-absorbing interest of these oases dwellers. - -As you truly say, the origin of the branching-horned ram as the fleshly -symbol of the great God Ammon, “the King of the Gods,” “the -unrevealed,” “the hidden one,” still remains a mystery. We know -that the solar god Ra, whose supremacy in the “Old Kingdom” was -so marked, from the Fifth Dynasty onwards and was at its zenith in -the Twelfth Dynasty, became linked in the religion of the “Middle -Kingdom” with Ammon, hitherto an obscure local god of Thebes -who attained some prominence in the political rise of the city and -was called by the priests Ammon-Ra. His cult gradually spread over -the civilized world, and in the Roman period he was worshipped as -Jupiter Ammon. He was essentially the god of Oracles, but how he -came to have his special sanctuary in the Western Desert is still a -mystery, though your account of this in the legends of the Arabic -history of Siwa (Chapter III) throws an interesting light on the -subject. Herodotus, we know, gave to Siwa the name of Oasis (probably -derived from the Coptic word Ouahe, to dwell, from which the Arabic -Wa is derived)—that is to say a fertile spot surrounded by desert, -and thus from Siwa all other oases have derived their names. - -To Siwa then came kings and wise men of the East, merchants and -pilgrims, all bringing offerings to the temple of the god and -soliciting the advice of the Oracle on their mundane affairs. For -a thousand years and more these treasures were accumulating, but -where are they now? As Egyptian research has yielded up unexpected -buried treasure, may not the ancient god still have something in -reserve for the archæologist and treasure-seeker who is bold enough -to undertake excavation work in the little village of Aghourmi, -some two miles east of Siwa, where the ruins of the Temple of Ammon -still exist? Your interesting account of these ruins and the legends -you have so sedulously culled from the Siwans, cannot fail again to -create interest in the hidden treasures of the desert. One who has had -some terrible experiences at the hands of the Senussi Arabs during the -war—I refer to the gallant and gifted author of that thrilling story, -_Prisoners of the Red Desert_, Captain Gwatkin-Williams, R.N.—writes, -“It may be that this twentieth century of ours, this era of fish and -bird men, may see lifted the mystery which shrouds the hidden treasure -of Ammon, the ‘Unrevealed,’ for, so far as our limited modern -information goes, those treasures have never yet been discovered.” - -Your interesting account of the visit of Alexander the Great (331 -B.C.) to the Oracle, when, marching along the coast to Matruh, -he turned south and underwent great hardships before reaching his -destination, recalls a very different journey I made to Sollum in -1917. Leaving Alexandria by train for Behig, I there found a fleet of -armoured motorcars awaiting me, and the journey to and from Sollum, -then garrisoned by British troops, was comfortably accomplished -in four days. To my great regret I was too pressed for time to be -able to visit Siwa, where, “on all hands springs of water gushed -forth . . . that human ants’ nest, fabricated for the most part of -rock-salt, mud and palm trunks . . . to which the Great War surging -round the world had brought the drone of aeroplanes, the hum of -armoured cars and rattle of machine guns.” - -Your reference in Chapter V to the wonderful work carried on by -Miss Nina Baird amongst the bedouin women and children rendered -destitute in consequence of the Senussi invasion, recalls several -visits Lady Wingate and I made to Amria—the village in the desert -west of Alexandria and not far from Lake Mariut, where, as you say, -this courageous lady worked practically singlehanded in teaching these -desert waifs and strays to make carpets—thus starting an industry -and giving the women and children a means of livelihood and a form of -protection which for ever will be remembered with gratitude by the -Western Arabs. A daughter of that well-known and greatly respected -Scotsman, Sir Alexander Baird, an excellent horsewoman, a good Arabic -scholar, and one who performed important services in the Egyptian -troubles in the spring of 1919, Miss Baird’s energetic efforts -throughout the war utterly exhausted her strength, and she fell -an easy victim to typhoid soon after—to be followed a few months -later by her talented father, and thus was the British community in -Egypt deprived of two valuable lives who had endeared themselves to -Europeans and natives alike and whose loss is deplored by all. On my -last visit the carpet-making industry was about to be removed from -Amria to an imposing structure built by Captain Jennings Bramley -at Behig, the headquarters of the Eastern District of the Western -Desert. Here this energetic official had also constructed, out of -the ruins of an old building, a mediæval-looking stronghold, where -we spent a few days and visited the ruined church of St. Menas, to -which you make a passing reference in Chapter I. This buried Christian -city is locally known as Abu Menas, and for long defied discovery, -as it had not occurred to those in search of it to connect it with -the Arab name of Abumna, until the German explorer, Kauffmann, and -his companion lighted on the historic spot, which lies from fifty -to fifty-five miles south-west of Alexandria. Your readers may be -interested to know that Menas was an Egyptian in the Roman army -who became a Christian and took the opportunity of a great public -function to make an avowal of his faith which was proscribed under -the Emperor Diocletian. He was tortured and eventually beheaded. His -friends begged or stole his body, tied it on a camel and determined -to found a settlement wherever the camel should lie down. Menas -before death had expressed a wish to be buried near Lake Mariut, -and here surely enough the camel insisted on lying down, and could -not be induced to go further—so his followers buried the body on -the spot. Many miracles were reported of his tomb, the settlement -became a large Christian city with a magnificent cathedral built of -granite from Assuan and marble from Italy. For some centuries the -place became a resort for pilgrimage from all parts of the near East, -but soon after the Arab conquest it was despoiled to provide material -for the mosques in Alexandria and Cairo. Gradually the ruins were -silted up with the ever-shifting sand, becoming mere mounds, and it -was the chance discovery of a small terra-cotta plaque imprinted with -the figure of Menas, standing erect with arms outstretched between -two kneeling camels and a rough inscription, that led Herr Kauffmann -and his friend to unearth the great basilica which had contained the -tomb. The walls of the cathedral appear to have been lined with marble, -whilst small pieces of mosaic on the floor give the impression that -the dome was probably adorned in the same way. Some of the bases and -capitals of the pillars are decorated after the Greek style with -acanthus leaf ornaments, others in the stricter Roman method of -straight panels. The dwelling-houses are small and constructed in -blocks separated by narrow streets. Not far distant, on the coast, -stand the ruins of Abusir (the Taposiris Magna of the Romans) which was -evidently used as a port of arrival and departure by the thousands of -pilgrims who came across the sea to pay their vows in this hallowed -sanctuary. When I visited this place it was garrisoned by the very -efficient Indian Camel Corps which the Maharajah of Bikaner had sent -as his contribution to the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. - -Your interesting sketch of the rise of the great Senussi, the -establishment of his now widespread confraternity and his invasion, -at the instigation of German and Turkish officers and officials, of -Egypt in 1915; his hostile occupation of the oases and the successful -campaign so ably directed by General Sir W. Peyton, which finally drove -his forces across the frontier and re-established Egyptian domination -in the Western Desert, merits careful perusal if the reader wishes to -understand the last of that series of invasions from the West which -began in the days of the Pharaoh Mereneptah, nearly three thousand -five hundred years ago, and which, given favourable conditions, -may yet be repeated. - -All you so interestingly describe recalls my long connection with -the doings of the Confraternity when Sayed Mohammed el Mahdi, the son -of Sayed Ben Ali, the virtual founder of the order, was its titular -head. To him, in 1883, the Sudan Mahdi wrote, offering the position -of third Khalifa in his new hierarchy. Had Sayed Mohammed accepted, it -is possible that, in addition to the Sudan revolt, the whole of North -Africa might have been ablaze; but the Senussi Mahdi aimed at peaceful -penetration rather than military occupation: his zawias (religious -rest-houses) had gradually been extended to Central and West Africa, -they “were neutral meeting-places where difficulties, tribal, -commercial, legal or religious, could be settled by an unbiassed -authority. His akhwan were judges as well as missionaries. They defined -tribal areas, settled water and grazing rights as well as meting out -the justice of the Koran to those who infringed the code of Islam.” - -The interest of the Turkish Government in this great movement dates -back many years, and I well remember when the late Ghazi Mukhtar -Pasha (then Turkish High Commissioner in Egypt) procured the original -manuscript Senussi prayer-book, had one thousand copies lithographed -in a private printing press in Cairo, and dispatched them as a present -to the Senussi with a request in the title-page for the great religious -leader’s “help in prayer.” - -Sayed Mohammed died on the 1st June, 1902. I had full knowledge of -the dispatch to Kufara—the then headquarters of the Order—of his -tombstone which had been secretly cut and engraved in Cairo by an -expert native stonemason; but if I digress in this manner I shall soon -exceed the limits of a “Foreword,” and so must rapidly pass over -these early experiences which, nevertheless, proved useful when the -Great War let loose all the hidden forces of hostility and revealed the -immense influence of Islamic teaching for good or ill as applied in the -interests of the various opponents. That, on the one hand, Sayed Ahmed, -the uncle and successor of Sayed Mohammed, should have espoused the -Turco-German cause and harboured Enver Pasha and other notable Turkish -officers who had crossed to the north coast of Africa in submarines, -to organize the Senussi campaigns against Egypt and the Sudan; whilst, -on the other hand, British influence and British officers were enabled -to assist the Sherif of Mecca—the Guardian of the Holy Places of -Islam—in his successful revolt against Turkish rule in Arabia, -are interesting and little-understood features in the history of the -great world upheaval from which we have but recently emerged, and no -doubt they will be chronicled in due course by those concerned in these -“side-shows,” as they are somewhat inadequately described. It must -not, however, be forgotten that—insignificant as they may appear in -comparison with the terrific clash of arms in Western Europe—they -have resulted in giving Egypt tranquillity on its western frontier, -in restoring to the Sudan the great lost province of Darfur, and in -freeing the Arabian Peninsula—results which in pre-war days would -have been characterized as epoch-making events, but which have passed -almost unnoticed in the great changes which have taken place in the -territorial redistributions of the Treaty of Versailles. - -To touch on but one little-known detail, you refer to the Talbot -Mission. This has not attracted the attention it deserves, but I -venture to think history will credit Colonel Milo Talbot with no -mean achievement when it is realized that his mission effected the -triangular treaties between Great Britain, Italy and the present head -of the Senussi Confraternity, Sayed Mohammed el Idrisi, whereby both -Egypt and Tripoli have secured, let us hope, a trusted ally. - -Incidentally—through the good offices of Colonel Talbot’s able -Egyptian coadjutor, Hassanein Bey— that intrepid lady, Rosita Forbes, -accompanied by the Bey, was enabled to penetrate to the Oasis of -Kufara in 1921. Another member of the Talbot Mission—Mr. Francis -Rodd—is also utilizing his experiences of the Senussi Confraternity -and the Western Desert by making a prolonged and important journey -with Mr. Buchanan from West Africa, which should throw much new and -interesting light on many still obscure localities. - -In these days of improved communications—when the two ends of -the great iron road destined to connect South with North Africa -are gradually approaching one another, and when other railways are -either under construction or projected to connect the Atlantic with -the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea—the time may not be far distant -when the great Sahara and Libyan Deserts, too, will be traversed from -north to south and east to west, and the undoubted mineral wealth and -raw products of Central Africa will be brought to the nearest ports -for shipment to all parts of the world. Your remarks, therefore, on -mining, industries, trade and the means of communication southwards -from the Mediterranean through the oases which you and others have -visited, will doubtless prove of value and merit careful consideration. - -Meanwhile, much good work remains to be done by officers and officials -like yourself who take a keen interest in the welfare of the sparse -nomad and sedentary populations of these still remote districts, -fostering amongst them those feelings of confidence and goodwill which -will go far towards preparing them for the advent of the amenities -of civilization which must come with the inevitable development of -the no longer Dark Continent. Now, however, that the clash of arms -is past and, let us hope, a new era of peaceful development set in, -I might well have prefaced my remarks with this quotation: - - - “God’s benison go with you, and with those - - That would make good of bad and friends of foes.” - - -The immortal poet’s words seem to me not only to synchronize with -the pleasantly conversational style of your own narrative which has -induced the somewhat novel method I have adopted of writing you a -letter by way of an introduction—but they also express the spirit -which will, I trust, animate us in our present and future relations -with those nations and peoples of the Near East who unfortunately -for themselves espoused our enemies’ cause in the Great War, but -whose best interests lie—now and henceforth—in the friendship -and goodwill of the Allies. - -Your chapters on the customs, superstitions and “fantasias” of -the Siwans recall much that is similar amongst the Sudan tribes and -peoples—especially those of the Moslem Faith—and your account of -the “zikr” is particularly interesting. In the words of an Islamic -writer, by means of this religious exercise “the whole world and all -its attractions disappears from the vision of the faithful worshipper, -and he is enabled to behold the excellence of the Most High. Nothing -must be allowed to distract his attention from its performance, and -ultimately he attains by its medium a proper conception of the Tauhid, -or unity of God. . . . To enter Paradise one must say after every -prayer ‘God is Holy’ ten times, ‘Praised be God’ ten times, -and ‘God is great’ ten times.” - -If the age of miracles has not gone for ever then these Moslem -devotees—the descendants of the ancient warriors of the Libyan -Desert, side by side with their courageous and resourceful British -helpers—may yet cause the great Oracle of Jupiter Ammon to reveal -the secrets of that old-time sanctuary with which your book deals -so interestingly. - -[Signature: Yours sincerely - -Reginald Wingate.] - - - “On grassy slopes the twining vine boughs grew - - And hoary olives ’twixt far mountains blue, - - And many a green-necked bird sung to his mate - - Within the slim-leaved thorny pomegranate - - That flung its unstrung rubies on the grass.” - - - “But a desert stretched and stricken left and right, left and right, - - Where the piled mirages thicken under white-hot light— - - A skull beneath a sandhill and a viper coiled inside— - - And a red wind out of Libya roaring ‘Run and hide.’” - - - SIWA - - - - - SIWA - THE OASIS OF JUPITER AMMON - - CHAPTER I - - THE COAST - - - “. . . Some strip of herbage strown - - That just divides the desert from the sown.” - - -SIWA—pronounced “Seewah”—is a little-known oasis in the Libyan -Desert on the borders of Egypt and Tripoli. It lies 200 miles south -of Sollum, the Egypt-Tripoli frontier port on the Mediterranean coast, -and almost 400 miles west of the Nile Valley. Siwa is the northernmost -oasis of a string of oases which stretch from Egypt into the middle -of Tripoli. These “Islands of the Blessed”—as they were -called by the ancients—are natural depressions in the great Libyan -table-land which are preserved from the inroads of shifting sand by -the high limestone cliffs that surround them, and are made fertile and -habitable by numbers of sweet water springs. Siwa consists of a little -group of oases in a depression about 30 miles long and 6 miles wide, -lying 72 feet below the level of the sea, surrounded by a vast barren -table-land, parched and featureless, where rain rarely falls, which can -only be crossed if one carries sufficient water for the whole journey. - -Siwa is one of the least known and most interesting places in -North Africa, but owing to its inaccessibility very few Europeans -had visited it prior to the outbreak of the Great War. It has a -population of between three and four thousand inhabitants, who are -not Arabs but the remains of an older race, of Berber origin. They -have a language of their own, which is only spoken, not written, -and has survived among the dwellers of the oasis from many centuries -before the Arab invasion, owing to the remoteness of the country and -the slight communication between Siwa and the outer world. At present -the birth-rate is considerably lower than the death-rate, so it appears -likely that in course of time the Siwan race will become extinct. - -It was my fortune, after spending a year or so on the coast, to be -stationed at Siwa, during 1920-21, in command of a section of the -Frontier Districts Administration Camel Corps, and for some time as -the District Officer of the oasis. Under the present regime there -has been one British officer, seconded from the Army for service -under the Egyptian Government, posted alone in the Siwa oasis. While -I was there I spent my spare time in discovering as much as possible -about the history of the place, and the manners and customs of this -desert community, which differ very considerably from those of the -Arabs or the people of Egypt. No history, from its earliest times -to the present day, has ever been written of this strange place, -and it appears probable that now, when British officials are being -withdrawn from Egypt, Siwa will once more sink back into obscurity. - -[Illustration: THE AUTHOR] - -The oasis is most easily reached from Sollum, or from Matruh, another -port on the Mediterranean coast west of Alexandria. The journey can be -done in two days by car, when the rough desert track that is called -a road is in good order; it takes six days on a trotting camel, and -about ten days with a bedouin caravan of slow walking camels. The -Arab covers the whole distance on foot, living on a surprisingly -small quantity of dates, water and camel milk. The desert is quite -waterless, except for the first few miles, where there are occasional -rock cisterns which fill during the rains and provide a little water -during the first few months of the hot weather. - -The coastal belt of Western Egypt was comparatively unknown -country before the war, though by no means as remote as the inland -oases. Strangely enough, excepting the few officials of the Egyptian -Coastguards Administration, the Europeans who seemed to know most -about this country before the war were Germans, who were encouraged -by Abbas Helmi, the ex-Khedive, in their attempts to exploit the -commercial and agricultural possibilities of the coast. In 1913 Herr -Ewart Falls published a book called _Three Years in the Libyan Desert_ -which was an account of some archæological works carried out by him -and his colleagues—Germans—on the site of the ancient city of -St. Menas, south-west of Alexandria. In this book he describes how -he accompanied the Khedive on his visit to Siwa in 1905. He gives a -flamboyant description of the Royal progress. The party consisted of -the Khedive, four Europeans, twenty soldiers, a number of servants, 62 -riding camels, horses, and 288 baggage camels, which seem an incredibly -large number. The Khedive drove the whole way—200 miles—in a -carriage, a species of phaeton, constantly changing horses. Herr Falls -mentions the intense enthusiasm of the natives on the occasion of the -Kaiser’s birthday, and discusses the possibilities of a Pan-islamic -rising against the much hated English who “curtail the Khedive’s -political activities.” He gives statistics on the fighting forces -of the Arabs, and considers that the time is ripe for stirring up -sedition. One of his theories is that the Arab tribe “Senagra” -originate from a German boy, called Singer, who was wrecked on the -coast. There is a photograph in his book of one of the main streets -in the old town of Siwa which he calls “Interior of an ancient -tomb”! It is really a very remarkable book and gives one a good -insight into German ideas in Egypt before the war. - -In ancient days the coast west of Alexandria was inhabited by various -Libyan tribes, the most famous being the Nasamonians, who lived by -the plunder of wrecks, and the Lotophagi, who are immortalized in -Tennyson’s famous poem “The Lotus-Eaters,” dwellers of a land -“In which it seemed always afternoon.” These two tribes lived -on the coast that lies west of the present frontier. The coast which -lies between the present frontier and Alexandria was thinly populated -by wandering tribes of Libyans, a nomadic people, who depended, as -the bedouins do now, on the rains to feed their flocks. The inland -country was a land of mystery vaguely described as being the haunt -of strange wild beasts, although nowadays this waterless tract -nourishes few wild creatures of any description. In later times -Persians, Greeks, Romans and Byzantines established some centres -of civilization on the coast, but this strip immediately west of -Alexandria was never thickly populated, and one finds few signs of any -former civilization. The Arabs, after planting Mohammedanism in Egypt, -continued their victorious course westward along the coast, forcing -their religion on the people at the point of the sword, or driving the -natives inland to the oases, which remained unconquered till a later -date. Thus, the Arabs of the desert have always considered themselves -to be the conquerors, and the oasis dwellers to be the conquered. - -The coastal belt from Alexandria to the sea slopes gently upwards in -strips of undulating country till it reaches the foot of the ledge of -the great Libyan plateau. This narrow strip of fairly fertile country -between the desert and the Mediterranean gradually diminishes in -width, from east to west, till at Sollum the cliffs of the Libyan -plateau reach the sea. At its widest part, near Alexandria, the -coastal belt stretches inland for nearly 40 miles before merging into -the desert. The coast is inhabited by Arabs of the Awlad Ali tribe, -who move about with their flocks and camels from well to well, having -only a transitory interest in the soil, which they sow with a little -barley in the places where it will grow, and depending on the rains, -which are very heavy on the coast, to fill their wells and cisterns, -and to water the wild vegetation that feeds their herds. The land is -most fertile close to the sea, but for the first 10 or 20 miles on -the high desert plateau above the cliffs there is flat scrub-covered -country that makes a good grazing-ground for sheep and camels. Farther -south one sees less vegetation, and very soon the real desert begins, -which stretches hard and dry under the blazing sun for 200 miles down -to Siwa, and beyond Siwa over unexplored country till it reaches the -distant Sudan. - -As one goes farther west from Alexandria the country becomes wilder -and one sees fewer people, but there are several little towns, or -settlements, along the coast. The ex-Khedive had a project of opening -up this district and, aided by German enterprise, he built a railway -which was destined to connect Alexandria with his western frontier at -Sollum, and shorten the sea journey from Europe to Egypt. But the line -only got as far as Bir Fuca, about 100 miles west of Alexandria. The -Khedive found that his agricultural experiments in the Western Desert -were not a success and, realizing this, he tried to sell the railway -to a German firm, but Lord Kitchener, who was then High Commissioner, -stepped in and secured it for Egypt. There is a motor road, known as -the Khedival Road, from Alexandria to beyond Matruh, and another road, -of very inferior quality, from Matruh to Sollum. - -Mersa Matruh—Mersa means a harbour—a small town on the coast about -200 miles west of Alexandria, is where the Governor of the Western -Desert has his headquarters. Matruh is the ancient Parætonium, -sometimes called Ammonia, and was the port for Siwa in the days when -that place was known as the oasis of Ammon. Matruh consists of a few -dozen little one-storied stone houses, plastered and painted white, -with gay shutters, yellow, green and blue, inhabited by Greek colonists -who do a thriving business by trading with the Arabs, and exporting -barley and sheep to Alexandria. There is a picturesque mosque on the -cliffs above the bay, whose minaret forms a landmark for many miles, -a hospital, police barracks, the Governor’s house, and a number of -Government offices and houses of Government officials. There are large -numbers of resident Arabs in the neighbourhood who remain near Matruh, -as it is the commercial centre of the desert. At most times, especially -in the summer, Matruh is a singularly attractive little place, but when -it is visited by a “khamsin” wind, which blows up the fine white -sand—and this is not unfrequent—it becomes a more detestable spot -than anywhere else on the desert. The cliffs at Matruh suddenly cease -and are carried on by a reef of partly submerged jagged rocks which -protect the large harbour. The entrance—between two rocks—is so -narrow that only ships of moderate size can pass, and when a heavy -sea is running outside the entrance is impassable. The bay is 1½ -miles long and half a mile wide, but in places where there are shoals -the water is only 2 fathoms deep. To the east and west of the harbour -there are a series of lagoons separated from the sea by a line of low -cliffs, and divided from each other by narrow spits of sand. On the -cliff above the bay, commanding the entrance, there is an old ruined -Turkish fort, a yellow castellated building, which was occupied during -the war by a detachment of Royal Artillery. The houses are on the -southern shore, behind them there is a low rocky ridge crowned with -some little forts which were built during the Senussi rising in 1916, -when Matruh was for some time the British base. The bay is surrounded -by firm white sands sloping gently down to the brilliantly coloured -water. It is well sheltered and, consequently, never very rough; the -varying depths of the water cause it to assume different colours—in -some cases almost as brilliant as those of the kingfishers who fly -up and down the shore; at times it is incredibly blue, so blue that -the open sea outside looks black in comparison, and at other times it -is vividly green, with long streaks of purple where the dark seaweed -shows through the water. Matruh is a pleasant place in summer-time, -the bathing is ideal, and the climate is cooler than Alexandria, -which is the summer resort of all Egypt. But the great disadvantage -is the lack of water; there are several wells, but the water in them -is of an indifferent quality, so at present it is brought by boat -from Alexandria, at great expense, and pumped into tanks on the shore. - -Some signs of former civilization are still visible, and it is evident -that the Romans, with their usual appreciation of beautiful places, -realized the attraction of this smooth, brilliant bay. There are -ruins of several villas on the banks of the lagoons, and in places -flights of steps have been cut through the rock leading down to the -water. The Governor’s bungalow is built on the site of a villa -that was once inhabited by Cleopatra. According to tradition, Antony -retired there after his defeat at Actium and found solace in the -embraces of Cleopatra. One can scarcely imagine a more ideal spot -than this for the site of the villa. It stood among low sand-hills -a few feet above the harbour, right on the edge of the bay, so near -that the rippling water must have sounded through the marble halls -of the villa. From the windows of the present building one looks over -the gorgeously blue bay to a line of sharp black rocks where the white -waves break, and beyond to the deep blue open sea. At night, when the -water shines silver in the moonlight, and the little waves creep up -the white shore and break with phosphorescent splashes on the sands, -one can easily picture Antony and Cleopatra gliding smoothly in a boat -through the lagoons, which were connected by channels in those days, -or feasting superbly to the sound of - - - “Some Egyptian royal love-lilt - - Some Sidonian refrain,” - - -in the villa above the bay. In the summer quantities of “Mex -Lilies” (Amaryllis) grow on the hills and scent the air with their -heavy perfume. A short time before the war an American archæologist -made some valuable finds among the foundations of Cleopatra’s -villa, and on several occasions coins have been unearthed in the -neighbourhood. - -The present-day Greek colonists of Matruh are not very attractive -people. They are very clever at their trade and seem to become -prosperous in a remarkably short time. They make their money by -squeezing the Arabs, who are forced to deal with them, as there is -nobody else from whom they can buy necessities such as tea, sugar, -rice, etc. The Greeks have the monopoly of trade and sell their goods -at a prohibitive price, quite out of proportion to their worth, even -considering the cost of transport. Their favourite system is to buy -whole crops of barley from the Arabs before it is ripe, when the owner -is particularly hard up. The Administration, to a certain extent, is -able to check excessive profiteering, but there are innumerable ways -in which the Greek is able to “do” the Arab. It seems a pity, -because, in my estimation, the Arab is a much better man than the -Greek trader. Not unnaturally, Greeks are very unpopular. Farther -along the coast, in Tunis and Algeria, their place is taken by the -Jews, but on the Western Desert there are no Jews—so the Greeks -have it all their own way. - -There are generally two or three English officials at Matruh, -and possibly their wives, so there is usually more going on there -than at any other place on the coast; in fact, Matruh is a sort of -metropolis of the desert, but at the same time it is very much a desert -station. Lately, when I was staying there, there arrived one evening -an enormous new American car containing two English officers on leave, -and a very smartly dressed lady, wife of one of them. By amazing good -luck they had managed to get through from Alexandria without mishap, -stopping a night _en route_. On arrival at Matruh they asked to be -directed to the “Hotel,” which they had heard was “small, but -very clean and comfortable.” They looked exceedingly blank when -we told them there was no hotel—and never had been—but they were -conducted to the rest house, where they settled down. Next day they -complained that the rest house was neither clean nor comfortable. The -greatest disadvantage, to my mind, in all the rest houses on the -Western Desert is the multitude of fleas which nothing that one can do -is able to destroy or even keep under. This car was not the kind used -by the Administration on the desert; the party had brought no spare -parts for it, no servant, no provisions except some biscuits and a -tin or two of peaches, only a few glass bottles of water, which were -naturally almost boiling after some hours in the heat of an August -day, and none of them could speak any Arabic. At dinner that night -they all appeared in full evening dress which they had brought with -them, and, to everybody’s horror, they announced their intention of -“running down to Siwa” on the next day. We explained carefully that -to reach Siwa they would have to cross 200 miles of waterless desert, -and no car ever attempted the trip alone. But nothing seemed to daunt -them. Finally, however, the Governor heard of their plan and forbade -it forthwith; they started off to Alexandria on the following day, -with an escort of two cars, and as they went they murmured indignantly -about “red tape and absurd restrictions.” It is amazing what a -strange idea of the desert some people seem to have. - -Matruh is the centre of the sponge fishing industry which is carried -on during certain months of the year along the coast. The sponge -fishers are mostly Italians, and a fine-looking lot of men. They have -a little fleet of sailing-boats, and one steam-tug. The boats put out -for several days at a time, working up and down the coast. They use -no diving-bells, but when a man dives he holds on to a heavy stone, -which sinks rapidly; he makes a jab at the sponges, cutting off one, -and then lets go of the stone and rises to the surface. Sometimes the -men seem to bound out of the water when they rise to the top. They -are able to remain submerged for several minutes. But the work tells -on their health; they are highly paid, but they say themselves that -they usually die at about forty, and there is always the horrid -possibility of being attacked by sharks, which are more plentiful in -the Mediterranean than they used to be before the war. At Sollum there -are several graves of sponge fishers who were killed in this way. I -never bought a single sponge myself during the whole time I was on -the Western Desert. When I was at Sollum I used to ride out along the -shore with a syce carrying a bag after every heavy storm and we would -usually pick up about a dozen first-class sponges worth about half a -guinea each at home. Fortunately, the Arabs had no use for such things -as sponges. One found pumice stone lying about the shore also. During -the war an enormous amount of wreckage was swept ashore and collected -by patrols of Camel Corps for building purposes and firewood. Sometimes -the whole coast would be littered with cotton from a wrecked ship -carrying cotton to Europe; another time we collected stacks of good -brown paper, which is still being used on the Western Desert, and -another time a number of casks of wine and rum were picked up. - -Between Matruh and Sollum there is a little place called Sidi Barrani, -which consists of a police barracks and a high gaunt building which -is a rest house and office, and about half a dozen white bungalows -belonging to Greek traders. Each of these places has either a British -officer or, if it is not sufficiently important, an Egyptian mamur -who is responsible for keeping order, etc. Barrani is a desolate -place, but very beautiful in springtime when the country is ablaze -with flowers and green budding corn. Rest houses in Egypt and the -Sudan correspond to the Dak Bungalows in India. Those on the Western -Desert are quite comfortably furnished and well provided with plate -and linen. An old Sudanese soldier looks after each rest house. It is -a relief after trekking along the coast by car or camel to arrive at -a place where everything is ready and, in winter-time, to get a roof -over one’s head, though probably a leaky one. - -Two roads run from Barrani to Sollum; one goes along the coast among -the strangely white sand-hills which are a feature of the district, -and the other, which is less liable to be flooded in winter, is higher -and farther inland. The country that one passes on the upper road -between Barrani and Sollum, between the blue Mediterranean and the -high rocky Scarp that runs parallel to the sea, is very attractive, -especially in the soft evening light. In the heat of the day it looks -dry and parched, except during a month or two immediately after the -rains. One meets very few travellers on the narrow road that winds up -and down, round low hills which are covered with heathery undergrowth, -and often topped with rough stone cairns. Some places are very like a -Scotch moor, or a stretch of Dartmoor. There is a certain plant which -is the colour of purple heather, and another that looks from a distance -like withered bracken. In summer-time, especially on the lower road, -one is constantly deceived by the vivid mirage that hovers above some -salt swamps close to the white sand-hills on the shore. - -Occasionally, one passes a party of Arabs, with their skirts tucked -high above the knees, stalking along behind their woolly shuffling -camels, or perhaps one meets a patrol of Camel Corps, black Sudanese, -in khaki uniforms, trotting briskly along on fast riding camels; -then an old bedouin sheikh, wrapped in his long silk shawl, ambles -past on his Arab pony. Farther on, one smells the sharp sweet scent -of burning brushwood that comes from the fires outside the low black -tents where some Arabs are camping, and one can see them squatting -round the flame in the tent doors, with their white woollen cloaks -pulled over them, while in the distance a boy drives the camels and -sheep close up to the camp for the night. On the lower road, near -the shore, between Barrani and Sollum, there is a lonely little hill -crowned by a rough block-house where there used to be a detachment -of the Camel Corps. This place is called Bagbag and was used as a -frontier post before the war in Tripoli between the Italians and the -Turks. As one approaches Sollum the escarpment on the left comes -nearer, the foot-hills cease, and the road runs across a mile or -two of flat country within sound and sight of the sea right at the -foot of the towering cliffs. Before arriving at the camp the road -crosses several deep water-courses which come “from thymy hills -down to the sea-beat shore” through rocky ravines in the Scarp; -they are dry and sandy in summer, but during the rains they become -rushing torrents, quite impossible to cross in a car. Riding home in -the evening, one sees a number of twinkling fires in the bedouin camp, -and above them, sharply outlined against the primrose-coloured sky, -is the top of the great rocky Scarp, like a dark wall that one has -to ascend before reaching the desert. - -Sollum consists of about a score of little buildings, and a large -bedouin encampment, situated on the shore of a bay in an angle -made by the sea and the Scarp which rises to a height of over 600 -feet immediately behind the camp, and juts out into the sea in a -rocky promontory. There are several wells at Sollum and one little -orchard of fig-trees which breaks the monotony of the brown-coloured -soil. Most of the buildings, including a large Camel Corps barracks, -were erected since the war. There are one or two little shops, owned -by Greeks, and a rough native café presided over by an evil-looking, -one-eyed Egyptian, who is also the barber of the place. For a long -time there was a British garrison, but this was recently withdrawn, -leaving a force of Camel Corps and a small detachment of Light Cars -in the old Turkish fort on the top of the cliffs above the bay. At -one time there were about a dozen officers quartered here, and five -or six of them had their wives with them. Sollum became quite like an -Indian hill station—perhaps even worse, and when a certain elderly -general, well known as a misogynist, inspected the place, he stated -in his report that there were six officers’ wives and six different -sets, the result being that they were very shortly moved and replaced -by unmarried officers. - -One gets to feel hemmed in at Sollum. On the north lies the sea, and on -the south and west rise the rocky cliffs of the Scarp. The only open -country is along the coast towards the east. A steep twisting motor -road, like a Swiss mountain pass, leads up the face of the cliff on -the track of an old Roman road, and several very precipitous paths -ascend the Scarp behind the camp to the high table-land above. But -once one has climbed the Scarp and reached the top there is a great -flat plain stretching out into the distance, which is good country -for riding, and full of hares and gazelle. This is the bedouins’ -grazing ground, and every few miles one comes across great herds -of camel and sheep, and large camps of Arabs. There are a few rock -cisterns on the northern edge of the plateau and from these the Arabs -get their water. They often camp 10 or 15 miles away from a well and -send in a party of women and boys to fill the water-skins every other -day. Arabs seldom bathe, even when they are camped close to the sea, -but fortunately the sun is a wonderful purifier. - -The nomad Arabs of the Western Desert are a hardy, picturesque race, -very different from the fellahin of Egypt. Their active open-air life -makes them strong and healthy. Patriarchalism is a dominant system -among them; they are divided into a number of tribes and sub-tribes, -each under its own sheikh who is responsible to the Government for -the good behaviour of his people. - -These tribal divisions breed factions, enmities and lifelong feuds, -which result in occasional raids and forays on neighbouring tribes, -and the carrying off of camels. Another source of dispute are the -rights and ownerships of wells, which cause frequent fights, so -a District Officer on the coast needs to be well acquainted with -the tribal politics of the Arabs in his area. One of the greatest -grievances of the Arabs on the Egyptian side of the frontier is the -fact that, since the Senussi rebellion in 1916, they are not allowed -to be in possession of fire-arms, but their neighbours, over the -border in Tripoli, are under no such restrictions. The Arabs on the -Egyptian desert argue, quite rightly, that they are liable to suffer -from raids by the western Arabs who can dash across the frontier, -drive off a herd of camels, and retire again into Tripoli where they -will be safe from pursuit, as the Italians have very little influence -outside their coastal towns, and of course if anybody belonging to -the Egyptian Administration ventured across the frontier without an -invitation, and was caught, it might almost lead to international -complications. But the Egyptian Government considers that the forces -of the Administration are sufficient to keep order on the frontier -and protect the Arabs. (The situation is not dissimilar to that in -Ireland during 1920.) - -The Arabs are a pastoral people. As the Siwans depend almost entirely -upon their date palms, so do the Arabs depend on their camels and -sheep, and to a lesser extent on the barley crop. Their tents, -called “kreish,” in which they live, are made of camel wool, -woven into long strips and fastened together, supported in the -middle by two poles about 6 feet high, sloping down to about 3 feet -above the ground, with a movable fringe hung round the sides from -the bottom of the roof-piece. These tents are very comfortable, -especially in summer-time when the sides are kept open, propped up -with short poles. There is no furniture inside them, but the floor is -covered with matting and bedouin carpets, which are made of finely -spun wool, white sheep’s wool—sometimes dyed scarlet, brown, -grey—yellow camel’s wool, and black goat’s hair. They are woven -in stripes and geometrical designs, and ornamented with black and red -tassels. The largest tents are often 20 or 30 feet long and 10 feet -wide, sometimes divided into two parts by a striped Tripoli blanket -which is hung across the middle. One can be very comfortable in one -of these tents, with no furniture except a heap of carpets and rugs. - -Each bedouin has two sets of tents, a thin summer one, and a thicker -one which is used during the winter; the latter is lined with a -wonderful patchwork made from pieces of coloured cotton and linen, -like an old-fashioned patchwork quilt. When it rains the wool of the -roof swells and tightens, and the water slides off the steep sides -of the tent as it does from the proverbial duck’s back. Being so -low they are not torn up by the wind, and I have seen a whole camp of -army tents laid flat by a hurricane which tore many of them to pieces, -while the Arab ones remained standing and dry within. - -In appearance the Western Desert Arabs are fairer than the Arabs -of Arabia and Palestine. This is probably due to the fact that -when they originally took the country it was occupied by Berbers, -a blue-eyed, fair-haired type, who are supposed to have crossed -over from Europe into Africa at some remote period several thousand -years ago. The Arabs are slightly darker than the Egyptians with -features that are distinctly Semitic, expressing more intelligence -than the fellahin. They are of a finer build and more wiry. Some of -the Arab women are very handsome, and their costume is particularly -becoming. They usually wear a long black robe with full sleeves, but on -special occasions the robe is of striped silk, and a red woollen belt, -several yards long, twisted round the waist like a cummerbund. Their -head-dress consists of a coloured silk handkerchief tied tightly -over the head, but allowing two coils of braided hair to appear on -both sides of the face, then, above this, a long black scarf with -a coloured fringe and a red and yellow border twisted into a high -head-dress, folded like a mediæval coif below the chin, with the -fringed ends hanging down behind. Soft scarlet leather boots complete -the costume. Almost all the women tattoo their chins and often their -foreheads with a blue pattern; this is considered by them to be very -ornamental, but to European eyes it is singularly ugly. Old women -dye their hair a brilliant orange colour, and men sometimes tint the -tips of their beards, as well as their horses’ tails, with henna, -presumably following what one sees advertised as “The henna cult -of beauty.” - -As in most Eastern countries when an Arab marries he pays “marriage -money” to the parents or guardians of the bride. So a daughter is -a source of riches to her parents if she is attractive enough to be -worth a handsome dowry. The amount varies on the Western Desert from -about five to a hundred pounds, according to the age, appearance and -position of the girl. Half is paid on marriage, and the remainder is -paid later by instalments, and it is liable to be forfeited if the -wife does not behave well, but if the husband divorces the wife he -must pay up the residue of the money to her parents. This makes a man -very careful in the choice of a wife. In many ways the plan of buying -a wife on the instalment system is a good one. Arabs have more freedom -in these matters than many other Orientals. Women are not veiled, and -men and girls have plenty of opportunities of seeing each other, and -even speaking together, before marriage, though the actual negotiations -are always carried out by a third person representing each party. Arabs -rarely have more than two wives, though their religion allows them to -have four, and divorce is not so very common among them. The women have -a certain amount of influence which they exert without the men quite -knowing it, but although their position is better than that of the -Egyptian women, and infinitely better than that of Siwan women, they -have a very hard time. They weave wool and make tents and carpets; -they milk the flocks and make butter and cheese; they grind corn -on rough mill-stones for making bread; they fetch water, often from -a well many miles distant; and they collect wood every day for the -camp fires; all this in addition to looking after their children and -cooking. Mohammedan women of all classes are not expected to concern -themselves with religion; they are not allowed to enter mosques, except -on one day of the year, and during seven years in the Sudan and Egypt -I only twice saw a Mohammedan woman praying in public. There are very -definite social divisions among the Arabs, especially among their -women. The wives of respectable Arabs never associate with or speak -to women whose morals are considered doubtful. These ladies of the -_demi-monde_ inhabit tents, generally on the outskirts of the camps, -and are conspicuous, as in every part of the world, by the brilliant -colours of their clothes, and their many ornaments. - -The Arabs are a kindly, hospitable people, not phlegmatic like -the fellahin, but easily moved. I had some very good friends among -them. When I was out on trek, if I came across an encampment, they -would see us from a long distance off and invariably come out and -invite me to dismount and rest awhile, and “fadhl” in their -camp. “Fadhl” is an untranslatable word which means roughly -“Stop and pass the time of day.” Sometimes I used to accept their -hospitality for a few hours in the heat of the day, and rest in a -cool dark tent, or wait talking in the tents in the evening while my -men rode on ahead and prepared my camp a little distance away. One -could never camp near bedouins, as their camels generally had mange, -which is very catching, and their dogs were a nuisance at night, -being “snappers up of unconsidered trifles” in the way of food, -etc., and not always “unconsidered” either. These dogs are white -or yellow woolly creatures who guard the flocks with great apparent -courage, and attack any stranger, but when threatened they run yelping -away with their tails between their legs. When I dismounted I would -wait for a minute or so talking to the men, so as to give the Arabs a -chance to arrange things. Women would run frantically from tent to tent -carrying mats and carpets, and shooing away sheep and goats and small -brown children; then the sheikh would lead me to the largest tent, -spread with black and scarlet carpets, with probably a long striped -blanket hung across the centre and screening one side of it. Or on -warm summer nights the carpets were spread in front of the tents, -on the open desert under the stars. Unless I specially asked to be -excused the finest kid of the herd would be caught and killed and an -hour or so later it would be brought in, boiled, on an enormous wooden -dish, and I would be expected to eat “heavily” of this, also of -the “asida” that followed. Asida, a dish which I always had the -greatest difficulty in pretending to eat, consists of lightly cooked -flour dough, with a hole scooped in the middle full of oil or melted -fat and sugar, however, _de gustibus non disputandum_. The sheikh, -and perhaps one or two of his relations, would join in the feast, -watched with the greatest interest by the ladies of the camp who would -collect on the other side of the curtain, and gaze firmly at me from -underneath it, whispering, giggling and tinkling their bangles and -ornaments as they moved. If I knew the people well they would not -bother about hanging up a curtain, and women and children would creep -into the tent and sit staring from the far end, or carry on their -usual occupations—milking goats, spinning or making semna—but no -woman would ever eat in the presence of a man out of respect to him, -and a son would never think of sitting down and eating with his father -unless he was specially invited to do so. Generally the sons waited -on the party, and ate afterwards. - -Semna is a kind of cheese made from goat’s milk. In the morning the -sheep and goats are milked into wooden bowls, the milk is poured into -a water-skin and rolled vigorously up and down by two women seated on -the ground till it thickens into a sort of butter. The addition of a -certain herb is needed if it is to be made into cheese. One kind of -white butter made by the Arabs is very good and forms an excellent -substitute for real butter, and a change from the tinned species. - -Arabs are very free in their conversation, and personal remarks are -not considered to be ill-mannered. They usually ask one’s age, and -inquire whether people are married or not. The idea of a man being over -twenty and still unmarried surprises them enormously; they think that -he can’t afford to buy a wife. They always show a keen interest in -what they consider the peculiar habits of Europeans. Hardly any of them -can read or write, and very few have ever been off the desert. When -a bedouin gets to Alexandria he is like a countryman in London. The -bedouin are superstitious, but not as intensely so as the oasis -dwellers. In every tent one notices a little bundle of charms hung on -one of the tent poles to avert the Evil Eye. One such collection would -consist of a black cock’s leg, a red rag, a dried frog, two bones, -and a little leather charm, tied together and hung on the pole. - -One day I was sitting talking to some Arabs in a tent when suddenly I -realized that everybody was staring in a fascinated way at my mouth. I -wondered what was the matter. Then I heard the women whispering -to themselves: “He must be a very wealthy one; see how he adorns -himself with gold.” I couldn’t imagine what they meant as I was -only wearing a shirt, shorts and stockings, nothing very remarkable -in the way of clothes. Then I heard something about “Gold tooth,” -and I realized that their attention had been caught by a hideous gold -crown that had been put over one of my front teeth in a great hurry -just before I left Cairo the last time I was on leave. They thought -it a most attractive and novel form of decoration. - -When Arabs get money they either invest it in sheep and camels or bury -it in the ground. Some of these men who lead the most primitive lives, -living in a tent and feeding on a meagre diet of milk, bread, rice -and dates, are the owners of many thousands of sheep and hundreds of -camels. Sheep are generally worth two or three pounds, and camels -about fifteen pounds each. Besides this, they often have a little -bag of gold buried somewhere in the desert. They never spend their -money on creature comforts, and the poorest and the richest men live -practically in the same way. My Sudanese Camel Corps men used to -criticize them, saying what a waste it seemed that they had so much -money, and apparently didn’t know how to enjoy it, whereas in the -Sudan when a man made money he would build a house, feed better and -live in a more comfortable way than his neighbours. An Arab when -he was “mabsout” (well off) didn’t seem to know how to be -“mabsout”—meaning also “happy.” - -Once I was camped near some Arabs and one of them, an old sheikh, -was ill and considered by his relations likely to die. He was known -to possess some money buried somewhere in the neighbourhood, and -his relatives were most anxious that he should not die until he had -disclosed the hiding-place. But the old man obstinately refused to tell -them where it was. A deputation of his heirs called on me and asked -me to make him speak. I agreed that it was unfortunate for them, but -I could do nothing. When I suggested that they should take him to the -hospital at Sollum, they were quite indignant and said that evidently -Allah willed that he should die; the only distressing thing was his -obstinacy about the money. This went on for several days, and then, -to every one’s surprise, the old gentleman suddenly recovered. Some -of his relations seemed sorry, and some relieved. When I last saw -him he was watching a “fantasia” which was being held in honour -of his recovery, with a pleased, benignant expression. Personally, -I always had a faint idea that the money never existed, but all his -people firmly believe in it, and he has kept the secret to this day. - -[Illustration: A FALCONER OUTSIDE A BEDOUIN CAMP] - -One rather associates the idea of an Arab with his steed, a wonderful -fiery creature that skims across the desert like a bird. The ponies -on the Western Desert are a somewhat sorry collection. Only a few of -the well-to-do Arabs keep horses. They are small hardy ponies very -unlike the Arab steed of fiction. But they look better when they are -ridden, with their high scarlet saddles, great iron stirrups and gaily -tasselled bridles. The Arabs ride them either at an uncomfortable -jog trot or at a tearing gallop. They have some curious ideas on the -“points” of a pony; certain things are considered lucky or unlucky; -for instance, if a pony has white stockings on both forelegs it is -much esteemed, but a white stocking on one fore and one hind leg is -exceedingly unlucky. There are many stretches of hard stony ground -along the coast, so horses have to be shod; this is done by covering -the whole of the foot with a flat piece of iron, and results in a -terrific noise when they gallop over stony ground. - -There is very little sport to be had on this part of the desert. The -only form that the Arabs indulge in is the ancient pastime of -hawking. Certain men of each tribe are proficient in training and -hunting with hawks. Skill as a falconer seems to be hereditary in -the same way as snake charming, fortune telling and various other -practices. The Arabs prefer catching a full-grown bird and training it, -to taking a young bird from the nest, which would appear to be the -easiest plan. The method of trapping them is rather clever. When an -Arab wants to catch a hawk, he takes a pigeon, slightly clips its wings -to prevent its escape, and fastens a number of horsehair loops round -its body, then he releases the pigeon, which flutters away. A hawk -sights the pigeon, swoops down and becomes entangled in the meshes of -the horsehair, so that the Arab is able to run up and secure it. The -hawk takes many months to train. Gradually it becomes accustomed to -its master, who invariably feeds it himself, and whistles when he -gives it food in a way that it learns to know. Later he takes the bird -on his wrist, hooded, and fastened by a leather thong; by degrees it -becomes accustomed to his wrist and then he carries it about with him, -still hooded. Finally he removes the hood and lets it tackle a hare -or two which he brings to it, then one day he takes it out on to the -desert and looses it at a running hare. The bird attacks the hare, -brings it down, and sits on its prey till the master arrives, or -if it flies up he draws it back by whistling and flinging a lump of -meat into the air. Sometimes an Arab will catch over a dozen hares -in a day’s hawking, but occasionally, after months of training, -when he looses his bird for the first time it will fly away and never -return. One sees a tethered hawk outside a tent in almost all the big -encampments. A well-trained bird is worth several pounds among the -Arabs, and it is very difficult to persuade them to part with one; -they are used to catch pigeons, quail and other birds, besides hares. - -Another sport which we went in for along the coast was coursing hares -with Silugi dogs. These dogs are gazelle hounds and came originally -from Arabia. There are now a certain number of them in Egypt, and all -the officials on the Western Desert keep one or two. Silugis are very -similar to greyhounds, generally white or pale coffee colour, with -feathery tails and long-haired, silky ears. They are very fast indeed, -but have no sense of scent, and hunt entirely by sight. They are rather -delicate and very nervous, and in most cases they show little affection -for human beings. At Matruh there was quite a pack which included a -couple of fox-hounds, silugis, several terriers—of sorts—and a -few nondescript bedouin pariahs. The Matruh pack specialized in foxes, -but at Sollum there were more hares than foxes. The desert hares are -rather smaller than the English ones, but they seemed to be faster. - -The open country above the Scarp stretches over alternate patches -of hard stony ground, and strips covered with low vegetation where -a certain plant that smells like thyme predominates. Generally -two or three of us went hunting together, or if there were only -two Englishmen we took a couple of Sudanese syces or servants, -who thoroughly enjoy all forms of hunting, all mounted on ponies, -and accompanied by four or five dogs. We rode in extended order with -intervals of about thirty yards between each rider, the dogs generally -trotting along in front. Whoever raised a hare gave a wild yell and -galloped after it, “hell for leather,” the rest following. The -hounds would sight the hare and fling themselves in pursuit. Quite -often the hare got away before they saw it, or managed to reach a bit -of cover well ahead of the hounds, and then they would slacken down, -at a loss, and wait till the riders came up and scoured the country -round to put up the hare again. It sounds rather unsporting, but the -hare stood a very good chance; in fact, generally more than half of -them got away, and it gave one some splendid long gallops across the -country. Sometimes we would raise a gazelle, and give chase, but few -dogs or ponies can catch up a gazelle when it gets a little start and -is really moving. I think the scale of speed was, gazelle, silugi, -hare and ponies. It was a primitive form of hunting, but one liked -it none the less, and jugged hare made a welcome change in the menu. - -There were a certain number of gazelle on the desert quite close to -the top of the Scarp and it was occasionally possible to get a shot at -them, but they were very shy, and needed careful stalking over country -that was almost without cover. When anybody went out specially to shoot -gazelle none would appear, but when riding along on a camel one saw -numbers of them; however, by the time one had dismounted and loaded the -gazelle would be out of range, probably standing a long distance away -“at gaze.” Gazelle do not mind camels if they have no people on -them, and the Arabs sometimes get quite close to a gazelle by stalking -it from among a number of grazing camels. At one time, after the war, -the men of the Light Car Patrols took to hunting gazelle in Ford cars -with a machine-gun; fortunately this practice was forbidden, but it -scared the gazelle from the neighbourhood for a considerable time. - -Numbers of rock pigeons nested among the cliffs on the coast, and -quantities of them collected round the camel lines and fed off the -refuse grain. In the autumn thousands of quail arrived on the coast -from Europe; they were often so exhausted that the Arab boys could -catch them in their hands. The natives netted them for sale to the -Greeks, who exported them alive in crates to Alexandria. One got -very tired of eating quail during the month or two that they were in -season; still, at first they were extremely good. Among the wadis -in the Scarp there were occasional coveys of red-legged partridge, -and lately there have been a few sand-grouse about the high country; -once or twice I have seen duck on the marshes near the sea, and an -occasional bustard, but, on the whole, there was very little to be -had in the way of shooting. - -[Illustration: SILUGI HOUNDS] - -A number of jackals and a few wild cats lived in the caves among the -wadis in the Scarp. Their mournful wailings echoed through the rocky -ravines, and owing to its eeriness at night the bedouins thought that -it was haunted by evil spirits. But in the daytime they climbed about -it quite unconcernedly, and their goats snatched a scanty pasturage -among the rocks. During most of the year the Scarp looks harsh and -forbidding, but after the rains a change comes over it; one notices -a faint green tinge about the cliffs, and a closer examination shows -that it is covered with blossoming flowers and rock plants. The slopes -become gay with mauve, pink, yellow and blue flowers, saltworts, -samphires, sea lavender, yellow nettle, campanulas, little irises, -marigolds, ranunculas, Spanish broom, masses of night-scented stock -and a quantity of other little flowering plants which clothe the grim -rocks in a robe of brilliant colour. The flat country, too, blossoms -out into colour. One sees scarlet poppies, mallows, and tall scabious -among the budding corn, and fields of swaying asphodel, and the whole -desert is scented in the evening by the night-scented stock. - -The rain that causes this transformation falls occasionally during -the winter months from November till about March. During this time -there are clouds in the sky, and sometimes terrific downpours. The -Arabs greet the first rain of the season with great delight, the men -sing and shout, and the women raise piercing shrieks to show their -pleasure. Unless there is a good rainfall none of the barley grows, and -the grazing on which the sheep and camels depend is insufficient. When -it rains the wadis become rushing torrents, roads are impassable, -every house leaks, and many of the roofs subside. The camels have to -be led from their flooded lines to the higher ground where they stand -shivering. Camels hate rain. If one is out on trek and a really stiff -shower comes on the camels barrack down, with their backs towards -the direction of the rain, and nothing will make them budge till it -is over. One just has to wait till it stops. If the track is muddy -and wet the camels slither and slide and one must dismount and lead -them; they were made for hot, dry countries, not for a damp, wet -climate. Hardly any of the houses at Matruh or Sollum are watertight, -and it was nothing out of the ordinary when one called on a man to find -him camped out in the middle of his most watertight room, surrounded -by his perishable belongings, with a sort of canopy consisting of a -waterproof sheet and a mackintosh or two stretched out above him. But -though rain storms were very violent they did not last long, and -the sun soon came out and dried everything up again. When, however, -one was caught by a bad storm out on trek on the desert, with only -a thin tent, and no change of clothes, it was very disagreeable. - -The word “house” is misleading. People imagine at least a -large comfortable bungalow. But on the Western Desert the average -house occupied by an English official, with possibly a wife, was a -three-roomed stone hut, with plastered walls and a wooden roof, with -a very thin layer of cement. The largest room would be about twelve -feet square, the plaster invariably crumbled off the walls owing -to the salt in it, and the cement invariably cracked in the summer -so that the rain poured through the roof in the winter. Cement for -some reason was almost impossible to get. One always heard that for -“next year” the Administration had included the building of real -houses for its officials in the Budget, but this item was always one -of the first to be struck out on the grounds of economy. Nobody has -yet discovered an ideal roofing for the Western Desert, where there -are extremes of heat and cold and occasional terrific hurricanes and -downpours. So far, the best type of abode seems to be the bedouin tent. - -One of the chief events on the coast was the arrival of the cruiser, -_Abdel Moneim_, which came up from Alexandria about once every -fortnight or three weeks bringing mails, supplies and sometimes -high officials on tours of inspection. She spent a day or two in -harbour at Matruh and Sollum on each trip. This little cruiser was -built in Scotland for the Egyptian Government, and with two other -boats comprises the navy of Egypt. She was a neat-looking grey ship, -always very spick and span with fresh paint and shining brass, manned -by a crew of Egyptians in white or blue sailors’ uniform and red -tarbooshes. Her captain was an English bimbashi in the Egyptian -Coastguards Administration, whose uniform was somewhat confusing, -as he wore, besides the naval rank on his sleeve, a crown and star -on his shoulder. The cruiser was carefully built so as to allow a -spacious saloon and two state cabins, for the accommodation of the -Director-General. Two machine-guns were posted fore and aft. The _Abdel -Moneim_ had the well-deserved reputation of being warranted to make -the very best sailor seasick, even in comparatively calm weather. She -rolled and pitched simultaneously in a more horrid manner than any -ship I have ever known. The result was that, when people went down -the coast to Alexandria on leave, they arrived in Egypt looking and -feeling like nothing on earth, and spent the first few days of their -all too short leave recovering from the evil after-effects of the -voyage. I have never yet met anyone who really enjoyed a trip on the -cruiser. Personally, the only time that I felt comfortable on board -was when we were firmly moored to the quay at Matruh or Sollum. When -the high officials landed after a sea trip they were generally feeling -so ill that their visits were not entirely a pleasure to the people -who were being inspected. - -Occasionally misguided individuals, who knew nothing about it, -got permission to go up to Sollum and back by cruiser, hoping for -a pleasant little trip on the Mediterranean. Generally, when they -arrived at Matruh, they inquired anxiously whether it was possible to -return to Alexandria by car, or even by camel. Some queer visitors -sometimes came on these “joy rides,” but very little joy was -left in them by the time they reached Sollum. On one occasion, a -Mr. B. of the Labour Corps, a Board School master in private life, -arrived by cruiser at Matruh. He announced that he had come to study -the coast and the Arabs. He was just the type that Kipling describes -so well in his poems. The Governor invited him to lunch; he arrived -in spurs, belt, etc., though it was the summer and every one else was -wearing the fewest and thinnest clothes; however, that may have been -politeness. There happened to be three or four other men present. At -lunch Mr. B. proceeded to air his views on how the desert should be -run; we heard some startling facts about it; he disapproved of the -Administration, and told us so; he then proceeded to tell us about the -Sudan, as he had lately spent one week in an hotel at Khartoum. The -Governor had been recently transferred from the Sudan, where he had -been Governor of one of the largest provinces, and as it happened -every single man present had served there for some considerable time, -so, naturally, we were interested to be told a few facts about it! - -A couple of days later I happened to go down the coast with Mr. B. and -a certain District Officer. The latter spent his whole time, when he -wasn’t ill, telling Mr. B. the most outrageously impossible stories -of camels, Arabs and the desert, which he swallowed unblinkingly and -noted down in a copybook in order to give lectures, so he told us, -at his club when he returned home. That club must have heard some -startling stories. One of the facts—or fictions—that interested -him particularly was a description of “watch camels which are posted -by the Arabs round their flocks and when a stranger appears they -gallop across to the camp and warn their masters.” Another very -vivid story was the description of a whole herd of camels going mad -from hydrophobia. It is wonderful how credulous some people can be, -but I think he deserved it. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE DESERT - - - “So on, ever on, spreads the path of the Desert, - - Wearily, wearily, - - Sand, ever sand—not a gleam of the fountain; - - Sun, ever sun—not a shade from the mountain; - - As a sea on a sea flows the width of the Desert - - Drearily, drearily.” - - -THE Western Desert of Egypt is regulated by the Frontier Districts -Administration, a comparatively new department of the Egyptian -Government which was formed during the war and took over many of the -duties of the old Egyptian Coastguards Administration. The F.D.A. is -a military Administration with British officers, and is responsible -for the Western Desert, Sinai and the country between the Red Sea -coast and the Nile. In each of these provinces there is a Governor -and several District Officers and officers of the Camel Corps. The -Military Administrator at the head of the whole Administration is -Colonel G. G. Hunter, C.B., C.M.G., and the Governor of the Western -Desert is at present Colonel M. S. Macdonnell. The forces of the -F.D.A. consist of a Sudanese Camel Corps and local police. - -On the Western Desert there is one company of Camel Corps, about 170 -strong, divided into three sections, of which two are stationed on -the coast and one in the Siwa oasis. The duties of the Camel Corps -are practically those of mounted police, patrolling the coast and -frontier, preventing smuggling and gun running, and keeping order -among the Arabs in case of any disturbance or trouble. But since -the successful termination of the British operations against the -Senussi in 1917 the Western Desert has been very peaceable, and the -Arabs seem to be thoroughly satisfied with the organization by which -they are now governed. During all the trouble in Egypt in 1919-21, -when the country was seething with anti-British agitations, there -were absolutely no disturbances or demonstrations among the Arabs of -the Western Desert, and I have heard them in their tents discussing, -quite genuinely, the foolishness of the goings-on in Egypt. - -The F.D.A. Camel Corps was originally formed of Sudanese men from -the Coastguard Camel Corps, with a large proportion of “yellow -bellies” (Egyptians) who were gradually weeded out and replaced -by Sudanese and Sudan Arabs, who were enlisted on the borders of -Egypt, as the Sudan Government does not allow recruiting inside its -territories except for the Egyptian Army. The F.D.A. Camel Corps is -supposed to consist entirely of Sudanese, but a certain number of the -men who were enlisted in the regions of Luxor and Kom Ombo are not -real Sudanis. They are very well paid, provided with good uniforms -and rations, and a certain percentage are allowed to have their wives -with them on the coast. Every camp has its “harimat”—married -quarters—where the married men and their families live. But before -a man is allowed to marry he has to pass a test in musketry. Many -of the men marry Arab women, and this sometimes caused considerable -trouble among the Sudanese wives, who are by no means fond of their -Arab “sisters.” As they all live close together in rather cramped -quarters they have a very lively time. One’s office hours are -often occupied in endeavouring to pacify some irate old Sudanese lady -who brings a furious complaint that the Arab wife of her next-door -neighbour is “carrying on” with her husband. Or one gets a long -involved case like the following story to inquire into, generally -when there is a great deal of other work to be done. - -Ombashi (corporal) Suliman Hassan married an Arab lady called Halima -bint—daughter of—Ahmed Abu Taleb; when she married her father -gave her an old primus stove, a favourite possession of the Arabs at -Sollum, which he had bought from the servant of one of the English -officers—this incidentally caused another inquiry. The marriage -was not a success, and after six months of unhappy married life -Ombashi Suliman divorced his wife. Apparently he “celebrated” -the divorce “not wisely but too well,” because on the next day -he got a month’s hard labour for being drunk on duty. He took the -primus with him when he went to prison. Halima retired to Bagbag with -her goods and chattels, and after a suitable interval she married -another Camel Corps man, this time a “naffer”—private—who -brought her back with him to Sollum. - -Ombashi Suliman had also consoled himself, and presented the primus -stove, now very worn and shaky, to his new wife, a buxom Sudanese. She -sold it to her married sister. It exploded and set a tent on fire; -so the sister gave it to her little girl Zumzum, a small black infant -with tight curls and one pink garment. Then one day Halima saw the -primus, her primus, in the hands of the small Zumzum, and remembered -about it. She rushed home to her new husband and stirred him to action; -so he arrived at my office with a long incoherent complaint, demanding -justice and the return of the stove. - -I had to spend an entire morning unravelling this history and examining -endless witnesses, who all wished to talk about any subject except -the one I was getting at. When the present wife and the divorced wife -of Ombashi Suliman met outside the office they were with difficulty -restrained from fighting, and the lurid details which were wafted -through the window, about the lives and antecedents of both ladies, -were interesting, but quite unprintable. Eventually the small Zumzum, -now in a state of inaudible terror, produced the primus, which was -found to be worn out, irreparable, and absolutely useless. - -One of the features of Sollum is a little cluster of tents and huts, -near the Camel Corps Camp, which is known as the “Booza Camp.” -It is run by about a dozen elderly Sudanese widows and divorcees -who manufacture “marissa,” a drink made from barley. The men -are allowed here at certain times and on holidays, as marissa is -not permitted to be brewed in the camp. The wives have the strongest -objection to this institution which attracts their husbands away from -home, as a public-house does in England, though the dusky barmaids -could not possibly be called attractive. One can rightly say of the -Sudanese that their favourite diversions are wine, women and song. - -The Sudanis of the Camel Corps are a very likeable lot. They are -thoroughly sporting and have a strong sense of humour, but in many -ways they are very like children. They have an aptitude for drill and -soldiering, but are useless without British officers owing to their -lack of initiative. They are faithful and become very attached to -Englishmen, but they have a keen sense of discrimination. Like all -native troops there is a tendency for each man to consider himself a -born leader, and offer his advice and opinion on all occasions; this -takes a long time to subdue. But with careful training they become -efficient soldiers, and they look very smart in their khaki uniform, -which is rather similar to an Indian’s. Physically many of them -are splendid men, very powerful and muscular, like bronze statues, -but although the climate of their own country is intensely hot they -are by no means immune from the effects of sun, and they seem to be -almost more liable to catch fever than an Englishman. - -The three sections take it in turns to go to Siwa, where they generally -remain from six to nine months. It is not a popular place, in spite -of the fact that every man is allowed to marry, with no restrictions, -such as first having to pass a musketry test. The men much prefer -being on the coast where there is more going on, as they are at -heart intensely sociable, and also, though living is cheap at Siwa, -the climate has a bad reputation. - -The best time to go to Siwa is in the spring, when the weather is -cool and there is probably water on the road. The trip needs a good -deal of preparing for, especially as one has to take down stores for -many months. A camel patrol from Siwa used to meet a patrol from the -coast at the half-way point on the road once every month, and in this -way the mails were sent down to the oasis. A car patrol was supposed -to go down at certain intervals, but they were very irregular, and -sometimes, on the few occasions when they did come, they forgot to -bring the mail. One depended so much on letters at Siwa that this -was an intense disappointment. The following is a rough diary of a -trek down to Siwa in the hot weather. - - -_Saturday, July 24th._ - -Spent a busy morning making final arrangements for the trip and -seeing that everything was ready. We moved off from Sollum at 3.30 -p.m., myself, 39 men, 50 camels, and one dog. The whole camp turned -out to see us off, including many small black babies belonging to -the men. Some of the men wept profusely at parting with their wives, -but almost before we were out of Sollum I heard them gaily discussing -which of the Siwan ladies they would honour by marriage. Saturday -is a fortunate day to start on a journey. Apparently the prophet -Mohammed favoured Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but Saturdays -most of all. Another good omen was the appearance of two crows which -we passed just outside the camp; a single crow would have been cause -for anxiety, and to see a running hare before camping at night is -considered a very serious piece of ill-luck. I think this started -from the idea that a running hare was a sign of people on the move -close at hand, probably enemies. - -We marched along the bottom of the Scarp and reached Bir Augerin, -where we camped for the night, at sunset. At Augerin there is one of -the many rock cisterns that one finds on the coast. These cisterns are -large rectangular underground tanks, often 40 feet square and 20 feet -high, with one or two square holes in the roof large enough to admit -a man. The Arabs draw the water up in leather buckets on the end of a -rope, or if the supply is low one man goes down and fills the bucket -which is drawn up by the man above. They are always built in the middle -of a hollow with several stone runnels that carry the rain water down -from the higher ground. Generally there is a mound near the well with -a sheikh’s tomb on the top of it, a cairn surrounded by a low wall, -ornamented with a few little white flags which are contributed by -passing travellers as a thank-offering for the water. According to -M. Maspero, the cisterns along the coast were built by the Romans in -the second century A.D., and were in use until the middle or end of the -fourth century. Most of them are now so out of repair that they only -hold water for a very short time after the rains have ceased, and when -they are dry they become the home of snakes, bats and owls; however, -I believe it is proposed to restore several of the most useful of them. - -We camped near the well at Augerin. I had an indifferent dinner. My -new cook, Abdel Aziz, seems to be a fool and unaccustomed to being -on trek. He is a Berberin, a despised “gins”—race—but always -considered to be good cooks. The men I have got with me are a fine lot, -all “blacks” and mostly “Shaigis”—from the North Sudan. The -old Bash-Shawish—sergeant-major—was previously in the Coastguards -and knows the country well. I did not bother to put up a tent, but -slept in the open under the stars, which were gorgeous. Not a very -hot night. - - -_25th._ - -Moved off at 4.30 a.m. by chilly but brilliant moonlight. Led the -camels and walked for the first hour, then mounted and rode. The men -made a long line riding along in file. Arrived at Bir Hamed, another -cistern, at about 8 a.m. We stay here till to-morrow morning in order -to give the camels a good day’s grazing and watering, as this is -the last well before the real desert. Bir Hamed is a very wild, -picturesque place among the rocky foot-hills below the Scarp. In -the spring it becomes one mass of flowers, but now it looks dry and -barren. The camels drank frantically and then went out to graze. There -is still a fair amount of water in the well, which is icy cold and very -refreshing. I, and almost all the men, had a bath, as it is the last -opportunity till we get to Siwa. I spent a lazy day in my tent and the -men slept most of the time. At four o’clock the camels were driven -in to drink again, this time they were less eager to get to the water -and sipped it in a mincing way like an affected old lady drinking tea. - -[Illustration: CAMEL CORPS] - -After dinner, when I was sitting outside my tent in the moonlight, -I heard a faint sound of shouting in the distance. I took a couple of -men and walked in the direction the sound came from. About a mile from -the camp we sighted a large number of black Arab tents that showed -up clear in the moonlight on a slight rise in the ground. There had -been a marriage in the tribe and the festivities were being concluded -by a dance. - -Two girls were slowly revolving round in the centre of an enormous -circle of white-robed bedouins each holding in her hand, above her -head, a long cane which she flourished in the manner that a dancer -uses a bouquet of flowers. The girls wore the usual Arab dress, -the black, long-sleeved robe and scarlet waist-band, but their faces -were hidden by long black veils, and they wore white shawls fastened -in flounces round the waist, which stuck out almost like a ballet -girl’s skirt. The moon flashed on the heavy silver bangles on their -arms and on their silver necklaces and earrings. - -The audience were divided into four parties, the object of each party -being to attract the dancers to them by the enthusiasm of their singing -and hand-clapping. A man playing on a flute and another with a drum -led the tune, which was wearily monotonous but strangely attractive -and a fitting accompaniment to the scene. Gradually the singing became -faster and louder, the white-robed Arabs swayed to and fro urging -the dancers to fresh exertions; the girls revolved more rapidly -and one of them began the “Dance de ventre,” which consists of -rather sensuous quivering movements, not attractive to a European, -but much admired by natives. The singing and hand-clapping became more -violent and finally culminated in frenzied shouting when one of the -girls halted, swaying, before the loudest section of the audience, -and several men flung themselves on their knees, kissing her feet and -exclaiming at her beauty, which if it existed was quite invisible to -me, and praising her skill in dancing with high-flown speeches and -compliments. Outside the circle of brown-faced, white-clad Arabs, -and in the doors of the tents, there were a crowd of women watching -the performance, and a group of dancing girls stood whispering to -each other under their black veils, tinkling their ornaments, as they -waited to step into the circle and relieve their companions. - -I stood watching the dancing for a long time, and then returned to -my tent. As I walked away I heard hoarse shouts of “Ya Ayesha—ya -Khadiga,” as two new girls began to dance, and the whistle and the -drum struck up another queer little melody. Not until almost dawn -did quiet reign again on the desert, broken only by the occasional -wail of a wandering jackal. - - -_26th._ - -Moved off at 4 a.m. and marched till 9.30. We led the camels for the -first two hours along the rocky, difficult ground below the Scarp, -and then up a steep, stony pass to the top. I reached the top just -as the “false dawn” glimmered with a streak of pale light in the -east. There was a heavy dew; all the country down below looked grey -and misty. Gradually the long, twisting line of led camels reached -the summit, and as we rode off across the level upland towards Siwa -the real sunrise began and the stars faded in the sky. The dew was -so thick that the spiders’ webs on the bushes all sparkled. By -midday it was intolerably hot. We halted at a place called Qur el -Beid, a most depressing spot consisting of three low sand-hills and a -tiny patch of vegetation which the camels sniffed at contemptuously, -probably comparing it in their minds to the much superior grazing near -Bir Hamed. I lunched lightly and lay sweating in my tent with Howa, -my Silugi dog, lying openmouthed and panting at my side till we moved -on again for the afternoon “shid”—march. - -The first hour of the afternoon “shid” is the worst of the day. The -swaying motion of the camel, the glare, and the burning sun beating -down, makes one terribly inclined to sleep, and the hard, yellowish -brown desert is absolutely monotonous. A good “hagin”—riding -camel—is very comfortable to ride when it is trotting, but not at a -walk. Its action is peculiar, first the two off legs move together, and -then the two near legs; this is what causes the swinging motion. There -is an idea that when people first ride a camel they are afflicted by a -sort of sea-sickness, but although I am a bad sailor I have never felt -this, nor have I yet met anyone who did. Camels are very easy to ride; -one just sits on the saddle with legs crossed over the front pummel, -and there is very little chance of falling off as long as the camel -behaves itself. The usual way of mounting is to make the camel kneel -down and then step on to the saddle, but if one is long-legged and -active it is possible to spring up into the saddle from the ground, -which is much quicker and useful when the ground is hard and unsuitable -for the camel to kneel on. A camel’s usual pace is a slow trot, -about 4½-5 miles an hour, and they can keep up this pace for hours -on end. Of course they can go at a sort of gallop, if they like, and -when they do this they cover the ground at a terrific speed, but it -is rather difficult to ride them, and they have an unpleasant trick -of suddenly swerving which generally shoots one over the camel’s -head on to the ground. I have known, too, camels that bucked, and -others that suddenly knelt down when one did not expect it, both very -disconcerting tricks. They are not affectionate animals and they never -seem to know their own masters; there was only one among mine that -had any “parlour tricks,” and he used to inhale tobacco smoke -through his nose, apparently with the greatest appreciation. - -We saw several gazelle in the afternoon, but all too far away for a -shot. Halted for the night at a place where there were about four -small tufts of vegetation. The camels are less fastidious now and -condescended to nibble at them. - -The best time of the day is the evening when the sun sinks low, the -desert becomes a pinkish colour, and our shadows stretch like huge -monsters for yards across the ground. Then I begin to look out for -a camping place, anywhere where there are a few scraps of dried-up -vegetation, or, failing that, a soft-looking patch of ground where -the camels will be comfortable. When we halt the baggage is unloaded -and the camels are allowed to roam about and eat what they can -find; in five minutes my tent is pitched, chair and table unfolded, -and dinner is being prepared. Some of the men begin measuring out -the camels’ dhurra—millet—and others go and collect bits of -stick for the fires, or if there is no wood they use dry camel dung, -which is an excellent fuel. Then the camels are driven in again, -unsaddled and tied down in a long line; at a given signal the men -run along the line and place each one’s food on a sack in front of -its nose. Every man squats down by his own camel and watches it eat, -preventing the ones who eat fast from snatching at their neighbour’s -grain. Afterwards the men have their own supper—lentils, onions, -bread and tea, and soon roll themselves up in their blankets, covering -face and all, and go to sleep behind their saddles, which they use -as shelters against the night wind. The only sound is the munching -of the camels and an occasional hollow gurgle as they chew the cud, -and the footsteps of the sentry as he moves up and down the line, -“till the dawn comes in with golden sandals.” - -Abdel Aziz is improving; he produced quite a decent dinner—sausages, -fried onions and potatoes, omelette and coffee, followed by -a cigar. One sleeps splendidly on the desert. Even in the hottest -weather the nights are fairly cool. Towards morning, just before the -“false dawn,” a little cool breeze blows over the sand and stirs -the flaps of one’s tent, like a sort of warning that soon it will -be time to get on the move again. - - -_27th._ - -We marched for six hours in the morning and about four hours in the -afternoon, and camped for the night at the half-way point between -Sollum and Siwa, which is a mound ornamented by a few empty tins. The -temperature in my tent at midday must have been about 120 degrees, -and not a scrap of breeze or fresh air. This is real desert; there is -not a vestige of any living thing, animal or vegetable. The ground is -hard limestone covered with dark, shining pebbles, and in some places -there are stretches of dried mud, left from the standing water after -the rains. These mud pans are impassable in wet weather, and one has -to make a wide detour to avoid them. Now they are cracked by the sun -into a number of little fissures of a uniform size, about 6 inches -square. The effect is very curious. - -I once motored down to Siwa in a car driven by an English -A.S.C. private who had never been out in the desert before. When we -were running over one of these mud pans he remarked to me, “It -seems wonderful how they have laid bits of this road with paving -blocks—don’t it, sir!” I thought he was trying to be funny, -but when I looked at him I saw that he was perfectly serious, so I -agreed that it was indeed wonderful. Nobody believed the story when -I told it afterwards, but it really did happen. - -The mirage is very vivid. Almost all the time one sees what appears -to be a sheet of shining water ahead in the distance, and one can -distinguish bays and islands on it; gradually, as one gets nearer, it -recedes and then fades away. It is like the shimmering heat that one -sometimes sees at home on a hot day, but greatly intensified. Distances -look out of proportion on the desert; little mounds, too small to be -called hills, appear like huge mountains. About every thirty miles -there seem to be slight rises of a terrace-like formation. - -Every evening the men make bread, which they call “khuz.” It is -very simply done and quite good when freshly baked. They take flour -and a little salt and mix it together with water, in a basin or on -a clean sack, kneading it into dough with their hands. When it is -solid and firm they smooth it out into a flat, round loaf about 1½ -inches thick. Then they go to the fire, scrape aside all the embers, -and lay the loaf on the hot sand. Then they put the embers back on -the top of the loaf. After a few minutes’ cooking they rake aside -the fire again and turn the loaf, replacing the fire on the top as -before. The time taken in cooking depends on the heat, but is generally -about ten minutes. The bread lasts until the following evening. - -All the way we are following what is known as a “mashrab,” a desert -road, which consists of a narrow rut about a foot wide, worn by the -passage of camels through many centuries. Without specially looking for -them one would hardly notice these mashrabs, which are almost identical -to the “gazelle paths” that wind aimlessly about the desert, but -one is helped by the cairns of stones which are raised by the Arabs -on every bit of high ground, sometimes to show the way and sometimes -to mark the lonely grave of a less fortunate traveller. Each of these -twisting desert tracks is known to the Arabs by a different name. There -is the “Mashrab el Khamisa,” from Bagbag to Siwa, called thus -because there are five wells on the way; there is the “Mashrab el -Akhwan”—the Brothers’ Road, from Jerabub to the coast, which -was used by the Senussi Brethren when they travelled from their Zowia -at Jerabub into Egypt; and the “Mashrab el Abd”—the Slave’s -Road, as according to legend, once upon a time, in the dim ages, a -slave who was captured and brought by this route into Egypt from his -home in the west, returned to the west and led an army against Egypt -by the very road that he had come by as a captive. Often the mashrab -seems to fade away, and then the trackers have to ride on ahead and -pick it up again. A number of Bisharin from the North-East Sudan were -specially enlisted in the Camel Corps as trackers and guides. They -are thought to be more skilful at this work than any other tribe, -though personally I think a bedouin is cleverer. But when working -in a bedouin country it is best not to employ local natives. Some -of the Bisharin are almost unnaturally clever, they can follow a -footstep over hard, broken ground where anyone else would see no sign -of anything. These men have a natural instinct for finding the way, -a sort of abnormal bump of locality. When they first arrived on the -coast some of them were wearing the usual clothes of their country -and the fuzzy-wuzzy coiffure that is so remarkable a characteristic -of their race. The Arabs had never seen this type of Sudanese and -were intensely interested in them. Small bedouin boys used to stand -and stare at these tall brown men with the great mops of woolly hair -ornamented with a few skewer-like objects, but the Bisharin were -absolutely indifferent. - - -_28th._ - -Left “Keimat en Nus”—the half-way tent—at a very early hour -and rode for a long time by moonlight; one can cover more ground -when it is cold, but there is a danger of going off the track. The -mashrab is faint enough in the daytime, but almost invisible at -night. When we start off in the morning all the men shout together -three times, “Ya Sidi Abdel Gader,” invoking a certain sheikh who -is the patron sheikh of travellers. One of my men told me that he was -born in Berber “min zaman”—a long time ago—and used to travel -about the Sudan deserts without water or food. His descendants still -live at Berber where he is buried. - -For the first hour or two the men are very lively and rouse the -desert with their singing. Usually one man sings the refrain in a -rather drawling falsetto voice, and then the whole lot take up the -chorus with a real swing, and some of them have very good voices, -too. Sometimes the song is the history of a certain Abu Zeyed, -a legendary character and an exceedingly lewd fellow, from all I -could hear of his doings. Sometimes they would sing stories from the -Thousand and One Nights, or sometimes the songs would be chants that -reminded one of the Gregorian music in a very “High” church at -home. Often I used to ride on ahead, almost out of sight, and then -wait while the chanting voices gradually grew louder, and the long -line of camels came into sight across the white moonlit sands. There -was something very fascinating in the sound of the singing as we rode -through the African desert at night. - -But later on, when the sun began to warm up, nobody felt like -singing. Occasionally somebody started, and a few voices joined in, -but they very soon subsided again. At the midday halt the men rigged -up rough bivouacs with blankets, and rifles as tent poles, then for -several hours one lay in the scanty shade, feeling like a pat of -butter that had been left out in the sun by mistake. - -Howa is getting very tired. I picked her up and carried her on the -saddle across my knees for several hours to-day. She is quite fit, -but 200 miles in the hot weather does take it out of a dog. The -camels are in good condition but much looking forward to water, -their flanks are beginning to look “tucked in,” and at night -some of them groan and gurgle horribly. To-morrow we should be in -the oasis at the first well. This evening I functioned with the -medicine chest; I gave several of the men pills and Eno’s, which -they enjoyed, and dressed a foot with a bad cut on it. My own knees -are like raw beef from the sun, though I’ve been wearing shorts -all the summer. We have to be “canny” with the water as several -of the “fanatis”—water-cans—are leaking. Fortunately I have -trained myself only to drink a little in the morning and evening, -and I can wash quite thoroughly in two cups of water. - -Sometimes in the evening I walk right away from the camp into the -utter quiet of the desert, out of sight of camels and men. It is -a wonderful sensation to be in such absolute silence, with nothing -to see but the horizon and “the rolling heaven itself.” Then I -retrace my footsteps to the camp and enjoy the pleasant feeling of -seeing the twinkling fires in the distance, and arriving at a neatly -laid dinner-table right in the middle of nowhere. - - - “Daylight dies, - - The camp fires redden like angry eyes, - - The tents show white - - In the glimmering light, - - Spirals of tremulous smoke arise, to the purple skies, - - And the hum of the camp sounds like the sea - - Drifting over the desert to me.” - - -_29th._ - -In the early morning, before dawn, we passed a caravan going -north. I rode over to see who they were and found that it was a -party of Mogabara Arabs on their way up to the coast, and thence -into Egypt. One of them, Ibrahaim el Bishari, is quite a well-known -merchant who travels about Egypt, Tripoli and the Sudan. He had come -lately up from Darfur, via Kufra, Jalow and Jerabub, and was going -down to the Sudan again after spending some time in Egypt. He talked -about people I knew in Darfur and carried “chits” from a number -of Englishmen. His fellows looked a fine lot of men, very different -to the few Siwans who were travelling with them. I should have liked -to have seen the stuff in his loads; he said he had some good carpets -that he hoped to sell in Egypt. We wished each other a prosperous -journey, and so parted “like ships that pass in the night.” - -We camped at midday within sight of the high country above the -oasis. This morning one of my men was talking about the Sudan and -touched on the “Bilad el Kelab”—the Country of Dogs. All Sudanese -believe that this place exists somewhere down in the south of the -Sudan towards Uganda. I have seen them draw maps on the sand to show -its position. In this mysterious country all the men become dogs at -sunset time and roam about the gloomy forests like the werewolves -of mediæval fiction. I have heard the men yarning over the camp -fires and saying how their cousin’s wife’s brother—or some -such distant relation—actually reached this country and returned -alive. Of course it is always somebody else who saw it, but the story -is firmly believed by all Sudanese, and so it is a very favourite -topic of conversation. Sometimes they enlarge on it and tell how -So-and-So married a wife from that country and one night a number of -dogs arrived at his hut and carried the woman away with them. - -This afternoon we ascended from the desert to the high limestone range -that forms a rampart to the oasis on the north, and then we started -crawling down into the Siwa valley. The desert plateau is about 600 -feet above sea-level, and the oasis is 72 feet below it, and as the -height of the hills is considerable there is a big drop down into -the oasis. The track winds in and out through strange rocky passes, -among weirdly shaped cliffs whose tortured shapes remind one of Gustave -Doré’s illustration of the Inferno. These wild ravines are utterly -desolate, even in the spring no vegetation grows among them. This is -a land of broken stone where huge boulders seem to have been hurled -about by giant hands. The sun sank low before we had escaped from the -mountains, and the fantastically shaped crags were silhouetted with -monstrous shadows against the yellow sky. Sometimes the narrow road -seemed to cling to the side of a towering cliff, and at other times -it twined in and out through deep, echoing valleys in the shadow of -the overhanging, jagged rocks. In places the camels had to be led in -single file. Once the men began to sing, but the dismal echoes among -the caves sounded almost inhumanly depressing, so they gave it up, -and we marched along in silence. Finally a line of far distant green -appeared down below between two great cliffs, and one could see, very -faintly, the masses of graceful palms nodding their crests over the -murmuring oasis. To weary men after a six days’ camel ride across -the desert the first glimpse of Siwa is like the sight of the sea to -those ancient Greeks on the far-away shores of the Euxine. - -[Illustration: CAMEL CORPS TREKKING TO SIWA, NEAR MEGAHIZ PASS] - -When all the camels had come out from the last valley among the -rocks we “got mounted” and rode for about half a mile, past -groups of palm trees, already heavy with clusters of yellow dates, -to Ein Magahiz, which is the first spring in the oasis. Here we camped -for the night, watered the camels, who simply revelled in the water, -and I enjoyed a luxurious bathe in the deep cool spring which rises -among a cluster of palm trees. All night we could hear the thudding -of tom-toms in Siwa town, which is only a mile or so away. - - - “The cadenced throbbing of a drum, - - Now softly distant, now more near, - - And in an almost human fashion - - It, plaintive, wistful, seems to come - - Laden with sighs of fitful passion.” - - -_30th._ - -The mosquitoes last night were a reminder that we are no longer up on -the high desert; they were maddening, in spite of a net. This morning -everybody bathed and shaved and generally polished up. We rode across -to the town in great style; past the palm-shaded gardens with fences -of yellow “gerida”—palm branches; past the white rest house, on -the terraced side of a curious conical hill called “The Hill of the -Dead,” honeycombed with rock tombs; past the long low “Markaz,” -where the mamur and the police guard turned out to see us; across the -wide market square, and through the narrow streets between tall houses -of sunbaked clay below the enormous high walls of the old town. The -heat was already great, and the streets were almost deserted, except -for a few recumbent figures in a shady corner of the market-place, -who scrambled up as we rode by and then hurried off to tell their -friends that the “Hagana”—Camel Corps—had arrived. - -The Camel Corps barracks and the District Officer’s house are out -on the sand about half a mile south of the town. They occupy two -isolated rocks about a quarter of a mile apart, which were formerly -the strongholds of two Siwan sheikhs. The District Officer’s house -stands on a limestone rock about 50 feet high. It is a high house -built of mud and palm log beams. To reach it one goes up a steep path -in the rock with roughly cut steps on to a little terrace with a sort -of loggia that opens through the building into the large courtyard -behind, which is surrounded by a high loopholed wall. There are two -rooms on the ground floor, both high and long, about 30 by 15 feet, -and two more rooms above with a roofed loggia and an open roof. The -rooms have three windows in each, with glass in them, the only glass -in Siwa, facing north and looking across the grove of palm trees -below the house to the strange-looking town on its two rocks. The -house was built by the former District Officer, who added to the old -Siwan fortress which existed there; it has a wonderful position and -is high enough to be free from mosquitoes. - -I spent a busy day settling down and fixing up things with S——, -who starts with his section for the coast in two days. S——is -heartily sick of Siwa and longing to see the last of it. We dined -on the terrace outside—to the accompaniment of throbbing tom-toms -over in the town—on soup, chicken, caramel pudding and a dish of -every sort of fruit, which was a pleasant change after months on the -coast without any. Caramel pudding is the “pièce de résistance” -of every cook in Egypt; unless one orders the meal it always appears -on the menu. S——’s cook is an indifferent one. Out here I have -noticed a universal habit of considering, or pretending to consider, -one’s own servants absolute paragons of virtue, honesty, cleanliness -and skill, and invariably running down everybody else’s. I have heard -men hold forth for hours on the excellent qualities of their Mohammed, -or Abdel, knowing myself that Mohammed—or Abdel—or whatever his -name may be, was a double-dyed villain and swindling his master right -and left—but now I am doing it myself! - - -I think what impressed me most on arriving at Siwa was the intense -heat, the excellent bathing, the enormous height and strange -appearance of the town, and the incessant sound of tom-toms from -sunset onwards. One misses “the slow shrill creak of the water -wheels, a mournful cry, half groan, half wail,” which is such a -feature of Egypt and the Sudan. The average temperature in the summer -was about 108 degrees in the shade, or on warmer days 110 degrees or -112 degrees, but the nights were cool, and every evening regularly -at about eight o’clock a little breeze blew across from the east -and freshened things up. The only way to keep the house cool was by -leaving the doors and windows open all night, and keeping them closed -and tightly shuttered during the day. It resulted in dark rooms, -but at least they were fairly cool and free from flies. I soon made -the house very comfortable with some rough home-made furniture and -a few carpets and mats. - -When a new Section of Camel Corps arrived at Siwa one of the first -events that occurred was the “taking over” of wives. In most cases -the men who were leaving handed on their wives to the new men, in the -same way as the stores, barracks, camels, etc., were officially handed -over by the officer who was going away to his relief. On the day before -the new Section rode in all the ladies retired from the camp _en masse_ -to the houses of their relations in the town; the new men then entered -into negotiations with the retiring Section for the taking over of -the wives. A few of the men sought fresh pastures, but most of them -took on the wife of a man they knew well in the other Section. On the -day that the departing Section left Siwa all the ladies assembled on -the road that they would pass, carrying their boxes and belongings, -and when the camels came by they shrieked and wept, throwing dust on -their heads, beating their breasts, pretending to tear their clothes, -and showing signs of the most frantic sorrow at the departure of the -men. As soon as the camels were round the corner out of sight they -brushed off the dust, put on their bracelets, tidied themselves up -and hurried merrily across to the “harimat” outside the barracks, -followed by boys carrying their boxes, to their new husbands who were -waiting for them. This performance happened regularly whenever there -was an exchange of Sections. I used to watch the little tragi-comedy -from my terrace. The harimat of Siwa consisted of a number of rush huts -below the rock on which the fort was built. If any of the wives caused -trouble, and they often did, they were ejected and never allowed to -marry a soldier again. Polygamy was forbidden, and each lady, before -she married, was required to produce a certificate stating that she -was a respectable person, signed by several sheikhs and notables of -the town. The Siwans had no objection to these alliances between -Sudanese soldiers and Siwan women, as women in Siwa outnumber the -men at the rate of three to one. - -The daily routine at Siwa did not vary very much. In the summer I was -generally called at 5.30, in time to run down from the house and have -one plunge in the cool deep bathing pool in the palm grove below the -rock before dressing. Clothes were a very minor matter; one wore simply -shirt, shorts, shoes and stockings, all of the thinnest material. Then -I used to walk over to the C.C. barracks and take the parade, sometimes -mounted drill, sometimes dismounted. We did mounted drill on a stretch -of firm white sand among the dunes south of the barracks. Breakfast -was at about eight—eggs, coffee, bread and jam, the eggs being even -smaller than Egyptian ones, about the size of bantam’s eggs, so one -needed a lot for a meal. After breakfast I went across to the barracks -again, and then rode down through the town on my pony to the Markaz. - -The path to the town passed over a disused cemetery where the pony was -very liable to stick its foot through the thin layer of soil above the -graves, under an archway and into the street that divides the Eastern -and Western quarters. The street itself was hard rock and very steep -in parts, but owing to the height of the tall houses on each side -it was generally cool and shady and a favourite resting-place of the -inhabitants, many of whom lay stretched full length across the street -taking their siesta. But the clattering hoofs of my pony generally -roused them, and they scrambled out of the way when I came. The Siwans -are well mannered, a virtue that one never sees in Egypt nowadays, -and even in the Sudan it is on the wane. When I rode or walked in the -town everybody would stand up as I passed, and if I met people riding -they would dismount until I had gone on. I have heard people at home -say what a scandal it is that in some places the poor downtrodden -natives have to stand up and move off the path for an Englishman, -but after all they would do exactly the same for their own Pashas, -and apart from being an Englishman one was entitled to respect as -being the representative of the Egyptian Government in Siwa. Once I -was badly “had” over this. I was riding through the market with -some policemen following me on my way to make an inspection. There was -a group of Siwans sitting talking on the ground, and as I passed they -all stood up—except one man who remained comfortably seated in the -shade right in the middle of the path. I ordered one of the policemen -to see who he was and to bring him along to the Markaz to answer for -his bad manners. A few minutes later the man from the market was led -into the office. He was stone blind! - -The Markaz is a large building outside the town with square courtyard -surrounded by prisons, stores and offices. It has a permanent guard -of locally enlisted police; they are quite smart men, but of little -use when there is trouble in the town, and always at enmity with the -Sudanese Camel Corps. At the Markaz I would usually find a number of -petitions to be read and examined, some cases to be tried, and probably -people applying for permits to cross the frontier who would have to be -questioned and seen. Then the sheikhs would arrive and there would be -discussions about various things—taxes, labour, work on the drains -or Government buildings, new regulations and orders, and then perhaps -the merchants would be summoned, and a heated controversy would follow -about the price of sugar, or the butchers would come to complain of -the cost of meat. It was like a daily meeting of a town council, and -complicated by innumerable interests, rivalries and intrigues. All -these matters, though they sound very small, were of considerable -importance to the Siwans. - -There were six sheikhs recognized by the Administration, three of -them eastern, and three western. Sheikh Saleh Said was the most -influential and the most unbiassed by personal considerations. He -was a big handsome man with a dark moustache and features that -might have been copied from the bust of a Roman consul. He always -wore a long blue robe, and was the most dignified and impressive of -the sheikhs. I never saw him in a hurry or at all excited. Sheikh -Thomi was a little dark fellow, and reputed to be the richest man in -Siwa. He had a queer, quick way of speaking, was intensely obstinate, -a staunch Westerner, but honest—as far as I ever knew. I once -offended him very grievously. One day he sent me a basket of grapes, -the first that had ripened in his vineyards. I gave the servant -boy a piastre for bringing them. The boy returned and presented the -piastre to Sheikh Thomi, who was very hurt at being sent 2½d. when -he had made me a gift of fruit. Sheikh Thomi was a man of means and -worth several thousand pounds. I heard about the piastre incident and -explained it to him. To offer to pay for what is meant as a present -is a real breach of good manners, much worse than refusing it. - -Sheikh Mohammed Abdel Rahman was a venerable white-bearded individual -who had been to Mecca and apparently lived on his reputation of -excessive sanctity; he always agreed with everything I said, and -then if I veered round and deliberately contradicted myself he did -the same—it was not helpful! - -Abdulla Hemeid was a sly, fat, greedy man with a pale face and blue -eyes. He was very stingy and always complaining against taxation or -anything that affected his pocket. He never gave an entertainment, but -I always noticed him eating heartily in other people’s houses. His -family were much esteemed and he had succeeded his father, who had -been a very famous man in Siwa. - -Mohammed Ragah was a thin, dark, hawk-like man, more like an Arab than -a Siwan. He was very badly off for a sheikh, but keen and clever, -and not above doing a bit of hard work with his own hands. He was -the only man in Siwa at whose house one was given good coffee. He had -shown great courage during the Senussi occupation in protecting some -Egyptian officials who were in Siwa. - -Mahdi Abdel Nebi, Sheikh of Aghourmi, was the youngest of the sheikhs, -and the most reasonable and intelligent, though he had never been out -of Siwa. He was a cheerful, pleasant fellow, but cordially disliked -by the rest of the sheikhs. These six were the men who to a certain -extent controlled the destinies of Siwa. - -About once every week when I arrived at the Markaz I would find the -doctor, or the mamur, or the clerk waiting for me in a state of tearful -hysterics, begging me to forward his resignation to the Governor, as -he could exist no longer in the company of his colleagues—the two -other officials. Then would follow a long infantile complaint. If -I could not smooth him down I had to bring in the other two, who -would also dissolve into tears, and try and get to the bottom of the -affair, which was always absolutely childish and ridiculous. On one -occasion the mamur had refused to allow the doctor to have a watchman -to escort him home past a certain graveyard which alarmed him, or -the clerk accused the mamur of inveigling his cook into his service, -or something equally small. Unfortunately the clerk was a Copt, the -doctor a Syrian, and the mamur was a Cairene. It went on unceasingly, -the most preposterous things served to bring one of them weeping to -my office. And when they were relieved their successors were just -the same. Yet they were good men at their work; the clerk had a -heavy amount of office work and did it well; the doctor was quite -clever and had been trained in America; and the mamur was good at -his job. Exactly the same thing occurred among the native officials -on the coast, so it was not only the effect of Siwan solitude. - -From the Markaz I rode home, and after a light lunch either painted, -read, or went to sleep till about four, when I had another bathe, -followed by tea. After tea I went over to the Camel Corps for -“stables,” and then generally out for a walk. Sometimes I went -to Gebel Muta, the Hill of the Dead, a rocky hill on the north of -the town full of tombs hewn out of the living rock, some of them -being large and lofty with as many as eight coffin spaces round -the sides. In one of them there were the remains of a coloured wall -painting with figures of men and animals. Other times I climbed up -to the top of the town. The view from the flat roofs of the highest -houses on the rock is very wonderful, especially at sunset. On the -south of the town there is a long ridge of rolling yellow sand-hills -which change their contours when the desert winds sweep across them, -and become pink and salmon-coloured in the evenings; towards the north -one looks across a sea of palm groves and brilliant green cultivation -to the jagged range of mountains that separate Siwa from the desert; -on the west there is a great square mountain with a gleaming silver -salt lake at its foot, and in the east one sees the little village -of Aghourmi crowning another high rock which rises above the tree-tops. - -At sunset the scene is exquisite, the hills turn from pink to mauve, -and from mauve to purple, and their peaks are sharply outlined -against the gold and crimson sky; long violet shadows spread across -the rosy-tinted sand-hills, and the palm groves seem to take on a -more vivid shade of green. The smoke ascends in thin spirals from the -evening fires, and a low murmur rises from the streets and squares -below; then suddenly the prayer of the muezzin sounds from the many -mosques, and one can see the white-robed figures swaying to and fro on -the narrow pinnacles of the round towers that in Siwa take the place -of minarets. When the call to prayer is over and the last mournful -chant has echoed across the oasis, and the glow in the sky is fading -away, one hears far down beneath the soft thudding of a tom-tom and -perhaps the faint whine of a reed pipe. When the deep blue Libyan -night covers the city the music becomes louder and seems to throb -like a feverish pulse from the heart of the town. - -Often in the evening I rode out and called on the Sheikh of Aghourmi, -which is the little village on another rock two miles from Siwa. Mahdi -Abdel Nebi had recently succeeded to his father as Sheikh of Aghourmi -and was having some difficulty in sustaining his authority, even with -the support of the Administration, against the plots and intrigues -of an old cousin of his, one Haj Mohammed Hammam, a sly old man who -was rich, influential, and a thorough scoundrel, and wished to oust -his cousin and become sheikh himself. After the war Haj Hammam had -carefully cultivated the acquaintance of any British officers who came -to Siwa, and he was inordinately proud of knowing their names and -of certain small gifts that they had given him—a broken compass, -a highly coloured biscuit tin and some photographs. These he showed -on every occasion, and also remarked that they used always to call -him “_The_ Sheikh of Aghourmi”—this apparently being his only -claim to the title. - -Hammam used to employ people to let him know immediately when I was -riding out to Aghourmi, so that he, and not the sheikh, should be -waiting to receive me at the gates; then he would try to persuade me -to accept his hospitality instead of the sheikh’s. Sheikh Mahdi -always invited his old cousin to the tea drinking, though I could -well have dispensed with him, but one could not object to the presence -of another guest. Sheikh Mahdi’s house was the only one in which a -woman ever appeared when I was there. She was an old Sudanese slave -woman who had been brought many years ago from the Sudan. Once I got -her to tell me her story, but she spoke such a queer mixture of Arabic -and Siwan that it was difficult to follow. - -It appeared that when she was about eight years old she and her small -brother were playing outside their village somewhere in the North-West -Sudan, and a band of Arabs—slave raiders—swooped down and carried -them off. They were taken up into Tripoli and there she was sold -to another Arab who brought her to Siwa on his way to Egypt. She -fell ill and almost died, so the Arab, who did not want to delay, -sold her cheap to the Sheikh of Aghourmi, father of the present one; -he handed her over to his wife who cured the child. She remained -at Aghourmi for the rest of her life. She was a lively old body -and told the story in a very cheerful way, giggling and laughing, -not apparently feeling any wish to return to her own land. - -[Illustration: SHEIKH MAHDI ABDEL NEBI, OF AGHOURMI WITH HIS DAUGHTER -AND COUSIN] - -Aghourmi is almost more picturesque than Siwa. The road to the gate -passes below the overhanging rock on which the houses stand, which -is thickly surrounded by a luxuriant wilderness of apricot, fig and -palm trees. The steep path to the village goes under three archways, -each with an enormous wooden gateway, and this path is the only -possible means of entering the place. Above one of the gates there -is a high tower, and the houses alongside the path are loopholed -so that an enemy making an attack could be safely fired at from all -sides by the defenders. Inside the town there is the same dark maze -of narrow streets as in Siwa, with wells and olive presses, but all -on a smaller scale than those in Siwa town. There are a few houses -below the walls. The sheikh lives in the middle of the town in a big, -high house with a roof that has as fine a view as any that I have seen. - -I got home after sunset and often had another bathe—by -moonlight—before changing into flannels for dinner, which I had -on the terrace in front of the house. I slept upstairs, on the roof, -but I always kept a spare bed ready in the room as quite often a wild -“haboob”—sand-storm—would blow up in the middle of the night, -and even indoors one would be smothered and choked with sand. Such -was the average day at Siwa, and by nine or ten o’clock one was -glad to turn in. - -Occasionally after dinner one of the natives who were employed as -secret service agents would arrive very mysteriously at the house -on some excuse and report that there were fire-arms in the house of -So-and-So. Sometimes the information was no more than an exaggerated -rumour, but if it sounded true I would make a night raid on the -person who was supposed to have rifles. These night raids were very -dramatic, but did not always yield the harvest that was expected. The -informer would lead the way, disguised by a turban pulled low over -his head and a scarf muffling his eyes. I followed with a dozen armed -Sudanese. The difficulty was to prevent the owner of the house getting -wind of us before we surrounded the building, and to surround a Siwan -house which has dozens of doors and passages and exits over roofs -is no easy matter. It was not a matter of entering a hostile town, -but of surprising a household. We would pad silently into the town, -and anybody who we met roaming the streets would be attached to the -party to prevent his giving warning. On reaching the house the guide -slipped away in the darkness, and I surrounded the house with men; -then at a whistle each man lit a torch and I beat on the door and -demanded admittance. - -Immediately the wildest hullabaloo began inside—men shouting, women -yelling, donkeys braying and hens cackling. Sometimes this was done -in order to distract our attention from somebody who tried to slip out -and remove the rifles to a safe hiding-place. When the door was opened -all the male occupants were marched outside and the harem sent into -one room, where they sat on the floor with shawls over their heads and -reviled us—but in Siwan, so nobody was any the wiser. The house was -searched from top to bottom, the ceilings probed, the mats raised, -and every room examined. Sometimes the rifles were buried in the -floor, or hidden in bales of hay. Occasionally a modern rifle and some -ammunition was found, but usually some old Arab guns and a bag or two -of shot and gunpowder. If we had a successful haul the master of the -house would be marched off in custody to the jail in the Markaz, and -next day he would be tried, and probably heavily fined or imprisoned. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - THE HISTORY OF SIWA - - - “Cities have been, and vanished; fanes have sunk, - - Heaped into shapeless ruin; sands o’erspread. - - Fields that were Edens; millions too have shrunk - - To a few starving hundreds, or have fled - - From off the page of being.” - - -SIWA lies thickly covered with “the Dust of History,” and -its story is difficult to trace. For certain periods one is able -to collect information on the subject, but during many centuries -nothing is known. Some of the leading sheikhs have in their possession -ancient documents and treaties which have been handed down through -many generations from father to son. There is also an old Arabic -history of Siwa, which appears to have been written some time during -the fifteenth century, kept by the family whose members have always -held a position corresponding to that of a town clerk, but this old -history is so interwoven with curious legends and fables that it is -difficult to separate fact from fiction. I used to sit in the garden -of the old sheikh who owned the book and listen while he read. He was -a venerable but rascally old fellow in flowing white robes, the green -turban of a “Haj,” and huge horn spectacles. The book itself was a -muddled collection of loose sheets of manuscript kept in a leather bag. - -Roughly the history of Siwa can be divided into four periods. The -first, which is also the greatest period, dates from the foundation -of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon. The second period begins at the -Mohammedan invasion in the seventh century A.D. The third period -commences with the subjugation of Siwa by Mohammed Ali, early in the -nineteenth century; and the fourth and last period is the history of -Siwa during the Great War. - - - (1) - - FIRST PERIOD - - THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER AMMON - - -According to the late Professor Maspero, the great authority on -Egyptian antiquities, the oasis of Siwa was not connected with Egypt -until about the sixteenth century B.C. In about 1175 B.C. the Egyptian -oases, of which Siwa is one, were colonized by Rameses III, but very -little authentic information is available on the history of Siwa -until it came definitely under the influence of Egypt in the sixth -century B.C. Mr. Oric Bates, in his exhaustive work, _The Eastern -Libyans_, states that the original deity of the oasis was a sun god, -a protector of flocks, probably with the form of a bull. The African -poet Coreippus, mentions a ram-headed Libyan divinity called Gurzil -who was represented as being the offspring of the original prophetic -God of Siwa. His priests fought in battles, and the emblem of the -god was carried by the Libyans in the fray. A sacred stone at Siwa is -referred to by Pliny, which when touched by an irreverent hand stirred -at once a strong and harmful sand-wind. The theory of sun worship, -and the idea of an evil wind directed by some spirit in a stone is -substantiated by the local customs and legends which are prevalent -in Siwa at the present time. - -It is certain that when the Egyptians occupied Siwa, in about 550 B.C., -according to Mr. Bates, they discovered a local Libyan god firmly -established and supported by a powerful but barbarous cult. So great -was its reputation that King Crœsus of Lydia travelled to Siwa and -consulted the oracle a little before, or at the time of, the Egyptian -occupation. The Egyptians identified the local god of the oasis with -their own Ammon. In the fourth century B.C. the god Ammon, of the -Ammonians, for this was the name by which the people of Siwa were -now known, had become one of the most famous oracles of the ancient -world. At the time when the Egyptians recognized and worshipped the -god of the oasis, a number of stories became prevalent, tending to -prove that the deity at Siwa originated from the Ammon of Thebes, and -one legend even went so far as to assert that the Ammon of Thebes was -himself originally a Libyan herdsman who was deified by Dionysius. The -following are some of the many legends which relate the origin of -the Siwan god, and which suggest its connection with the Theban Ammon. - -Herodotus, in whose works there are frequent allusions to the -Ammonians, describes the inhabitants of the oasis of Ammon as being -colonists from Egypt and Ethiopia, speaking a mixed language, and -calling themselves Ammonians, owing to the Egyptians worshipping -Jupiter under the name of Ammon. He relates that the colonists -instituted an oracle in imitation of the famous one on the Isle -of Meroë, and mentions the following account of its origin. Two -black girls who served in the Temple of Jupiter Ammon at Thebes were -carried away by Phœnician merchants. One of them was taken to Greece, -where she afterwards founded the Temple of Dodona, which became -a well-known oracle; the other was sold into Libya and eventually -arrived at the kingdom of the Ammonians. Owing to her strange language, -which resembled “the twittering of a bird,” she was supposed by -the inhabitants to possess supernatural qualities; her reputation -increased, and her utterances came to be regarded as the words of -an oracle. There is a different version of the same fable in which -the girls are represented as two black doves, one flying to Greece, -the other to Libya. - -According to Diodorus Siculus the Temple of Jupiter Ammon was built as -far back as 1385 B.C., by Danaus the Egyptian. Rollins, in his _History -of the Ancient World_, names Ham, the son of Noah, as the deity in -whose honour the temple was built by the Ammonians. Another legend -tells that Dionysius was lost in the desert on one of his fantastic -expeditions and nearly died from thirst when suddenly a ram appeared, -which led the party to a bubbling spring. They built a temple on -the spot, in gratitude, and ornamented it with representations of a -ram’s head. It is interesting to compare this story with one of the -legends written in the Arabic history of Siwa. A Siwan, journeying -in the desert, was led by a ram to a mysterious city where he found -an avenue of black stone lions. He returned home, and set out again -at a later date, meaning to rediscover the place, but he never found -it again. In both cases it is a ram that led the way, and the god of -Siwa is represented as having a ram’s head. - -The temple, whose ruins are to be seen at the village of Aghourmi, -near Siwa, was built probably during the sixth century B.C. The date -is decided by the style of its architecture. This temple was known to -the Egyptians as “Sakhit Amouou,” the “Field of Palms,” owing -to its situation among groves of palm trees. It is evident that at this -time Siwa was the principal island in a desert archipelago consisting -of several oases, most of which are now uninhabited, obeying a common -king and owing their prosperity to the great temple of the oracle. Such -a cluster of islands would invest the dynasty to which King Clearchus -and King Lybis belonged with considerable importance. Herodotus tells -how certain Cyrenians held a conversation with Clearchus, King of -the Ammonians, who told them that a party of young men had set off -on an expedition from his country to the west, through a wild region -full of savage animals, eventually arriving at a great river where -they found a race of small black men. They supposed this river to -be a branch or tributary of the Nile, but it was actually the river -Niger. Thus it is shown that at this period Siwa was an independent -monarchy. The Ammonians lived under the rule of their own kings and -priests, and chieftainship was associated with priesthood. Silius -Italicus describes the warrior priest Nabis, an Ammonian chief, -“fearless and splendidly armed,” riding in the army of Hannibal. - -Another early visitor to the oasis was Lysander the Spartan. Being -disappointed by the oracle of Dodona he travelled to Siwa, under colour -of making a vow at the temple, but hoping to bribe the priests to his -interests. Notwithstanding “the fullness of his purse” and the -great friendship between his father and Lybis, King of the Ammonians, -he was totally unsuccessful, and the priests sent ambassadors to Sparta -accusing Lysander of attempting to bribe the holy oracle. But “he so -subtly managed his defence that he got off clear.” The Greeks held -the oracle of Ammon in great veneration. The Athenians kept a special -galley in which they conveyed questions across the sea to Libya. Mersa -Matruh, sometimes called Ammonia, was the port for Siwa, and it was -here that the ambassadors and visitors disembarked and started on -their desert journey to the oasis. The poet Pindar dedicated an ode -to Jupiter Ammon, which was preserved under the altar of the temple -for some six hundred years; and the sculptor Calamis set up a statue -to the god of the Ammonians in the Temple of Thebes at Karnak. - -In 525 B.C., Cambyses, wishing to consolidate his newly acquired -dominions in Northern Africa, dispatched two expeditions, one -against Carthage, the other into Ethiopia. He made Memphis his base -of operations and sent 50,000 men as an advance party to occupy the -oasis of Ammon. His generals had orders to rob and burn the temple, -make captives of the people and to prepare halting-places for the -bulk of the army. They passed the oasis of Khargeh and proceeded -north-west. But the whole army was lost in the sea of desert that -lies between Siwa and Khargeh. The Ammonians, on inquiries being -made, reported that the army was overwhelmed by a violent sand-storm -during a midday halt. But it is more probable that they lost their -way during one of the periodical sand-storms which are so prevalent -in this desert region, and were overcome by thirst in the waterless, -trackless desert. There was no further news; they never reached the -temple, and not one of the soldiers returned to Egypt. This huge army -still lies buried somewhere in that torrid waste, and perhaps some -fortunate traveller may at a future date stumble unawares on the -remains of the once mighty host. In the old Arabic history there -are two other stories of armies that were lost in the desert. In -one case it was a Siwan army which opposed the Mohammedan invaders, -and in the other case an army of raiders from Tebu were lost on their -way to attack the oasis. - -In 500 B.C., Siwa and the other oases were subjected to Persia, -and in the following year Cimon, the celebrated Athenian general, -sent a secret embassy to the oracle while he was besieging Citium -in Cyprus. The deputation was greeted by the oracle with the words, -“Cimon is already with me,” and on their return it was found that -Cimon had himself perished in battle. The foretelling of Cimon’s -death augmented considerably the reputation of the oracle. - -Oracles were most frequently situated in the vicinity of some natural -phenomena; this at Siwa consisted of a sacred spring known as “Fons -Solis,” the “Fountain of the Sun,” which by its strangeness -contributed to the divine qualities of the temple. Very probably it was -the “Ein el Hammam” which lies about a quarter of a mile south of -the temple ruins and is to-day one of the largest and most beautiful -springs in the oasis. Ancient writers describe its waters as being -warm in the morning, cold at noon and boiling hot at midnight. Blind, -black fish lived in the pool, according to the Arabic history, which -was connected with the rites of the temple. The water to-day is a -trifle warmer than most of the springs, and for that reason it is -the favourite bathing-place of the inhabitants of Aghourmi. I have -stood by the spring at midnight and tested its warmth, but it seemed -in no way to differ from the other springs, except that it was a very -little warmer. - -There are many contemporary descriptions of the actual temple, and -antiquarians have from time to time disputed as to its original -size and form. It appears to have consisted of a main building, -or sanctuary, surrounded by triple walls which enclosed the -dwelling-places of the king, priests and the guards, standing on a -rocky eminence among the palm groves. A smaller temple stood a few -hundred yards south of the acropolis. The rock on which the village of -Aghourmi now stands was evidently the site of the original temple and -fortress, and the ruins below the village, known as “Omm Beyda,” -are those of the minor temple. The two temples were connected by an -underground passage. - -The old history of Siwa gives a detailed description of the court of -the king. The following is a rough translation. “At one period Siwa -ranked among the important towns of the Egyptian sovereigns. It was -ruled by a king called Meneclush who built a town and cultivated the -land. He made the men drill and inaugurated a seven days’ feast -in commemoration of his succession. The people of King Meneclush -dressed richly and wore golden ornaments. The king lived in a stone -and granite palace, and assembled his people in a great square which -had four different courts, and in each court there was a statue which -caught the sun at different times of the day, and when the sun shone -upon the statues they spoke. When the people assembled they stood on -seven steps. On the highest step sat the king, below, in succession, -the king’s family, priests, astrologers and magicians, generals -and courtiers, architects, soldiers, and, below, the people. Each -step was inscribed with these words, ‘Look down, not towards -the step above, lest ye become proud’—thus inculcating the -principle of modesty. The king lived in a palace called Kreibein, -inside the walls. In those days there were many buildings in Siwa, -spreading from Omm Beyda to Gebel Dakrour. King Meneclush was -stabbed by a girl and is buried, with his horse, in the Khazeena, -underneath Aghourmi. . . . At a later period Siwa was divided into -two parts ruled by two princes called Ferik and Ibrik. Afterwards a -queen called Khamissa ruled in Siwa and gave her name to the square -hill at the end of the Western lake.” - -Much of the history is missing, and at times it plunges into -descriptions of neighbouring countries, but it is interesting to find -mention of “statues that speak” when touched by the sun. - -As recently as 1837 there was a considerable portion of the smaller -temple standing. Travellers described the roof, made of massive -blocks of stone, the coloured ceilings, and the walls covered -with hieroglyphics and sculptured figures. But the depredations -of Arab treasure hunters, and a Turkish Governor who committed an -unpardonable vandalism by blowing up the temple with gunpowder in -order to obtain stone for building an office, have reduced the once -imposing building to a single ruined pylon, or gateway, which towers -above the surrounding gardens, a pathetic reminder of its former -grandeur. This solitary ruin, and two massive stone gateways almost -hidden by mud buildings in the middle of the village of Aghourmi, -is all that remains of the temple that was once famous throughout -the world. In a way the ruins are symbolic of Siwa which was once -a powerful dominion, but is now nothing more than a wretched desert -station with three or four thousand degenerate inhabitants. - -In 331 B.C. the fame of the oracle reached its zenith, owing to -Alexander the Great visiting it after having settled his affairs -in Egypt. The visit to the famous oracle was undertaken in order -to inquire into the mysterious origin of his birth. Probably at -the same time Alexander wished to emulate the deeds of Hercules, -from whom he claimed descent, and who was supposed during his -wanderings to have visited the oasis. He marched along the coast to -Parætonium—Matruh—where he was met by ambassadors from Cyrene, -a wealthy city on the coast some 400 miles further west, who presented -him gifts of chariots and war horses. He then turned south across -the desert into a region “where there was nothing but heaps of -sand.” After journeying four days the water supply, carried in skins, -gave out, and the army was in danger of perishing from thirst when, -by a fortunate chance, or by the direct interposition of the gods, -the sky became black with clouds, rain fell, and by this miraculous -means the army was preserved from destruction. - -A little later the expedition lost its way, and after wandering for -miles was saved by the appearance of a number of ravens who, flying -before the army, guided them eventually to the temple. They found the -oasis “full of pleasant fountains, watered with running streams, -richly planted with all sorts of trees bearing fruit, surrounded by a -vast dry and sandy desert, waste and untilled . . . the temperature -of the air was like spring, yet all the place around it was dry and -scorching . . . a most healthful climate.” Alexander was received -by the oracle with divine honours, and returned to Egypt satisfied -that he was indeed the authentic son of Zeus. As the son of the god -he became a legitimate Pharoah, and adopted the pschent crown and -its accompanying rites. - -About this time various nations applied to the oracle for permission -to deify their rulers, and on the death of his friend Hephistion, -Alexander dispatched another embassy asking that Hephistion might be -ranked as a hero. When Alexander died, in 323 B.C., it was suggested -that he should be buried at Siwa. However, the suggestion was not -carried out and he was buried at Alexandria, the city to which he -gave his name. One of the hills in the desert near Siwa is still -called “Gebel Sekunder,” and tradition has it that from this hill -Alexander saw the ravens which led him to the temple. - -The ritual of the temple was somewhat similar to several other -oracular temples. The actual oracle was made in human figure, with -a ram’s head, richly ornamented with emeralds and other precious -stones. The figure of the god appears to have been shown as though -wrapped for burial, and this dead god, who was a god of prophecy, -may possibly have set the fashion of menes-worship which one still -sees in Siwa when natives resort to the graves of their ancestors in -order to learn the future. When a distinguished pilgrim arrived for -a consultation the symbol of the god was brought up from the inmost -sanctuary of the temple and carried on a golden barque, hung with -votive cups of silver, followed by a procession of eighty priests and -many singing girls, “who chanted uncouth songs after the manner -of their country,” in order to propitiate the deity and induce -him to return a satisfactory answer. The god directed the priests -who carried the barque which way they should proceed, and spoke by -tremulous shocks, communicated to the bearers, and by movements of -the head and body, which were interpreted by the priests. - -[Illustration: RUINS OF “OMM BEYDA” THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER AMMON] - -Those spaces among the palm groves at Aghourmi must have witnessed in -ancient days many a splendid spectacle. One can imagine the magnificent -ceremonies and the awe-inspiring rites which were solemnized among the -shady vistas of tall palm trees, in the shadow of the great temple on -the rock, the processions of chanting priests, the savage music of -conches and cymbals, and the gorgeous caravans of Eastern monarchs, -carrying offerings of fabulous treasure to lay before the mystic -oracle of the oasis, whose infallible answers were regarded by the -whole world with profound respect. In those days caravans from the -West, and from the savage countries of the Sudan, brought slaves and -merchandize to Siwa, and the barbarian followers of African chieftains -mingled with the courtiers of Eastern potentates, and gazed with awe on -the white-robed priests and the troops of pale singing girls. To-day -the people of Aghourmi build their fires against the great crumbling -archways that gave access to the holiest altar of Ammonium, and -shepherds graze their flocks among the ruins of the smaller temple. - - - “The Oracles are dumb - - No voice or hideous hum - - Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.” - - -Towards the end of the third century B.C. the fame of the oracle -declined, although, according to Juvenal, the answers of Ammon were -esteemed in the solution of difficult problems until long after -the cessation of the oracle at Delphi. But in the second century -B.C. the oracle was almost extinct. Strabo, writing when its fame was -on the wane, advances a theory in his _Geography_ that the Temple of -Ammon was originally close to the sea. He bases his argument on the -existence of large salt lakes at Siwa and the quantities of shells -which are to be found near the temple. He considers that Siwa would -never have become so illustrious, or possessed with such credit as it -once enjoyed, if it had always been such a distance from the coast, -therefore the land between Siwa and the sea must have been created -comparatively recently by deposits from the ocean. Undoubtedly at -some remote period the whole of the northern part of the Libyan -Desert was under the sea, but there is nothing to prove that even -then Siwa was a coast town, because one finds shells and fossils, -such as Strabo mentions, over a hundred miles south of Siwa. - -The Romans neglected Oriental oracles, especially those of Ammon. They -preferred the auguries of birds, the inspection of victims and the -warnings of heaven to the longer process of oracular consultation. In -the reign of Augustus, Siwa had become a place of banishment for -political criminals. Timasius, an eminent general, was sent there in -A.D. 396 and Athanasius addresses several letters to his disciples -who were banished to the oases, “a place unfrequented and inspiring -horror.” The French poet Fénelon, in his play, _The Adventures of -Telemachus_, makes the mistake of describing Siwa as a place where -one sees “snow that never melts, making an endless winter on the -mountain tops.” - -Somewhere about the fourth century Christianity penetrated to Siwa, -and the ruins of a church, or monastery, built probably at this time, -where one can still distinguish the Coptic cross carved in stone, -are visible at Biled el Roumi, near Khamissa. The ruin is described -in the Arabic history as the place where “bad people” lived. But -apparently Christianity was never embraced with much zeal. During the -Berber uprisings in the sixth century Siwa relapsed into barbarism, -and the Siwans probably took part with the Berbers in their struggles -against the Byzantine rule which flourished on the coast. Early in -the seventh century, when the Arab army invaded Egypt, the inland -country west of Egypt was practically independent, the Berber tribes -having won back their freedom. - - - (2) - - SECOND PERIOD - - MEDIÆVAL SIWA - - -The second period of Siwa’s history is the most difficult to trace, -especially with regard to the fixing of definite dates. One has to -depend on the Arabic history at Siwa, and occasional highly coloured -references to the oasis by the Arab historians and geographers. Siwa -was known to the Arab writers as “Schantaria,” or “Santrieh,” -spelt in various ways, which at a later date became “Siouah,” -and finally “Siwa.” - -In 640 Egypt was invaded by a Mohammedan army commanded by Amrou, -who seized the country from the feeble grasp of the representatives -of Heraclius. The tide of conquest swept west along the northern coast -of Africa. The disunion of the Berber tribes made the conquest of the -country more easy for the host of Islam. Fugitives from the Arabs fled -inland to the remote places such as the oases, and it was not until -several centuries later that the Arabs established their religion -in Siwa. According to the Arabic history when Egypt was invaded by -the Mohammedans the Siwans sent an army to help repel the enemy, -but this army, like many others, was lost in the desert. - -Mohammed Ben Ayas, an Arab historian who wrote in 1637, gives an -account of the mysterious country of “Santarieh,” and describes -how Moussa Ibn Nosseir was repulsed from its gates. In 708 Moussa -attempted to reduce Siwa. He crossed the desert from Egypt in seven -days. On arrival he found that all the Siwans had retired into their -fortified town, which was surrounded by enormously high walls, with -four iron gates. Finding it impossible to force an entrance he ordered -his men to scale the walls and see what lay on the other side. With -the aid of ladders they managed to reach the battlements, but each -man who scaled the wall immediately disappeared over the other side -and was never seen again. Moussa was so discouraged by this that -he renounced his project and returned to Egypt, having lost a large -number of soldiers. In 710 Tharic Ben Sayed, another Arab general, -was also repulsed. - -The mediæval Arab writers have many stories to tell of the strange -things at Siwa. Among the wonders of the country was a magic lake over -which no bird could fly without falling in, and it could only escape -from the water if drawn out by a human hand. The four gates of the -town were surmounted by four brass statues. When a stranger entered -the gates a deep sleep fell upon him, and he remained in this state -until one of the inhabitants came and blew upon his face. Without this -attention he lay unconscious at the foot of the statue until death -claimed him. There was a sacred stone in the town which was called -“The Lover,” because of its strange power of attracting men. It -drew them towards itself, and then when they touched it their limbs -stuck to the stone. Struggles were of no avail, their only release was -death. The neighbouring country was full of wild beasts, and serpents -of prodigious length, with bodies as thick as palm trunks, dwelt -among the hills and devoured sheep, cattle and human beings. Another -species was particularly fond of eating camels. In one of the gardens -there flourished a marvellous orange tree which bore 14,000 oranges, -not including those that fell to the ground, every year. The author -who mentions this tree asserts that he saw it himself! - -All the Arab writers mention the mines at Siwa. Among the mountains -that enclose the oasis people found iron, lapis lazulis and emeralds, -which they sold in Egypt. They also exported the salt which they picked -up on the ground, and obtained barley from Egypt in exchange. The -only manufactures were leather carpets of great beauty, which were -much prized by Egyptians. - -The inhabitants of Siwa were Berbers; they worked naked in their -gardens; the country was independent, thinly populated and showed signs -of a former civilization. A strange breed of savage donkey, striped -black and white—zebras—lived in the oasis. These animals allowed -no one to mount them, and when taken to Egypt they died at once. - -People used to find enchanted cities in the desert near Siwa, but -latterly they have disappeared and their positions are now only marked -by mounds of sand. Abdel Melik, Ibn Merouan, made an excursion from -Egypt into the desert near Siwa, where he discovered a ruined city -and a tree that bore every known fruit. He gathered some fruit and -returned to Fostat—Cairo. A Copt told him that this city contained -much treasure, so he sent out the Copt with a number of men provisioned -for thirty days to rediscover the place, but they failed to find it. On -another occasion an Arab was journeying near Siwa and suddenly saw a -loaded camel disappear into a deep, rocky valley in the middle of the -desert. He followed it and arrived at an oasis watered by a spring -where there were people cultivating the land. They had never seen a -stranger before. He returned to Egypt and reported the matter to the -collector of taxes, who immediately sent out men to visit this oasis, -but, as usual, they never found it. - -There are innumerable stories of hidden cities in the desert near -Siwa. This idea, and that of buried treasure, appeals strongly to -an Oriental mind. Siwa itself, owing to its history, probably does -contain a great deal that could be advantageously excavated. It -is a field that would yield many treasures, as up to now no really -thorough work has been carried out, though various people who have -happened to be there have “done a little digging.” The ex-Khedive -spent some money in uncovering some old ruins near one of the lakes, -but really there is a great deal that has never been touched. Labour, -and the difficulty of reaching Siwa, are the most formidable obstacles -to any excavating projects. - -It is interesting to note that nearly all the mediæval Arab historians -mention the emerald mines at Siwa, and in these days the natives still -hold a belief in their existence. In the time of the Temple of Jupiter -Ammon the figure of the god was decorated with emeralds, which were -probably found in the country. According to a Siwan tradition there -exists a cave in the hill called Gebel Dakrour, south of Aghourmi, -which contains precious stones. But its entrance is guarded by a -jinn, who makes it invisible except to a person who has drunk from -the water of a certain spring among the sand-dunes south of Siwa. The -spring is unknown in these days, but I have seen it marked on an old -map of the desert. Possibly some of the peculiar shafts that pierce -the hills round Siwa are the remains of old mines; it is difficult -to imagine what else they could be. - -In 1048 the tribes of Hilal and Ben Soleim, who had been transported -from Arabia as a punishment, and were living in the country between -the Nile and the Red Sea, were given permission to cross the Nile -and advance into Tripoli. Some 200,000 of them hastened like hungry -wolves with their wives and families from Egypt to the west. They -overran Tripoli and pushed on towards the shores of the Atlantic. It -was some of these colonists who eventually forced Siwa to accept the -Mohammedan rule, and by 1100, according to the Arab historians, the -Koran flourished within the precincts of the Temple of Ammon. From -that date onwards Siwa has been fanatically Mohammedan. The Siwans -were not swept into oblivion by this great Arab invasion; apparently -only a very few Arabs remained in the oasis, and very shortly they -themselves became indistinguishable from the Siwans. From this time -the Berbers, as a nation, ceased to exist, but they remained Berbers, -not Arabs, and in a few out-of-the-way places, such as Siwa, they -retained much of their original language. - -The history at Siwa tells how one Rashwan was King of Siwa when the -Mohammedan army arrived, commanded by the Prophet’s khalifa. Rashwan -summoned his priests and magicians and consulted them as to how the -enemy were to be repelled. Acting on their advice he removed all the -bodies from “Gebel Muta,” a hill near Siwa which is honeycombed -with rock tombs, and cast them into the springs in order to poison -the enemy. Then he retired into the town, depending on the wells -inside the walls. The Mohammedan army arrived, but the water of the -springs did them no harm. They stormed the town and captured it after -a strenuous fight; Rashwan was killed, and the inhabitants embraced -the faith of Islam at the sword’s point. - -During the period that followed the Arab invasion very little is known -of Siwa. The oasis was inhabited by a mixture of Berbers and Arabs, -the Berbers predominating. Occasional caravans of slave-traders passed -northwards along the main desert routes, and some of the slaves, having -been bought by the Siwans, remained in the oasis and intermarried with -the inhabitants. The Siwans, diminished in numbers and in power, began -to suffer from raids by the Arabs from the west and from the coast. - -According to the old history, which is preserved at Siwa, there was -another small incursion from the east at a later date. About the middle -of the fifteenth century there was a great plague which carried off -a number of Siwans. A certain devout man in Egypt dreamed that the -ground at Siwa was very rich. He came to the oasis and settled there, -planting a special kind of date palm which he brought from Upper Egypt; -he also grew dates for the “Wakf”—religious foundation—of the -Prophet, which custom still continues. Later he made the pilgrimage -and described the country of Siwa to the people of Mecca, who had never -heard of it. They did him great honour. He returned to Siwa accompanied -by thirty men, Berbers and Arabs, who settled in Siwa. They built an -olive press in the centre of the high town and inscribed their names -thereon. From these men, and their Siwan wives, certain of the present -inhabitants are descended, and some Siwans boast to-day that their -forebears came with “The Thirty” whose names were inscribed on -the old olive press. “The Thirty” occupied the western part of -the town, and the original Siwans remained in the eastern quarter -and in the village of Aghourmi. Later the Siwans elected a council -and chose a “Kadi”—judge—who drew up a code of laws. - -Under this government the population increased and the people -flourished again; they treated travellers well, especially pilgrims -from the west on their way to Mecca. The people of Tripoli came -to hear of them, and they made an alliance together. Siwa became a -“Zawia”—religious dependency—of Tripoli, and the Siwans fought -in the army of Tripoli. Siwa once more became a market for slaves and -a halting-place for the caravans from the south and the west. Slaves -came in great numbers from Wadai and the Sudan, via Kufra, Jalo and -Jerabub. Egyptian merchants came to Siwa bringing merchandise, and -returned to Egypt with slaves and dates. From the Sudan came ivory, -gold, leather and ostrich feathers. - -During the time of Sidi Suliman, a very devout Kadi, the savage people -of Tebu, in the south, made constant raids upon Siwa, and troubled -the people greatly. On one occasion it was known that a large army -of the enemy were advancing on the oasis. The venerable judge offered -up prayers for help against the enemy, and every man in Siwa went to -the mosques. As a consequence the whole army was buried in the sand -and the road they came by was blotted out. Sidi Suliman encouraged -his people to show hospitality to strangers, but some years after -his death the people, forgetting his injunctions, drove away from -the gates some poor Arab pilgrims who sought their hospitality. It -is said that the door of Sidi Suliman’s tomb miraculously closed, -marking the strong displeasure of the saint, nor did it open until the -Arabs had been brought in and hospitably entertained. According to -another legend Sidi Suliman, whilst walking near the town, suddenly -became thirsty. There was no water at hand so he struck the ground -seven times with his staff, and fresh water gushed forth, which -flows in that place to-day. Before Sidi Suliman was born his mother -felt a frantic desire to eat some fish. There was none in the town, -and the sea lay 200 miles distant. The woman seemed on the point of -death. Suddenly a pigeon flew through the open window of her room and -deposited a large fish on the floor. She ate the fish, recovered, and -Sidi Suliman was born. For this reason all Siwan women eat fish when -they are pregnant, hoping that their offspring may be such another as -Sidi Suliman. These, and many other legends, are told of Sidi Suliman, -who has become the most venerated patron sheikh of the Siwans. - -The system of living in Siwa in those days was very curious. The -high town existed, with a thin fringe of buildings huddled at the -foot of the walls. None of the suburbs, such as Sebukh or Manshia, -were built. At night all flocks and cattle were driven within the -walls. Married men only, with their wives and families, lived in the -high town. Unmarried men, youths over fifteen years of age and widowers -shaved their heads, as a distinction, and occupied the houses outside -the walls. The town was one vast harem. After sunset no bachelors -were allowed inside the gates, and any man who divorced his wife was -cast out—until he bought a new one. The bachelors, who were known -as “Zigale,” formed a kind of town guard. On the approach of -strangers they sallied out to meet them and detained them until the -council of sheikhs had decided whether they were to be permitted to -enter the town. Strangers were almost always accommodated outside the -walls. There was one family of Siwans who were always interpreters, -for in those days, unlike to-day, hardly any of the natives spoke -any language but their own. The council of sheikhs met in a room -close to the main gate of the town, and near it there was a deep, -dark pit which served as a prison. - -After Sidi Suliman a number of other kadis ruled in the oasis. One of -them was called Hassan Mitnana, and during his lifetime a great quarrel -arose between the eastern and western factions of the town. This began -in about the year 1700. The dispute originated about a road which -divides the town into two parts. A family on the eastern side wished -to enlarge their house by building out into the street. Their opposite -neighbours objected to the public thoroughfare being narrowed merely -in order to enlarge a private dwelling-place. There was a dispute, -a quarrel, and a fight in which the two sides of the street took -part. One side called themselves “Sherkyn”—the Easterners—and -the other side called themselves “Gharbyn”—the Westerners. The -whole population took up the quarrel, which developed into a permanent -civil war. At times it died down and seemed on the point of extinction, -then, quite suddenly, it flamed up, ending in pitched battles in the -space before the town, where the casualties were often very severe -considering the smallness of the population. - -[Illustration: THE CITADEL AND THE MOSQUE OF EL ATIK] - -Before the days of gunpowder these battles were fought in an open space -below the walls of the town. On an appointed day the two opposing -armies faced one another. The men stood in front, armed with swords -and spears, the women collected behind the men, carrying bags full -of stones which they hurled at the enemy, or at anyone on their own -side who showed signs of cowardice. Platoons, each of a few dozen -men, advanced in turn and fought in the space midway between the two -armies, then gradually the whole of both forces became engaged. The -women displayed great fierceness; they often joined in the fray, -beating out the life from any of their enemies who they found lying -wounded, with sharp stones. It seems amazing that, notwithstanding -these frequent battles, the Siwans managed to live in such a confined -space, so close together. - -It is only during the last few years of peaceful government, since -the war, that the violent animosity between the two parties has -died down. A few families of opposing parties have intermarried, but -even now one rarely meets a western sheikh in the eastern quarter, -or vice versa. Both quarters are entirely self-supporting. They have -their own wells, olive presses, mosques and date markets. - -At the time of writing I hear from Siwa that a few months after I left -there was another outbreak between east and west. Some eastern men -were riding home from their gardens, excited by “lubki”—palm -wine. They rode through the streets of the western quarter, shouting -and singing. The western people took this as an insult and attacked -them. In ten minutes 800 men had collected in the square, the east -and the west facing each other. A fierce fight began, but fortunately, -as the men were only armed with sticks and tools, there were no fatal -injuries. The local police and the mamur were unable to do anything, -and the Egyptian officials retired to the Markaz—Government Office. A -few minutes later the Camel Corps arrived with fixed bayonets and -dispersed the crowd. There were about fifty cases needing hospital -treatment, some of them being quite severe. - -Such were the lively conditions of internecine warfare when Browne, the -first Englishman to visit Siwa, arrived at the oasis in 1792. He came -in disguise with a caravan from Egypt. But against an infidel, a common -foe, the Siwans stood united. Browne’s identity was discovered; -he was received with stones and abuse, roughly treated, and sent back -to Egypt without having seen much of the oasis. But during his brief -stay he formed no favourable opinion of the people. They were notorious -for their monstrous arrogance, intense bigotry and gross immorality. - -Six years later Hornemann, of the African Association, arrived at -Siwa, travelling in the guise of a young mameluke, with a pilgrim -caravan on its way from Mecca to the kingdom of Fezzan. He described -Siwa as a small independent state, acknowledging the Sultan, but -paying no tribute. He estimated the population at 8000 persons. The -Siwans were governed by a council of sheikhs, who held their meetings -and trials in public, and flew to arms on the slightest provocation -when they disagreed. When Hornemann left Siwa he was followed by the -inhabitants who apparently suspected his identity. “The braying -of several hundred asses heralded the approach of the Siwan Army.” -With great difficulty he persuaded the sheikhs that his passport from -Napoleon Buonaparte was really a firman from the Sultan. They finally -allowed him to proceed on his way. He sent his papers to Europe from -Tripoli, but he himself perished while exploring North Africa. It is -very curious that most of the few Europeans who visited Siwa in the -eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were Germans. - -The difficulties that meet a European travelling in the guise of -a Mohammedan are not so formidable as they would appear. Knowledge -of the language would seem to be the greatest stumbling-block. But -in North Africa there are so many dialects, and so many different -pronunciations, that an Arab from one part of the desert would find -it difficult to understand an Arab from another district, and the -difference in the accent or pronunciation of an Egyptian from Cairo -and a European speaking Arabic, would not be recognized in many of -the more remote districts. - - - (3) - - THIRD PERIOD - - THE TURKISH RULE - - “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” - - -In the year 1816 there was a great fight between the two factions, -in which the easterners gained the day. Ali Balli, a western sheikh, -went to Egypt and described to the Government the independent state of -Siwa and the condition of anarchy prevalent there. In 1820 Mohammed -Ali invaded the Sudan. In order to protect his western flank he sent -a force of 1300 men, with some cannon, commanded by Hassein Bey -Shemishera, one of his generals, against the fanatical population -of Siwa. They crossed the desert via Wadi Natrun and the oasis of -Gara. A few of the western faction welcomed the army, but most of the -population prepared to fight. After a desperate battle, lasting for -several hours, the Siwans were severely beaten, and from that date -Siwa was permanently secured to Egypt. The Turks entered the town, -seized the principal men, and in course of time some sixty of the -notables were executed by Hassein Bey, who punished by death on the -least suspicion of rebellion or revolt. A tribute was imposed on Siwa, -and Sheikh Ali Balli was made omda, supported by the Turks. After some -time Hassein Bey and the army returned to Egypt. The Siwans promptly -refused to pay tribute, so in 1827 Hassein Bey returned with a force -of 800 men, occupied the town after a brief contest, executed eighteen -of the notables, confiscated their property, but paid the widows of -the unfortunate men ten pounds each as full compensation for the life -of a Siwan notable. He also banished twenty of the sheikhs, increased -the tribute, and appointed a Turkish officer as Governor of Siwa, with -a small force. Under Hassein Bey the Siwans suffered considerably. He -seized their money, slaves, dates and silver ornaments, which he sent -to his home in Egypt. He built the first “Markaz”—Government -Office—whose ruins stand behind the Kasr Hassuna, the present -District Officer’s house, where I lived. - -During the nineteenth century several Europeans visited Siwa, but they -met with no encouragement and were in most cases badly treated. One of -them, Butin, a French colonel, carried on his camels a collapsible boat -in which he hoped to reach the island on the salt lake of Arashieh, -which according to legends contained fabulous treasure and the sword -and seal of Mohammed. He managed to bring the boat to Siwa, but the -natives refused to let him embark. These early travellers all mention -the subterranean passages connecting Aghourmi and Omm Beyda, also -between Siwa town and the Hill of the Dead. The natives described these -passages as having “biute”—houses—or possibly burying spaces, -opening out on either side. The entrances have now in all cases been -blocked up by stones and rubbish, but with a little labour they could -easily be excavated. Several old men in Siwa know the exact position -of the entrances to these passages, which I have seen myself. - -The successor of Hassein Bey was Farag Kashif, who built a causeway -across one of the salt lakes, making each family work on it in turn. It -is a useful piece of work, a narrow path, wide enough for two camels -to pass abreast, supported by rough stakes and palm logs, crossing the -salt bog which would otherwise be impassable. Several more mamurs were -appointed, but they were mere figureheads, as all the power lay in the -hands of the omda, Ali Balli. Each year that the taxes were unpaid, -and this was frequent, a punitive expedition arrived from Egypt. - -The omda was hated by most of the Siwans, who held him responsible -for the Turkish occupation, and the years of oppression. Knowing -his unpopularity he never left his house after sunset. Certain of -the eastern sheikhs bribed two young western men to lure him from his -house at night. They persuaded him to come to Mesamia, a narrow tunnel -in the western quarter, and there they stabbed him to death. Yousif -Ali, the omda’s son, demanded blood money, or the surrender of his -father’s murderers, but the eastern sheikhs refused and secretly -sent the men to Derna. Then followed a few years with neither omda -nor mamur, and a government, of sorts, by a council of sheikhs. - -Yousif Ali was a clever, ambitious man. Bayle St. John, who visited -Siwa in 1849, described him as “a broad, pale-faced man, with a -sly, good-humoured expression, of ambitious character, with speech -full of elegant compliments.” He wore a tarbouch, a white burnous -and carried a blunderbuss. Except for the blunderbuss the description -would suit several of the present-day Siwan notables. For seven years -he went every winter to Cairo, trying to persuade the Government -to make him omda in place of his father. He earned the nickname of -“The Schemer.” He spent a great deal of money on bribes in Egypt, -but was always unsuccessful. - -In the year 1852 Hamilton, an English traveller, came to Siwa on his -way back to Egypt, after journeying in Tripoli and North Africa. In -his _Wanderings in North Africa_ he devotes several pages to his -experiences in Siwa. The following version of what happened to him is -told there now by the Siwans. He pitched his camp near the Markaz, half -a mile south of the town. The Siwans bitterly resented any European -visitors, so Yousif Ali, knowing this, collected the fighting men -and deliberately inflamed their anger against the stranger who had -come to spy out their land; he urged them that it was their duty to -kill the “Unbeliever,” so they determined to make a night attack -on Hamilton’s camp. Then Yousif Ali secretly warned Hamilton -of the intended attack, and persuaded him to take shelter in his -house. Hamilton left his tents standing empty, and during the night the -“Zigale”—fighting men—opened fire on them, but the Englishman -was safely lodged in Yousif Ali’s house. Thus Yousif Ali gained -credit for having saved Hamilton from the attack which he himself -had instigated. This is a characteristic example of Siwan diplomacy. - -After the attack the Siwans refused to let Hamilton leave the town, and -for six weeks he was practically a prisoner in a little house adjoining -that of Yousif Ali. During this time the people amused themselves by -shooting and throwing stones at his windows, and collecting in crowds -to stare and jeer at the “Nosrani”—Christian. Matters became -worse and the most fanatical sheikhs on the town council advocated -his execution. With great difficulty he managed to send two letters, -by slaves, to the Viceroy of Egypt; but he spent an anxious time as -the days passed and no answer came. The Siwans found out about the -letters, and as time passed and it became more and more probable -that the messengers were lost, so the people became more and more -insolent. Some of the sheikhs offered to lend him camels to escape -from the town, on the condition that he first wrote to the Viceroy -saying that he had been well treated. They intended to murder him as -soon as he left the town, and to secure his baggage for themselves, -but he discovered the plot and refused to leave. - -One day an abnormally hot wind rose from the south and blew with -great violence for three days. This was taken as a serious omen of -coming disaster. The idea that a sudden violent wind, stirred by an -evil “jinn,” foreshadows a catastrophe, is implicitly believed by -the Siwans and by all Berbers. A number of Siwans who had been most -aggressive hurriedly left the town, and the remainder endeavoured, to -the best of their ability, to conciliate Hamilton. The sheikhs who had -been most vindictive now fawned upon their “guest,” who became a -person to be conciliated instead of a despised Christian. Evidently -they had secret news of the approach of a party of cavalry from -Egypt. On the 14th March, 1852, two sheikhs arrived and announced -the approach of 150 irregular cavalry, who with 14 officers had -been dispatched by the Viceroy to effect his release, in response -to Hamilton’s letter. A week later, with much “fantasia” and -display, the army left Siwa accompanied by Hamilton and Yousif Ali. The -Turkish Commandant, with typically stupid obstinacy, refused to take -any prisoners, but bound over a number of the sheikhs to appear in -Egypt in two months’ time. Needless to say they failed to appear. - -Shortly after Hamilton arrived in Cairo the Viceroy sent another -expedition of 200 men to bring back a number of Siwan notables to -answer for their conduct. The army reached the oasis and camped at -Ain Megahiz. The Siwans retired into their fortress town. A certain -Arab sheikh, who knew Siwa and was with the Turkish expedition, went -down to the town and persuaded forty of the leading men to come out -to the camp and see the Commandant. He successfully tricked them -with a promise of a favourable treaty, and they believed him. On -arrival at the camp they were arrested and thrown into chains; the -army entered the town without opposition, as the people, having lost -their leaders, had no heart to fight. As before, the Turks spoiled -the people, the soldiers robbed the inhabitants, seized the women, -and shot down anyone who opposed them. Then at last Sheikh Yousif -Ali was appointed Omda of Siwa by the Government of Egypt. - -Some years later, in 1854, Abbas, son of Mohammed Ali, died, and was -succeeded by his son, Said Pasha. The latter, on his accession, granted -an amnesty under which the Siwan notables, who had been condemned -to hard labour and were working as prisoners, were released. They -hurried back to their oasis, eager to be revenged on Yousif Ali. On -arrival they were joined by their slaves and retainers, but met with -considerable opposition from the westerners. For three days there was -sporadic fighting, then they surrounded the omda’s house. But Yousif -Ali had fled to the house of one of his supporters in the suburb, -called Manshiah, and garrisoned it with his few remaining slaves. His -friends among the western sheikhs deserted him, seeing that popular -opinion was entirely against him. From the house in Manshiah, which -is a miniature fortress, he sent his two young daughters to bribe -the mamur to help him. The mamur was the same Arab who had betrayed -the forty sheikhs, and was busy enough looking after himself. The two -girls were caught by the eastern sheikhs. One of them was persuaded to -go back to her father’s house, and at a given signal to let in the -enemy. They surrounded Manshiah and forced an entry to the house. The -slaves stopped fighting and surrendered. Yousif Ali was caught on -the roof, trying to escape; he was dragged down through the house, -out into the street and strangled. - -The news of this outrage reached Egypt, and in 1857 a new mamur -arrived with a detachment of soldiers. The system of two omdas ruling -at once, one eastern and one western, was tried, but found to be a -failure. The force under the mamur was quite inadequate to collect -the taxes or to keep order. The post was an unpopular one, and was -considered, as it is now, a form of exile by the Egyptian mamurs who -detest a place that has not the liveliness and amusements of Cairo, -or a provincial town. All the mamurs at Siwa used constantly to say -to me, “Saire—Siwa ees what you call exile!” - -There followed in quick succession a series of somewhat incompetent -Turkish mamurs who were in most cases quite powerless to keep under -this turbulent town and population. To add to their difficulties -the power of the Senussi sect was beginning to make itself firmly -felt, and this complicated still more the political situation in the -oasis. The Senussi brethren at Jerabub were regarded by the Siwans -as the ultimate arbitrators in any disputes which arose among the -people, thus ignoring the jurisdiction of the Turkish Government -officials. One mamur married, on the day of his arrival, a girl of -the eastern quarter, and oppressed the westerners to such a degree -that they obtained his recall from Egypt. He was sent back to Egypt, -and as he entered the Governor’s house in Alexandria one of his -men stepped forward and shot him. Another mamur infuriated the people -by wishing to demolish the tomb of Sidi Suliman, in order to build a -house on the site. He made all preparations for the work, but on the -night before the building began he died mysteriously, possibly from -poison. Another mamur imitated the Siwans in every way—eating, -dressing and speaking as one. He kept his position for fourteen -years, becoming very popular on account of the interest he took -in the well-being of the people. But few of the mamurs were liked; -they generally sided definitely with one faction or the other, which -resulted in intrigue against them by the opposite faction, who tried -to procure their dismissal. - -In 1896 Mustapha Mahr, Governor of the Behera Province, was dispatched -to Siwa, with fifty soldiers, to inquire into certain disorders. He -arrived to find Siwa in an uproar, the administration of justice at -a standstill, and three years’ taxes unpaid. A powerful western -sheikh, Hassuna Mansur, had retired to his stronghold, Kasr Hassuna, a -fortress on an isolated rock south of the town, with a large number of -slaves and adherents. He refused to pay taxes and defied the Egyptian -Government. This individual became the nucleus of opposition. He was -besieged; but friends among the besiegers supplied him with water, -and even helped him when he sallied out from his fortress and carried -away corn, sheep and cattle from the neighbourhood. The Turkish -official was helpless. Mustapha Mahr and his fifty men were unable -to cope with the rebel. On the advice of the sheikhs he appealed -to the Senussi brethren at Jerabub, and very soon Sheikh Ahmed Ibn -Idris, a relation by marriage to Sheikh El Senussi, appeared on the -scene. The Turkish Commandant asked his assistance. Sheikh Ahmed -ordered Hassuna to surrender, which he did at once, and after much -discussion an agreement was made, signed by the Senussi sheikh, by -which the Siwans promised to pay taxes, but on the condition that -they should not be retrospective. The Senussi sheikh then returned -triumphantly to Jerabub. This illustrates conclusively the power of -the Senussi at this period. A few months later another dispute arose, -about some goats, which ended in a battle between east and west, -in which Hassuna Mansur was slain, and with him over 100 Siwans. - -In 1898, five years after the death of this firebrand of the desert, -another affair began which is known as the “Widow’s War.” The -Omda of Siwa died leaving a son, Mohammed Said, and a wealthy young -widow of great personal attractions. An eastern Siwan, named Ahmed -Hamza, wished to marry her. It was considered a suitable match, -and all her relations approved, except her stepson, Mohammed Said, -who was supported by the Medinia sect of Siwans, who had another -prospective husband. One night she disappeared. It was found that she -had fled to the house of Osman Habun, a very powerful western sheikh, -the most influential man in Siwa, who was the representative of the -Senussi. The son demanded his mother from the Habun family, who refused -to surrender her. The war drums were beaten, and a fight between east -and west was imminent. But at the last moment Habun surrendered the -woman, who returned to her own house. On the next day she ran away -again; this time she went to the house of a western Siwan, called -Abdulla Mansur, whom she wished to marry, although she herself should -have held no views on the subject. The whole town was disturbed by -the widow’s unseemly behaviour. Finally her stepson forced her to -marry the man whom he had chosen, and the widow retired from the scene. - -But Ahmed Hamza resented losing her, and in revenge, some of his -friends attacked some relations of Mohammed Said’s, on the road -to Aghourmi, and killed two of them. Then Mohammed Said, with the -easterners, raided the western gardens, and the westerners retaliated -by carrying off sheep and cattle. The war drums were beaten, which -signal meant that every man must be ready and armed within twenty-four -hours; flags were displayed on the western hill and on the highest -fort of the eastern quarter, and the doors leading into the street -that divides the town were barred with palm logs. At the end of the -twenty-four hours the eastern force assembled on Shali—the high -town—and the western forces stationed themselves on their rock. The -easterners opened fire and shot, by mistake, a small Arab boy. A truce -was called while both parties discussed the compensation. But during -the truce an eastern man, going out to his garden, was killed by a -party of westerners, so the fight began again, both sides firing across -the street with long, Arab guns and old-fashioned blunderbusses. The -Turkish mamur and his little force retired to the Markaz, well out -of harm’s way. - -[Illustration: GATE INTO THE WESTERN QUARTER] - -The westerners had only one good spring within convenient reach -of the town. They posted a guard round it, and the easterners, -not expecting to meet with resistance, made a sortie, intending to -capture the spring. The attacking party was beaten off and driven away -from the town towards the gardens. The rest of the easterners, seeing -their comrades in flight, came down from the town and followed after -them. Then the entire western force, led by their chief, Osman Habun, -on his great white war-horse, the only one in Siwa, surged out of the -town, through the narrow gates, firing and shrieking, waving swords -and spears, followed by their women throwing stones. Every able-bodied -man and woman joined in the battle beneath the walls, and only a few -old men and children remained on the battlements watching the fight. - -After a fierce combat, lasting for nearly a day, resulting in many -casualties, the western force was beaten back towards the town, and -“The Habun” found himself in danger of being captured. The western -women had followed their men out from the town and were watching the -battle from the gardens. Habun’s mother, seeing her son in danger, -collected a dozen women of his house and managed to get near him. He -left his horse and slipped into the gardens where he joined the -women. They dressed him as a girl, and with them he escaped to the -tomb of Sidi Suliman, where he hid. While in hiding Habun communicated -with the Senussi brethren at Jerabub, who intervened and patched up -a peace. Nowadays, if one wants to insult one of the Habun family, -there is no surer method than by inquiring who it was who escaped -from a battle disguised as a woman. - -After this the Egyptian Government realized that a stronger force was -needed to keep order in Siwa, so they sent some more men and a few -cavalry. The Senussi Government also tried to make a lasting peace -between east and west. Sheikh Osman Habun, agent of the Senussi -in Siwa, was at this time the most wealthy and powerful man in -the oasis. He was a large landowner and employed a small army of -slaves. He was related by marriage to most of the western sheikhs, -and many of the Siwan notables were beholden to him for financial -assistance. From his large fortified house in the town he dominated -the western faction, and his armoury included some modern weapons -which he had stolen from a certain English traveller. In appearance -he was a fine, handsome man, with a masterful manner and a commanding -presence. When he went abroad a numerous retinue followed him, and -he received visitors to his house with almost regal state. He married -several times, and had nine sons and daughters. - -Several years before the Great War a certain Arab called Abdel Arti, -a notorious smuggler of hashish between Egypt and Tripoli, made a -raid on some bedouins who camped at Lubbok, a little oasis where there -is water and good grazing about eight miles south of Siwa, among the -sand-dunes. He called at Lubbok to get water on his way to Egypt via -the oasis of Bahrein. One of the bedouins came to Siwa and warned -the mamur, who summoned the sheikhs and the people. Osman Habun was -at this time an ally of Abdel Arti and knew his plans. The eastern -people assembled, but the westerners delayed. Eventually, after many -absurd excuses, Osman Habun arrived and accompanied the mamur and an -armed party to Lubbok; but they found that the smugglers had escaped, -carrying off several women and leaving two of the bedouins dead on -the field. The delay caused by Osman Habun had saved Abdel Arti from -capture. When they returned the mamur held a court on Osman Habun and -threatened to depose him and make another man omda in his place. Habun -retired to his house and sulked, refusing to appear again when summoned -by the mamur. One of Habun’s sons was ordered to bring his father -to the Markaz, but he returned with a message that being the month -of Ramadan his father was fasting and could not go out. - -Then the mamur, with his few soldiers and some Sudanese camel corps, -followed by a shouting mob of Siwans, went up the steep, dark streets -that lead to the house of “The Habun.” By the time that they had -arrived night had fallen. They found the great wooden door locked -and barred, and the house full of armed men, but they managed to -break in the door and enter the ground floor. But the stairs were -strongly barricaded, so they went outside and lit lanterns while -they discussed what to do. Then the soldiers started firing up at -the windows, and the defenders fired back, people in the adjoining -houses joining in. The soldiers retreated under some buildings across -the lane, but as they did this the mamur was shot and left lying in -the narrow alley. A Camel Corps man dashed out and dragged him into -shelter. Meanwhile Osman Habun had escaped by a private door through -the mosque behind the house. Eventually the soldiers entered the -building and captured the defenders. Osman Habun attempted to escape -through the town to Jerabub, but he was caught by Sheikh Mohammed Said, -his rival of the eastern faction, and brought a prisoner to the Markaz -where the mamur lay dying. He was tried for the murder of the mamur, -found guilty, and hanged, and his eldest son, Hammado, was awarded -penal servitude. He is still alive, in prison at Tura. - -Osman Habun was one of the biggest men that Siwa ever produced, -though he had many bad qualities. The Siwans say that he sacrificed -himself for his son, Hammado, being an old man and not willing to see -his son hanged, though Hammado is said to have killed the mamur. Abdel -Arti, the cause of the trouble, had a fight with some of the Egyptian -Coastguard Camel Corps, and killed one of them. They met him again -among the desolate sand-dunes south of Siwa, and killed him, together -with several of his followers. Their graves are distinguishable—rough -stone cairns—on the unmapped desert where a route from Egypt to -Tripoli is still called “Abdel Arti’s Road.” - - - (4) - - FOURTH PERIOD - - SIWA AND THE WAR - - -The history of the British operations on the Western Desert of -Egypt against the Senussi in 1915-1917 has been well described -in several books, and by people who were actually present at the -various engagements. I was not there at the time, so I am unable -to give a first-hand account of it, but no history of Siwa would be -complete without a sketch of the principal events of that campaign, -which was one of the most brilliant and successful “side-shows” -of the Great War, and has left a lasting impression on the Arabs of -the Western Desert, which will be remembered for many years to come. - -After the war in Tripoli between the Italians and the Turks, in 1911, -the suzerainty of Italy over Tripoli was formally acknowledged at -the Treaty of Lausanne, but although the whole of the country became -an Italian possession only the coastal towns were held firmly. The -Arabs in the south, and the Berber inhabitants of the various oases, -strongly resented the Italian rule, and for this reason the seeds -of propaganda sown by Turkish and German agents found fertile soil -among the natives of Tripoli. - -Germany had for a long time cast envious eyes on North Africa, -and early in the war the Germans seem to have hoped that by their -influence in the country they could stir the Arabs to sweep their -much-hated Italian masters off the coast, and to advance against -Egypt from the west. At the outbreak of war the Arabs in the south -listened readily to the Turkish agents, who encouraged them with -arms and money to revolt against the Italians and to take part in -the Holy War, which was declared by the Sultan of Turkey against the -English and the Allies. But the most important military and political -factor on the Libyan Desert was the Senussi confraternity, and they, -up to this time, had been decidedly pro-British. - -The Senussi confraternity was founded by Sidi Mohammed Ben Ali es -Senussi, who was born of Berber stock, but claimed descent from the -Prophet, in Algeria, in 1787. In 1821 he went to Fez and became known -as an ascetic religious who held severely to the simple teachings of -the Koran. Just before the French occupation of Algeria he left his -country and began travelling in North Africa, teaching his doctrine -of a pure form of Islam. The occupation of his native country by -Unbelievers probably contributed to the dislike of Christians which -characterized his later life. After spending some years in North -Africa he went to Cairo and settled at El Azhar, the great Mohammedan -university of Egypt, but his strict ideals found no favour and his -teaching was condemned by the Ulema. From Cairo he went to Mecca, -where he studied with Sidi Ahmed Ibn Idris el Fasi, the leader of -the Khadria confraternity, which had some influence in Morocco. On -the death of Sidi Ahmed, Mohammed es Senussi became head of the sect -and travelled for some years among the bedouins of the Hedjaz. But -his doctrines were too peaceable for these fierce Arabs, and in 1838 -he returned to the west and settled at Siwa. - -In Siwa he inhabited the caves in the limestone rock below the Kasr -Hassuna, living in one of them and using the other as an oratory. With -his own hands he carved out the nitch—or “mihrab”—which faces -Mecca. During his sojourn at Siwa he became very ill and at one time he -almost died. The people of Siwa accepted his teachings with enthusiasm, -and since then the greater proportion of the population have been -ardent Senussiya. For this reason it has always been considered very -dangerous for anybody who is not exceedingly religious and virtuous -to inhabit these caves in the Kasr Hassuna. - -When I was in the Kasr one of my servants asked for permission to -live in the cave. I reminded him of the superstition, but allowed him -to do so. It was most disastrous; after about a month he moved out -and complained to me of the persistent misfortune that had dogged -him. His wife ran away, he became ill, he had some money stolen -from him, and was badly bitten by a tarantula. Another man, who had -a reputation in the Section for being particularly religious, moved -in, but he only remained a week, and after that the caves were left -severely alone. None of the Siwans would live in this place under -any consideration, and the Siwan wife of my Sudanese orderly lived -in a little hut outside the entrance. - -[Illustration: “KASR HASSUNA,” THE DISTRICT OFFICER’S HOUSE] - -After eight months in Siwa Mohammed es Senussi went on to Jalo and -came into contact with the Zouias, a fierce and warlike race of Arabs -who held various oases in southern Tripoli. They adopted his teachings, -and in 1844 he founded his first zawia—religious centre—at El Beda, -where his eldest son was born. From this centre the Senussi brethren -carried their teachings all over Africa, travelling with the great -caravans of the merchants who traded in slaves, ivory, arms, etc., -between the Sudan, Tripoli, Wadai and Egypt. Gradually they grew -to be regarded as arbitrators in disputes, and important cases were -brought to Mohammed es Senussi for his judgment. They successfully -combined the duties of merchants and magistrates, acquiring great -wealth and great influence. The Senussi were at all times opposed to -luxury and intolerant of Unbelievers; they claimed that their form -of Mohammedanism was more pure than any other, and as far as possible -they kept aloof from politics. - -In 1852 Mohammed es Senussi returned to Mecca, and shortly afterwards -he formally excommunicated the Sultan of Turkey. In 1856 he came, -for the last time, to Jerabub, ninety miles west of Siwa. He died -here three years later and was buried in the tomb in the mosque. At -the time of his death his prestige was enormous; pilgrims travelled -many thousands of miles to visit Jerabub, and Senussism had spread -all over Central and North Africa. The Senussi zawias became rich -from the profits of trading and owned large numbers of slaves, also -arms and ammunition were imported from Turkey, landed on the Tripoli -coast and taken down to the south. One of the greatest authorities -on the Senussi estimated their numbers at between one and a half and -three millions at the time of the death of Mohammed es Senussi. But -their importance as a military factor was not great; being spread -over such a vast area they lacked cohesion, and any combined action -would be almost an impossibility. - -Mohammed es Senussi left two sons, Mohammed el Mahdi and Mohammed -el Sherif. The former succeeded his father as the leader of the -Senussi. He spent a considerable part of his life at Jerabub, -acquiring great wealth and strengthening his influence by peaceable -penetration. In 1884 he refused to help the Sudanese Mahdi, who -appealed to the Senussi for assistance in driving the English out of -Egypt. If the Senussi had risen then and joined with the Sudanese -the position of Egypt would have been very dangerous. Mohammed el -Mahdi died in 1902 and was succeeded by his nephew, Sayed Ahmed, -as the son of Mohammed el Mahdi was still a boy. - -When Sayed Ahmed succeeded, the French were pushing their conquests -inland from the coast, and the Turks were also advancing southwards -in Tripoli. Sayed Ahmed did all he could to oppose them, but gradually -he was forced to retire. One by one the various zawias were occupied, -till finally the Senussi chief was driven back to Kufra and Jerabub. In -1911 Sayed Ahmed allied himself to the Turks, although the Senussi -had always been at enmity with them, and when the Italians landed on -the Tripoli coast the Senussi supported the Turks in the war against -the Italians, and when the Turks were finally beaten the Senussi in -the interior became once more practically independent. - -In the summer of 1915 the Senussi were still ostensibly at peace with -Egypt and Britain, but the pro-German agents had successfully fomented -an anti-British feeling, and the Arabs were being armed and organized -by German and Turkish officers who landed in submarines—from -Constantinople—evaded the Italians on the coast, and went down -south into the Senussi country. The British and Italian alliance -was an incentive to the Arabs in Tripoli, who bitterly resented the -Italian occupation of their country. - -Sollum, the frontier post, was garrisoned by a small detachment of -the Egyptian army and the Coastguards, native troops with two or -three English officers. In August, 1915, the crews of two English -submarines, wrecked on the coast west of Sollum, were fired upon by -the Senussi, but Sayed Ahmed apologized and declared that he did not -know what nationality the men were. In the autumn it was known that -the British attempt at Gallipoli was doomed; there was a danger of -disturbances in Egypt, and the Turks attacked the Suez Canal. - -On November 5th the _Tara_, an armed patrol boat, was torpedoed -off Sollum. Three of her boats came ashore a few miles west of the -frontier, and ninety-two men of the crew were captured by some Senussi -Arabs and carried inland to a place called Bir Hakim, a well which -lies about seventy miles south of the coast; here they were kept -prisoners for several months, and during this time they suffered the -most excessive privations at the hands of their captors. They were so -badly fed that they were forced to eat snails, which are very plentiful -in some parts of the desert; several men died, and their attempts to -escape were in all cases unsuccessful. The history of their sufferings -and adventures forms the subject of two books written by one of the -survivors on his return home. Even after this incident Sidi Ahmed -continued to protest his friendship for the British, and disclaimed -any knowledge of the whereabouts of the _Tara_’s crew. - -About this time large numbers of Arabs began to collect on the high -desert above Sollum. The garrison was slightly reinforced and some -armoured cars came up the coast from Egypt. On November 23rd Sollum -was attacked by a numerous force of Senussi, armed with a miscellaneous -collection of fire-arms and some old guns. The garrison was evacuated -on to the _Rasheed_, an Egyptian gunboat, during a heavy sand-storm, -and on the same day the garrison of Barrani was taken down the coast -on another boat. They landed at Matruh, which was put into a state -of defence, and the garrison was very soon considerably augmented by -British troops who were hurried up from Alexandria in trawlers and -in cars from the railhead. A few days after they arrived at Matruh -some of the men of the Egyptian Coastguards went over to the enemy, -and Colonel Snow Bey, of the Coastguards, was shot while speaking to -some so-called friendly Arabs on a reconnaissance. - -Colonel Snow and Major Royle, another officer of the Coastguards who -lost his life later in the war, after joining the Flying Corps, were -both very well known on the Western Desert. As a rule, the bedouins -do not talk much of the Englishmen who lived and served among them, -but even now, several years later, one constantly hears these two -names mentioned round the camp fires of the Arabs. - -While the British force was building up the defences of Matruh, -the Senussi collected a few miles west of the town. On December 13th -the garrison advanced against the enemy, and a force of about 1300 -Senussi was cleared out from a long wadi and driven off with heavy -casualties. On this occasion a squadron of Yeomanry, who were fired -on from a gully, charged at the enemy and came suddenly on a deep -and unexpected drop. - -Towards the end of the month another large force of Arabs, under the -command of Gaffar Pasha, a Germanized Turk and a very capable officer, -occupied a valley called Wadi Majid, near Matruh. It appeared that they -intended attacking Matruh on Christmas Day, when they supposed that the -garrison would be eating and drinking—though, as it happened, there -was not even any beer in the town. On Christmas Eve the British force, -consisting of part of a New Zealand brigade, some Sikhs, Australian -Light Horse and British Yeomanry, supported by aeroplanes and naval -ships, which shelled the enemy from the coast, went out of Matruh -and fought a successful action on Christmas Day. The Arab camp was -destroyed, and the enemy were beaten off with heavy casualties. After -the engagement the British force returned to Matruh. By this time -the usual winter weather had begun; floods of rain fell on the coast, -filling the wadis, swamping the roads and turning the country into a -morass. Once again the enemy concentrated, at a place about 26 miles -west of Matruh. They were located by aeroplanes, attacked and again -driven westward. On February 26th another engagement took place at -Agagia, near Barrani. The enemy lost heavily and Gaffar Pasha, the -Commander of the Senussi army, was captured during a brilliant charge -which was made by the Dorset Yeomanry. After this defeat Sayed Ahmed, -the Senussi chief, with a number of his supporters and a huge quantity -of baggage, retired from the coast, which was getting too hot for -him, and trekked across the desert down to Siwa, travelling in great -comfort with gramophones, clocks, brass bedsteads and a large harem! - -On arrival at Siwa he settled himself in the Kasr Hassuna, but he -lived in a very different style to his ancestor, the original Mohammed -es Senussi. A renegade Coastguard officer, Mohammed Effendi Saleh, -was appointed as his second in command. At first the Siwans welcomed -Sayed Ahmed with great enthusiasm, but their feelings rapidly changed -when the ill-disciplined mob that made up his army took to spoiling -the gardens and robbing the people. Mohammed Saleh had been in Siwa -before and he knew exactly how much money the various inhabitants -had. This acquaintance with everybody’s financial position was -of great use when he began to extort money from the natives. Those -who could not or would not pay were beaten in the market-place and -forcibly enlisted into the army; those who paid a little were made -corporals and officers, and only the people who gave much money were -exempt from service. The richest sheikhs and merchants were presented -with Turkish and German medals and orders and promoted to Pashas -and Beys. The officers of the Senussi force attired themselves in -bright green putties, which they manufactured from the green baize -tablecloths in the offices of the Markaz; all the files and the -Government furniture, etc., was seized by Sayed Ahmed, who carried -it about with him during the rest of the campaign, eventually leaving -it at Jerabub when he finally left the country. - -Meanwhile the campaign on the coast was going badly for the -Senussi. Barrani was occupied after the battle of Agagia, and from -there the British force, reinforced by the Duke of Westminster and his -armoured cars, pushed on towards Sollum, which was occupied on the 14th -of March. Sollum was captured by a rear attack from above the Scarp, -armoured cars and troops having managed to find a way up the cliffs -by a steep, precipitous pass known as “Negb Halfia,” or “Hell -Fire Pass,” as it was afterwards called. The Senussi blew up their -large ammunition dump at Bir Wær, on the frontier, and the remains -of their army were driven over the desert for many miles, pursued -by the British cars, which scattered them far and wide and inspired -all the Arabs with a holy dread of “Trombiles”—motors—which -will never be forgotten. The capture of Sollum virtually ended the -fighting on the coast; after that only Siwa remained to be cleared -out. The country was full of fugitives and their starving families, -who were fed and provided for by the British. Arab women flocked round -the garrisons at Sollum and Matruh offering their silver ornaments -and jewellery in exchange for food. - -On April 16th, much to the relief of the inhabitants, Sayed Ahmed -left Siwa _en route_ for the Dakhla oasis. He took with him most -of the able-bodied men in the place, as well as a number of Senussi -soldiers and many camel loads of luggage. The Siwans were expected -to bring their own food, but by this time they were reduced to such -a state of poverty that they had not even enough dates to support -themselves. A number of men died on the road, and still more deserted -and made their way back to the oasis. Sayed Ahmed stayed for several -months at Dakhla and then returned to Siwa, hurrying back like a -hunted hare. On each of these little desert trips the Grand Sheikh -shed a little of his baggage. - -During his absence from Siwa the sheikhs of the Medinia sect organized -a very successful little rebellion. The people revolted against the -Senussi sheikhs who had been left in charge, drove them into the -Markaz, and besieged them for two days. Eventually peace was made, -but not before the Senussi sheikhs had sent frantic messages to Sayed -Ahmed complaining of the scandalous behaviour of the Siwans and -imploring him to return. The Siwans at the same time sent letters -to Sayed Ahmed with complaints against his sheikhs who had stayed -in Siwa to keep order. The messengers met on the road and journeyed -together till they came upon Sayed Ahmed and his party between Dakhla -and Siwa. They handed their letters to the sheikh and he read them -together. The news of the “goings-on” at Siwa hastened his return. - -Once again he established himself in the Kasr Hassuna. Here he -indulged in severe religious observances and urged the people to -pray for divine help against the Unbelievers who had destroyed the -Senussi army on the coast. In January Sayed Ahmed and Mohammed Saleh, -his second in command, were considering retiring to Jerabub, so as -to be still further away from the British. On the 2nd of February a -force of armoured cars, lorries and light cars arrived a few miles -north of Girba, a little oasis in a deep rocky valley north-west of -Siwa. On the following day the cars successfully descended the pass -and attacked the enemy camp at Girba. The Senussi were absolutely -astounded. They had already learnt to fear the British cars, but -they never for one moment thought it possible that a large force of -motors could dash across the desert from the coast, almost 200 miles, -and attack them in their stronghold. Owing to the rocky ground the -cars were unable to get at close quarters with the enemy. The action -lasted a whole day. The Senussi, who numbered about 800, were under -the command of Mohammed Saleh, and another force of about 500 men were -at Siwa with Sayed Ahmed. At the first alarm the Grand Sheikh bundled -himself and his belongings on to camels and fled frantically over the -sand-dunes towards Jerabub, followed by a straggling mob of Arabs. On -the evening of the 4th the enemy began to retire from their position at -Girba, burning arms and ammunition before evacuating, and on the 5th -of February the cars entered Siwa and the British force was received -by the sheikhs and notables at the Markaz with expressions of relief -and goodwill. The column left the town on the same day and reached -“Concentration Point,” north of Girba, on the following day. - -Another detachment had been sent to a pass above the western end of -the oasis in order to intercept the fugitives, but only a few cars -were able to get down from the high country above, but the one Light -Car Patrol which did descend managed to cut off a number of the enemy -who were retreating to the west. On the 8th February the whole column -went back to Sollum. The enemy’s losses were 40 killed, including 2 -Senussi officers, and 200 wounded, including 5 Turkish officers. Sayed -Ahmed and Mohammed Saleh both escaped, but after this crushing defeat, -and the capture of the Siwa oasis, all danger from the Senussi forces -was at an end. - -Some time previously, after the occupation of Sollum by the British, -information was found as to the whereabouts of the prisoners from -the _Tara_, who had been joined by the survivors of the _Moorina_, -who had also landed on the coast and had been captured by the Arabs. A -force of armoured cars and other cars, under the command of the Duke of -Westminster, set off on the 17th from Sollum with a native guide. They -dashed across the desert to Bir Hakim, rescued the prisoners and -brought them back to Sollum, having travelled across some 120 miles -of unknown desert and attacked an enemy whose numbers they did not -know. This gallant enterprise was perhaps the most brilliant affair -which occurred during the operations on the Western Desert. The Duke -of Westminster received the D.S.O. for his exploit, and was recommended -for the Victoria Cross. - -After the capture of Siwa there was no more fighting on the Western -Desert. Sollum, Matruh and the various stations on the coast were -garrisoned with British infantry, gunners and Camel Corps, and a -standing camp of Light Cars was made at Siwa, where they remained for -some time. The F.D.A. took over the Administration of the Western -Desert, and gradually the garrisons were withdrawn and replaced by -F.D.A. Camel Corps. To-day there only remains one small detachment -of Light Car Patrols in the fort at Sollum. - -Sayed Ahmed and Mohammed Saleh were never captured. The Grand -Sheikh’s progress terminated on the Tripoli coast, where he was -met by a Turkish submarine and carried over to Constantinople. He -was received by the Sultan and has remained there ever since, an -exile from his native land, probably regretting that he ever allowed -himself to be persuaded to throw in his lot with the Turks. - -Sayed Ahmed did not distinguish himself in this campaign. Whenever he -thought that the fighting was too near he hurriedly retired to some -more distant place. His cowardly conduct was to a certain extent -responsible for the failure of his troops; he never took part in -the fighting and never led them in person. His behaviour was very -different to that of Ali Dinar, Sultan of Darfur, in the Sudan, -who was also persuaded by the Turks to rebel against the English -at the same time. The latter showed considerable personal courage, -and was killed on the field at the end of the war. Sayed Ahmed was -succeeded by his cousin, Sidi Mohammed Idris, the son of Mohammed el -Madhi, who had always shown himself to be strongly pro-British, and had -carefully refrained from taking any part in the Senussi rising and the -subsequent campaign. An agreement was drawn up by the British and the -Italians which arranged that Idris should be responsible for keeping -order inland, and that he should receive money and assistance. This -arrangement has been in force up to now, and is in every way a success. - -[Illustration: SHEIKH MOHAMMED IDRIS, THE CHIEF OF THE SENUSSI] - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - SIWA TOWN - - - “Through sun-proof alleys, - - In a lone, sand hemm’d - - City of Africa.” - - -SIWA town is like no other place that I have seen either in Egypt, -Palestine or the Sudan. It is built on a great rock in the centre of -the oasis, and from a distance it resembles an ancient castle whose -rugged battlements tower above the forests of waving palm trees, and -the rich green cultivation. It is somewhat similar to St. Michael’s -Mount, but the inside of the town reminds one more of those enormous -ant hills which are found in Central Africa. The houses are built of -mud, mixed with salt, with occasional large blocks of stone from the -temples let into the walls. The builder works without a line, gradually -adding to the wall, sitting astride the part which he has completed, -so few of the walls are straight. Another architectural peculiarity is -that owing to the necessity of constructing walls thicker at the base -than at the top most of the houses, especially the minarets of the -mosques, become narrower towards the summit. The houses are built one -above the other against the face of the rock, and the outer walls form -one great line of battlements, pierced by little groups of windows, -encircling the town, and rising sheer above the ground, in some places -to a height of almost 200 feet. The original site of the town was the -summit and sides of two limestone rocks which rise abruptly from the -level of the plain; but as the population increased more houses were -built on the top of the old ones, and the town, instead of spreading, -began to ascend into the air, house upon house, street upon street, -and quarter upon quarter, till it became more like a bee-hive than a -town. Fathers built houses for their sons above the parental abode, -till their great-grandsons reached a dizzy height on the topmost -battlements. The mud of which the walls were built gradually hardened -and became almost of the consistency of the original rock. - -In course of time the inside of the town has become a vast warren -of houses connected by steep, twisting tunnels, very similar to the -workings in a coal mine, where one needs to carry a light even in -daytime, and two persons can scarcely walk abreast. This labyrinthine -maze of dark, narrow passages, with little low doors of split palm -logs opening into them from the tenements above, forms the old town of -Siwa. In some places the walls are partly ruined and one gets little -views of the green oasis, or the lower part of the town with its flat -roofs and square enclosures, framed by the jagged ruined masonry. It -took me nearly two years to know my way about this part of the town, -at the expense of hitting my head many times against the palm log -beams supporting the low roofs which are in most cases only about 5 -feet high. - -This human warren is surprisingly clean and free from the smells -that one would expect in a place where there is such an absence -of light and ventilation. One of the most curious things that one -notices is the subdued hum of human voices, from invisible people, -and the perpetual sound of stone-grinding mills, above, below and -all around. When one meets people, groping along these tortuous -passages, they loom into sight, silently, white robed, like ghosts, -and pass with a murmured greeting to their gloomy homes. It is a -great relief after stooping and slipping and barking one’s shins -to reach the open roof on the highest tower of the town where, for -a moment, the brilliant sunlight dazzles one’s eyes, accustomed -to the murky gloom of the lower regions. When, on rare occasions, -I had visitors, I used always to take them up to see the view from -the highest battlements, with a few stout Sudanese Camel Corps men -to help pull, push and propel the sightseers. But most of them, -especially the elderly colonel type, were too hot and exhausted to -appreciate the view when they finally arrived, so I eventually kept -this “sight” for only the most active visitors. - -High up in the heart of the town, in a little open space surrounded -by tall grim houses, there is an ancient well cut out of the solid -rock. It contains excellent water. Apparently there is a spring -in the centre of the rock which supplies the well, and two smaller -ones close by. Half-way down the well, about 30 feet from the top, -just above the level of the water, there is a small entrance, wide -enough to admit a boy, which leads into a narrow tunnel bored through -the rock, terminating in the precincts of a mosque on the level -ground. Nobody has traversed this passage for many years, owing to -fear of snakes—which certainly exist, also jinns and afreets. The -tunnel is about 150 yards long, and must have taken years to complete, -but it is difficult to guess its original object. This old well -is specially popular with women, as by drawing water here they can -avoid going out to the springs where they would necessarily meet with -men. Often when I passed out from the narrow entrance of a passage I -would see a dozen women busy with their pitchers, veils cast aside, -laughing and chattering—in a moment, like magic, every one would -have silently vanished, and only the eyes peering from the adjoining -windows would show any signs of life. - -Below the old high town, huddled at the base of the mighty walls, -there are more houses, and these, too, are surrounded by an outer -wall. Beyond this more modern houses have been built when there -was less fear of raids from hostile Arabs. Most of the sheikhs and -the rich merchants have deserted the high town and built large, -comfortable houses down below, or among the gardens in the adjoining -suburbs of Sebukh and Manshia. Many of them have also country -houses, where they retire in the summer when the heat in the town -becomes intolerable, on their estates in different parts of the -oasis. Residences of sheikhs and notables are distinguished by a -strip of whitewash across the front, but woe betide a poor man if -he decorates his house in a like manner. Tombs of sheikhs and holy -men are whitewashed all over every year, at public expense. One of -the most wealthy, and most unpopular, merchants covered the whole of -his house with whitewash. This innovation caused grave disapproval -among the conservative sheikhs of Siwa. They complained to me, -saying that from time immemorial the notables had distinguished their -houses by the strip of whitewash, but nobody had ever whitened the -whole house—therefore nobody should! When a few days later some -thieves broke into the “whitewashed sepulchre” and stole twelve -pounds, the whole population agreed that it was a just retribution -on unseemly pride. - -The three date markets are large walled-in squares where every merchant -and family have a space to spread their dates for sale; one of them -is common, the other two belong to east and west respectively. There -is a little house by the entrance of each market where an old Sudanese -watchman lives, paid in kind by contributions from everybody who uses -the market. In the autumn thousands of Arabs come from Egypt and the -west to buy dates, which are considered among the best in Egypt. Round -the markets there are enclosures for camels and lodgings for the Arabs, -who are only tolerated in the town because they come to trade. At the -height of the season there is a busy scene. Hundreds of white-robed -Arabs wander among the heaps of red, brown and yellow dates, arguing -and bargaining loudly, while their camels gurgle and snarl outside, -and over everything there rises a swarm of flies. Half-naked negroes -toil and sweat as they load the camels with white palm-leaf baskets -pressed down and full with sticky dates. Lively diversions occur when -a shrill-voiced she-camel shakes off her load and runs wildly through -the crowd, scattering the people, with her long neck stretched out -like an agitated goose. Arab ponies squeal and shriek, donkeys bray and -the pariah dogs snarl and yelp. There is a custom in Siwa that anybody -may eat freely from the dates in the markets, but nobody is allowed to -take any away; so the beggars, who are very numerous, crawl in among -the buyers, clutching greedily with filthy hands at the best dates, -and adding their whining complaints to the general din. Also all -the dogs, children, chickens, goats and pigeons feed from the dates -before the owners sell them. The most popular form of date food is a -sort of “mush,” which consists of a solid mass of compressed dates -with most, but not all, of the stones removed. I used to like dates, -but after an hour in the markets one never wishes to eat another. - -The square white tomb of Sidi Suliman dominates the date -markets. Although not actually a mosque it is the most venerated -building in Siwa. Around it there are a few white tombstones, and on -most nights the building is illuminated with candles burnt by votaries -at the shrine of the saint. Close by there is a large unfinished mosque -which was built by the ex-Khedive, who left off the work owing to lack -of funds. Mosques in Siwa are conspicuous by their curious minarets, -which remind one of small factory chimneys, or brick kilns; otherwise -they are very similar to houses, except that they generally include -a large court with a roof supported by mud pillars. In several of -the mosques there are schools, and one sees a number of small boys -sitting on the ground, with bored expressions, droning long verses -of the Koran in imitation of the old sheikh who teaches them. - -Lately the “Powers that Be” decided that a regular school would -be beneficial to the youth of Siwa. With some difficulty I secured -a building and a teacher. The school began in great style. Almost -every boy in the town attended. They learnt reading and writing, and -after sunset they did “physical jerks” and drill, marching round -the market square, much to the admiration of their parents. But the -novelty palled. Attendance diminished. Attendance at school was to -be quite voluntary, so I could do nothing. In about a month it had -ceased to exist, and the little boys sat again at the feet of the -old sheikhs in the mosque schools. Such is the conservatism of Siwa. - -Shopping in Siwa is very simple. Each shop is a general shop and -contains exactly the same as the others. Prices do not vary, so -one deals exclusively with one merchant; the shops are sprinkled -about the town and the customers of each are the people who live -nearest. The shops themselves are hardly noticeable. There is no -display of goods, nothing in fact to distinguish a shop. One enters -a little door and the room inside looks rather more like a storeroom -than a living room; sometimes there is a rough counter, some shelves -and a weighing machine, but measures consist mostly of little baskets -which are recognized as containing certain quantities. The sacks -and cases round the room contain flour, beans, tea, rice and sugar; -in one corner there are some rolls of calico and a bundle of coloured -handkerchiefs hung on a nail from the ceiling. - -In the storeroom which opens out of the shop there are more sacks, -tins of oil, and perhaps a bundle of bedouin blankets. Yet some of -the Siwan merchants clear over a thousand pounds a year by their shops -and a little trade in dates. Egyptian money is used, the silver being -much preferred to the paper currency, and credit is allowed, which -enables the merchants to obtain mortgages and eventually possession -of some of their customers’ gardens. - -The merchants’ wives attend to the lady customers. There is a -side door in every shop which leads to an upper room, and here the -Siwan ladies buy their clothes, served by the wife or mother of the -merchant. Their purchases are mainly “kohl” for darkening the -eyes, henna for ornamenting fingers and hands, silver ornaments, soft -scarlet leather shoes and boots, blue cotton material manufactured -at Kerdassa, near Gizeh, grey shawls, silks for embroidery, dyes for -colouring baskets and very expensive flashy silk handkerchiefs made in -Manchester, which they wear round their heads when indoors. Some of -the merchants’ wives sell charms and amulets besides clothes. The -women are very conservative in their fashions, only certain -colours being worn. I once wanted a piece of green material to -use in making a flag. I sent to every single shop in the town, but -without success. However, it caused great excitement, and I heard, -on the following day, that the gossips of the town had come to the -conclusion that I was going to marry, and the green stuff was to be -part of the lady’s trousseau. They were disappointed. - -There is nothing in Siwa that compares with the gorgeous bazaars -of Cairo, or the gaily decked shops in the markets of provincial -towns. These dark little shops have no colour, only a queer, rather -pleasant smell, a potpourri of incense, spices, herbs, onions, -olive oil and coffee. Meat is bought direct from the butchers, -who combine and kill a sheep or a camel. Sugar and tea are the most -popular necessities on the market. During the war, and for some time -after, there was a sugar shortage. The supply for Siwa arrived at the -coast, but rarely reached the oasis. When a small quantity did reach -Siwa it was bought up immediately, and the merchants who obtained it -took to gross profiteering. The price of an oke (2½ lbs.) reached -as much as 40 piastres (8s.), which in Egypt is an excessively high -price. Eventually the sale of sugar was supervised by the Government -and sugar tickets were issued. Even then there were cases of sugar -being smuggled across the frontier to Tripoli, where the shortage was -even more severe. Arabs or Siwans are simply miserable if they have to -go without sugar in their tea. It makes them cross and tiresome, and -they say themselves that it injures their health. For the rest people -depend on their garden produce, on dates, onions, fruit and coarse -native bread. The women make their own clothes, and generally their -husbands’ too, sometimes weaving the wool for the long “jibbas,” -worn by the working men, on rough handlooms. There is a carpenter in -the town and several masons, but as a shopping “centre” Siwa is -not much of a catch. - -Although Siwan houses are unprepossessing from the outside their -interiors are comparatively comfortable. What I personally objected -to was the exceeding lowness of the doors, and yet the Siwans on the -whole are tall. They told me that doors were made small for the sake -of warmth. Roughly the houses are built on the usual Arab pattern; -on the ground floor there are storerooms, stables, and servants’ -quarters, upstairs there are guest-rooms, harem, and living rooms. The -entrance hall has seats of mud similar to the walls, and is usually -screened from sight by a corner inside the door. Stairs are steep -and narrow with sudden sharp turnings; they are always pitch dark, -as only the rooms in the outer walls receive any light. Each house -consists of two or three storeys and above them there is an open roof, -sometimes with several rooms built on to it. The old houses of the -high town are different, only those on the topmost level have open -roofs. The immense thickness of the walls makes the houses cool in -summer when the temperature often reaches 112 degrees in the shade, -and warm in winter when icy winds sweep down from the high desert -plateau. The rooms in the houses of the better classes are large and -high, lit by little square windows, which are made in groups of three, -one above and two below in order not to put unnecessary strain on -the masonry. Each window has four divisions with a shutter to each -division; these shutters are kept open in summer-time. The windows -are very low, a few feet above the level of the floor, which allows -people sitting on the ground to see out of them. The ceilings are -made of palm trunks covered with rushes and a layer of mud; the ends -of the trunks, if they are too long, project outside the walls and -serve as pegs on which to hang bundles of bones to avert the “Evil -Eye.” Mud, which becomes as hard as cement, is used not only for the -walls, but for the stairs, the divans, ovens, and most of the kitchen -utensils. Old stone coffins, discovered near the temple or in some -of the rock tombs, are utilized as water-troughs in most houses. The -floors are covered with palm matting, and an occasional old Turkish -or Persian carpet; the divans are furnished with a few cushions, -white bolster-like objects, or beautifully stamped leather from the -Sudan. The walls are whitewashed and sometimes ornamented with crude -coloured frescoes, and in almost every room there are several heavy -wooden chests, handsomely carved, sometimes of great age, which are -used for keeping valuables. Occasionally one sees a couple of chairs -and a round tin table, like those which are used outside cafes, -but personally I have always felt much more comfortable sitting -cross-legged on a heap of cushions near the window than perched up -on a rickety chair above my hosts. A brass tray, a low round table, -a few baskets and an earthenware lamp hanging on the wall, completes -the furniture of a guest-room. I have spent many pleasant hours -sitting in one of these high rooms looking out over the feathery -palm trees and watching the colours change as the sun sank behind -the mountains, gossiping to some old sheikh, puffing a cigarette, -and drinking little cups of sweet, green tea. - -[Illustration: THE WESTERN QUARTER FROM AN EASTERN ROOF] - -In summer-time the people sleep on the flat roofs of their houses, -which for that reason are surrounded by low mud walls to ensure -privacy from the neighbours. They lie on the roofs, men, women and -children, always with their faces covered from the moon, because they -say moonlight on sleeping faces causes madness. In the daytime the -women gossip on the housetops and carry on intrigues, for there is -nothing easier than hopping over the walls from one roof to the other, -and it is not considered _comme il faut_ for husbands to frequent -the roofs in daytime. Often when I climbed up to the citadel and -looked down over the town I saw a group of girls sitting on the roofs, -generally singing and dressing each other’s hair. When they caught -sight of an intruder watching them from above they bolted down the -steep stairs like rabbits to their burrows. One sees real rabbits, -too. Almost all the natives breed them, and for safety’s sake they -are kept on the housetops. - -One of the features of Siwa town are the “Dululas,” or sun -shelters. They consist of spaces shaded from the sun by a roof of -rushes and mud, supported by mud pillars. Often in the centre there -is a stone basin containing water, which is kept always full at the -expense of one of the sheikhs in memory of a deceased relation. Here -the greybeards of the town assemble in the evenings, strangers sit -and gossip when they visit the town, and the Camel Corps men wander -through to hear the latest news. It is a sort of public club, and -one hears even more gossip than at a club at home. The largest of -these sun shelters has become a little market, and a few decrepit -old men spread out their wares in its shade—a few baskets, a dozen -onions, an old silk, tattered waistcoat and some red pepper would -be the stock-in-trade of one of these hawkers. What they say in the -“suk” corresponds to the “bazaar talk” in India, and it is -incredible how soon the most secret facts are known there. - -The Siwans are a distinct race quite apart from the Arabs of the -Western Desert, but in appearance they differ very slightly from their -bedouin neighbours. Owing to their isolated dwelling-place they have -retained their original language, which appears to be an aboriginal -Berber dialect. They are unquestionably the remnants of an aboriginal -people of Berber stock, but constant intermarriage with outsiders has -obliterated any universal feature in their appearance, and through -intermarriage with Sudanese they have acquired a darker complexion -and in some few cases negroid features. On the whole one does not -see the Arab type, or the Fellah, or the Coptic type among the Siwans. - -The men are tall and powerfully built, with slightly fairer complexions -than the Arabs. In some cases they have light straight hair and blue -eyes, and one whole family has red hair and pink cheeks, though they -themselves do not know where this originated. Most of the younger -men are singularly ugly and have a fierce and bestial expression, -but with age they improve, and the elders of the town are pleasant, -dignified-looking men, though effeminate in their manners. The -children are pallid and unhealthy in appearance. The Siwans have -high cheek-bones, straight noses, and short, weak chins. They are -very conceited and think much of their looks; on feast days even the -oldest men darken their eyes with “kohl” and soak themselves with -evil-smelling scent. - -The wealthy Siwans wear the usual Arab dress—white robes, a long -silk shawl twisted round the body and flung over one shoulder, a soft -red, blue-tasselled cap and yellow leather shoes. On gala days they -appear in brilliant silks from Cairo, and coloured robes from Tripoli -and Morocco, but on ordinary occasions the predominating colour is -white. The servants and labourers, who form the bulk of the population, -and include many Sudanese who were brought from the south as slaves, -wear a long white shirt, white drawers, a skull cap and sometimes a -curious sack-like garment made of locally spun wool ornamented by -brightly coloured patterns in silk or dye. Siwa is the only place -in Egypt where one does not see the natives apeing European dress or -slouching about in khaki trousers or tunics—remnants of the Egyptian -Expeditionary Force. - -The women are small and slender, and very pale owing to the inactivity -of strict seclusion. The palest women are the most admired. Their large -black eyes are ornamented with “kohl,” and their small hands are -tinted with henna. In public they wear a universal dress which is quite -distinctive. It consists of a dark blue striped robe, reaching below -the knees, with full sleeves, cut square and embroidered round the -neck, white drawers with a strip of embroidery round the ankles, and -a large square grey shawl with a dark blue border, which covers them -when they go abroad. Their ornaments consist of innumerable silver -ear-rings, with bunches of silver chains and little bells, silver -bangles, anklets, and necklaces. An unmarried girl is distinguished -by a “virginity disc,” which is an engraved silver disc about -the size of a saucer, suspended round the neck by a heavy silver -ring. These rings are generally very old and beautifully engraved with -arabesques. When a Siwan woman is wearing all her silver ornaments she -tinkles like a tinsmith’s cart, but her husband poetically compares -her to a caparisoned pony. Their general appearance is quite pleasing, -but they are very unlike the handsome, healthy-looking Arab women of -the coast. - -At home the wealthier women wear coloured silks and richer -clothes. They wear their straight black hair thickly oiled and dressed -in a complicated coiffure. A fringe of short curls hangs above the -eyes, and a number of plaited braids are worn on each side of the face, -like the fringe of a mop. Strips of scarlet leather are twisted into -the tresses, which must always be of an uneven number, and on the -ends of the leather are hung silver bells, rings and amulets. One of -the first travellers to Siwa remarked on the strength of an ear that -could bear such heavy silver ear-rings, but instead of hanging from -the actual ear the rings are fastened to a leather band across the -top of the head. All the material for women’s clothes is made by -one family of Egyptian merchants at Kerdassa, near the Pyramids. One -brother has a shop in Siwa, and the others live in Egypt. Owing -to this the price of clothing is very great, yet none of the Siwan -merchants have ever considered setting up an opposition trade. - -Women of the upper classes rarely appear in public during the day, -except at funerals, when hundreds of them squat round the house, like -a crowd of grey crows, howling and shrieking. When one rides past they -hop up from the ground and run a few steps, with long grey shawls -trailing behind them on the ground, and then they squat down again, -like vultures scared off a carcase. They never work in the fields or -drive the flocks to pasturage like the Arab women, or the fellahin, -but occupy themselves in making baskets, or pottery, and in household -duties. When one woman calls on another she wears all the clothes she -possesses, and gradually discards them in order to impress the people -she is visiting with her wealth. When I met a woman in the streets -she would scuttle into the nearest doorway, or if there was not one -handy she would pull a shawl over her face and flatten herself against -a wall; even hideous old harridans affected an ecstasy of shyness -on seeing an Englishman. Hardly any of the women can speak Arabic, -and it is owing to their strange secretive lives that the Siwans -have retained their language and are so unprogressive to-day. They -resolutely oppose all innovations, refusing even the help and advice -of the Egyptian Government doctor. It is to their influence as mothers -that the women owe what power they have, because Siwan men care very -little for their wives. Most men keep one wife only at a time, but -they often marry as many as twenty or thirty, if they can afford to, -divorcing each one when she ceases to please. - -The Siwans are typically Oriental. They are hospitable, dishonest, -lazy, picturesque, ignorant, superstitious, cheerful, cunning, easily -moved to joy or anger, fond of intrigue and ultra conservative. They -are not immoral, they simply have no morals. The men are notoriously -degenerate and resemble in their habits the Pathans of India. They seem -to consider that every vice and indulgence is lawful. It is strange -that these people who are among the most fanatical Mohammedans of -Africa should have become the most vicious. Yet most of the Siwans are -Senussi, members of that Mohammedan sect which corresponds in a way to -the Puritanism of Christianity. It advocates a simple and abstemious -life, and condemns severely smoking, drinking and luxury. Yet the -most religious sheikhs are generally the most flagrantly outrageous. - -In spite of their unenviable reputation the Siwans are quite satisfied -with themselves, and speak with tolerant pity of the Arabs and the -Sudanese. The Siwan Sudanese have become like their original masters, -and do not seem to object to being called “slaves,” but there -are constantly furious rows between the natives and the Camel Corps -originating with the word “slave” being used with reference to -the latter. The Arabs, and to a greater extent the Siwans, consider -themselves very superior to the Sudanese who, until quite recently, -they could buy and sell. - -The population is divided into two classes, the one consisting of -the sheikhs, merchants and landowners, the other of the servants -and labourers. The former class is an all-powerful minority. There -is no middle class. There is also a religious division; the Senussi -predominate in numbers, but the Medinia sect is the richest. The -latter sect is said to be the successor of the Wahhabi confraternity; -it is connected with the Dirkawi, which was founded by Sheikh Arabi -el Dirkawi. It was established about one hundred years ago by Sheikh -Zafer el Medani, who was born at Medina in Arabia. His doctrines found -favour in Tripoli and were adopted by the Siwans some time before -the arrival of the Senussi, and Sheikh Zafer himself visited Siwa on -several occasions. The two sects are very similar. The Medinia have -still several religious centres in Egypt and Tripoli, but they lost -ground considerably on the advent of Senussiism. In spite of their -similarities the two sects are by no means well disposed to each -other. Membership is hereditary, and no one has been known to change -from one party to the other. They have their own mosques, sheikhs and -funds, and on religious festivals they hold their meetings in different -parts of the town. I used always to make a point of visiting the -gatherings of each sect. There are two other less important religious -bodies known as the “Arusia” and the “Sudania,” but they only -consist of a few dozen old men who perform strange dances on festivals -in honour of their particular saints. The Siwans are very religious, -more so than the average Arab, but this is probably owing to the fact -that their mosques are conveniently near, and if one is absent from -mosque the neighbours notice, and talk about it! One has heard of -such things at home. - -The prosperity of the people depends almost entirely on the date -harvest. The date groves, which form the wealth of the oasis, are -watered by some two hundred fresh-water springs. The water rises -through natural fissures, or artificial bore-holes, from a sandstone -bed about 400 feet below the surface. The largest springs, such as the -“Fountain of the Sun,” measure as much as 50 yards in diameter, -with a depth of about 40 feet. Each basin is fed by a group of little -water-holes, and the water comes up from the ground sometimes in -continuous streams of bubbles, and sometimes with sudden bursts, -so the surface seems constantly moving. There is a theory that an -underground river flows east towards the Nile and its water comes to -the surface in the various oases between Egypt and Tripoli. The fact -that Siwa lies considerably below the level of the desert plateau, -and even below sea-level, supports this theory. Or possibly the water -comes from the high desert plateau north of Siwa, where there is a -heavy rainfall; but the water supply never varies, and has never been -known to run dry. The water in the springs differs considerably. In -some it is very brackish, in others it is quite sweet, and some springs -are flavoured with sulphur; again, some springs are warm, and others -are several degrees colder, so one can chose a bathing-place, hot or -cold, according to inclination. Many springs, often the sweetest ones, -rise a few feet away from the salt marshes, and one spring, which used -to be salt, has now become sweet. The largest springs are edged to a -certain depth with squared stones and blocks of masonry, which looks -as if it might have been finished yesterday, though it was probably -built almost a thousand years ago. The basins are generally round, -shaded by a ring of palm trees, beyond which lie the gardens. - -The sides of the basins have been gradually built higher and higher, -so that the surface of the water is now several feet above the level -ground, and little brooks run down from the spring heads into the -gardens in all directions. They are regulated by rough sluice gates, -made generally of a large flat stone, which is removed to allow the -water to flow, and replaced, with a plaster of mud, when the water -is no longer needed. Each spring forms the nucleus of a garden which -belongs to a number of different people. The gardens are divided -into little beds of a uniform size, about 8 feet square, lying an -inch or two lower than the level of the ground. These beds are known -as “hods.” When the water is flowing the labourer goes in turn -to each “hod” and scoops a passage with his hands connecting -the “hod” with the water channel, which is on a higher level, -then he makes a rough dam across the channel so that the water flows -into the “hod” and fills it; afterwards he closes the entrance -of the “hod” with a handful of mud, pushes aside the mud dam, -and the stream flows on to the next “hod,” where the same thing -occurs. I have seen little boys at the seaside doing just the same -sort of thing. In some cases two water channels cross, and then one -of them flows through a hollowed palm trunk. - -The cultivation round every spring is made up of a number of gardens -owned by different men, some of them consisting of no more than half -a dozen palm trees and a couple of “hods.” All the ground is -watered by the central spring, so a careful water system has been -evolved by which the water is divided and portioned out to each -piece of garden. For each spring there is a ponderous tome called -“Daftar el Ain”—the Book of the Spring, which records the exact -quantity of water, or rather the time of water, that each garden is -allowed. This is followed with the greatest care by the Keeper of the -Spring, who regulates the irrigation, and is paid by the owners of -the adjoining garden in proportion to the number of trees that they -own. Each day is divided into two halves, from sunrise to sunset, -and sunset to sunrise; this again is subdivided into eighths, and -each subdivision is called a “wagabah.” Thus if Osman Daud’s -garden receives an allowance of four “wagabah” every other day, -it means that he receives the full strength of the water from the -springs for twelve hours on consecutive days. - -When one buys a garden the water rights are included, but men often -sell part of their water right to a neighbour, this, of course, -being recorded in the Book of the Spring, which is kept by one of -the sheikhs. The “Ghaffir el Ain,” or Guardian of the Spring, -takes his time from the call of the muezzin, or in distant gardens by -the sun and the stars. At night a special muezzin calls from one of -the mosques for the benefit of the watchmen on the springs out in the -gardens. The system has been in force for so many centuries that there -are very rarely any disputes on the subject. All questions are referred -to the books, which serve also as records of ownership of the gardens. - -Each Siwan, however poor, keeps a book of his own in which he enters, -or rather pays a scribe to record, an account of his property. It -states the boundaries, number of trees and water rights of his -garden. When a man buys a garden he writes down the particulars -in his “daftar,” and this is signed by the person who sold -the garden, and witnessed by several responsible sheikhs or “nas -tayebin”—respectable people. This entry serves as a title-deed -for the purchase. When I was at Siwa there was a lengthy and involved -law case about the ownership of some property, in which one party, -in order to prove inheritance, forged an entry in his “daftar.” -But cases of forgery were not frequent—fortunately, as they added -considerable complications to an already difficult case. - -There is more water in Siwa than is required for irrigating the -gardens, and in many cases sweet water flows to waste among the salt -marshes. The Siwans are unenterprising. They only cultivate just -sufficient for their own needs, and not always that: they only work in -the gardens where the soil, after centuries of watering and manuring, -has become very rich. They grow a very little wheat and barley, but -not enough to supply the population, who depend on imported barley -from the coast, yet there are many fertile plots of land which would -raise corn, and which could easily be irrigated. Lack of labour and -implements is their excuse when one questions them, but in the spring -numbers of Siwans go up to the coast and hire themselves out to the -bedouins as labourers, preferring to work on the coast instead of -increasing the cultivation in their oasis. - -The palm groves of Siwa are very beautiful. It seems a veritable Garden -of Hesperides when one arrives there after a long trek on the waterless -desert which surrounds the oasis. One appreciates the slumberous shade -of the luxuriant gardens, long, lazy bathes in the deep cool springs, -and feasts of fruit on the banks of little rushing streams. Perhaps -it is not surprising that the Siwans are lazy and indolent, for their -country is in many ways a land of Lotus Eaters. The natives have a -happy-go-lucky Omar Khayyámish outlook on life which is accentuated -by the place they inhabit. - -The gardens consist mainly of date groves with some olive orchards. But -among the date palms there are many other trees—figs, pomegranates, -pears, peaches, plums, apricots, apples, prickly pears, limes and sweet -lemons. The numerous vineyards produce quantities of exceptionally -fine grapes, which last for several months and are so plentiful that -large quantities rot on the branches. The natives are not very fond -of them and no wine is made in Siwa, except “araki,” which is -distilled from ripe dates. Dates and a little olive oil are the only -exports, and it is on the produce of the date palms that the life of -the people depends. The poorer Siwans live almost entirely on dates; -the beams and the doors of the houses are made from palm trunks; -mats, baskets and fences are made from palm fronds; saddle crossbars -are made from the wood; saddle packing consists of the thick fibre, -the branches are used for fuel; the young white heart of the budding -leaves is eaten as a special delicacy, and the sap of the palm makes -“lubki,” a drink which is much liked by natives. The wealth of -the whole community is derived from the sale of dates, so it is not -surprising that they watch anxiously in springtime to see if the -crop will be a good one. Generally, on alternate years, there is a -good crop, then a fair crop, and when dates are plentiful olives are -few. Nature seems to have made this careful arrangement. - -The cultivation of dates is by no means as simple as it would -appear. The trees need careful watering, manuring and trimming, and one -notices very clearly the difference in crops from well or badly cared -for gardens. In the early spring the work of artificial pollination is -carried out by special men who are skilled in the process. A branch -is cut from the male date tree, which bears no fruit, sharpened, and -thrust into the trunk of the female tree. Unless this is done to every -tree the fruit becomes small and worthless. There are about 170,000 -trees, each of which bears, after the fifth year, an average of three -hundred pounds of fruit. Little attention is paid to the other fruits -which deteriorate from lack of pruning, but with a little trouble and -proper methods they would improve. Formerly the oasis produced rice, -oranges, bananas and sugar canes, but these no longer grow as they -needed more trouble to cultivate. Only dates and olives are sold, -and it is considered very shameful for a man to sell other fruit; -the same idea applies to milk. Siwans either eat fruit themselves, -give it to their friends, or let it rot; only the very poor natives -sell any. I had considerable difficulty in getting a regular supply, -but eventually I accepted “gifts” daily from certain men, and -repaid them with sugar, which they liked, though if I had offered -them money they would have considered themselves grievously insulted. - -While at Siwa I dried large quantities of figs and -apricots—mish-mish—which were very successful, and especially -useful for taking out on trek when fresh fruit is unobtainable. None -of the natives had attempted drying fruit, though the excessive -heat and the flat roofs offer excellent opportunities, and quite an -industry could be developed in this way. A variety of vegetables are -grown, but only by a very few people. The most common are onions, -watercress, radishes, pepper, cucumbers, gherkins, egg fruit, mint, -parsley and garlic. - -The gardens are manured with dry leaves and dried bundles of a thorny -plant called “argoul,” which grows about the oasis and is much -liked by camels. Bundles of it are cut and left for some months to -dry, and finally dug into the soil round the fruit trees. The streets, -markets and stables are all swept carefully, and the manure is sold -to owners of gardens. The contents of public and private latrines -are all collected and used as manure in the gardens. It is a good -system, as it ensures sanitary arrangements being promptly carried -out. The soil of Siwa is strongly impregnated with salt. In many -places there are stretches of “sebukh” which consists of earth -hardened by a strong proportion of salt which feels, and looks, -like a ploughed field after a black frost. It is almost impassable, -and the occasional deep water-holes, hidden by a layer of thin soil, -make walking as dangerous as it is difficult. Two large salt lakes -lie one on the east and one on the west of the town. The water in -these lakes rises irregularly during the winter months, and subsides -in the summer, leaving a glistening white surface of pure salt which -looks exactly like ice, especially in places where the dark water -shows between cracks in the salt. One can lift up white slabs of -salt in the same way as ice, and send a piece skimming across the -surface, like stones on a frozen pond at home. Sometimes there are -deep pools in the midst of the marshes where the white salt and the -vivid blue sky combine to colour the water with the most brilliant -greens and blues. Causeways built by the natives traverse the marshes, -and by these alone it is possible to cross them. In ancient days the -Ammonians sent a tribute of salt to the kings of Persia, and such -was the quality of the salt that it was used for certain special -religious rites. The glitter of the salt lakes in the middle of the -day is intensely trying to the eyes, but at sunset they reflect and -seem to exaggerate every colour of the brilliant sky. - -The salt lakes, the numerous springs, and the stagnant water lying -about the gardens bred mosquitoes and fevers. Formerly this low-lying -oasis was a hotbed of typhoid and malaria. Its evil reputation was -known to the bedouins who never stayed there a day longer than was -necessary, and even now they speak of almost every fever as “Siwan -fever.” The natives themselves attributed the fever to fruit, -and still call it “mish-mish fever,” owing to its prevalence -during the season when apricots are ripe. But nowadays conditions -are enormously improved. Typhoid is practically unknown, the malarial -mosquito has been banished from Siwa, though it still swarms in the -neighbouring oases; several thousand pounds has been spent by the -Egyptian Government in draining and filling up stagnant pools, and -fish have been imported by the Ministry of Health which breed in the -springs and feed upon the mosquitoes’ eggs. The town is kept clean -and there are very strict regulations about sanitation, and thousands -of sugar-coated quinine tablets are distributed to the people each -week. They have discovered now just how much of the sugar can be licked -off before the quinine begins to taste. The result is that since the -war there have been very few new cases of malaria, though many of -the people are so sodden with fever that it is impossible to cure them. - -[Illustration: CLEANING TAMOUSY SPRING] - -It is supposed that the fever is a form of malaria, but when I got it -myself, very badly, and had several blood tests taken in Cairo, no germ -of any known fever was found. The same thing happened to three other -Englishmen who caught the fever in Siwa. So far no careful analysis -has been made of the disease, which is spoken of as “malaria” -because it is certain that malaria exists in the oasis. - -Each spring in Siwa is cleaned out once in every two years in the -summer-time. On these occasions the owners of the gardens give a free -meal to the labourers, and a luncheon party to their friends. It is -a popular and pleasant entertainment. Almost all the men in the town -turn out and work in relays of fifty or a hundred, baling out the -water from the springs with old kerosene tins, leather buckets and -earthenware pitchers. It is a slow proceeding; some of the largest -springs take several days to finish, and the work must be continuous, -as the basins are continually filling. The men and boys, covered with -mud, shout and sing as they work, every now and then diving into the -water and swimming round. Every man, woman and child in Siwa can swim, -and most of them are expert divers. The women swim like dogs, with -much splashing, but the men are very good. A pump would drain a well -in a single day and save much labour and wasted time. As the water -sinks masons and carpenters repair the sides of the basin, fitting -in new stones and patching up old ones. A curious custom terminates -these occasions. Each guest and labourer is presented by the owners of -the spring with a handful of berseem—clover—as a partial payment -for his labour. When the men ride home in the evening they twist the -clover in wreaths round their heads and round the donkeys’ ears, -then, when they arrive at the town, the donkeys are allowed to eat it. - -One of the “characters” of Siwa, always very much in evidence -on these occasions, was an old, half-witted man known as “Sultan -Musa.” He suffered from a delusion that he was the Sultan of Siwa, -but I fancy that he was trifle less foolish than he pretended to -be. He played the part of court jester at all entertainments. The -Siwans found him intensely comic; they asked him questions—how old -was he, how many wives, and what he had done; when he mumbled that -he was 100 years old and had 20 wives, and various other domestic -details, they simply shrieked with laughter. I got heartily sick -of the old imbecile and announced that I did not wish to see him -when I went anywhere. Sometimes when I arrived at a party I would -catch sight of him being hurriedly bundled out of sight, and later -I heard the servants in the background laughing hilariously at his -dreary witticisms. - -A few days after my arrival at Siwa I received an invitation -to a luncheon in the garden of one of the leading sheikhs. The -messenger announced that Sheikh Thomi would call for me at eight -o’clock on the following morning; I wondered at the hour—but -accepted the invitation. The next morning, while shaving before -breakfast, I was disturbed by a terrific hullabaloo. My dogs, who -strongly object to unknown natives, a trait which I encouraged, -were circling furiously round a party of Siwans who sat on their -donkeys below the house. My servants went out and rescued them, -explaining that I would be down soon; a few minutes later I joined -them. After many salutations and polite inquiries I was introduced to -the other guests, a crafty-looking, one-eyed merchant, two venerable, -white-bearded sheikhs and several notables of the town. They were -all dressed very distinctly in their best, wearing coloured silks or -spotless white robes. Sheikh Thomi, a cheerful, rotund little man, -with the reputation of being the richest sheikh in Siwa, wore a -long white burnous and a gorgeously embroidered scarlet silk scarf, -and rode a big black donkey with a satanic expression. I was offered -the choice of a number of donkeys. I picked out the largest one, and -off we went. The donkeys have no bridles or reins; one steers them by -beating their necks with a stick, and very occasionally they go the -way one wants them to. Mine was the fastest, so I led the cavalcade, -hoping that my mount was sure-footed. We dashed through the town -with a tremendous clatter and a cloud of dust, scattering children, -hens and old women, out on to the roads, and then for a mile or so -at a hard gallop towards some gardens. My donkey knew the way. We -arrived at the garden as it was beginning to grow hot, and were met -at the entrance by a troop of servants who took the donkeys. - -Sheikh Thomi led me, slightly dishevelled, through a thick palm -grove, followed by the rest of the party, to a large summer-house -built of logs and thatch, set on the edge of a round spring from -whose green-blue depths constant streams of silver bubbles rose to -the surface. Little green frogs swam in the water and numbers of -scarlet dragon-flies hovered over it. The walls of the summer-house -were hung with gaily striped Tripoli blankets—vermilion, white and -green—the floor was covered with beautiful old Persian carpets, -and cushions were ranged round the sides. Through the open ends of -the building I saw long vistas of palm trunks, and the sun caught the -scarlet blossoms of the pomegranates and the shining, purple grapes -on their trellis frames. The air was heavy with the scent of orange -blossom and “tamar-el-hindi,” and the deep shade inside the hut was -a welcome relief. Outside the white-robed servants hurried to and fro, -carrying baskets and dishes, while two boys, in the distance, sang -curious Siwan songs, answering each other back as they swung to and -fro high up on two palm trees. Sheikh Thomi, with much whispering and -smiling, went outside. I leant back on my cushions lulled by “the -liquid lapse of murmuring streams,” thinking how absolutely Eastern -the whole scene was. - -Suddenly—to my horror—I heard a hideous grinding sound and a -shrill, raucous voice with a pronounced American accent began singing, -“Waiting for the Robert E. Lee,” a tune which I always object -to. It was a gramophone, very old and decrepit, the most prized -possession of Sheikh Thomi. I tried to look as if I enjoyed the -tune, which was played over and over again for about half an hour, -and followed by some slightly less repulsive records of native music. - -After listening to this musical interlude a servant brought in a bunch -of pink and white sweetly scented China roses which were distributed -among the guests, and then the meal began. A dozen boys served as -waiters, carrying the dishes from an open-air fire round the corner -where several cooks presided over the food. At first it was suggested -that I should eat alone, in solitary state, but I protested, so Sheikh -Thomi and three others ate with me, while the rest of the guests -retired outside to eat later, probably with more ease in my absence. We -sat cross-legged on the ground, a position that without considerable -practice causes the most agonising “pins and needles.” The meal -was eaten almost in silence, broken only by the noisy sounds of eating. - -A round wooden table was placed in the centre, and each guest was -provided with several flat round wheaten loaves, which served as -plates, and some strips of thin native bread, which looks rather -like pancake, only darker and more solid. The meal consisted -mostly of mutton, cooked in various ways—boiled, fried and -stewed—with different kinds of vegetables, salads, spices, -curries and flavourings. One of the dishes, a very excellent one, -was stewed doves, eaten with fresh grapes. The pudding was the least -appetising dish on the menu, it was made of crumbled bread, mixed -into a sticky mass with “semna” oil and sugar. There were about -a dozen courses. Each one was brought in in a big dish of polished -ebony and placed on the table. The guests ate from the central dish, -using the thin bread to pick up the meat. One takes a piece of thin -bread between finger and thumb, dips into the dish, sandwiching the -meat in the bread. It sounds a messy proceeding, but after a little -practice I found it quite simple. Servants brought round a brass ewer, -and each guest washed his hands after every course; the Siwans also -rinsed their mouths—noisily. Every now and then some one would -fish out an extra succulent morsel and hand it to me, or if one man -had secured a tasty bone he would tear off the meat and heap it on -to my loaf. Towards the end of the meal a few loud hiccoughs are -not considered amiss, and to loosen one’s belt, very obviously, -is thought most complimentary. One needs it too! - -The food was very good, excellently cooked, and so tender that there -was no difficulty in separating the meat from the bones. When I -thought, and felt, that we had finished, there followed an enormous -dish heaped high with perfectly plain boiled rice. This is called -“Shawish”—The Sergeant—because it clears away the other -dishes! Afterwards an enormous copper tray was carried in by two -boys loaded with every kind of fruit—plums, peaches, pears, grapes, -apricots and figs. Last of all came tea, and bowls of palm wine for -those who liked it. It is made from the sap of the date palm, and -when freshly drawn it tastes like sweet ginger-beer, but a little -goes a very long way. - -Tea-drinking in Siwa is as solemn a ceremony as after-dinner port -at home. The host either dispenses it himself, or as a compliment -invites one of the guests to pour out. Towards the end of my time -at Siwa I was thought to have acquired sufficient experience, and -occasionally I poured out myself. The guest invariably pretends to -refuse, protests that he is not worthy, but eventually accepts the -honour. The pourer-out is called the “Sultan” of the party, and -every “Sultan” tries to make the best tea in the town. People -are very critical, and opinions vary as to who is the super Sultan -in Siwa. As soon as the “Sultan” takes over the job he becomes, -for the time, master of the house. He calls loudly for more sugar, -boiling water, and scolds the servants as if they were his own. If -he doesn’t like the quality of the tea, he says so and the host -apologises. A servant brings a low table with a number of little -glasses about 4 inches high, a locked chest containing three divisions -for red and green tea, and sugar, and a bowl of hot water to rinse -the cups. One is asked which kind of tea is preferred, red or green, -and the safest and most popular reply is “A mixture of both.” The -“Sultan” then very deliberately rinses the glasses from a kettle of -boiling water which stands on a little brazier at his side, measures -out the tea into the pot, adds a little water, pours it away, then -carefully makes the tea, pours out a little, tastes it, and finally, -if he approves of the flavour, hands one glassful to each guest. The -tea is drunk with no milk; the first brew is rather bitter, with a very -little sugar, the second is very sweet, and the third, and best, is -flavoured with rose petals, orange blossom, or fresh mint. Each guest -drinks one glass only of each brew, and what is over is poured out and -sent to the servants, or into the harem. It should be sipped noisily, -and satisfaction expressed in the sound of drinking. One drinks -either three glasses, six, or nine. I have known twelve, but that is -considered rather an excess in polite society. Personally I consider -it one of the best drinks I know, but at first people dislike it. - -The Siwans are greedy, when they get the chance, and on these -occasions their appetites are enormous. They have the greatest -admiration for anyone who eats copiously. A certain Government -official, whose fondness for large meals was famous, came down to -Siwa. He attended a luncheon party, which was given in his honour by -some of the sheikhs. The meal was a matter of some dozen or fifteen -courses. I myself, by using the greatest discretion, and only eating -a few mouthfuls of each dish, managed to last out. But the guest of -the day took, and ate, a liberal helping of each course. The Siwans -themselves became a trifle languid towards the end of the meal, but -he persevered. Even the plain boiled rice did not daunt him, or the -sticky oily pudding. It earned him an everlasting admiration in Siwa, -and his name is always mentioned at Siwan parties as a really fine -fellow, “The Englishman who ate of everything.” - -Meat is difficult to get in the oasis. When a bedouin convoy arrives -the Arabs often slaughter and sell a camel. There are a few sheep -and goats imported from the coast, but the price of meat makes it -impossible for the poorer folk to buy it. I had with me a number -of dogs. One of them, an attractive mongrel, produced a litter of -pups. Several people asked me to give them one, and I did so. I -was pleased to see how well their new owners looked after them; they -appeared even fatter and fitter than when I had them. Then I went into -Cairo on local leave. When I returned, about a month or so later, -I inquired after the puppies. One of the men who had taken one told -me, “They were fine, so fat and so large——” But “Where are -they now?” I asked. He looked surprised, pointed to his stomach, -which was a very obvious one, and explained that they had all been -eaten last month on the “Eid el Kebir,” one of the Mohammedan -festivals. He said that nobody could ever imagine that I had given -them away for any other reason than for eating. There was nothing -to be done, but I never gave away another puppy. I drowned the next -litter, and it was considered extremely wasteful. - -The Siwans eat cats too, and mice and rats. At one time there were many -cats in Siwa and no rats. Now there are rats but no cats. Cats were -easier to catch than rats, so they went first. One man, a merchant, -complained that his house and shop was overrun with mice and rats. He -had gone to great trouble and brought a cat from Egypt, but as soon as -it was full grown it disappeared! Dogs are considered “unclean” -by the Mohammedan religion, and they are never eaten in any other -places in Egypt. - -Dogs are useful at Siwa both as watch-dogs and companions. My dogs -used to sleep on the high terrace of the house, and they always -gave one warning of anybody coming over the half mile of sand -from the town. Besides, dogs are the most human and affectionate -of all animals, and one gets to feel the need of companionship -at Siwa. It is a solitary life. One either likes it or hates it; -there is no compromise, and most men hate it. Sometimes one does -not see a single white man for several months, and then, when a car -patrol arrives, they stay a few hours in the town and dash back on -the same day. One needs a certain temperament to stand living at -Siwa. In the summer the heat is so great that one does not go out -much in the middle of the day, unless there is urgent necessity, -consequently for many hours every day there is nothing to do. If one -sleeps much in the daytime one is unable to sleep at night. A man at -Siwa must have some form of hobby in which he can interest himself -without needing the assistance of other people. Painting, writing, -photography and reading all serve the purpose. I mention them as they -formed my own spare-time occupations. But without something of this -kind life becomes unbearable. It is an ideal place for painting and -photography. The strangely varied scenery, the brilliant sunshine, -the picturesque natives, and the wonderful colouring, especially the -sunsets, provide a variety of subjects on every side. Siwan men quite -enjoy being photographed, but the women strongly dislike it. Eventually -by teaching my Sudanese servant to use a camera I managed to secure -a few indifferent photos of women. When one “snaps” people they -immediately demand a copy of the photo, imagining that the camera is -also a simultaneous printer and developer. - -According to the proverb “Two is company, three is none,” but I -think most men who have experienced it would agree that in an isolated -district three is generally company and two is purgatory. The odds -are one in a thousand that “the other man” will be congenial, -and if he is not life is insufferable. If there is a third man things -feel better, but to live for months on end with one other man, who -one does not really like, results in mutual detestation. This may -sound morbid and unnatural, but one sees so many examples. I knew -two quite ordinary normal men posted in a lonely district where -they rarely saw another Englishman. For the first month they lived -together quite happily, in the second month they quarrelled, in the -third month they took to living in separate houses, and at the end -of four months they were not on speaking terms! Then there are other -men who cannot stand living alone. They have no personal occupation, -they become depressed, take to whiskey in large quantities—or worse, -and therein lies the way to madness. - -Then there is the question of marriage. In most cases the authorities -do not encourage, or rather do not allow, men to marry. They very -reasonably consider that married men are unsuitable for desert work; -they either leave their wives in Egypt, and worry about them, which is -not surprising, or they manage to “wangle” a permission out of the -powers that be and take their wives out to the desert. Then, of course, -a married man is stationed in a pleasanter place than one who has -no wife. It is a difficult problem, and in most cases results in men -wasting the prime of their life in a bachelor condition on the desert. - -But one was kept fairly busily employed at Siwa. A considerable part -of the work consisted in judging cases, similar to the duties of a -magistrate at home (this, to my mind, was the most interesting part -of the routine); also there was a section of Camel Corps to keep -in training, and the local police. I went out on patrol for a few -days every month, but after once exploring the whole neighbourhood -these “treks” were not exciting. Most of the law cases were not -of great interest; they consisted mainly of petty thefts, assaults -and infringement of Government regulations. Divorce and questions of -inheritance were not supposed to be dealt with by me, as they came -before a special Mohammedan court, whose representative, an old kadi, -went on circuit every year, though he always avoided Siwa, owing to -the tedious journey and the huge file of cases that were waiting for -his decision. The Siwans knew almost to the penny how much they would -have to give him for a favourable decision on any case. - -Sometimes, however, I did get curious cases, and the following one -illustrates the social conditions in the town. - -A young Siwan woman called Booba, about fifteen years old, after a -series of very varied matrimonial experiences, married an Arab who was -settled in the town. Although she had been married many times she was -considered a very respectable person and related to one of the leading -sheikhs. Divorce is considered no disgrace, and a divorced woman does -not lose caste as in other parts of the country. Very soon the Arab -husband died. This occurred in January, by the end of March she had -married again; this time her husband was a Siwan merchant. He quickly -grew tired of her and divorced her after a month of married life, -but he treated her well and paid the residue of her marriage money -to her brother who was her nearest male relation. She returned to her -brother’s family, who were by no means pleased to see her. Being an -exceptionally good-looking girl she was courted again by another man, -the young son of a sheikh, who was considered rather a “catch.” -He married her in June, and very soon after she gave birth to a -child. As the child was a girl, the husband divorced her two days -after its birth. The wretched woman was turned out of the house in -the night by her late mother-in-law. She managed to get to her own -home, but her brother’s wife refused to let her in. The brother -himself was away. Eventually she found a lodging with an old woman, -a relative of one of the earlier husbands, who had, it seemed, some -liking for the girl. While staying here the child died—possibly -from exposure, possibly from other reasons. - -Immediately the families of the last three husbands hurried to give -information against her, and charged her with murdering the child. The -doctor examined it and found signs of possible suffocation. I listened -for several days to the evidence of a number of witnesses, mostly -repulsive old women who enlarged with horrid keenness on the most -disagreeable details. But eventually nothing was proved, and the girl -was acquitted. It was a disagreeable case, but one could almost find -parallels to it in the English police-court news. - -Female witnesses at Siwa were very difficult to manage. They never -spoke or understood any Arabic, so the six sheikhs, who acted as a -jury, interpreted for them. I used to sit on a platform at one end of -the room, and the six sheikhs occupied a bench along one side. Women -pretended to hate coming into the court-house, but I think they really -rather enjoyed it. The orderly, one of the police, would firmly propel -the lady into the middle of the room, she being completely covered from -head to foot with clothes. As soon as the orderly retired she sidled -over to the wall and propped herself against it, generally with her -back turned on me. The sheikhs would remonstrate, “For shame, turn -round Ayesha, daughter of Osman, and speak to the noble officer.” -The lady would wriggle round a little and allow one eye to appear -through the drapery. When questioned she mumbled inaudible replies, -growing slightly more coherent if she was personally concerned in -the case, but if there was another woman giving evidence she would -gradually lower her veils, speak louder, and finally show her whole -face as she shrieked abuse at her opponent—quite regardless of the -eyes of the court. The sheikhs were invaluable on these occasions; -it would have been very difficult to work without them. - -One woman, who sued her neighbour for throwing stones at her hens, -disturbed the court considerably. When she was led in by the policeman -she appeared particularly cumbered with clothes. Suddenly a terrific -disturbance began among her shawls and draperies; she gave a shrill -squeal and two hens disentangled themselves from her clothes and dashed -madly round the court-house. Two of my dogs, who were lying at my feet, -sprang after the birds and chased them round the room, which plunged -the proceedings into the wildest confusion. The woman had carried in -the hens intending to confront her opponent, at the critical moment, -with the injured victims. Judging from their activity they had not -been much injured. - -One man, Bashu Habun, son of the old sheikh who was hanged, caused more -legal work than the whole of the rest of the population together. He -spent his time appropriating the property of one of his brothers who -was in prison. The brother had an agent in Siwa, a foolish old sheikh -called Soud, who was too honest, or stupid, to withstand the sly -cleverness of Bashu Habun. At one time there were seven cases between -them, involving many hundreds of pounds. I settled the first three, -but found that the latter dealt with inheritance, and so were beyond -my jurisdiction, but I got heartily sick of the sharp, foxy face of -Bashu Habun and the noisy, foolish obstinacy of old Sheikh Soud. Both -of them tried to secure my support by sending donkey-loads of fruit to -my house before the cases were tried, and on one occasion the servants -met both bringing presents, and returned together with their offerings -to the town. The idea of “baksheesh” is so firmly planted in -the native mind that it takes a long while to die out. Still, one -finds that the natives really appreciate and prefer an impartial -administration of justice, in place of justice—of sorts—which -depends on which of the two parties can offer the highest bribe to -the judge. The Senussi were by no means above this method, but they -let political considerations weigh equally with “baksheesh” on -their scale of justice. In the days when a Turkish governor ruled in -Siwa he made his money by accepting and extorting bribes, and if, -when British Administration retires from Egypt, the oasis is ruled -again by a native mamur, the same system will possibly flourish. - -[Illustration: IN THE WESTERN QUARTER] - - - - - CHAPTER V - - SUBURBAN OASES - - - “. . . tufted isles - - That verdant rise amid the Libyan wild.” - - -SIWA itself is the largest, richest and most important oasis in a -little group of oases which are mostly uninhabited. Similar oases, -such as the Kufra group and the Augila group, are scattered at -intervals, few and very far between, over the vast arid surface of the -great Sahara desert. In most of them there are fresh-water springs -surrounded by small patches of green, which have an appearance of -almost magical beauty to those who arrive at them, weary after days -of travel over the hot and barren solitudes of the desert. Ancient -poets compared the yellow desert to a leopard’s tawny skin, spotted -with occasional oases. Doubtless when Siwa was more thickly populated -than it is to-day each of the outlying ones was inhabited, but now -the ever-shrinking population is insufficient even to cultivate all -the gardens in the immediate vicinity of Siwa itself. - -About 20 miles east of Siwa town, at one end of a long salt lake, -there is a village called Zeitoun, and close by it a cluster of rich -gardens which are the finest and best cared-for in the oasis, famous -for the olives which give the place its name. In the whole of Siwa -there are about 40,000 fruit-bearing olive trees, and a large quantity -of olive oil is manufactured locally. Rough wooden olive presses are -used by the natives, which are so primitive that a large proportion -of the oil is wasted. The oil is of an excellent quality and is very -profitable when exported, but owing to the difficulty of obtaining -suitable tins and vessels to store it in only a small amount is sent -up to the coast. It is bought by the Greeks at Matruh and Sollum, -who dilute it and sell it at an enormous profit to the Arabs. - -Along the shores of the lake there are several other groups of gardens, -and at one of them the ex-Khedive proposed to start a model farm, -but as usual he got no further in his scheme than erecting some -huts for the labourers to live in. He also did a certain amount of -excavating in this neighbourhood, and according to hearsay he carried -away camel-loads of “antikas” which he dug up among some ruins -at a place called Kareished. Some of the gardens slope right down -to the shores of the lake, and there are several fine springs among -them. I often thought that Kareished would be quite a pleasant place -to live in if one built a good house and had a boat to cross the lake -to Siwa. The people in these outlying villages ride into Siwa town -every few days to do their shopping, across a long causeway which -divides the lake and the mud swamp. - -North-east of Zeitoun, across 90 miles of high desert tableland, -one comes to the oasis of Gara, or “Um es Sogheir”—the Little -Mother. The word “Um”—mother—is used indiscriminately by the -Arabs in names of places, hills, valleys and rocks. According to one -theory this practice originates from very ancient times when places -were named after certain female deities or goddesses. Gara is a lonely -valley about 10 miles long and 5 miles wide, surrounded by precipitous -cliffs that one can only descend in a few places, sprinkled with vast -isolated masses of rock, upon one of which the village is perched. Many -of the rocks have had their bases so worn away that they look like -gigantic mushrooms, and one can camp most comfortably in their shade -as under an umbrella. There are nine wells and springs in the oasis, -but the water has an unpleasant bitter taste, which is mentioned in the -accounts of Alexander’s journey to Siwa. Owing to the bad water and -lack of labour the Garites are unable to grow anything except dates -of a poor quality and a few onions and tomatoes. Grapes and fruit -trees will not flourish in the oasis. The people eke out a miserable -existence by selling dates, mats and baskets to the caravans which -pass between Siwa and Egypt. They are wretchedly poor, exceedingly -dirty and very distinctly darker in complexion than the Siwans. In -former days they were too weak-spirited to be aggressive and too -poor to be attacked, although owing to the position of Gara on the -Siwa-Egypt caravan route they might easily have made themselves very -awkward to travellers by levying a toll on convoys calling at Gara -for water on their way to Egypt. - -[Illustration: THE SPRING OF ZEITOUN] - -But on the one solitary occasion when the Garites did attempt to -do this they fared very badly. According to the tradition a famous -religious sheikh called Abdel Sayed was travelling from Tripoli to -join the pilgrim caravan at Cairo. He had with him a few attendants and -some devout men who were also on their way to do the Pilgrimage. When -they halted at Gara the inhabitants, instead of feeling honoured -and entertaining the travellers, came out of the town and attacked -them. The sheikh and his followers managed to escape, and when they -were safely out of the valley the venerable Abdel Sayed stood on a rock -and solemnly cursed the people of Gara, swearing that there should -never be more than forty men alive in the village at once. Since -then, although the total number of inhabitants is over a hundred, -there have never been more than forty full-grown men. When the number -exceeds forty, one of them dies. On this account the Garites have a -great objection to strangers, and when I arrived, with a dozen fully -grown Camel Corps men, the sheikh anxiously begged me to forbid them -to enter the village, but as there were under forty men living there -at the time I myself and an orderly went up into the town. Presumably -if we had all walked up several of the Garites must have died. - -The village is a miserable imitation of Aghourmi, but dirty and -squalid. A steep winding pathway leads up the rock to the gateway, -and in the centre there is a square open market where nothing is ever -bought or sold as nobody has any money except the sheikh, and he spends -it at Siwa when he rides in every fortnight on a donkey to report at -the Markaz. The sheikh himself is an intelligent man, but scarcely able -to speak any Arabic. One of his duties is to look after the telephone -from Siwa which passes Gara on its way to Matruh. This telephone was -erected by the army after the Senussi operations, and is remarkably -clear considering the distance of desert which it crosses. My visit -caused a great sensation, as the people had not seen an Englishman -for a very long time. The inhabitants came out to my camp and sat in -silent rows gazing at us, until they were politely “moved on,” and -the women spent the whole day looking down on us from the roofs. I -believe, during the war, a car patrol visited the place, but as the -sheikh said, “They came—whirrrr—and they went—brrrrr!” - -According to another legend some bedouin raiders once attacked -Gara. The people retired to the village, shut the gates, and prayed -to the patron sheikh, who is buried outside, for help. The spirit of -the dead sheikh rose to the occasion and so dazzled the eyes of the -enemy that they wandered round and round the rock and were totally -incapable of finding the gate. Eventually they became so exhausted -that the Garites were emboldened to come down from the town and kill -them. The old muezzin of the mosque of Gara related this story to me, -and an audience of Garites, who evidently knew it well, with what -I considered unjustifiable pride, and he did not seem to think at -all that his forebears had played rather a cowardly part in this -signal victory. - -Between Siwa and Gara there is a pass through a rocky gorge called Negb -el Mejberry. Across the track there is a line of fifty little heaps -of stones, each a few feet high. Once, many years ago, a rich caravan -set out from Siwa to the coast, via Gara. They reached the negb (pass) -at twilight and noticed the heaps of stones, but thought nothing of -it. Suddenly, when they were quite close to them, a bedouin leaped up -from behind each heap and rushed on the caravan. With great difficulty -the merchants beat off the robbers, and the ambuscade failed, but not -without several men being killed. The merchants buried them close to -the place, which is haunted to-day by the ghosts of the brigands who -still appear lurking behind the stone heaps. The pass has an evil -reputation, and natives prefer to cross it in broad daylight, and -not when the sinking sun plays strange tricks with the shadows of the -rocks, or when the moon lends an air of mystery to the rugged ravine. - -Due west of Zeitoun there is a string of “sebukha”—salt -marshes—which lie at the foot of a line of cliffs, a continuation -of the mountains that surround Siwa on the north. In this country, -which is rarely crossed, one finds little plantations of gum -trees that remind one of the Sudan, and also patches of camel thorn -bushes. I have not seen these growing in any other part of the Western -Desert. Possibly they may have grown from seeds dropped by caravans -passing up from the Sudan. There is no fresh water in this area, -but the country is very full of gazelle. - -South-west of Siwa there are two other uninhabited oases, El Areg and -Bahrein—the two lakes. El Areg is a very surprising place. Riding -along the flat rocky stretch of country on the east of the Pacho -mountains, named after a European explorer who visited Siwa in the -early nineteenth century, one arrives suddenly on the brink of a -precipice which is the top of the cliffs that surround the oasis. There -are two steep, difficult paths leading down between enormously high -white rocks with bunches of straggling, overgrown palm trees at their -foot. Much of the oasis is a salt marsh, but at one end there is a mass -of bushes and tall palm trees, with two springs of drinkable water -among them. The cliffs are very high indeed, and their whiteness -makes them look strange at night. In places there are stretches -of fossilized sea-shells, and I especially noticed sea-urchins and -starfish. In a kind of bay in the cliff, between two enormous high -rocks, there is a natural terrace, and in the centre of the terrace -there are remains of a building; in the surrounding cliffs, sometimes -so high up on the face that one wonders how and why they were made, -there are the square entrances of rock tombs or dwellings. Some of -them are quite large, but in all cases very low. All the lower ones -are full of skulls and human skeletons, but many are so covered with -sand-drifts that I could not get inside. The oasis is full of gazelle, -which feed on the luscious vegetation round the marshes. - -At Bahrein there are two long, brilliantly blue salt lakes, fringed -with a tangled mass of vegetation and palm trees, surrounded by yellow -sand-dunes. Bahrein always reminded me of - - - “A tideless, dolorous, midland sea; - - In a land of summer, and sand, and gold.” - - -Here also are rock tombs in some of the cliffs, and in one of them I -discovered the remains of a coloured mural painting, a picture very -much obliterated, of a cow and some palm trees with large clusters of -dates on them, roughly done in brown and blue colours. Evidently at one -time the oasis was inhabited, and if one sought complete seclusion it -would be quite a pleasant place to live in. There are several thousands -of date palms at El Areg and Bahrein which would produce fruit if -they were pruned and looked after. At one time men used to come out -from Siwa and tend the trees, collecting the fruit later on, but now -there is not enough labour in Siwa to cultivate all the gardens, so -both these oases are deserted. The route from Siwa to Farafra passes -through El Areg and Bahrein, and there is another caravan track from -El Areg to the Baharia oasis, and thence to the valley of the Nile, -which it touches somewhere near Assiut. But practically no travellers -pass this way, and the Mashrabs are almost lost to knowledge. - -West of Siwa town, at the end of the lake, at the foot of an enormous -flat-topped mountain, there is a little hamlet called Kamissa, -and a number of gardens. Beyond this, if one crosses the cliffs by -a rocky pass, one arrives at a valley called Maragi, where there is -another salt lake surrounded by gardens which belong to a colony of -about sixty Arabs who settled here some fifty years ago and have -remained ever since. They do not intermarry with the Siwans but -“keep themselves to themselves,” as they consider that they are -very superior to the natives. They live in tents and breed sheep -and cattle, and are to all appearances similar to the Arabs on the -coast, except that they have no camels. At one time two of these -Arabs moved into Siwa and settled in houses, but they were regarded -as renegades by the remainder. Further west there is yet another salt -lake called Shyata, a long patch of blue among the yellow sand-hills, -with good grazing around it and fresh water which can be obtained by -digging in certain places, which one needs to know from experience, -as there is no indication of its whereabouts. - -North-west of Shyata there is a cluster of uninhabited oases, Gagub, -Melfa and Exabia. They are queer wild places with wonderful rock -scenery, huge towering limestone cliffs, deep morasses, and stretches -of shining water, edged with rotting palm trees, like - - - “. . . That dim lake - - Where sinful souls their farewell take - - Of this sad world.” - - -These oases have a strangely evil appearance, one could well imagine -the witches of Macbeth celebrating their midnight orgies in such -places. At night a feverish miasma rises from the dark rotting -vegetation, and with it myriads of venomous mosquitoes. By moonlight -the scene is even more _macabre_; the gigantic masses of strangely -shaped rocks take on the appearance of - - - “Dome, pyramid, and pinnacle, - - A city of death, distinct with many a tower - - And wall impregnable——.” - - -and the dead branches on the gaunt palm trunks sway like corpses -on a gallows tree. When I trekked in these parts I always tried to -camp for the night above the cliffs, but this was no easy matter, -as in places they rose perpendicularly from the ground. - -Yet the presence of innumerable sepulchral chambers cut in the cliffs -shows that these melancholy valleys were once inhabited. The water -here is practically undrinkable. At Gagub there is a well, and on one -occasion my men all drank from it, but it was so strongly impregnated -with sulphur that it had the same effect as a very powerful dose of -physic! There is a great difference between these deep gloomy valleys, -with their oozing marshes and dead funereal palm trees, and Siwa -itself, with its rich gardens, cool defiles and long green vistas -among the trees. From the top of a hill near Melfa, the westernmost -oasis, one can see the dome of the mosque at Jerabub. In Siwa the -mosques have no domes, so one becomes unaccustomed to the sight of -them, and for this reason the dome at Jerabub looks quite impressive, -though it is actually only about the size of those that one sees over -tombs in numbers of the cemeteries of Cairo. - -Jerabub used to be the Mecca of Senussiism, but what glory it ever -had has now passed away. To-day it only contains about a hundred -half-starving natives, and a few old sheikhs who still teach the -children in the zowia (religious school). Lately the people were in -such sore straits that the Senussi Wakil, Sidi Ahmed, had to send down -a convoy of grain from the coast, and the Siwans who rode into Jerabub -to sell things returned with their goods and complained that nobody had -any money to spend. The dates in the Jerabub gardens are very inferior, -so the Siwans export quite a lot of dates to their neighbours. - -The only man of any wealth in Jerabub was an old retired merchant -called Mohammed el Ithneini. He was so old, and so enormously fat, -that he was unable to walk, and had to be carried about by his slaves -in a litter. In his day he had been a great merchant, travelling -between Tripoli, Wadai, Egypt and the Sudan, and in course of time he -had amassed considerable riches. But lately, finding himself short -of cash, with a large family to support, he began to raise money on -his belongings. - -One day I got information that two men from Jerabub had passed through -Siwa on their way to the coast and Egypt without coming to the office -to see whether they had anything on which to pay customs. Customs -are collected at Siwa on imports from the west. I sent a patrol -after them and brought them back to the Markaz. One of them was a -grandson of the old sheikh, and the other was his cousin. I examined -their camels, and ordered them to turn out their bags, which they did -very reluctantly. They spread the contents out on the steps of the -Markaz. It was quite like a scene from the Arabian Nights. There were -heavy silver anklets, curiously chased bangles, silver earrings shaped -like a young moon with filigree bosses from which hung long silver -chains with little pendants, rings, brooches, necklaces, several small -lumps of gold, two complete sets of trappings and armour for an Arab -horse made of silver-gilt and gold-fringed velvet, filigree ornaments -and cases for charms and a little bag full of seed pearls; all this -was emptied out of two dirty old leather bags. It made a fine show -shining in the sunlight and I longed to make a bid for some of it, -but I came to the conclusion that it couldn’t be done. They were -taking it to sell to a certain merchant in Cairo, so I sent them up -with a Camel Corps patrol who were going to the coast, as already -the Siwans were casting envious eyes on the stuff. The men returned -two months later and told me that they got £140 for the lot, which -I myself had estimated as being worth a very great deal more. For -several years the old merchant had been sending stuff to be sold in -Cairo, and every year I imagine he received as small a price. - -Among the valuables in his house there are a number of old Persian -and Turkish carpets, but these he keeps as they are too heavy to send -about. I had entered into negotiations with him about some of these, -but just when the bargain was being completed I got a bad “go” -of fever and had to leave for the coast. A few of the Siwan sheikhs -have good carpets, but they know their worth and are very unwilling -to part with them. Other household articles that some Siwans possess -and are very proud of are large brass Turkish samovars which they -use with charcoal for making tea. Their owners say that they were -originally brought from Constantinople, but now they have become quite -like heirlooms, and curiously enough they do not seem to wear out. - -South of Siwa, beyond the shifting yellow sand-hills, there is a vast -stretch of desert without a single shred of vegetation which reaches -down to the Sudan. Only the first hundred miles has been explored, -beyond that is _terra incognita_. The Arabs call this the Devil’s -country, and rightly so. In these huge silent spaces one sees incessant -mirage, for which the native name is Devil’s water, and frequently -“the genii of the storm, urging the rage of whirlwind,” sends -a high hurricane of hot stinging sand tearing across the desert, -smothering men and beasts in blinding dust, snatching up anything -that is loose and bearing it away. - - - “In solitary length the Desert lies, - - Where Desolation keeps his empty court. - - No bloom of spring, o’er all the thirsty vast - - Nor spiry grass is found; but sands instead - - In sterile hills, and rough rocks rising grey. - - A land of fears! where visionary forms, - - Of grisly spectres from air, flood and fire - - Swarm; and before them speechless Horror stalks. - - Here, night by night, beneath the starless dusk, - - The secret hag and sorcerer unblest - - Their Sabbath hold, and potent spells compose, - - Spoils of the violated graves——” - - -I once trekked down here in summer-time on the track of some -gun-runners who were supposed to be making for Egypt from the west. It -is a dreary region, horribly dead and monotonous, consisting of -alternate stretches of hard ground covered with shining black pebbles, -and white sand-dunes, stretching east and west, where the sand is so -soft and powdery that camels and men sink deep into it, and the surface -is so hot that one can hardly bear to feel it. There are no tracks or -mashrabs, and we were the first party to set up cairns on the hills, -wherever there were stones. If one travelled on and on for about a -thousand miles one would arrive at Darfur, in the north-west corner -of the Sudan. Until the war Darfur was an independent kingdom whose -Sultan, Ali Dinar, reigned from his capital El Fasher in a similar -manner to the Sultan of Wadai. - -The Kufra, sometimes spelt “Kufara,” group of oases lie south-west -of Siwa, but owing to its distance from all civilization Kufra -was never of any importance historically or politically, though -comparatively lately it has become a convenient retreat for some of -the Senussi sheikhs. Quite a number of natives who had recently been -in Kufra visited Siwa during the time that I was there, and when I -questioned them, and various Siwans who knew Kufra well, they all -described it as being very thinly populated, less fertile and very -inferior to the Siwa oasis—from their point of view. When I discussed -the possibilities of visiting it they were exceedingly surprised -at the idea of anybody wishing to see Kufra, which they described -as being “muskeen”—wretched—but at the same time they said -that the people in Kufra would certainly not object to anybody going -there, as it was in no way a sacred place like Jerabub used to be at -one time. At Kufra there is no strange metropolis like that of Siwa, -and as recently as 1854 an English traveller who visited Jalow and -Augila stated that Kufra was practically uninhabited, except during -a certain month of the year when natives from the other oases went -there in order to gather the dates. - -There is a great fascination in travelling over unexplored desert; -somehow I always had the feeling that perhaps beyond the rocky skyline, -or perhaps over the next ridge of sand-hills, there might possibly -appear the languidly swaying palm trees of some unknown oasis. Nobody -has penetrated into the heart of this desert, and it is not beyond the -realms of possibility that there are oases, either inhabited like the -lost land of Atlantis or like the mysterious desert cities that the -story-tellers describe to their evening audience in the market-place, -hidden away among those unmapped plains of the Sahara. - -There are still great possibilities of excavating at Siwa, and in -the outlying oases, which have been even less explored, but I myself -had neither the leisure nor the money to do any serious digging. In -many parts of the oasis, sometimes in the middle of a palm grove, one -finds what appear to be the foundations of ancient buildings, made of -well-squared stones; and many of the rock tombs, especially in the -cliffs of the more distant oases, still contain mummies. I examined -a number of them myself, but with no luck, as they were, apparently, -of a very inferior class and had no ornaments buried with them. Near -some of them there were broken earthenware pots of an antique shape -not made in Siwa to-day. All the tombs whose entrances are visible in -the Hill of the Dead, the great rock mausoleum outside Siwa town, have -been rifled many year ago and nothing is left except scattered bones, -skulls and scraps of grave wrappings. A few of the finest tombs have -been converted into dwellings by some poor Siwans who are courageous -enough to brave the demons of the hill in order to secure a freehold -residence, cool in summer and warm in winter, and scented with the - - - “——Faint sweetness from some old - - Egyptian fine worm-eaten shroud - - Which breaks to dust when once unrolled.” - - -But on the whole Siwans strongly disapprove of interfering with the -tombs, although they firmly believe that some of the hills near the -town contain hidden treasure, more valuable - - - “Than all Bocara’s vaunted gold - - Than all the gems of Samarcand.” - - -All the more obvious places, such as the ruins of the Temple of Jupiter -Ammon, at Omm Beyda, have been thoroughly dug about, but after spending -some time in the oasis one comes across various places that appear -to be untouched—virgin soil for the excavator. - -Behind the hill on which my house, Kasr Hassuna, was built there -stood another great, isolated, limestone rock about 70 feet high with -a circumference of about 400 yards. One evening, when I was climbing -on this rock looking for a hawk’s nest, I came across the entrance -of what I supposed to be a cave right at the top. I went in, but as -I found that it stretched far into the rock I sent for my servants -and an electric torch; then armed with this I pushed on into the -darkness. There was a narrow tunnel about 5 feet high and 3 feet -wide cut out of solid rock, and sloping downwards so steeply that in -some places one could almost have sat down and tobogganed along. The -tunnel, which was about 10 or 11 yards long, terminated at the mouth -of a deep, dark shaft like a well, going straight down into the depths -of the earth. I did no more exploring that day. - -On the next morning some of the sheikhs, who had evidently heard -of my discovery from the servants, told me the following story -very solemnly. Many years ago, in the time of their grandfathers, -Sheikh Hassuna, the owner of the kasr—castle—discovered, as I -had, the tunnel in the rock. He naturally supposed that it was the -entrance to a place of hidden treasure, but he did not like the idea -of going down the shaft himself, and he could find nobody else who -would. There was at this time a very venerated Fiki in Siwa, and -eventually Sheikh Hassuna persuaded him to make the first descent, -in order that he might exorcise the jinns and make it safe for the -sheikh to secure the treasure. The Fiki was lowered at the end of a -rope, with a torch, a Koran and a supply of incense. A few seconds -afterwards the people who were in the tunnel and looking into the -pit were startled by a rushing of wings and a great cloud of black -smoke, which was the jinns escaping from the place. When they hauled -up the Fiki he told them the following tale. At the bottom of the -pit there was a vast chamber hewn out of stone, and at one end of it -there was an iron door. When the Fiki began to read from the Koran -the door swung open and two terrible jinns passed out of it, escaped -up the shaft, and another jinn, a female, with huge wings, appeared -and ordered him to depart and to warn all others never to visit the -place again. So since that day nobody in Siwa disturbed the genii -of the hill. Finally, the sheikhs advised me, if I would go down, -to take with me somebody who could read the Koran. - -The same afternoon I called on an old Sudanese Fiki, called Haj -Gabreen, and invited him to come exploring with me. He was a stalwart -old Sudani about sixty years old, much respected by his compatriots -of the Camel Corps and reputed skilful in doctoring and magic. He was -decidedly nervous, but at length agreed to come, mainly, I suppose, -owing to the audience of Camel Corps men who were listening. The -affair was now, to my mind, patronized by the Church. I got a dozen -of my stoutest men and a long rope. They lowered me down first, then a -couple of men, followed by the Fiki who bumped from side to side with -many groans and ejaculations of “Ya salaam”—“wallahi.” It -was very disappointing. The shaft was about 25 feet deep, narrow at -the top, but widening as it got lower. At the bottom there certainly -was a sort of chamber cut out of the rock, but very roughly done; -the floor of it was covered with a mass of loose stone and rubble -which had evidently fallen in at some time, possibly during one of -the earthquakes which are mentioned as occurring frequently at Siwa -by the eighteenth-century travellers who visited the oasis. There was -absolutely nothing in the shape of a door or a tomb, but one could -not tell what there was further down as it was choked with loose stuff. - -I had men working at it for several days, trying to clear out the -debris, but there seemed to be no end to it, and as one had to haul -up every basket of stone to the top and then pass it from hand to -hand along the tunnel, the difficulty was very great. The atmosphere, -too, was very close and hot. Eventually we came to some large pieces -of detached rock which we were unable to raise, and as the work had -no appreciable result I finally gave it up. - -Some time afterwards I went to see the tombs of the kings at Thebes. My -orderly, who had been at Siwa, was with me, and we were both struck -by the similarity between the tombs of the kings and the underground -place at Siwa, the latter of course being on a very small scale. Later, -when I discovered that Siwa was at one time famous for its emerald -mines, the idea suggested itself that this might have been an old -mine. Unfortunately, not being an archæologist, I was unable to -determine from the size and construction of the place whether it was -likely to be a tomb or not. I afterwards discovered another passage, -narrow but higher, cut into the outside of the rock about half-way -down, apparently with the idea of tapping the shaft, but it only -reached a few yards and then seemed to have been left uncompleted. - -Haj Gabreen, the old Fiki who went down the shaft with me, evidently -spread a very fantastic rumour of my discoveries, because after I left -Siwa I got messages from the Governor inquiring whether I really had -found an iron door in the middle of the hill. - -There seemed to be an abnormally large number of old men in Siwa, -as the climate is apparently conducive to old age. Siwans, like many -other natives, are very vague about their own ages. Often if one asks -them how old they are they reply, “Whatever age you would wish,” or -sometimes, “The same age as your Excellency”—which they seem to -consider a polite answer. Certainly most of the deaths that occur are -those of young children or very old people. Considerable deference -is paid to old age, although it may not always be accompanied by -corresponding virtue. When I was at Siwa the “Oldest Inhabitant” -was a wrinkled old man called Haj Suliman, the grandfather of -one of the principal merchants. He used to spend most of his time -sitting outside his house gossiping to the passers-by, and I often -stopped to talk to him. Unfortunately he was deaf and had no teeth, -so conversation between us was not very brisk. He and his relations -told me that he was 102 years old; he looked about 90, and could not -have been less than 85. He used to tell me about his one and only -visit to Cairo, some sixty years ago, on his way home from Mecca. He -also remembered and described quite clearly the visit of a certain -English traveller to Siwa in 1869. - -One day I heard a great deal of noise in the neighbourhood of -Haj Suliman’s house; on inquiry I was told that there was a -“fantasia” going on, so I strolled over to see it. I found a -number of dancers, music in the shape of drums and whistles, and free -“lubki” being handed round. Carpets were spread in the courtyard -and Haj Suliman, very gaily dressed, was receiving the company, -surrounded by his sons and grandchildren. He looked very pleased with -himself and invited me to drink tea, which I did. All the time he -stood near, evidently expecting me to say something to him. Eventually -I asked him why he was giving a “fantasia”—at which the whole -family began talking and telling me that it was for a wedding. “But -where is the bridegroom?” I asked, and Haj Suliman leant forward -with a silly grin on his antique face. Then, to my amazement, they -told me that the old gentleman himself was the bridegroom, this being -his thirty-sixth wedding and the bride was 14 years old. I realized -that he had been expecting my congratulations, so I offered them, -as he was evidently not of the opinion that “crabbed age and youth -cannot live together.” He died suddenly about eight months later, -“a victim of connubiality.” I had seen him the day before in -his garden working hard with an enormous iron hoe as big as a spade, -which is much used in Siwa. - -Another very old man in Siwa was an aged Sudani who sold a queer -little collection of oddments in a corner of the market. At one time -he had acted as postman for the Senussi between Siwa and Kufra. He -told me, and I heard it besides from various sources, that he used to -go alone to Kufra by a track across the sand-dunes south of Siwa. He -was paid three pounds for each trip, but the danger was enormous; -if his camel had strayed or fallen ill he would have been absolutely -done for. Another queer old character was an old woman called Hanoui, -who was at one time a secret agent and remarkably clever at acquiring -information. She was also useful when one wanted to get baskets made. - -The only real industry in Siwa, and it is not an important one, is the -making of mats and basket work from palm fronds. Mats and large coarse -hampers for carrying dates on camels are made by men. The mats are -usually round, very strong, lasting and useful. The Arabs buy large -quantities of them when they come down for dates in the autumn. The -baskets are made entirely by women. They are manufactured from thin -strips of palm leaves which become like raffia; sometimes they are -coloured with dye, but the better kinds are ornamented with minute -patterns of coloured silk worked into the sides, and decorated with -tassels of variegated coloured silks and scarlet leather flaps in -which to fasten cords for holding them. - -The work is very fine indeed, so fine that in some cases the baskets -will even hold water. They are made in various shapes, but generally -round with a conical cover. Besides baskets they make dishes and -platters with covers to them, which are used for carrying food -and fruit. These baskets are exceedingly attractive and useful and -command a high price in Cairo and in England. They are very light -and can be made in “nests” of five or six, in order to be more -easily conveyed. They are very distinctive and quite different to -those that are made at Assuan, in Sinai, or the Sudan. - -Siwan women also make a rough kind of pottery. They get the clay from -a hill near Siwa, and another kind of clay which they make into paint -from another place on the oasis. The pottery is all made by hand, -not on a wheel, so it is very rough, but it acquires a good colour -and a slight glaze. It is used for making bowls, dishes, pitchers -and little braziers for a charcoal fire on which the kettle is kept -hot when the Siwans make tea. These utensils are ornamented with -rude patterns of a darker colour, the ground being generally yellow, -or a reddish brown. I found that there was one old man in Siwa who -was a professional toy-maker, which is an occupation that one rarely -comes across among Mohammedans, all forms of statues or images being -forbidden by the Koran as tending towards the worship of idols. But the -Siwan children have dolls and toy animals, and they are very cleverly -made, too. This old man made them chiefly of rags stuffed with sawdust, -and they really compared very favourably with the “Teddy bears” -and other monstrosities that one sees at home. Siwan children are -queer little things, very solemn and not as lively as the small -Sudanese. They start working at an early age, and before that they -seem to spend most of their time dabbling about in the streams among -the gardens. One difference that one notices between these small -children and ones of the same age at home is that the former are not -given to the tiresome habit of continually asking questions. - -In trying to develop the basket-making industry one meets with many -difficulties. The women are casual and lazy, so that it is almost -impossible to ensure a definite supply of baskets by a certain -date. The fact that the baskets are made only by women who live -in strict seclusion is a great disadvantage, as one has to explain -everything through a third person. Once as a great privilege I was -allowed to see a woman at work on some baskets. She was the mother -of one of the policemen, quite a venerable old thing, but for the -occasion she sat swathed in a thick veil with only one eye showing, -and thus with great difficulty she gave a demonstration of how baskets -were made. I suggested several new shapes and patterns which she very -quickly understood and taught to the others. - -[Illustration: SIWA TOWN FROM THE SOUTH] - -With the bedouin women it is different. During the war, especially at -the close of the Senussi operations, there was great destitution among -the Arabs. Numbers of men who had served with the Senussi were killed, -and many others retired over the frontier and never returned. Their -wives and children were left unprovided for. As usual the English, -against whom they had been fighting, turned and helped these -refugees. Miss Baird, the daughter of the late Sir Alexander Baird, -collected a number of these women and their children at Amria, in the -desert west of Alexandria, and in conjunction with the F.D.A. started a -carpet-making industry. She lived amongst them herself, superintended -the work, and by degrees she acquired a wonderful influence over -them. She became somewhat like Lady Hester Stanhope in the Lebanon, -only her influence was not due to religious superstition. I once -stopped at Amria on my way from Cairo to Sollum by camel in the early -days of the industry, and I shall never forget my first impression -of the four or five hundred wild bedouin women working away at the -carpets like girls in a factory at home, absolutely controlled by -one young Englishwoman right out in the desert. Miss Baird’s death -in 1919 was a very great loss, but the work that she began is still -being carried on by the F.D.A., who have moved the factory from -Amria and installed it in an imposing building at Behig, which is -the headquarters of the Eastern District of the Western Desert. - -One of the things that is noticeable at Siwa is the absence of -flowers. Owing to there being no rain there is no sudden burst of -vegetation in the spring, as there is along the coast. At certain times -there is blossom in the gardens on the various trees—apples, almonds, -pomegranates, lemons, etc.—and for a month or two there are roses and -a very heavily scented flowering shrub called “tamar-el-hindi.” -But one does not see the riot of colour that follows on the track of -the rains. There are very few wild animals, too. In the neighbouring -oases one sees gazelle and a few foxes, and in Siwa itself there are -quantities of jackals. According to the natives an animal which they -call “Bakhr wahash”—wild ox—is to be found at a place called -Gagub, an uninhabited oasis, consisting of a salt lake surrounded by -sterile palm trees, between Siwa and Jerabub. But when I went there -I saw no signs of the creature. It is described as being the size of -a donkey, of a yellowish brown colour, with two horns like a cow’s. - -In Siwa there are very few domestic animals. None of the people -keep camels, partly because they have no need for them, and partly -owing to the presence of the “ghaffar” fly which inoculates -camels and horses with a disease that shortens their life very -considerably. For this reason one set of camels belonging to the -F.D.A. remain permanently at Siwa in order to avoid spreading the -disease among the camels on the coast. Almost every man in Siwa has -a donkey, and some of the large landowners have thirty or forty. One -meets them everywhere, in the streets trotting along under enormous -loads, but carrying them apparently with the greatest ease. The Siwans -rarely walk any distance, they always ride. The donkeys are stout -little beasts and are better treated on the whole than in Egypt. They -are imported by the Gawazi Arabs from Upper Egypt and the Fayum, via -Farafra, the oasis of “Bubbling Springs,” which lies south-east -of Siwa, but they breed freely in Siwa, and their diet of dry dates -seems to suit them well. - -Donkeys are also used as a threshing machine. When the barley is -ripe it is cut and collected and spread out in a circle on a smooth, -hard piece of ground. Ten or fifteen donkeys are harnessed abreast, -in line, and driven round and round over the barley; when they wheel -the innermost donkey moves very slowly, and the outer ones trot -fast. In this way the corn is crushed out of the husks. Afterwards -it is winnowed by the simple process of throwing it up into the air -so that the straw blows away and leaves only grain. There are about -a hundred cows in Siwa; they are small animals, about the size of a -Jersey, but they give very good milk. - -At certain times one sees quite a number of birds at Siwa, but they -are mostly migratory. I have noticed crane, duck, flamingo and geese -on the salt lakes; hawks, crows, ravens and owls among the cliffs; -doves, pigeon, hoopoes, wagtails and several varieties of small singing -birds in the gardens. Some of them nest in the oasis, and I collected -about a dozen different kinds of eggs, but unfortunately they all got -broken. There is one bird which is, I believe, indigenous to Siwa, -it is known by the natives as “Haj Mawla.” It is about the size -of a thrush, black with white feathers in its tail, and a very pretty -song somewhat similar to the note of a robin. - -Lately the Administration has installed lofts of carrier pigeons along -the coast and at Siwa. On the coast they have been quite successful, -but so far no pigeons have been trained to cross the desert. The hawks -at Siwa are a serious menace to them, and quite a number have been -killed. In former days the Libyan Desert produced ostriches. Browne, -in 1792, mentions that he saw broken eggs and tracks of ostriches on -his way to Siwa. But nowadays there are none. Many of the lions that -were used in the arenas of Rome were brought from Libya, but these -too are now extinct. - - - “So some fierce lion on the Libyan plain, - - Rolls its red eyes, and shakes its tawny mane.” - - -But the Arabs who travel between the Sudan and Tripoli tell of a long -wadi, with water and vegetation, north of Darfur, which takes three -days to cross by camel, and this wadi, so they say, is full of wild -animals—lions, tigers, giraffe, etc.—which have never been hunted. - -Siwa is a bad place for snakes, scorpions and tarantulas. The cerestes, -or horned viper, is very common, as well as several other poisonous -species. One of the most deadly is a little light-coloured snake -with a hard prong at the end of its tail like a scorpion, which lies -half covered with sand. I also saw a specimen of the puff adder. My -house seemed to be a favourite abode of snakes, which may possibly -have been because I had a pigeon loft close to it. Several times I -was awakened in the night by my dog barking in the room and found -a big snake slithering along the floor, or underneath the edge of -the matting. Three men were bitten by snakes while I was there and -died as a result; in each case they had stepped on a snake with bare -feet. Strabo relates that in these parts of Africa the workmen had to -wear boots and rub garlic over their feet to protect themselves. The -local cure, which seems quite ineffective, is to rub the powdered -stems of a broombush on to the bite. Nothing will induce the natives -to touch a snake, dead or alive, with their fingers, as they say the -smell sticks to them and attracts other snakes. I was only once bitten -by a scorpion, and unfortunately I was out on trek without a first-aid -box. It was a large, blackish green scorpion, one of the worst kind, -and it caught me on the end of one of my fingers. But my men knew -what to do from previous experience. They tied my arm tightly at the -elbow and the wrist with a tourniquet, and then cut several gashes -with a razor blade across the finger which had been bitten. It was -very painful during the night, and I had a good deal of fever, but -I was none the worse for it after a couple of days. The cure for -a scorpion bite is a powder made from a snake’s tail, cooked and -pounded, and a few of the natives specialize in making this powder. - -There are no snake charmers in Siwa, and I have seen none anywhere on -the Western Desert. In Egypt one meets many, the most famous perhaps -is a man at Luxor. I saw him perform a few days before I left Egypt, -and I was most impressed by his exhibition. One evening, without any -warning, I took him out with me to a place near Karnak, having first -examined him and satisfied myself that he had no snakes hidden about -his clothes. In about a quarter of an hour he discovered seven or -eight snakes. He used no whistle, but walked about in a very small -area muttering to himself, stopping dead every now and then in front -of a stone or a bush, thrusting his hand into it and withdrawing it -clasping a writhing lively snake. Several of the snakes were known to -me as being venomous. He took two of these, one by one, held them to -his wrist, and let them bite him so that when he pulled them off his -flesh they left blood on his hand. Anybody else would have suffered -severely, and would probably have died, but the snake charmer was -immune. His father and his grandfather had practised the same trade -before him, and according to him they had neither of them suffered -in any way by their profession. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS - - - “. . . Tell the laughing world - - Of what these wonder-working charms are made. . . . - - Fern root cut small, and tied with many a knot, - - Old teeth extracted from a white man’s skull. - - A lizard’s skeleton, a serpent’s head: - - . . . O’er these the leach - - Mutters strange jargons and wild circles forms.” - - - “Custom is King, nay tyrant, in primitive society.” - - -AFTER being some time at Siwa one cannot help noticing how very much -the life of the people is influenced by their belief in superstitions -and magic arts. To every ordinary accident or natural phenomenon -they seem to attach a supernatural explanation, and they constantly -carry out little rites, which have no apparent purpose, whose origin -and reason they do not know, but which they explain has been the -custom “min zamaan.” To believe, as they do, without knowing, -is the grossest form of superstition. They have a number of purely -local customs and practices which are entirely different to those -which are prevalent in Egypt, or among the Arabs of the Western -Desert. The Siwans are Mohammedans, and strictly religious in most of -their observances, but in some of their habits one can trace a faint -resemblance to rites that have survived from former times, long before -the people adopted their present religion. But most of the apparently -meaningless practices are founded on the inherent fear of evil spirits, -which are implicitly believed in by all the inhabitants. - -These fabulous beings are of many kinds, and have various -characteristics; there are jinns, in whose veins runs fire instead -of blood, who once inhabited the earth, but sinned and were driven -away by the angels of God; Sheytans, who are children of Iblis, the -Devil; Afreets, Marids; and Ghouls, who are female demons and live -among deserts and graveyards, assuming various forms and luring men -to death. These creatures are usually found in caves, tombs, wells, -empty houses, latrines, and at cross roads. Sometimes they assume -the shapes of men and sometimes they appear in the forms of domestic -animals; in Siwa they are said to favour most the disguise of a cow. - -Among the most ignorant natives one meets with a decided reluctance to -discuss things that are supernatural, but the more educated men are -willing to speak of them. As in all countries the lower classes are -the most credulous. For instance, in the case of certain old women -who are reputed to be witches, the poor people avowedly believe in -them, while the upper classes pretend not to; but when there is a -birth or a wedding in the family of a sheikh, or a notable, they -send presents to these old women saying that it is merely charity, -although at heart they consider it safer to propitiate them in order -to avert possible misfortune. It is rather like the lady in church -who always bowed at the name of the Devil, because she thought it -safer to be on the right side! - -The difference between the customs and superstitions of the Siwans -and those of the Arabs on the desert which surrounds them is due to -the fact that the former are of Berber origin. Their whole system of -living is different, too. The Siwans are town dwellers whose dominant -principle has been a sort of communism, whereas the Arabs are nomads, -who adopted patriarchalism as their method of rule. The Siwans fought -on foot, the Arabs were essentially cavalry. There are sheikhs in Siwa, -but they are more like the members of a town council, while the real -Arab sheikh corresponds to the feudal lord of the Middle Ages. It is -strange to find the Siwans, with such a definite, different scheme -of living, existing in the midst of a desert whose Arab population -regards them almost as foreigners. - -Two distinct kinds of magic are practised in Siwa, Divine magic, or -white magic, and Satanic, or black magic, black being considered the -Devil’s colour. Certain old men and Fikis (readers of the Koran -in the mosques) are supposed to have particular gifts in telling -fortunes, compounding medicines and composing charms against evil, -especially against the much dreaded Evil Eye. They work with the -aid of the Koran, and by reciting long prayers and the names of -Allah. This is legitimate magic. These men are conspicuously regular -in their attendance at the mosques, and their power is attributed -to their peculiar goodness. Women are considered by Mohammedans, and -particularly by Siwans, to be by nature more wicked than men. One Arab -writer speaks of woman as “The Devil’s Arrow,” and another says, -“—I stood at the gates of hell and lo, most of its inmates were -women.” Even in the _Thousand and One Nights_ one reads: - - “Verily women are devils created for us, they are the source of all - the misfortunes that have occurred among mankind, in the affairs of - the world and religion—” - - - “Verily women are treacherous to everyone near and distant: - - With their fingers dyed with henna: with their hair arranged - in plaits: - - With their eyebrows painted with kohl; they make one drink - of sorrow;” - - -This is the reason that any skill that the Siwan women possess in -medicine, making amulets, or tracing lost property, is, as a matter of -course, ascribed to their evil practices and their use of black magic, -whereby they are able to invoke demons, ghools and afreets to carry -out their orders, either for good or for evil. For this reason they -keep their doings as secret as possible, and this secrecy increases -their notoriety and evil reputation. But as their methods are said -to be usually successful they are patronized as much, or even more, -than the men, especially by their own sex. So there is quite a lively -rivalry between Fikis, or wizards, and the wise women, or witches. - -Siwan women, owing to their precarious position as wives, are -not fond of bearing children. Many of them use medicines, made -from certain plants and herbs that grow in the oasis, to prevent -childbirth. Browne mentions, as far back as 1792, that it was a -common practice at Siwa for women to take their newly born infants, -probably girls, up to the top of the walls and throw them over the -battlements. There was one case of child murder reported while I was -living there. Siwan women are not as hardy as Sudanese or Arab women, -and the Egyptian doctor is of course never allowed to attend them -for births. Women are looked after by the Siwan midwives, old women -who have considerable practical experience, but make up for medical -ignorance by a vast knowledge of amazingly futile superstitions. As a -result quite a number of children die at birth. It was suggested that -a Siwan woman should be sent to Cairo and be trained in a hospital; -after much difficulty a suitable woman was found who was brave enough -to be the first Siwan woman to leave the oasis, but unfortunately -the proposition was never carried through. - -When the birth of a child occurs in the family of one of the sheikhs -or notables it is celebrated with great rejoicings, especially if the -baby is a boy, as there is an enormous superfluity of women in Siwa. On -the seventh day after the birth all the female friends and relations of -the mother come to the house to congratulate her, bringing their own -children with them. She receives them with the child and the midwife, -herself lying on the bare floor. It is the custom for all women, -even the wives of the richest sheikhs, who occasionally have an old -brass bedstead in their room, to sleep on the floor for ten days after -giving birth to a child. A meal is provided for the guests—sweets, -cakes, fruits, Arab tea, and a curious sort of edible clay which is -brought from near Jerabub. This clay is a yellowish colour, tasting -very like a mushroom, and is always eaten by Siwan, and sometimes -by Arab, women when they are expecting a child. But the essential -necessity at this meal is fish, which in a place that is 200 miles -from the sea, and where there are no fresh-water fish of eatable size, -is somewhat difficult to obtain. However, the merchants make a special -point of bringing a species of salted fish from Cairo, which by the -time it arrives at Siwa can be smelt from several streets away. This -delicacy is the _chef d’œuvre_ at birthday parties. It is curious -that the Arabs on the coast, who could catch fresh fish, have the -strongest abhorrence to eating fish of any kind. The practice at Siwa -was inaugurated by the mother of Sidi Suliman, the patron sheikh, -on the birth of her son. - -If the child is a boy the father decides on his name, but in the -case of a girl the mother is sponsor. After the meal everybody looks -at the child and congratulates the mother. Then the midwife, who is -generally a toothless, dirty old hag, mixes some henna and paints -the cheeks of all the children with a red stripe, and they run out -into the streets and markets calling out the names of the child. The -women remain. A large, round, earthenware bowl, specially made for the -occasion, is then brought in and filled with water. Each woman throws -into it her bracelets and silver ornaments. They stand in a circle -holding the bowl while the midwife recites the name of the child, -and the others repeat phrases, such as, “May he be happy—may he -be favoured by Allah—may Allah avert all evil from him.” Then -they solemnly raise the bowl several times in the air and let it -drop to the ground; the bowl smashes into atoms, the water splashes -over the floor, the bracelets and bangles roll along the ground, -and the child screams loudly with fright. At this all afreets and -jinns take flight, and the newly born child is blessed with fortune -and riches. Afterwards the women collect their jewellery and return -to their homes. Young children are not washed or kept clean; they are -deliberately made to look as unattractive as possible, at an early age, -in order not to tempt Providence. The Siwans dislike people to admire -their belongings, especially their children, who are considered most -susceptible to the Evil Eye, as it is thought that nothing can be -more valuable than one’s offspring. - -The status of a woman in Siwa is low. She is worth less, and is of -less importance, than a donkey. She is worth, in money, a little less -than a goat. There is a strange custom in Siwa which is absolutely -different to that among the Arabs or the Egyptians. There is a fixed -price for a woman; that is to say, the “marriage money” paid by -the man to his future wife’s parents is in all cases exactly the -same—120 piastres (£1 4s.). It makes no difference whether the girl -is young or old, maid or widow, rich or poor, exquisitely beautiful, -which is rare, or hideously ugly, which is common; the only thing -that varies is the trousseau of clothes which is given by the man to -his bride, and the quality of this depends on his means. The present -of a poor man would be one gown, one silk handkerchief, one shawl -and one pair of trousers, but a rich man would give his wife several -silk robes and silver ornaments. There were innumerable quarrels on -the subject, especially when wives were divorced and their husbands -tried to keep the clothes (which belonged rightly to the woman) and -give them to the next wife. Daughters, among the Arabs, if they are -sufficiently attractive, are a source of wealth to their parents, -owing to the large amount of “marriage money” which they can -demand, but in Siwa they bring in practically nothing. Marriage is -not a binding institution. According to the Mohammedan law a wife -can be divorced by her husband merely saying, “I divorce thee,” -before two witnesses; he can do this twice, and after each time, if -he changes his mind, he can order his wife to return to him, and she -is compelled to do so. But if he says it three times, or if he says, -“Thou art triply divorced,” it is irrevocable and he cannot get -her back until she has been married to another man and divorced by -him also. But such a contretemps rarely occurs. - -[Illustration: A BRIDE—THE DAUGHTER OE BASHU HABUN BEFORE HER -WEDDING] - -In Siwa a man marries, then divorces his wife as soon as he gets bored -by her, and marries another. One man probably repudiates several dozen -women in his lifetime, but each of them in her turn is his regular, -official and recognized wife. Polygamy is rare, in fact almost unknown, -because when a man fancies a new wife he divorces his present one; -owing to this there is very little promiscuous immorality, but the -line between marriage and prostitution is very slender. A divorced -woman does not lose caste, and in most cases she appears to have a -better chance of marrying again than an unmarried girl. Men marry at -sixteen, and girls from nine to twelve years old, so a girl of eleven -has often been married and divorced several times. This state of -things is simply the ordinary Mohammedan custom as regards marriage, -but carried on in an absolutely lax manner. It has always been the -same in Siwa, and so it is considered right and proper. It must be -so confusing for the people to remember who is So-and-So’s wife -for the time being. Naturally the prevailing conditions have a very -disastrous effect on the birth-rate. - -A first-time marriage in the family of a sheikh or a rich notable is -celebrated by festivities which last sometimes for several days. On -the eve of the wedding, towards sunset time, the bride dresses in -her richest clothes and accompanied by twenty or thirty girls walks -through the gardens to a spring near the town called Tamousy. This -spring is one of the oldest and most beautiful in Siwa. It is -surrounded by stately palm trees and tropical vegetation; it is deep -and very clear and the ancient masonry round it is still in excellent -preservation. As the young bride and her attendants walk through the -palm groves they chant a curious tune, a plaintive melody that sounds -more like a dirge than a wedding song. - - - “As from an infinitely distant land - - Come airs, and floating echoes, that convey - - A melancholy into all our day.” - - -The scene at the spring is very picturesque; the girls and women -stand grouped round the water, their dark robes and silver ornaments -reflected in its blue depths. Very solemnly the bride removes the large -round, silver disc that hangs on a solid silver ring from her neck, -which denotes that she is a virgin; she then bathes, puts on different -clothes and has her hair plaited and scented by one of her friends. The -procession then returns homewards. On the way they are met by another -party of women, the relations of the bridegroom, who bring presents of -money for the bride, each according to her means. An old woman collects -the coins in a silk scarf, carefully noting the amount given by each -individual, and the two parties return together, singing, through -the palm-bordered paths to the town. These “virginity discs” -are sometimes of great age, having been handed down from mother to -daughter as heirlooms. Formerly they were always made of solid silver, -but now they are often made of lead with a silver coating. - -One evening rather late I was bathing at Ein Tamousy, swimming -round the spring without making much noise. Suddenly I looked up -and saw a large crowd of girls—a wedding party—standing on the -path above. It was most awkward. I splashed loudly, but they were -singing and talking so noisily that they did not hear. Eventually one -of them saw me and screamed out that there was a jinn in the spring, -whereupon the whole crowd fled shrieking into the gardens, leaving the -bride’s wedding garment lying on the ground. I hastily slipped out, -clutched my clothes and dressed hurriedly behind some palm trees, -from whence I watched the party cautiously returning, one by one, -to see whether the monster had disappeared. - -Meanwhile the bridegroom collects his friends and summons the Fiki; -carpets are spread in the courtyard of his house, which is illuminated -with candles and lanterns, and dishes of food are set before the -guests. As soon as the marriage contract is settled each guest seizes -as much food of any sort as he can possibly hold in his hand and -crams it into his mouth; the more he eats the more he is supposed -to show his friendship for the bridegroom. The usual tea generally -follows. At midnight the bridegroom’s friends and relations—men, -women and children—carrying lanterns and flaring torches, walk in -procession through the narrow streets to the house of the bride and -demand her from her father. - -On the return of the bride from her bath she is taken by her mother and -hidden in an upper room of the house. When the bridegroom’s family -have arrived they collect outside the door and call out, “Bring -out the bride, the gallant groom awaits her.” The girl’s family -answer, “We have lost her, we have lost her.” Then “Find her, -the bridegroom is getting impatient,” and the answer is, “She -is asleep, still sleeping.” Then the bridegroom’s family say, -“Go, wake her, and bring her to her man.” Then the women of the -bride’s house weep and scream, and there is a mock fight between the -families. The men flourish their sticks and sometimes actually strike -each other, but eventually the girl is produced and handed over to the -bridegroom’s family by her father. The mock capture of the bride -and the pretended resistance is possibly a survival of marriage by -conquest, or possibly it is meant to denote excessive modesty on the -part of the bride. If one inquires the reason the Siwans reply that -it has been the custom “min zamaan,” and nobody is any the wiser. - -The bride wears her bridal gown, which is a long-sleeved robe -of striped coloured silk and is weighed down with a quantity of -silver ornaments, borrowed, if she has not enough of her own, from -her friends; over this she wears a long woollen blanket entirely -covering her, and she has a sword hung from her right shoulder. In -this costume she rides on a led donkey to the house of the bridegroom, -followed by the people of both families, singing and beating drums -and cymbals. On arrival at the house she is received by an old woman, -usually a Sudanese slave woman, who lifts her off the donkey, and -with the assistance of others carries her across the threshold, -up the stairs, into the bridal room, and lays her on the couch, -taking care that the bride’s feet never touch the ground. The crowd -remain below and are entertained by Zigale dancers, who are hired for -the occasion. Later a sheep is killed at the entrance of the house, -and the blood is smeared across the doorway in the Arab fashion; -and if the family are wealthy several more sheep are roasted whole -and a feast is made for the guests. Thursday is considered the most -propitious day for a wedding, as the girl wakes up for the first time -in her new home on a Friday, which is the Mohammedan Sunday. - -All this time the bridegroom remains in the background, taking no -part in the doings. The old woman who received the bride brings -her some dishes of food and a handful of wheat and salt, which she -places beneath the pillow, where it remains for a week to keep away -bad spirits and afreets who might otherwise be attracted to harm -the newly married couple. Then the bridegroom arrives outside the -door and knocks upon it, on which there follows a long conversation -between him and the old woman. She calls out to him saying what a -beautiful bride he has obtained, describing her as a young moon with -eyes like a gazelle, cheeks like peach blossom and the figure of a -swaying willow. After a high-flown eulogy the bridegroom inquires, -“What is the girl worth?” to which the old woman replies, “Her -weight in silver and gold—” which is queer when one remembers -that she is actually worth £1 4s. The old woman then opens the door, -and after receiving a present from the bridegroom retires and leaves -them together. The bridegroom takes the sword from the girl and puts it -under the mattress for use against jinns, takes off the blanket which -entirely covers her, and then removes her right shoe and strikes her -seven times on the foot with the palm of his hand. This is said to -bring luck to the marriage. He stays with her for some time, but the -marriage is not consummated until two days later. During this time -the bridegroom leaves his house and spends his time in the gardens -with one other man, who acts as a sort of best man. - -On the third day the presents from the girl’s family arrive: -carved wooden chests, finely made baskets which have taken several -months to complete, earthenware cooking pots and supplies of sugar -and foodstuffs. The money which was given to the girl at the spring -of Tamousy is counted again, and each of the donors is presented with -some doves, rabbits or chickens, in proportion to the amount which -they gave. Among the Arabs, and especially among the Berbers of the -oases in southern Morocco, an excessive shyness and bashfulness exists -between the bridegroom and his mother-in-law and all the bride’s -near relations. This avoidance and aversion to the wife’s relatives -may be another survival of the idea of marriage by conquest, but in -Siwa one does not find it to such an extent as in other places. These -festivities are only celebrated by the wealthier natives, and only -when the girl is being married for the first time. Later marriages -are quieter affairs, with nothing more than a little dancing, a -free distribution of “lubki” and perhaps one sheep cooked for -the guests. - -When a Siwan dies his widow is expected to be “ghrula,” that is -in mourning for a month and a half, but the custom has slackened now -and most women marry again as soon as they get the chance. During the -forty-five days the woman dresses in white and keeps to her house, -only going out in the evening after sunset. She lives plainly, eating -no meat and wearing no jewellery. On the last day of her seclusion -the town-crier, accompanied by a boy beating a drum, announces in the -town that the widow of So-and-So will proceed on the following morning -to a certain spring, having completed her period of mourning. On the -next morning a number of boys run through the streets calling out the -same announcement and warning the people by what road she will pass, -in order that they can keep to their houses and avoid seeing her. When -she leaves her house some of her relations go up to the roof and again -call out the warning. At noon the widow, with her hair hanging loose, -her face uncovered, wearing a white robe and no ornaments, walks down -to one of the springs and bathes there. Anybody who meets or sees -her on the way is supposed to incur very bad luck indeed. After this -Lady Godiva-like progress, she hurries back to her house, puts on her -ordinary clothes, oils and dresses her hair and invites a number of her -women friends to a feast. She then begins to hope for another husband. - -The town-crier is a venerable, white-bearded individual whose family -have held the post for many generations. It is his duty to announce any -new regulations in the town, and to summon the populace to meetings or -to work. When an announcement has been proclaimed on three consecutive -days it is considered that everybody knows it, and if after this an -order is infringed the excuse of ignorance is not entertained. The -town-crier is a very necessary institution in a place where scarcely -anybody can read, and public notices are therefore useless; his voice -rivals the muezzin’s, and his drum corresponds to the bell of the -old style English bellman. - -Funerals in Siwa are simple affairs. They generally take place in the -early afternoon and are attended by almost everybody in the town. When -a death occurs the women in the house raise the deathwail, which is -taken up in piercing accents by the women in the other houses near, -and then by the whole neighbourhood. It sounds appalling, especially -when it starts suddenly in the night. The body is carried on a rough -bier of olive wood, followed by a long procession, the relatives, -the sheikhs and notables, usually riding on donkeys with umbrellas to -shade them from the sun, and a nondescript crowd of women and men. As -the procession passes through the streets the men chant a solemn -dirge and the women swing their veils in the air, throwing dust on -their heads, and every now and then joining in with shrill cries -and wailings. On arrival at the cemetery the women sit down some -distance apart, and the men proceed to the grave, reciting verses -from the Koran. At twilight the women collect again before the door -of the deceased’s house and continue the wailing, and afterwards -the friends of the family are entertained at a funeral feast where -they eat and praise the virtues of the dead person. - -[Illustration: THE TOWN CRIER’S DAUGHTER] - -There are several cemeteries round the town, some of them belong to the -easterners and some to the westerners. Almost all the roads into the -town cross burying-grounds. Until a few years ago it was the custom to -cover the grave with two split palm logs and a thin layer of earth, -which usually subsided, leaving nothing but wood on the top. These -old graves are still a source of danger, as often when one rides -over them, without knowing, the wood gives way. Graves of sheikhs -are distinguished by a roughly shaped headstone, and generally a -little heap of earthenware braziers, left by the women who come to the -cemetery and burn incense. When a particularly religious or important -Siwan dies, his family keep a guard over the grave at night for about -a fortnight after his death, which they say is necessary to prevent -the ghoulish old witches from profaning it by digging up the corpse -and stealing the dead man’s hair and finger-nails for their charms. - -The fear of the Evil Eye is almost more deeply rooted in Siwa than in -Egypt. It is thought that ill-disposed and jealous people can cast a -malignant influence over others, and also over animals and inanimate -objects. The Prophet Mohammed permitted the use of charms against -the Evil Eye, although he forbade them for any other purposes. For -this reason innumerable charms are worn and exhibited by the Siwans; -houses, gardens and olive presses are protected from the much-dreaded -curse by bundles of old bones, animals’ skulls, or black earthenware -pots stuck upside down and set along the roofs. In many houses and in -tombs an aloe plant is hung just inside the entrance, swinging from the -ceiling, which prevents any envious person from doing harm. Special -charms are made for animals by the witches and the Fikis. The charm -used to protect a donkey consists of some ashes, a spider’s web, -a little salt, and a scrap of paper inscribed with a verse from the -Koran, tied in a black bag and hung round the animal’s neck. Some -of the most valuable donkeys have quite a cluster of amulets hung -round them. The ingredients of the various charms manufactured by -the women are very similar to those used by the witches in Macbeth, -those that are the most difficult to obtain being the most efficacious. - -But in spite of innumerable precautions people are constantly under the -impression that they have incurred the Evil Eye, and then complicated -rites have to be performed in order to raise the curse. This can be -done in various ways. If the evil wisher is known his victim follows -him without being seen and collects a little sand from his footprints -which he takes to the Fiki. The Fiki, for a small fee, recites certain -verses over it, which removes the curse. Another system is for the -victim to go on a Friday, without speaking to anybody on the way, -to a male date palm. He pulls off some of the stringy, brown fibre -and brings it back to the Fiki who twists it into a cord and binds -it round the man’s head. The patient keeps this on his head during -the day, and in the evening he again visits the Fiki who unties the -cord and reads some appropriate passages from the Koran, after which -the object is no longer in danger. There is another method which is -frequently practised in more serious cases. The Fiki takes a hen’s -egg—presumably a fresh one—and inscribes certain cabalistic signs -upon it. He then burns a great deal of incense and mutters charms; -when the patient has become thoroughly bewildered he takes the egg -and moves it seven times round the victim’s head. He then breaks -it in a basin, gazes fixedly at it, discovers whose is the Evil Eye, -and destroys its power by scattering it on the floor. - -Any individual who was popularly supposed to possess an Evil Eye was -carefully avoided. There was one old woman who was particularly feared -on this account. She was quite old and rather mad, but she certainly -had an exceptionally evil expression, and she showed her face more -than most of them. Anybody who met her in the morning, starting out -to his garden or on some expedition, would attribute any mishap that -occurred during the day to her malevolent glance. - -The witches of Siwa live among some ruined houses in the highest part -of the old town. Their leader is a little blind woman who is said to -be 100 years old. She looks exactly like one of the shrivelled mummies -that are found in some of the tombs near Siwa, but her scanty wisps -of hair are dyed red which gives a most sinister effect. She creeps -about leaning on a staff, like the regular witch in Grimm’s fairy -tales, and although she is quite blind she manages to slip about the -high battlements like a lizard, knowing by force of habit every stone -in the place. When a client wishes to consult her he comes after -nightfall to a certain place among the ruins high up in the town, -where a number of dark passages converge, and then he calls her. She -lives somewhere up above with two or three others. She mystifies her -visitors by appearing suddenly, quite close to them, noiselessly and -apparently from nowhere. - -I once sent a message saying that I should like to make her -acquaintance. One night after dinner I walked over to the town, -taking a man with me who knew the place well. We scrambled up and -up, through pitch-dark passages to the highest part of the town and -eventually arrived at a little low door about 4 feet high, in one of -the narrowest and steepest tunnels. After knocking several times it -was opened. I lit a match and saw the little old woman herself. She -led me up several more dark flights of steps to the roof of the house, -and there, sitting in the moonlight, I drank tea with her. The tea -was served by her grandchild, a Sudanese boy. Unfortunately I could -hardly understand a word she said, but the tea was excellent, and -the view was very fine. - -It was a hot summer night, but the high roof was cool with even a -faint breeze blowing across it. Looking down over the parapet one -saw white-wrapped, sleeping figures on the roofs below, and in the -distance there sounded the faint, mysterious melody of reed pipes and -a tom-tom. These Libyan nights are very wonderful; the sky is a deep, -dark blue, powdered with myriads of stars, and every few minutes -a long-tailed meteor flashes downwards. Shooting stars are said to -be hurled by the angels in heaven at the jinns on the earth below, -but the Siwans fear them as they say that each star kills a palm -tree. They prove this statement by arguing that when a tree dies in -a natural way it withers from the bottom, but when it withers from -the top, as many do, it is caused by a falling star. - -When a Siwan girl thinks that it is about time that she was married, -and no suitors are forthcoming, she adopts the following custom. On a -Friday, when the muezzins on the mosques are calling the Faithful to -pray at noon, she leaves the house, carrying some sugar in her right -hand and a little salt tightly clutched in her left hand. She covers -her face with her long, grey shawl and hurries through the streets, -avoiding everybody, to a little hill outside the town—close to -the Camel Corps barracks—which is crowned by the tomb of a very -venerated Siwan sheikh. When she arrives she runs seven times round -the tomb, eating the sugar and the salt and calling on the sheikh to -help her. She does this on three Fridays in succession, and after that -somebody comes to her parents and asks for her hand. Later, if she has -a child, she distributes food to the poor at the tomb of the sheikh -as a thank-offering. The actual tomb of Sheikh Abu Arash is inside a -little whitewashed mud building. The tomb is covered with white linen, -which is renewed by devotees of the saint, and a number of ostrich -eggs, brought many years ago from the Sudan, are suspended from the -ceiling. Sometimes women bring flowers and palm boughs and lay them on -the tomb. Often on a Friday I have noticed a woman hurrying round it, -muttering earnestly to herself and hoping for a husband. I wondered at -one time whether the proximity of the Camel Corps barracks had anything -to do with this recipe for obtaining a husband—but the belief has -been held for many years, long before the Camel Corps were thought of. - -Another way of obtaining a husband is as follows. The girl summons one -of the “wise women” to her house and provides her with a basket, -which is, by the way, a perquisite. The old woman takes the basket -and goes round to each mosque in the town collecting a handful of dust -from the ground immediately in front of each door. She then brings the -basket full of dust back to the girl and they mix it with olive oil, -making a kind of putty. The girl then brings in a round tin or a large -round dish and takes a bath, using the putty as soap. The old woman -carefully collects the water which has been used in an earthenware -pitcher. She goes out at night again to each mosque and sprinkles a -little of the water round the doors. The next day, when the men come -in and out of the mosques they tread on the place where the water was -poured, and probably some of the mud sticks to their feet. One of them -is sure to demand the girl in marriage. There are various other methods -of attaining the same ends; amulets and charms are manufactured by -the witches, which are supposed to attract a certain man, especially -if the ingredients of the charm include something that once belonged -to him. The whole idea is very much the same as the system of love -philtres and charms that were used in Europe in the Middle Ages. - -The witches are supposed to be able to summon jinns whenever they -want to, but any ordinary person has to follow out a complicated -proceeding before being able to do so. The system used for invoking -jinns is only practised secretly, and by women, but it is implicitly -believed in by everybody. For forty-five days the woman eats no meat, -feeding entirely on bread, rice, lentils and fruits. Every evening she -bakes a loaf of wheaten bread, unsalted and flavoured with red pepper, -which is the favourite flavouring among jinns. She takes the loaf, -naked, with her hair hanging loose, to the rubbish heap outside her -house, where she leaves it. On the forty-fourth night a jinn appears -in the form of some familiar animal: a camel, donkey, or cow. If the -woman is afraid it kills her at once, but if she is brave, and speaks -to it, it does her bidding. The jinn tells her to prepare a dinner -on the following night for six of his brothers. Next day she makes -six loaves and flavours them with spiders’ webs besides pepper, and -takes them out to the dust heap as before. She leaves them and returns -an hour later. Then she finds the chief of the jinns, Iblis himself, -waiting for her, a monstrous creature with flaming eyes, horns and -great hooked teeth, breathing out fire from his mouth. This individual -asks her what she desires and promises to carry out her wishes on -the condition that from henceforth she never utters the name of Allah. - -There is another even more fantastic story that sometimes at midnight -one of the witches swings a cord from her house on the battlements to -the top of the tall minaret of a mosque just below. She then steps off -the wall and walks along the rope, which is suspended in mid-air, like -a tight-rope dancer. People also assert that it is a practice of the -witches to creep out into the graveyards at night, to dig up a body, -tear off the head, and carry it back in their mouths like animals. This -gruesome habit was ascribed to werewolves in the olden days. - -Often when there is a case of theft in the town one of the “wise -women” is summoned to help discover the thief and the whereabouts -of the stolen property. She occasionally finds the property, but -very rarely exposes the culprit. One day a rich merchant came to -my office in a great fuss and complained that a quantity of silver -ornaments belonging to his wife had disappeared from his house. I -held an official inquiry, but there were no clues, and nothing was -found out. Then the merchant invited the help of an old woman called -Marika, who according to popular opinion was assisted by a familiar -jinn. He offered her a substantial reward if she could trace the -jewellery. About a week later Marika came to the merchant and asked him -to collect every single person in his household outside the door of the -house at a certain time that night. The door was closed on the empty -house and the old woman hobbled up and down outside it for about ten -minutes, muttering incantations and watched with considerable awe by -the whole household. After this proceeding she flung open the door and -led the merchant to one of the lower rooms where the missing ornaments -were found lying on the floor near the window. She explained that a -jinn had brought them back; the merchant paid her a reward and she -then retired. Nobody thought of trying to discover who had replaced -the stuff, and my suggestion that the lady herself had some knowledge -of the culprit was indignantly dismissed. These old women have access -to all the harems and have a considerable influence over the women, -so they are able to collect an enormous amount of information which -helps them in affairs like these, though they are by no means always -so successful. - -If a number of people are implicated in a theft another very curious -system is used for discovering the culprit. A smooth, round dish, or -a flat, round piece of wood about the size of a plate is produced and -inscribed with curious hieroglyphics and verses from the Koran. Two -men, one of them who has to be an expert, sit down on the ground -facing each other, holding the dish in the air about a foot from the -ground, balanced on the tips of their fingers. Each of the suspects -come in one by one and places a scrap of paper or rag on the middle -of the round piece of wood. If they are innocent nothing happens, but -when the guilty man has dropped his piece of paper on to it the wood -begins to revolve. I have seen this performance done three times; on -two occasions nothing happened, but the other time the wood certainly -did move round, although I could not see how it was manipulated. - -Divination, which is considered to be a form of satanic magic among -good Mohammedans, is much practised at Siwa. Perhaps it is the idea -of oracular communication which has lingered in the oasis since the -days when Siwa was famous for its oracle. Its most frequent form is -the interpretation of dreams, but future events are also discovered -by examining certain bones in animals that are slaughtered for food, -in a similar manner to the Roman augeries. The lines on certain bones -of a sheep denote coming events. One old man, after examining the thigh -bone of a young kid, announced to me that ten men and six camels would -arrive on the morrow from Jerabub, and also that a large convoy was -moving from the coast to Jerabub. Part of the prediction turned out -to be true, but I expect that he found out about the camels before -he made the prophecy. - -The interpretation of dreams is considered the most reliable guidance -of this kind. When a man has a difficult problem to decide he pays -fees to a Fiki and gives him some small article that belongs to -him. The Fiki takes the article, a cap for instance, and goes to -the tomb of Sidi Suliman or another sheikh; he prays and then lies -down and sleeps. Afterwards he interprets his dream as an answer to -his client’s questions. Sometimes he has to visit the tomb many -times before being able to give any advice, so in an urgent case -this system would not be a success. The art of divination at tombs -is hereditary, and there is a kind of code which attaches definite -meanings to certain things that the man dreams about. The ancient -Berbers who believed in an after life consulted at the graves of -their chiefs in a similar manner. - -One of the Fikis, an old man who has performed the Pilgrimage four -times, is an expert fortune-teller. His methods are many, but his -favourite one seems to be a complicated system by which he draws -a species of chart in the sand or on paper, with a number of little -squares or “houses” which he fills in with figures depending on his -client’s birth date. He has other ways of working with sand alone, or -by opening a certain Arabic book on necromancy at random, and reading -from the page at which he happens to open it. The natives have great -faith in him, and say that his predictions are very accurate—but -this was not my opinion when I once consulted him as an experiment. - -When there is an epidemic in Siwa, such as the “Spanish Influenza” -which carried off an enormous proportion of the population in 1918, -a ceremony takes place which must have originated when the Berbers -of Siwa made sacrifices to appease their gods. The wealthy men of the -town subscribe together and buy a young heifer. For several days it is -allowed to roam about feeding as it likes in anybody’s garden. On an -appointed day the people assemble in the square before the tomb of Sidi -Suliman, and the heifer is brought forward and decorated with wreaths -and flowers. It is then led seven times round the walls, followed -by a procession of the sheikhs and a band of men and boys playing -on cymbals, drums and pipes. It is led to the gate of the principal -mosque, Gama el Atik; a man steps forward and slits its right ear with -a knife, drawing blood, and then throws the knife away. Afterwards the -butchers slaughter it, cutting up the meat into innumerable minute -pieces and distributing it so that each household in Siwa has one -small piece. The people take the scraps of meat home and hang them up -in their house, and this, so they say, has the effect of removing any -plague or disease that affects the town. Herodotus describes almost -the same ceremony as being a custom among the ancient Libyans. - -Every Mohammedan is supposed, once in his lifetime, to perform the -Pilgrimage to Mecca. But only very few Siwans have enough money to -do this. Generally, every summer, two or three men go from Siwa, -taking with them a sum of money, the proceeds of the sale of dates -from certain trees which have been dedicated by their owners as -offerings to the mosque at Mecca. Endowments of this description, -either for the support of a mosque or religious school, or for the -giving of alms to the poor on certain days in the year, are often made -by wealthy Mohammedans. A gift of this kind is called a “wakf,” -and there is a special branch of the Egyptian Government which deals -with them, but in Siwa the “wakfs” are administered by one of -the sheikhs, and this gives cause for a great deal of quarrelling -and libels. The pilgrims from Siwa carry the money with them, though -it often amounts to well over a hundred pounds, which among Arabs is -a very considerable sum, but the sanctity of their purpose protects -them from robbery. They generally accompany a caravan of Arabs going -direct to Alexandria, via the oasis of Gara. - -On the day of their departure the whole town turns out to see them off, -escorting them to the most distant spring on the eastern edge of the -oasis. The wives of the pilgrims accompany them, and when they arrive -at the parting-point the following quaint ceremony takes place. The -crowd form up in the background, leaving the pilgrims and their wives -on an open space by the side of the spring. A near relative takes -from the wife of the pilgrim her round silver bangles and rolls them -along the ground, a distance of about a hundred yards, to where the -husband stands facing the east. The wife, who on this occasion is -dressed entirely in white, runs along behind him and gathers up a -little sand from each place where the bracelets stopped rolling and -fell to the ground. She puts the sand carefully into a little leather -bag. After this she stands under a certain very tall palm tree near -the spring while the relative climbs up and cuts off three long palm -fronds which he gives to her. After farewells have been said the -caravan goes on its way, the camels driven along in a bunch in front, -followed by the Arabs and the pilgrims; the wives and people return -to Siwa, the women wailing noisily, and the men beating tom-toms and -singing. The spring is about a mile beyond Aghourmi, and generally -on that day the sheikh of the village gives an entertainment and a -luncheon to some of the people. - -On arrival at her house the wife of the pilgrim, with the women of the -family and one near male relation, goes up to the roof and ties the -three palm branches firmly to one corner; she puts the sand into a -little green linen bag and fastens it to the tips of the three palm -fronds, so that they bend towards the east—towards Mecca. This -ensures the pilgrim a safe journey and also serves to let everybody -know that the owner of the house is doing the Pilgrimage. - -In two months’ time it is supposed that the pilgrims have reached -Mecca. Their friends and relations have a feast on the roof and hold -a reading of the Koran. Then the man who rolled the bracelets gets up -and pierces the little green bag of sand so that the contents pour -out; he then turns the palm branches round and fixes them in such a -way that they point towards the west, in which position they remain -till the pilgrim returns safely home again. - -When it is known that the caravan has arrived at Ain Magahiz, or one of -the outlying springs, a crowd of men ride out to welcome the returned -pilgrims, but their women-folk stay at home, prepare a substantial -meal, and then go on to the roof, take down the palm branches and -watch the distant road for the cloud of dust that invariably announces -a caravan. - -There is one festival in Siwa which almost corresponds to our Christmas -Day. It takes place in the winter, on the tenth day of the month of -January. For several days before Yom el Ashur—the tenth day—the -roofs of all the houses where there are children are decorated with -palm branches, 10 or 20 feet long, with a torch soaked in oil fastened -to each branch. After dark, on the eve of the day, all the children -go up on to the roofs and set light to the torches. There is a blaze -of illumination along the walls, and for a few minutes the whole town -is lit by the flaming torches. It is a strange and beautiful sight, -quite as effective as the most elaborate illuminations. The children -on each roof sing songs to each other, and the wail of their voices -sounds far on into the night in a monotonous sweet refrain. - -On the following day the children visit each other and exchange -presents which are very like “Christmas-trees.” Each child makes a -square framework of palm branches a few feet long, the white wood is -stained and dyed with coloured patterns, and on it are hung fruits, -nuts and sweets. Some of the richer children give each other doves -and rabbits, but generally they keep to sweets, the most favourite -kind being pink and white sugared almonds which are imported by the -merchants from Cairo. The children of Siwa look forward to Yom el Ashur -with as much pleasure as their parents do to the annual mulids. It -is really a very attractive sight to see these little Siwans, very -clean and in fresh white clothes for the occasion, trooping solemnly -along the streets on their way to visit their friends, while their -papas sit outside their houses and chuckle at them, and the mammas -watch them proudly from an upstairs window. - -[Illustration: A LITTLE SIWAN GIRL] - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - “FANTASIAS” - - - “A very merry, dancing, drinking, - - Laughing, quaffing, and unthinking time.” - - - “I hear the women singing, and the throbbing of the drum, - - And when the song is failing, or the drums a moment mute, - - The weirdly wistful wailing, of the melancholy flute.” - - -SIWANS, on the whole, do not take life very seriously, and when they -have an excuse for an entertainment they thoroughly let themselves go -and are glad of an occasion, if they can afford it, for a terrific -gastronomic display, at which an Englishman feels like a canary -feeding among hungry ostriches. The poor people eat twice a day, in the -morning and evening; the meal consists mainly of dates washed down by -lubki and a few drops of tea. They are very sociable, fond of talk, -of entertaining their friends and holding “fantasias,” but one -notices very much the entire absence of communion between sexes. Men -hardly ever speak to women in public, and it would be considered -quite a scandal for anyone to be seen in company with his own wife, -almost worse than if he was seen speaking to the wife of another man. - -With the Arabs it is different. They meet about the camps, and -especially at the wells, which from the time of Rebekah have been -the scene of many flirtations and courtships. The young men often go -and sit by the well-head watching the women drawing water, chaffing -and talking to them and, very occasionally, helping them to haul up a -heavy bucketful. I have often seen most amusing “goings-on” at a -well. Lifting up the weighty tins and drawing up the skins of water -gives the girls an opportunity for coquettish displays of neat arms -and ankles, but an infinitely more modest expanse is exhibited by -these Arabs than by the average young woman in England to-day. But -in Siwa if one rode past a spring where women were washing clothes -they would run off into the gardens as fast as they could, and even -when a Siwan man came to the pool they retired hurriedly with shawls -pulled over their faces, and waited some distance away. - -In the hot summer evenings, when noises are hushed and the day’s -work is over, men sit in little groups outside their doors on low -mud benches, drinking tea, discussing the latest “cackle of the -palm-tree town,” and watching the piping shepherds driving their -flocks home from the grazing, raising clouds of golden dust as they -come along the sandy roads. The women collect on the roofs up above, -playing with their children and talking to each other. Each sheikh -sits before his house surrounded by a little crowd of sycophants, -sipping tea and adulation, and listening to the latest scandal told -about his rival of the opposite faction. Passers-by are invited to -join in, and if a stranger arrives there ensues a lengthy greeting of -much-repeated phrases, many hand-shakings, and polite expressions. When -one walked through the market-place after sunset there would be a -murmur of conversation from the shadowy white figures sitting and -lying round the doorways, who rose up and bowed at one’s approach, -and then sank down again silently. This Eastern deference is very -impressive at first, but it does not take long to get accustomed to it. - -In Siwa there is no lurid night life like that of Cairo, in which -novelists revel. The people go early to bed and lights are very -little used. Even the quarter of the women of the town is as quiet -as the other streets. There are no noisy cafes with music and -dancing girls, and no hidden houses where natives smoke hashish -and opium. The Senussi religion forbids smoking, or “drinking -tobacco,” as it is called, also coffee, which is supposed to be too -stimulating for the passions, and for this reason tea is the universal -drink. Life is a very leisurely affair, a pleasant monotony, and -“Bukra—inshallah!”—to-morrow, if God wills—is the favourite -expression. Very few games are played. Chess, which was invented in -the East, is unknown, but one sometimes sees a couple of men deeply -absorbed in a game called “helga,” which is rather like draughts, -played with onions and camel-dung on a board which is marked out in -the sand on the ground. - -The younger men, especially the ones with black blood in their veins, -are much addicted to drinking lubki, an inexpensive, intoxicating -liquor made from the sap of palm trees. The branches that form the -crown of the tree are cut off, leaving the heart of the palm tree -bare. A groove is cut from the heart through the thick outer bark, -and a jar is hung at the end of this groove which receives the juice -when it oozes up from the tree. A palm which has been tapped in -this way yields lubki for two or three months, and if the branches -are allowed to grow again after some time the tree will continue to -bear fruit, but the branches grow very ragged and trees that have -been used for lubki acquire a rather drunken-looking appearance which -always remains. One of the favourite tricks of small Siwan boys is to -climb up the palm trunks and drink the lubki from the jar in which it -is being collected by the owner of the garden. When freshly drawn it -is as sweet and frothy as ginger-beer, but in a few days it becomes -strongly alcoholic and tastes bitter, like sour milk. Labourers working -in the gardens always retire to a spring and bathe after the day’s -work, then they enjoy a long “sundowner” of lubki before they ride -home to the town. All intoxicating drinks are forbidden by the Koran, -but in Siwa the people satisfy their consciences by saying that the -Prophet approved of all products of the palm tree, so lubki cannot -be a forbidden drink. - -The Siwans are most particular in their religious observances. There -are a very large number of mosques in comparison to the population, -and Friday—the Mohammedan Sabbath—is very strictly kept. On -Thursday evening the prayers of the muezzins are longer, as they -remind the people that the morrow is Friday. On Friday all the men -visit the mosques; no work is done in the gardens, and sometimes -one of the sheikhs distributes alms to the poor outside a mosque, -or at the tomb of one of his illustrious ancestors. For a long time -before the event the “mesakin” (poor) of the town collect at the -place; one sees old blind men, cripples, shrivelled hags, and ragged -women carrying solemn little babies, every one trying hard to appear -the most abjectly destitute, and therefore the most deserving case -for alms. Then the sheikh arrives, fat and prosperous, holding an -umbrella, and followed by some stout servants carrying huge bowls -heaped with cold boiled rice spotted with dark-coloured lumps of -camel flesh. The dishes are set down before the people, men and women -sitting apart, with a servant standing near each dish to keep order -and prevent free fights. The paupers snatch and claw at the food, -grabbing it with skinny, dirty fingers, squabbling fiercely over -yellowish-looking lumps of fat, shrieking vile abuse at each other -and trying to hide tasty scraps of meat in their clothes. The sheikh -looks on with a complacent smile and listens with much gratification -while his friends make audible remarks about his excessive generosity -and his liberal qualities. - -The typical Arab sheikh of modern fiction (if he does not turn out -to be an Englishman) is a young, dashing, handsome and intensely -fascinating individual, well mannered and well washed; but in -real life one rarely meets such a person—I myself have never seen -him. The typical sheikh at Siwa or on the Western Desert was elderly, -bearded and only moderately clean. Some of them were certainly very -fine-looking men, but utterly different to the personage that one -would expect from the descriptions in a certain style of popular -novel. The “guides” who swindle visitors in Cairo are much more -like the sheikh of fiction in appearance than are the real sheikhs -whom one meets and has dealings with on the desert. - -One of the most curious, partly philanthropic institutions which has -survived in Siwa is the “Beit el Mal,” a public fund used for -providing shrouds for persons who die without money or relations, and -also for repairing mosques, causeways and sun-shelters. The money is -contributed from the sale of public land belonging to the community, -and also from the sale of argoul, which is a plant that is used as -manure, and rents for grazing paid by visiting Arabs. The fund is -collected and administered by certain sheikhs, and in former days it -included fines, inflicted as punishments, and taxes on strangers who -visited the oasis. Any case which is considered deserving of charity -is supplied from the money. - -Ramadan, the Mohammedan Lent, the month in which the Koran was -supposed to have been sent down from heaven, is kept very strictly -in Siwa. During this month all good Mohammedans are expected to -refrain from the pleasures of the table, the pipe and the harem; no -morsel of food or drop of water may pass their lips during the day, -but at night the revels commence and they feast and enjoy themselves -till the unwelcome approach of morning. Night is turned into day, -and at Siwa, during Ramadan, there is a continuous rumble of drums -from sunset till the early morning; at first it is disturbing, but -one grows accustomed to it before the month is out. - -The words of the Koran are: - - -“Eat and drink until ye can plainly distinguish a black thread from -a white thread by the daybreak; then keep the fast until night.” - - -It is possible to obtain a dispensation from keeping Ramadan, on -medical grounds, and among the effendi class I noticed that this -was frequently done; travellers are also excused from observing it, -though I have often been out on trek during Ramadan with men who -were strictly fasting. If the month occurs in the hot weather it -is a very great strain on every one. Siwa, in the daytime, during -Ramadan, is like a dead place; the minimum amount of work is done -in the gardens, everybody stays indoors during the day, and one sees -nobody about the streets except in the cool of the early morning and -after sunset. Fasting, especially abstaining from drinking, is a severe -strain; the sheikhs, when they come to the Markaz, look thin and ill, -and one’s servants make the fast an excuse for doing nothing. - -This arduous month is terminated by a festival lasting for three days -known as the Minor Festival or Kurban Bairam. It is celebrated with -great festivities and rejoicings in Egypt; servants expect tips and -every one appears in new clothes, but in Siwa it is not so important -an occasion; the people merely take a rest after the trials of the -fast month, reserving all their energy and money for the great local -mulid which occurs a week or so later. The mulid of Sidi Suliman, -the anniversary of the birth of Siwa’s patron sheikh, is the most -important incident of the whole year. The festival generally lasts -for three days, but the people take three more days to recover from -it. All the year round everybody saves money in order to make a -“splash” at the annual mulid. - -For several days the women are busy cooking cakes and sweets; the -best fruit in the gardens is carefully watched over to be ready -at the mulid, and certain animals are fed up with a view to being -slaughtered. If possible one or two camels are bought from the Arabs -and kept at grass till they are fat enough to kill. On the eve of the -feast there is a general spring cleaning of the town. The tombs of -the sheikhs are freshly painted with whitewash, carpets and coloured -blankets are hung from every roof, while the houses are swept and -cleaned, and the place looks quite gay with its clean white tombs, -and bright mats and rugs hanging out from roofs and windows. In the -evening the sheep that are to be slaughtered on the morrow are led -in from the fields, and everybody discusses with interest how many -animals Sheikh So-and-So is going to kill. Sometimes the richest men -kill as many as seven or eight sheep, and this is remembered and often -mentioned to their credit, all through the year. One year there was a -great scandal in the town because Sheikh Mohammed Hameid had boasted -to everybody that he had killed six sheep, but one of his household -let out that there had only been three old goats slaughtered. Enormous -supplies of lubki are drawn before the holiday in order that it may -stand long and become really strong. - -On the morning of the mulid everybody puts on his best clothes, and -even the poorest labourer dons a new shirt or a clean jibba. Every man -goes to pray in his own particular mosque, and the women visit the -tombs and lay palm branches on the graves of their relations. After -this people retire to their houses and eat an enormous meal and as -much meat as they can possibly swallow. When the men have eaten, the -remainder of the food is sent to the harem, and when the harem have -finished, it is sent out to the servants and labourers who pick the -bones clean. After this heavy meal and during the two following days -everybody calls on everybody else, and on this occasion one may see -eastern sheikhs riding haughtily through the western quarter to call -on their much-detested neighbours. In all the streets one meets the -sheikhs riding along on their best donkeys, wearing gorgeous silk, -coloured robes, which emerge from the chests in which they are locked -up during most of the year, each followed by an escort of servants. The -people let each other know at what time they will be “at home” -and when they will ride out visiting. - -On arriving at the house one finds servants waiting to hold the -donkeys, and if one is so indiscreet as to look up at the little -windows numbers of female heads pop out of sight. The owner of the -house is found seated in his largest room, with the best carpets -covering the floor, surrounded by about a dozen little tables with -dishes of peaches, grapes, figs, melons, nuts, cakes and sweets, and -one dish which contains the young, white pith of a palm tree, which is -much esteemed as a delicacy. Along the side of the room there are more -dishes, covered with napkins, heaped up with meat, generally smothered -by a cloud of flies. The host offers tea, coffee, or an exceedingly -disagreeable syrupy liquor made from a species of fruit “syrop” -which should be taken cold with soda, but is served hot like tea, -according to Siwan fashion. Strict etiquette enjoins that one must -drink three cups of tea or coffee, and taste every dish in the room, -except the meat, which is reserved for the family at each house. - -The extra amount of food everywhere attracts swarms of flies, -and the sticky smell of fruit and meat is rather overpowering, -when the temperature is about 106 degrees in the shade. One year -I rode round myself and paid calls, but the next time I was wiser -and invited the sheikhs and notables to a light meal at the Markaz, -after their own solid luncheon, and even then, although showing -post-prandial symptoms, they managed to eat very heartily. It was -at one of these entertainments that I learnt that the Siwans have -special names for people who offend against the strict etiquette of -eating. The following are all highly condemned: - - - The man who turns round and looks to see whether more is coming. - - The individual who bites a piece of meat and replaces it in the dish. - - The person who blows on his food to cool it. - - The one who is undecided and fingers first one piece, then the other. - - And finally the visitor who orders about his host’s servants, - which I have noticed myself as being a very common habit. - - -In the afternoon of the mulid the younger men and boys go out into -the gardens, where they lie singing and drinking lubki. At dusk the -people begin to collect in the open space below the highest part of -the old town, round the square, white tomb of Sidi Suliman, which is -illuminated with candles and lanterns, and ornamented with banners -stuck along the parapet of the roof. Crowds of men keep on passing -up the steps and in and out of the tomb, shuffling off their shoes -at the entrance and praying at the grave of the saint. Then everybody -collects at his own particular mosque, in various parts of the town, -and a great “zikr,” a kind of prayer-meeting and religious dance, -is held outside the Medinia mosque in the eastern quarter of the -town. It is a very wonderful sight, and is attended by four or five -hundred devotees. - -There is a large, open space outside the mosque surrounded by tall -houses, whose little black windows look like gaping eyes, and behind -them one catches a glimpse of the tops of palm trees in some gardens -darkly silhouetted against the deep blue African sky. The whole -scene is flooded with brilliant moonlight, except where the cold, -black shadows fall from the high houses. The ground is entirely -carpeted with old rugs and mats whose faded colours show dimly in the -moonlight; along one side, in front of the mosque, sit the sheikhs -and notables of the Medinia sect, and on the other three sides of the -square there is a vast congregation of white-robed, seated natives, -row upon row of “dusk faces with white silken turbans wreathed.” -A carpeted space in the centre is kept empty. - -Among the shadows of the houses there are more blurred white figures, -and in one corner of the square kettles are being boiled on open -fires, and men in flowing robes walk to and fro across the light from -the flames. There is a subdued murmur of conversation. The first -part of the entertainment is a solemn tea-drinking. Dozens of men -move about, barefooted and silent, carrying trays and distributing -hundreds of little glasses of tea, which is made and poured out by -the sheikhs. After everybody has drunk three glasses the low tables -in front of the sheikhs are carried away, and the audience becomes -absolutely silent. Then the chief sheikh of the Medinia mosque, -a handsome, bearded man wearing the green turban, whose looks belie -his notoriously bad character, begins intoning verses from the Koran -in a sonorous, impressive voice, sitting on the carpet with his hands -spread on his knees. When he stops one of the other sheikhs begins, -until most of them have had a turn. After this three men step into -the space in the centre of the seated audience. One of them is quite -a boy with a very beautiful voice, the other two are older men. They -walk slowly round and round the square, abreast, singing together a -tune which resembles the solemn grandeur of a Gregorian chant, and -after each verse the whole audience, several hundred powerful male -voices, intone the refrain. It is an intensely impressive performance -and one feels thrilled at being the only white man present at such -a spectacle. The bright moonlight shines down on the massed ranks -of motionless natives whose faces look black, much darker than they -actually are, in comparison with their white robes and white skull -caps or turbans. For a background there are the high houses, and on -the roofs, peering down at the square, a number of heavily veiled -women, and “over all the sky—the sky! far, far out of reach, -studded with the eternal stars.” - -After some time everybody rises and all the full-grown men close up and -form a circle, tightly wedged together. The old sheikh steps into the -centre and begins repeating more prayers, quietly at first then with -restrained violence. The audience join in, chanting the Mohammedan -creed. Gradually the singing grows louder, the voice of the sheikh -is drowned, and the ring of white-robed men begin swaying to and -fro, backwards and forwards, their voices become hoarse and raucous; -every man jerks to and fro in a frenzy of religious excitement, and -the prayer becomes a violent repetition of the word “Allah—’la, -’la, ’la.” Then the sheikh who leads the prayer gradually slows -down, and the congregation repeat more quietly the Mohammedan creed, -“La ilahi illa—llah, wa Mohammed rasul Allah”—there is no -deity but God, and Mohammed the prophet of God. The contrast between -the performers at the beginning of the zikr, when they are calm and -grave, and at its close, when they are hot, dishevelled and exhausted, -is very remarkable. - -Meanwhile the crowd in the Sidi Suliman square increases. From -the various mosques come long processions of white-robed figures, -singing and carrying banners; the light of their torches and lanterns -flashes in and out as they slowly thread their way through the steep, -winding streets of the town, and their voices become faint, then loud, -as they pass through and out of the arches and tunnels. They assemble -in the square, forming large circles and dancing zikrs. In one corner -one sees a ring of old men singing and clashing cymbals; in another -group there are a dozen men banging drums, while a half-naked young -negro in their midst twirls rapidly round and round, then suddenly -falls to the ground and rolls over and over till he reaches the tomb -itself, where he is lifted up by his admiring and applauding friends -and carried away unconscious. Behind the tomb there are fires where -the drums can be warmed, in order to tighten their parchment. Numbers -of women squat on the outskirts of the crowd, huddled in their dark -robes, hardly visible, except when the moon gleams on their silver -ornaments and pale white faces. Some of them are burning incense in -little earthenware braziers, and occasionally one of them creeps up -to the white tomb and kisses the wall, if she can reach it before -being driven off by the ghaffirs—watchmen. - -[Illustration: A “FANTASIA” AT THE TOMB OF SIDI SULIMAN] - -The dancers in the centre of the circles move faster, keeping time to -the drums and hand-clappings of the audience, and soon everybody is -swaying to and fro. Away in the gardens outside the town there are -flickering lights and a sound of singing. The great zikr before the -Medinia mosque ceases and all the people come streaming out from the -dark, shadowy lanes towards the tomb of Sidi Suliman, which shines -white in the moonlight with orange lights blazing from its open -door and little windows. The sheikhs walk slowly about from group -to group, each followed by a little knot of men—servants carrying -carpets and cushions, and some watchmen in tall brown tarbouches, -holding staves. The police stand about in the crowd, and when one -walks up to watch a dance they hurry forward and push people aside, -saying, “Make way, make way!” The sound of distant singing in the -gardens grows louder and nearer, and suddenly mobs of men and boys, -mad with drink, half naked, come leaping and shrieking into the square, -scattering fire from their blazing torches. - -Then drums are beaten madly, cymbals crash, and the shrill screech -of reed pipes rends the air. The crowd forms into a great circle -round the mass of frenzied dancers who career round, drinking as -they dance, shouting and yelling. In the centre there are a dozen -men lashing away at cymbals and tom-toms. One of the dancers is an -enormous blind giant, almost naked, who flourishes a jug of lubki, -and some of the boys have wreaths round their heads and bunches of -flowers stuck behind their ears. - -As the night goes on the pandemonium becomes wilder; the exotic -timbre of the music grows more frenzied; many of the dancers throw off -their robes, and great pitchers full of potent lubki are distributed -among the people. The fires in the square, heaped up with rushes, -blaze more brightly when the honey-coloured moon sinks behind the -high walls of the town, and frantically writhing figures are seen -whirling round by the light of the shooting flames and torches. The -whole scene becomes even more _macabre_. Gradually boys and men among -the audience, fascinated by the mad mob of dancers, plunge in among -them, linking arms and revolving round the musicians in the centre, -crouching, jumping, hopping, and running, each one executing strange -steps and postures as he goes along. Sometimes the music is voluptuous -and alluring, then the dance becomes frankly indecent; at other times -it is wild and furious, and the performers seem to be overcome with -savage transports of rage; but the whole time the music has a very -definite rhythm which urges them on. The light of many torches gleams -on glistening black flesh and shining teeth and eyes; the air is thick -with heavy fumes of incense, and the bitter smell of liquor. On the -outskirts of the crowd one sees figures stretched like corpses on the -ground, overcome with the orgy of drink and dancing. When the faint -light of dawn shows in the sky, and the fires are dying down they -begin to tire of the Bacchanalian revels, and one by one the dancers -fall exhausted to the ground, lying where they fell, or crawl away, -staggering through the silent streets, to sleep off the effects in -readiness for the following day. Looking down on to this riotous -African carnival from the highest roofs of the town one can imagine -oneself, like Dante, watching damned souls writhing in hell. - -The Siwans are extremely fond of music and singing. Their instruments -are crude and simple, but they manage to obtain a surprising amount -of music from them. Drums, or tom-toms, are of various kinds, either -cylindrical gourds or basins with a skin stretched across one end, -or large round tambourines with parchment covers. By striking first -the side of the drum and then the resounding parchment, two different -sounds are obtained, one hard, the other soft, and this again can -be varied by using either the palm of the hand or the clenched -fist. Flutes are usually made from the barrels of long Arab guns, -or occasionally from reeds, and string instruments, like primitive -guitars, are manufactured from a bowl covered with skin, a wooden -frame, and string made from wire or gut which can be tightened or -slackened. The combination of these simple instruments with human -voices is singularly effective. - -There is a similarity in all African music; in fact, all Eastern -music is somewhat alike. The melody is monotonous and barbaric: -sometimes a song sung in a tremulous, high-pitched voice which rises -above the throbbing tom-toms, or a tune played on a shrill flute with -an accompaniment of drums and twanging string instruments. The scale -ranges from bass to treble, sometimes short, sad notes, and sometimes -long drawn-out wails, varied by sudden, unexpected pauses. It is -difficult to describe, but the general effect is somewhat sinister, -at the same time very fascinating. To a stranger it may sound like -an inharmonious wail, but in time one gets to appreciate the subtle -undercurrent of half-notes which makes the melody. It is suggestive -of fierce passions, vague longings, and vast desert spaces. - -The characteristic song of the Western Arabs, a dreamy refrain with -a reiterated note, which they sing to themselves as they ride alone -across the desert, is very similar to the Swiss yeodling; but Siwan -music is quite different. The Siwans have songs and tunes of a distinct -individual style. With them certain notes have definite meanings; -there is a language of sound. When some of their best singers, usually -boys, are performing, the listeners can interpret the meaning of -the song without needing to hear the words. They sing everywhere, -and at all times, especially when at work in the gardens. Several -men and boys working in different parts of a big palm grove sing to -each other, taking up the refrain and answering each other back, -and these unaccompanied quartets and trios sound very attractive, -especially when one hears them in the evening, now loud and clear, now -faintly in the distance. Good voices are much esteemed, and the best -singing boys are hired to perform at entertainments. The songs that -have words are in the Siwan language, but when literally translated -they are exceedingly indecent. - -Dancing, too, is very different to the fashion of the Arabs or the -Sudanese. In many parts of the Sudan one sees men and women dancing -together, and among the Arabs there are dancing girls who perform in -front of a mixed audience. On the Western Desert it is not considered -shameful for respectable women to dance, although most of the best -dancers are very decidedly not respectable. But in Siwa only the men -dance in public, and it is very difficult to see women performing, -but on one occasion I did see an entertainment of this kind. - -It took place at night in the courtyard of a house discreetly -surrounded by high, windowless walls. A space on the ground was spread -with carpets, with some cushions at one side, and the moon shone -down and illuminated the scene. A little wooden door in the wall -was pushed open and about a dozen girls, followed by an old woman, -and a small boy carrying a brazier of smoking incense, shuffled into -the court and squatted down in a line on one side. The girls wore -the usual Siwan dress, a blue striped robe reaching below the knees, -and white silk-embroidered trousers; but besides this each of them -wore a long silk, coloured scarf, hiding her face and shoulders, and -a quantity of jingling silver ornaments and heavy bangles which they -took off and gave to the old woman to hold while they danced. Three -or four of them had small drums which they beat as they sang. At -first they sat in a row, very carefully veiled, singing quietly to -the accompaniment of the little tom-toms. Then one of them got up, -with the thin coloured veil hiding her face, and began to dance, -slowly at first, keeping time to the music, but gradually moving -faster as the music grew wilder. The dancing began by simple steps and -swaying gestures of the arms, then the movements became more rapid, -and one saw a confused mass of swirling draperies and silver chains. - -After each girl had danced for a few minutes the _motif_ of music -changed, becoming more sensuous, and the _prima danseuse_ took the -floor again. This time she performed a variety of the _danse de -ventre_, which consists of queer quivering movements and swaying -the body from the hips, keeping the upper part still, with arms -stretched down and painted hands pointing outwards. This was varied -by an occasional rapid twirl which gave the audience a sight of the -dancer’s features; a pale face with long “kohl” tinted eyes and -a scarlet painted mouth, set in a frame of black braided hair, oiled -and shiny. Finally, the lilt of the music became even more seductive, -and the dancer swung off the long, fringed, silk scarf and danced -unveiled, swaying more violently, with her arms stretched above her -head, stamping on the ground in time to the rhythm of the music, and -finally subsiding into her place in an ecstasy of amorous excitement. - -It was not an attractive performance, although the dance is one -which is very much admired by natives, who consider it intensely -alluring. One sees it in various forms all over Africa, and everywhere -it is equally ugly and dull. - - - - - CONCLUSION - - -MANY people have at various times carefully considered the agricultural -possibilities of Siwa from a commercial point of view. Undoubtedly -the cultivation in the oasis could be greatly developed, as there is -enough water to irrigate a much larger area of ground than that which -is now being cultivated. At present the natives have only the most -primitive ideas of agriculture; for instance, they neglect most of the -fruit trees by doing no pruning, and through sheer laziness they have -allowed various species to die out completely. They are handicapped, -too, by having no proper tools or machinery. The dates of Siwa are -exceptionally fine, famous all over Egypt, and besides these there -is a quantity of other fruit whose quality could be much improved by -proper care. Olive oil is a valuable product and commands a very high -price on the coast and in Egypt. No wine is made from the grapes, -and no one has experimented in drying fruit, which is a simple and -lucrative industry. - -But the difficulty that faces one in all commercial schemes is the -means of transport. Camels can only be hired from the coast at rare -intervals and during the season when the Arabs do not mind visiting -the oasis, and their hire is so prohibitive as to make any heavy -transport hardly worth while. The ex-Khedive went to Siwa for the -purpose of seeing whether it would be worth running a light railway -from the coast to the oasis, and since then the project has been -seriously thought of more than once, but it has always been considered -impracticable on account of the expense and the great difficulty of -crossing such an expanse of waterless desert. - -An alternative scheme of running a service of motor lorries is a -more likely proposition, and when once started it might be highly -remunerative. Some of the richest and most progressive Siwans were very -anxious to buy a lorry and send their olive oil direct to Alexandria, -but they failed to appreciate that one lorry alone would be useless, -and the minimum number would have to be four. - -Apart from the possibilities of trade Siwa is valuable as a field -for excavators. So far very little digging has been done in Siwa and -the adjoining oases, and undoubtedly there are great possibilities -in this direction. Labour is cheap and one could hire enough men in -the place to do any work of this kind. Nobody has attempted to locate -and examine the subterranean passages which connect Aghourmi and the -temple, and Siwa town with the Hill of the Dead. There is also the -possibility of rediscovering the emerald mines which brought fame -to the oasis many centuries ago, and which are now so completely -forgotten that I doubt whether half a dozen people have ever heard -of their existence. Under the present regime, though one does not -know how long it will last, an Englishman can live at Siwa in perfect -safety, and though the climate is certainly very hot in summer-time -it is quite agreeable during more than half the year. - -But Siwa will never become a much-visited place, which is perhaps all -for the best, owing to the strip of desert which stretches between it -and the coast. Otherwise it might have developed into another Biskra, -which is the oasis in Algeria that Hitchens describes so wonderfully -in _The Garden of Allah_. Quite lately I noticed in a travel book -called _Kufara, the Secret of the Sahara_, by Mrs. Rosita Forbes, -a mention of this very desert between Siwa and the coast which was -described as a “tame desert.” This expression, used by a lady -with such great knowledge of deserts in all parts of the world, -surprised me—and I own that it annoyed me! Her only experience of -this particular desert was acquired during the one day in which she -motored up from Siwa to Matruh in the company of several officers of -the F.D.A. who met her there. But people on the Western Desert can -remember, only too well, a terrible fatality which occurred less than -a year ago in which three Englishmen were involved, and which proved -conclusively that no waterless desert is safe or “tame,” even in -these days when cars can travel across it. - -I was not actually in Siwa when Hassanein Bey arrived there, -accompanied by Mrs. Forbes, after their memorable journey to Kufra, -but I returned there soon afterwards, and it was very interesting to -hear of her exploit from the various natives who came in to Siwa from -the west. - -In spite of a climate that was sometimes trying, in spite of a bad -bout of fever, and in spite of an occasional feeling of loneliness, -the memory of the time that I spent at Siwa will always be a very happy -one. Siwa is so absolutely unspoilt, and so entirely Eastern. Even the -ubiquitous Greek trader has not penetrated this desert fastness. It -is a place that grows on one, and the few who have been there, and -who appreciate its curious fascination, find it very hard to leave. - -There is a saying in Egypt that whoever tastes the water of the Nile -must some time return there, and I am very sure that he who drinks -from the Siwa springs will always wish to go there again. Walking by -moonlight under those huge, towering battlements of the strange old -town, through streets and squares deserted save for an occasional -white-robed figure, one could almost credit the queer stories of -ghosts, jinns and afreets that are believed by the Siwans to haunt -every spot in this mysterious little oasis which lies hidden among -the great barren tracts of the pitiless Libyan Desert. - - -[Illustration: THE WESTERN DESERT OF EGYPT] - - - - - BIBLIOGRAPHY - - -Books consulted in compiling the “History of Siwa”:— - - Anonymous History of Siwa (Arabic). - - ARRIAN. Expeditio Alexandri. - - BATES, ORIC. The Eastern Libyans. - - BLOCHET. History of the Arab Conquest. - - BOVARY. Letters from Egypt. - - BREASTED. History of Egypt. - - BROWNE, W. G. Travels in Africa (1792-6). - - BUDGE. Life of Alexander. - - BUTLER, A. J. Arab Conquest. - - CAILLIAUD. Travels in the Oases. - - CAMERON. Egypt in the Nineteenth Century. - - CORRIPUS, F. C. Johannides. - - DIODORUS SICULUS. Bibliotheca. History of Egypt. - - Edmonstone’s Journey. (1822). - - ERMANN. Handbook of Egyptian Religion. - - FALLS, EWART. Three Years in the Libyan Desert. - - FORBES, ROSITA. The Secret of the Sahara, Kufara. - - GWATKIN WILLIAMS, R. S. In the hands of the Senussi. - - GWATKIN WILLIAMS, R. S. Prisoners of the Red Desert. - - HAMILTON, J. Wanderings in North Africa. - - HAREEM. Ancient Commerce of Africa. - - HERODOTUS. Egypt. - - HOHLER, T. B. Report on Oasis of Siwa (1904). - - HORNEMANN, F. C. Journal, from Cairo to Mourzouk. - - HOSKINS, S. A. Visit to Libyan Desert (1837). - - JUVENAL, Satires. - - LANE, E. W. Arabian Nights. - - LANGLES. Memoires sur les oases d’après les auteurs Arabes. - - LEO, JOHANNES. Africae Descriptio. - - MERCIER, ERNEST. Histoire de l’établissement des Arabes dans - l’Afrique Septrionale. - - Nelson’s History of the Great War. - - OKLEY. History of the Saracens. - - PETRIE, FLINDERS. History of Egypt. - - PINDAR. Hymns to Deities. - - PLINY. Geography of the World. - - PLUTARCH. Life of Alexander. - - QUINTIUS CURTIUS. Alexander. - - ROLLINS. Ancient History. - - R. E. JOURNAL. Vol. 37, No. 2. - - ST. JOHN, BAYLE. Adventures in the Libyan Desert (1849). - - SALE. The Koran. - - SILVA WHITE. From Sphinx to Oracle. - - SMITH. Classical Dictionary. - - STANLEY, CAPTAIN. Report on Siwa Oasis. - - STRABO. Geography. - - VIRGIL. Ænid. - - WILKINSON, SIR J. S. Manners and Customs of Ancient Egypt. - -Translations, mostly French, of the following Arab Historians and -Geographers:— - - IBN ABDEL HAKIM KHALDOUN. History of the Berbers. - - MOHAMMED BEN AYAS. - - EL MAKRIZI. - - EL MASOUDI. - - IBN EL WARDI. - - ABULFEDA. - - EL IDRISI. - - SCHEMFEDDEN MOHAMMED ABDEL FURUR. - - - - - INDEX - - - Abbas Helmi, 3 - - Abbas Pasha, 108 - - Abdel Arti, smuggler, 115, 117 - - Abdel Gader, sheikh of travellers, 54 - - _Abdel Moneim_, cruiser, 34, 35 - - Abdel Rahman, Sheikh, 66 - - Abdel Sayed, 180 - - Abdulla Homeid, Sheikh, 66, 247 - - Abdulla Mansur, 112 - - Abu Zeyed, 54 - - Actium, battle of, 9 - - Aeroplanes, 125 - - African Association, 101 - - Agagia, battle of, 126 - - Age of Siwans, 196 - - Aghourmi, 69, 71, 83, 86, 87, 96; sheikh of, 67; spring, 81; - temple, 78 - - Agriculture, 260 - - Ahmed Fazi, 119 - - Ahmed Hamza, 112 - - Ahmed Idris, 111 - - Ain el Hammam, 81 - - “Akaba incident,” xiv - - Alexander the Great, 84, 85, 176 - - Alexandria, 3, 5, 6, 34, 35; summer resort, 8; Alexander buried - at, 85 - - Algeria, 10 - - Ali Balli, 102, 104 - - Ali Dinar, Sultan of Darfur, 132, 190 - - Almsgiving, 243 - - Amaryllis, 10 - - Ammon, god, 76; legends of, 77, 79, xix - - Ammonia, 7, 79 - - Ammonians, 76, 77, 79, 80 - - Amrou, 89 - - Animals at Siwa, 202 - - Antony, 9 - - Appetites of Siwans, 168, 239 - - Arabia, 93 - - Arabs, 5, 14, 17; carrying arms, 18; clothes, 20; - characteristics, 209; conversation, 24; dance, 44; horses, 27; - hospitality, 22; invasion, 5, 89, 94; at Maragi, 185; refugees, - 201; songs, 256; tents, 19; wealth, 26; wells, 43; welcome rains, - 32; wives, 39; women, 21 - - Arasieh, lake, 103 - - Architecture, Siwan, 133, 134 - - Areg, El, oasis of, 183, 184 - - Argoul, 158, 244 - - Arms, seizing, 73 - - Arusia, sect, 151 - - Assiut, 184 - - Athanasius, St., 88 - - Athenians, 79 - - Atlantic, 94 - - Atlantis, 191 - - Augerin, Bir, 43 - - Augustus, 88 - - Australian Light Horse, 125 - - Awlad Ali, 6 - - Azhar university, 119 - - - Bachelors, custom of, 98 - - Bagbag, 15 - - Bahrein oasis, 115, 183, 184 - - Bairam, Kurban, feast of, 246 - - Baird, Miss, xxi, 201 - - Bakhr-Wahash, wild ox, 202 - - Bakshish, 176 - - Bangles, rolling the, 235 - - Barley, 6 - - Barrani, 13, 14; evacuation, 124; reoccupation, 126 - - Bashu Habun, 176 - - Basket making, 199 - - Bates, Oric, 75, 76 - - Bathing, 61, 63; bride, 216; at Matruh, 8 - - Bazaars, 141 - - Beda, el, 120 - - Behera, 110 - - Beit el Mal, 244 - - Ben Ayas, historian, 90 - - Ben Soleim, tribe of, 93 - - Bequests, religious, 235 - - Berbers, 2, 88, 91, 94, 95, 209; from Europe, 20, xvii; dialect, - 146; sacrifices, 234 - - Berseem, custom of, 162 - - Bikaner, Maharajah, xxiv - - Bilad el Kelab, 57 - - Bir Hakim, 123, 131 - - Birds, 31, 203; eggs, 204 - - Birth-rate at Siwa, 2 - - Bisharin trackers, 53 - - Blossoms, 202 - - Booba, story of, 173 - - Booza camp, 40 - - Bramley, Captain Jennings, xxii - - Bread, on trek, 52 - - Bride, customs of, 213, 216 - - Browne at Siwa, 100 - - Budget, economy on, 34 - - Butin, Colonel, 103 - - Byzantines, 89 - - - Cairns, rock, 52 - - Calamis, statue by, 80 - - Cambyses, lost army of, 80 - - Camel Corps, 2, 15, 26, 37, 38; barracks, 49; exploring with, - 195; as garrison, 131, 135; soldiers, 41; songs of, 54; wives of, - 62, 100 - - Camels, 25; riding, 48; fly, 202; in rain, 32; stories of, 36; - drinking, 45; as transport, 260 - - Camp, in the desert, 49 - - Canaanite migration, xvii - - Canal, Suez, 123 - - Caravans, 56, 86, 120 - - Carpets, 189; leather, 91; makers of, 201 - - Cars, 11 - - Carthage, 80 - - Cats, 170 - - Causeway, 104 - - Caves, at Kasr Hassuna, 119 - - Cemeteries, 223 - - Chess, 241 - - Childbirth preventives, 211 - - Children, 146, 200, 211, 213; festival, 237; murder of, 173 - - Christianity at Siwa, 88 - - Cimon, 81 - - Cisterns, 17, 43, 44 - - Civil War in Siwa, 99, 100 - - Clearchus, King, 78 - - Cleopatra, 9 - - Clerk, Coptic, 67 - - Climate, 263 - - Coastal belt, 5 - - Coastguards, 3, 4, 34, 37, 124; fight with Abdel Arti, 117; - officers of, 124 - - Coffee, 67 - - Constantinople, 122, 189; Sayed Ahmed retires to, 131 - - Cooks, 44, 60 - - Corippus, 75 - - Cows, 203 - - Crime, 172 - - Crœsus, 76 - - Crops, 155, 156 - - Customs, 188 - - Cyprus, 81 - - Cyrene, 84 - - Cyrenians, 78 - - - Daftar el Ain, 154 - - Dak bungalows, 13 - - Dakhla oasis, 128 - - Dakrur, Gebel, 83, 93 - - Danaus, 77 - - Dancing, 46, 253, 254, 257, 258; Arab, 45 - - Darfur, 56, 132, 190 - - Dartmoor, 14 - - Dates, markets, 137, 138; harvest, 152; palms, 156; cultivation, - 157; at El Areg, 184 - - Decorations, Turkish, 127 - - Delphi, 87 - - Derna, 105 - - Desert plateau, 57 - - “Devil’s Country,” 189 - - Diodorus Siculus, 77 - - Dionysius, 76, 78 - - District Officer’s house, 59, 60 - - Divorce, among Siwans, 172, 173, 214, 215; Arabs, 21 - - Doctor, Syrian, 67 - - Dodona, oracle of, 77, 79 - - Dogs, Arab, 23; country of, 57; as food, 169, 170; “Howa,” - 47, 163 - - Doré, Gustave, 57 - - Dorset Yeomanry, 126 - - Doves, 77 - - Dreams, interpretation of, 232 - - Drinking, 150, 249 - - Drums, 252, 255 - - - Ear-rings, 148 - - Earthquakes, 195 - - Easterners, 99, 100 - - Egyptian Army, 38 - - Egyptian Government, 2, 114; representative, 64 - - Emeralds, 86, 91, 93, 261 - - Enver Pasha, xxv - - Ethiopia, 80, 77 - - Evening at Siwa, 240 - - Evil Eye, 25, 209, 223; charms against, 224, 225 - - Exabia oasis, 185 - - Excavations, 93, 178, 191, 192, 261 - - Ex-Khedive, 3, 4, 93, 178, 261 - - - Falls, Ewart, 3 - - False dawn, 47 - - Fantasias, 239 - - Farafra oasis, 203 - - Farag Khasaf, 104 - - Fasting, 244 - - Fénelon, 88 - - Ferik, 83 - - Fever, 160, 189, 263 - - Fezzan, 101 - - Fikis, 194, 209; charms of, 224 - - Fish, 212; destroy mosquitoes, 160; as food, 97 - - Flies, 248 - - Flowers, 32 - - Flying Corps, 124 - - Forbes, Mrs., xxvii, 262 - - Fortune-telling, 233 - - Fossils, 88, 183 - - Fostat, 92 - - Fountain of the Sun, 81 - - French in Algeria, 119 - - Frogs, 164 - - Frontier Districts Administration, xiv, xv, 2, 37, 201 - - Fruit, 156, 158; at Siwa, 202, 248 - - Fuca, Bir, 6 - - Funerals, 149, 222 - - Furniture, 144 - - - Gabreen, Haj, 194 - - Gaffar Pasha, 125, 126 - - Gagub, oasis, 185; spring at, 186; wild oxen, 202 - - Gallipoli, 123 - - Gara, oasis, 102, 179; legends about, 180, 181 - - Gardens, 154, 156, 158 - - Gawazi Arabs, 203 - - Gazelle, 30, 49, 184 - - Gebel Dakrur, 83, 93 - - Geography, Strabo’s, 87 - - Germans, 4, 6, 101; in N. Africa, 118; in Tripoli, 122 - - Ghaffir, 253; El Ain, 154 - - Ghouls, 208 - - “Ghrula,” 221 - - Girba, battle of, 129; evacuation of, 130 - - Goats, 24; quarrel about, 111 - - God of Siwa, 76 - - Governor’s House, 7 - - Governor, Western Desert, 37 - - Gramophone, 164 - - Graves, 223 - - Greece, 77 - - Greeks, 5, 58, 79; colonists, 7, 13, 10, 263 - - Gum trees, 182 - - Gun-running, 38, 190 - - Gurzil, 76 - - - Haboob, 72 - - Habun, Bashu, 175, 176 - - Habun, Osman, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117 - - Hakim, Bir, 123, 131 - - Halfia Pass, 127 - - Ham, 77 - - Hamed, Bir, 44 - - Hamilton, 105, 106, 107 - - Hannibal, 79 - - Hanoui, 198 - - Hares, 28 - - Harimat, 39, 62 - - Hashish, 241 - - Hassan Mitnana, 98 - - Hassanein Bey, xxvi, 262 - - Hassein Bey, 102, 103, 104 - - Hassuna Mansur, 110, 111 - - Hassuna, Kasr, 119, 129 - - Hawking, 27, 28 - - Hedjaz, 119 - - “Helga,” 241 - - Henna, 20, 226, 210 - - Hens, 175 - - Hephistion, 85 - - Herodotus, 77, 78 - - Hidden cities, 92 - - Hilal tribe, 93 - - Hill of the Dead, 68, 94, 104 - - History, Arabic, 3, 74, 80 - - Holy war, 118 - - Hornemann, 101 - - Horses, 27 - - Hounds, 29 - - Houses, 33; Siwan, 133; interior of, 142 - - Hunter, Colonel G. G., xv, 37 - - Hunting, 29, 30 - - Husband, to obtain, 228 - - - Iblis, 208; to summon, 230 - - Ibrahaim el Bishari, 56 - - Idris, Sidi, 132 - - Immorality, 101 - - Inheritance, 155, 172 - - Interpreters, 98 - - Ireland, 18 - - Iron, 91 - - Irrigation, 153, 154 - - Islands of the Blessed, 1 - - Italians, in Tripoli, 15, 118, 122, 132; British alliance - with, 123 - - - Jackals, 31 - - Jalo, 56, 96; Senussi at, 120 - - Jerabub, 56, 96, 110; the Senussi at, 121; view of, 186 - - Jewels, 91, 188 - - Jews, 10 - - Jinns, 136, 194 - - Johannides, 265 - - “Joy Riders,” 35 - - Jupiter, 77 - - Juvenal, 87 - - - Kareished, 178 - - Karnak, 80 - - Kasr Hassuna, 103, 119; caves at, 120; shaft, 193 - - Keimat en Nus, 53 - - Kerdassa, 148 - - Khadria confraternity, 119 - - Khamissa, 83, 88, 185 - - Khamsin, 7 - - Khargeh oasis, 80 - - Khartoum, 36 - - Khedival road, 7 - - Kingfishers, 8 - - Kitchener, Lord, 6 - - Kom Ombo, 38 - - Koran, 94; used by Fikis, 209; quotations from, 245 - - “Kreish,” 18 - - Kufra oasis, 56, 96, 177, 190, 191, 262 - - - Labour, cost of, 261 - - Lagoons at Matruh, 8, 9 - - Lake, magic, 90 - - Language, 2, 101, 146 - - Lapis lazuli, 91 - - Level, sea, 1, 57 - - Libyans, ancient, xvii, 4, 5, 76 - - Light cars, 16, 31 - - Lions, 204 - - Liquor, 255 - - Loneliness, 263 - - Lotophagi, lotus eaters, 4 - - “Lover, the,” magic stone, 91 - - Lubbok, 115 - - Lubki, 242; drinkers of, 249 - - Lucky Days, 43 - - Luncheon, garden, 162, 165 - - Luxor, 38; snake charming at, 206 - - Lybis, king, 78, 79 - - Lysander, 79 - - - Macdonnel, Colonel, 37 - - Magic, 207, 209 - - Mahdi, Sudanese, 122 - - Mahdi Abdel Nebi, sheikh of Aghourmi, 67, 69 - - Mails, 34, 42 - - Malaria, 160, 161 - - Mamur, 13, 59, 67; at Siwa, 109; Arab, 118; killed by Habun, 116 - - Manshia, suburb, 97, 108 - - Maragie, 185 - - Marids, 208 - - Marissa, 41 - - Markaz, 59, 65, 128 - - Markets, date, 137, 138 - - Marriage, Arab, 21; Englishmen, question of, 172; oldest - inhabitant, 197; customs, 214; money, 213 - - Mashrabs, 52; El Abd, 53 - - Maspero, M., 44, 75 - - Mat making, 157, 198 - - Matruh, Mersa, 3, 11, 79, 84; town, 7; bay, 8; water supply, - 9; pack, 29; as base, 125 - - Meat, 169 - - Mecca, 95, 96, 101, 119, 234, 236 - - Mediæval historians, 90 - - Medinia, sect, 112, 151; revolt of, 128; “zikr,” 249, 250 - - Mediterranean, 1, 3, 14 - - Megahiz, spring, 58, 107 - - Mejberry Pass, 182 - - Melfa, oasis of, 185, 186 - - Memphis, 80 - - Meneclush, King, 82, 83 - - Merchandise, from Jerabub, 188 - - Mesamia, 104 - - Mice, 169 - - Michael’s Mount, 133 - - Midwives, 211 - - Mihrab, 119 - - Military Administrator, 37 - - Mines, 91 - - Ministry of Health, 160 - - Mirage, 14, 51, 189 - - Mitnana, Hassan, 98 - - Mogabara Arabs, 56 - - Mohammed Ali, 75, 102, 108 - - Mohammed el Mahdi, 120, 121 - - Mohammed el Sherif, 121 - - Mohammed Effendi Saleh, 126, 129, 130, 131 - - Mohammed el Senussi, 118, 119, 120, 121 - - Mohammed Hamman, 69, 70 - - Mohammed Ithneini, of Jerabub, 187 - - Mohammed Said, 112 - - Mohammedan invasion, 5, 94 - - _Moorina_, survivors of, 130 - - Morals, Siwan, 150 - - Morocco, xviii, 119 - - Mosques, 139, 242 - - Motors, 11, 127, 261 - - Moussa Ibn Nosseir, 90 - - Mud pans, 51 - - Muezzins, 69, 155 - - Mulids, 246 - - Mummies, 192 - - Music, 255, 256 - - - Nabis, 79 - - Naming children, 212, 213 - - Napoleon, 101 - - Nasamonians, 4 - - Natrun Wadi, 102 - - Negb Mejberry, 182 - - Niger, river, 79 - - Night life, 241 - - Nile, river, 79 - - Noah, 77 - - Nomads, 17 - - - Oases, xix, 1, 75, 78, 177 - - Occupations at Siwa, 170 - - Officials, Egyptian, 67 - - Old age, Siwan, 197 - - Oldest inhabitant, 197; his wedding, 198 - - Olives, 178; press for, 179; oil, 178, 260 - - Omm Beyda, 82 - - Opium, 241 - - Orange tree, fabulous, 91 - - - Painting, 171; mural, 184 - - Palms, date, 156; cultivation, 157 - - Pan-Islamic possibilities, 4 - - Parætonium, 7, 84 - - Partridges, 31 - - Peyton, General, xxiv - - Persia, 81 - - Persians, 5 - - Pharaoh, 85 - - Phœnicians, 77 - - Photography, 171; photo of Siwa, 4 - - Pigeons, 31; carrier, 204 - - Pilgrimage, 234, 235, 236 - - Pindar, 79 - - Plague, 95 - - Pliny, 76 - - Police, Siwan, 65, 100, 253 - - Polygamy, 21 - - Population, 2 - - Postman, Senussi, 198 - - Pottery, 199 - - Pumice stone, 13 - - Puttees, worn by Senussi, 127 - - - Quail, 31 - - Quarrel of East and West, 98, 99 - - Quinine, 160 - - Qur el Beid, 47 - - - Rabbits, 145 - - Raid, rifle, 72 - - Rains, 5, 32, 33, 125 - - Ram-headed divinity, xix, 75, 78, 85, 86 - - Ramadan, 244, 245 - - Rameses, 75 - - _Rasheed_, gunboat, 124 - - Rashwan, King, 94 - - Rats as food, 169 - - Ravens lead Alexander, 85 - - Rest houses, 13 - - Revolt of Siwans against Senussi, 128 - - Ritual of temple, 85, 86 - - Rodd, Francis, xxiii - - Rollins history, 77 - - Romans, 9, 44, 88; road, 17 - - Roofs, 144 - - Roses, 165 - - Routine, daily, at Siwa, 63 - - Royal Artillery, 8 - - Royle, Major, 124 - - - Sacrifice of bull, 234 - - Sahara, 191 - - St. John, Bayle, 105 - - St. Menas, xxii, 4 - - Said Pasha, 108 - - Sakhit Amouou, 78 - - Saleh Said, Sheikh, 65 - - Salt, 91; lakes, 159; tribute, 159 - - Samovars, 189 - - Sand-storms, 80 - - Santarieh, 90 - - Sayed Ahmed, 122, 123; at Siwa, 126; goes to Dakhla, 128; - flight from Siwa, 129; retires to Turkey, 131; character, 132 - - Sayed Mohammed, xxv - - Scarp, 14, 16, 17, 29, 31; in spring, 32; ascent of, 47 - - School, 139 - - Scorpions, 205 - - Sebukh, 97, 159, 182 - - Semna, 24 - - Senagra tribe, 4 - - Senussi, xxiv, 8; rebellion, 18, 38; brethren, 52; power of, - 109, 110, 111; peace made by, 114; operations against, 117; history - of, 118, 119, 120, 121; at outbreak of war, 122; campaign against - British, 123-132 - - Serpents, 91 - - Servants, 61, 245 - - Shaigis, 44 - - Sharks, 12 - - Sheep, 25 - - Sheikhs, Siwan, 65; in fiction, 243 - - Shells, 87 - - Sheytan, 208 - - Shops, 139, 140, 141 - - Shyata, 185 - - Sightseers, 135 - - Sikhs, 125 - - Silius Italicus, 79 - - Silugis, 29, 47 - - Sinai, xiv, 37 - - Singer, 4 - - Siwa, whereabouts, 1; arrival at, 58; first impressions, 61; - view from, 68; history of, 74-132; town of, 133; population of, 150 - - Slaves, 95, 96 - - Slave-woman’s story, 70, 71 - - Smoking, 241 - - Snakes, 28, 205; charmers, 206 - - Snow, 88; Colonel, 124 - - Solitude, 171 - - Sollum, 1, 3, 5, 7, 13, 14; camp of, 16; houses at 33; Camel - Corps camp at, 40; departure from, 42; garrison of, 123; evacuated, - 124; recaptured, 127 - - Soud, Sheikh, 176 - - Sparta, 79 - - Sponge fishers, 12 - - Springs, 152, 153, 161 - - “Stables,” 68 - - Stanhope, Lady Hester, 201 - - Stars, shooting, 227 - - Stolen property, 230, 231 - - Stone, sacred, 76, 91 - - Stove, story of, 39, 40 - - Strabo, 87 - - Submarines wrecked on coast, 123 - - Sudan, 6, 26, 36, 44, 56, 61; rest houses, 13; recruiting in, - 38; trade, 96; caravans from, 87; invasion of, 102; rebellion - in, 132 - - Sudanese, 38; conversation, 57; views of, 26; wives, 39 - - Sugar, 142 - - Suitors, to obtain, 227, 228 - - Suliman, Haj, 197 - - Suliman, Sidi, 96, 98; legends of, 97, 212; Mulid of, 246, 249; - tomb of, 110, 114, 138, 233, 234 - - Sulphur spring, 186 - - Sultan of Turkey, 118, 131; excommunicated by Senussi, 121 - - Sultan Mousa, 162 - - “Sultan” of tea ceremony, 167 - - Sunset at Siwa, 69 - - Sun worship, 75 - - Sweets, 237 - - - Table manners, 249 - - Talbot Mission, xxiv - - Tamousy, spring, 215 - - _Tara_, torpedoed, 123; rescue of crew, 130 - - Tea-drinking, 167, 248, 250 - - Tebu, lost army from, 81 - - Telemachus, 88 - - Telephone, 181 - - Temperature, 50, 61 - - Temple of Jupiter, 77 - - Temple of Jupiter Ammon, 32, 77 - - Temple of Thebes, 80 - - Tharic Ben Sayed, 90 - - Thebes, 76 - - Theft, discovery of, 230 - - Thieves, 137 - - “Thirty, The,” 95 - - Thomi, Sheikh, 66, 163 - - Thorn, camel, 183 - - _Thousand and One Nights_, 210 - - Timasius, 88 - - Title-deeds, 155 - - Tombs, of kings, 196; of sheikhs, 246, 247; inhabited, 192 - - Town-crier, 221 - - Toy-maker, 200 - - Trade, 10, 120, 261 - - Transport difficulties, 260 - - Treaty of Lausanne, 118 - - Trees, 202 - - Tripoli, 1, 15, 71, 93, 96, 101, 105, 151, 187; smugglers, 115; - Arabs of, 18, 118; blankets, 184; Italians, 122, 123; Senussi, 120 - - Tunis, 10 - - Tunnels in Gebel Hassuna, 193 - - Turks, 102; in Tripoli, 118, 122 - - Typhoid, 160 - - - Uganda, 57 - - - Viceroy of Egypt, 107 - - - Wadai, 96, 120 - - Wadi Natrun, 102 - - Wær, Bir, 127 - - Wahabi confraternity, 151 - - Wakf, 95, 235 - - Watchmen, 253 - - Water supply in Siwa, 152; rights, 154, 155 - - Weddings, Arab, 45; customs, 217, 218, 219; presents, 214, 220; - procession, 216 - - Wells, 18; in Siwa, 136; courting at, 240; at Gara, 179 - - Westerners, 99, 100 - - Westminster, Duke of, 127, 130, 131 - - Whitewashing custom, 137 - - “Widow’s War,” 111 - - Widow, custom of, 221 - - Wind, 72-107 - - Windows, 143 - - Witches, 208, 225; tea with, 226; invoking demons, 229; practices - of, 230 - - Witnesses, female, 174 - - Wives, “taking over,” 62; Siwan, 213 - - Wreckage, 13 - - - Yeomanry, 125 - - Yom el Ashur, 237 - - Yusif Ali, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 - - - Zafr el Medina, 151 - - Zealand, New, Brigade, 125 - - Zebras, 93 - - Zeitoun, 177 - - Zeus, 85 - - Zigale, 98, 106 - - Zikr, 248, 249, 250 - - Zouias, 120 - - - - -Transcriber's note: - - - pg xi Changed: "A Little Siwan Girl -- 283" to: "238" - - pg 12 Changed: "what a a strange" to: "what a strange" - - Caption of twelfth illustration “KASR HASSUNA,” Changed: - "OFFICER’S HOUS" to: "HOUSE" - - pg 163 Changed: "I was introduce to the other" to: "introduced" - - pg 190 Changed: "It js a dreary region" to: "is" - - pg 250 Changed: "surrounded by tall, houses" to: "tall houses" - - pg 265 Changed: "from Cairo to Mouzouk" to: "Mourzouk" - - pg 266 Changed: "ABDULFEDA" to: "ABULFEDA" - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 74874 *** |