Aqaba

“ The shores of this sea were a limestone desert. The coast line was smooth usually, but at the north-west corner a remarkable spur jutted out from the main mass. It was less than a mile wide, but thirty miles long. Its base is not far from Bahig, Alexandria is built half-way down it, its tip is the headland of Aboukir. On either side of it there was once deep salt water.
Centuries passed, and the Nile, issuing out of its crack above Cairo, kept carrying down the muds of Upper Egypt and dropping them as soon as its current slackened. ”

“ I was myself at one time known as “Abu Zerzura,” the “Father of Zerzura,” because I was supposed to be looking for that oasis, and later on as “Abu Ramal,” “the father of sand,” because I spent so much time among the dunes.
Bu el Agul means the “father of hobbles.” One of the greatest risks that an inexperienced Arab runs, when travelling alone in the desert, is that of allowing his camel to break loose and escape during the night. Then, unless he be near a well, having no beast to carry his water-skin, his fate is probably sealed. Many lives have been lost in this way. ”

“ The settlement of Maʻân is situated at the junction of important transport routes. On its eastern side runs the best natural transport route uniting southwestern Arabia with Damascus and the Phoenician harbors. From it there branches off in a southwesterly direction the most convenient road to the former harbor of Elath, now comprising the settlement of al-ʻAḳaba on the Red Sea gulf of the same name. To the west there runs an important caravan route to Gaza and northern Egypt ”

“ The eastern part of the Libyan Desert, in which are situated the Egyptian oases, is itself divisible into three areas having essentially different characters, the northern being an undulating rolling country of sandstones, grits, and gravels; the central consisting of bare elevated limestone plateaux; the southern a lower-lying expanse of rugged sandstone, broken only occasionally by ridges and bosses of granite and other crystalline rocks.
The Egyptian oases are deep and broad hollows or depressions in the Libyan Desert plateau. ”

“ Twenty more men had been sent from Kufara to reinforce the Mawhubs at their ezba, in the north-west corner of Dakhla, which I should have to pass in order to enter the oasis on my way to Egypt; while the inhabitants of Farafra—the only other oasis I could fall back upon with my small caravan—were members of the order almost to a man, and were on the look out for me if I returned that way. ”

“ Water is scarce in the western parts of the country, Bir Abu Hashim being the only source within a radius of about sixty kilometres of itself, but galts and wells are fairly frequent among the mountainous tracts further east. The springs of Abraq and Abu Saafa are the most important sources in the central area. The portion of the country under the Sudan Administration is far richer in water that the Egyptian part, containing numerous fine wells and springs, such as Birs Meneiga, Abu Hodeid, Akwamtra, and Frukit. The coast plain is waterless, except for salty wells near the sea. ”

“ No one could explore these tremendous torrents, the Settite, Royan, Angrab, Salaam, and Atbara, without at once comprehending their effect upon the waters of the Nile. The magnificent chain of mountains from which they flow, is not a simple line of abrupt sides, but the precipitous slopes are the walls of a vast plateau, that receives a prodigious rainfall in June, July, August, until the middle of September, the entire drainage of which is carried away by the above-named channels to inundate Lower Egypt. ”

“ The Bedouins in the neighbourhood of Akaba, as I have already observed, are the Alouein, Omran, and Heywat. They are all three entitled to a passage duty from the Hadj caravan; the Alouein exact it as owners of the district extending from the western mountain, across the plain to Akaba; the Heywat, as the possessors of the country from the well of Themmed, to the summit of the same mountain; and the Omran as masters of the desert from Akaba southward as far as the vicinity of Moeleh. ”

“ Opposite Mount Hor the valley widens out to thirteen miles, and gradually narrows in to six miles at the south end of the Dead Sea—the same width as that at 'Akabah. The sectional line is drawn from the Gulf at 'Akabah, through Wâdy 'Arabah, representing the lowest depression, to the southern end of the Dead Sea, and continued to the northern end, where the river Jordan enters, showing the depression of the Dead Sea, and that part of Wâdy 'Arabah below the sea level of the Gulf of 'Akabah. ”

“ In building the aqueduct we merely followed the example of earlier rulers, as the ruins of a similar aqueduct, centuries old, are still to be seen. The aqueduct is not enough; water is also brought in skins laden on the backs of camels, and is manufactured in condensers. In fact, water is perhaps the most rare and valuable commodity to be found in Aden. All food, too, must be imported; and here we must look not only to the back country of the Yemen, but across the sea to the neighbouring coast of Africa. ”

“ The margin of the Red Sea itself consists, on the Arabian side, of a strip of low plain backed by ranges of barren hills of coral and sand formation, and here and there by mountains of considerable height. The greater elevations are for the most part formed of limestones, except in the south, where they are largely volcanic. The coasts of the Gulf of Akaba are steep, with numerous coral reefs on both sides. On the African side there are in the north wide stretches of desert plain, which towards the south rise to elevated tablelands, and ultimately to the mountains of Abyssinia. ”

“ Having visited every tributary of the Nile during the explorations of nearly five years, I have been struck with the extraordinary fact that, although an enormous amount of wealth is conveyed to Egypt by the annual inundations of the river, the force of the stream is entirely uncontrolled. From time immemorial, the rise of the Nile has been watched with intense interest at the usual season, but no attempt has been made to insure a supply of water to Egypt during all seasons. ”

“ It is a great contrast with the “Hill of the Fort,” the Pharaohnic rock, this lump some eighty feet high, built of Secondary gypsum and yellow serpentine like the coast behind it. Gleaming deadly white, pale as a corpse in the gorgeous sunshine, and utterly bare, except for a single shrub, it is based upon a broad, dark-coloured barrier-reef. Local tradition here places the Kasr el-Bedawíyyah, “Palace of the Bedawi Woman (or Girl) ,” but we saw neither sign of building nor trace of population in the second island which the Gulf el-‘Akabah owns. ”

“ The surface of the Wâdy el Arabah is variously covered by loam, gravel, and blown sands, which are often piled up in great dunes covering large areas, and form a great obstacle to travellers. Occasionally the limestone rock appears in isolated bosses or ridges, as is the case along part of the watershed about 45 miles north of Akabah. There are no continuous rivers throughout ”

“ The overflowing of these immense marshes carry first that discoloured water into Egypt, then follows, in Abyssinia, the overflowing of the great lake Tzana, through which the Nile passes, which, having been stagnated and without rain for six months, under a scorching sun, joins its putrid waters with the first. There are, moreover, very few rivers in Abyssinia that run after November, as they stand in prodigious pools below, in the country of the Shangalla, and afford drink for the elephant, and habitation and food for the hippopotamus. ”

“ To the east beyond the Nile is Cairo, its domes 13 and minarets standing out against the background of the Mokattam hills, while to the west stretches far away the Libyan desert.
Overlooking this broad landscape, one can trace distinctly the line of the overflow of the Nile. Wherever the waters come, there is greenness and fertility; at the point where they cease, there is barrenness and desolation. It is a perpetual struggle between the waters and the sands, like that which is always going on in human history between barbarism and civilization. ”

“ The river itself above Ras-el-Hudi is, during March and April, only a dry bed of white sand about 400 yards broad, but dotted with deep and beautifully clear pools, in which peculiarly brilliant fish and crocodiles, deprived of their stream, are crowded together. The atmosphere is more damp than by the Nile, and produces, in the terrible heat of the summer, profuse and exhausting perspiration. The natives dislike the water of the Atbara, and declare that it does not quench the thirst like that of the great river. ”

“ There the sea of sand reveals itself in all its nakedness, in all its horrors; with its implacable sky and fiery atmosphere, its sandy billows, its masses of salt, and, in certain places, with its hidden quicksands capable of devouring entire armies. The Desert of Akhaf, situated towards the extremity of the peninsula, conceals, it is said, several of these abysses, where the hapless traveller, if he set his foot upon them, would be instantly swallowed up. Thus even the Arabs regard it with an unconquerable dread. ”

“ Nothing can be more incorrect than the vulgar idea of an Arabian Oasis, except it be the popular conception of an Arabian Desert. One reads of "isles of the sandy sea," but one never sees them. The real "Wady" is, generally speaking, a rocky valley bisected by the bed of a mountain torrent, dry during the hot season. In such places the Badawin love to encamp, because they find food and drink,-water being always procurable by digging. When the supply is perennial, the Wady becomes the site of a village. The Desert is as unaptly compared to a "sandy sea." ”

“ El Wad is one of the most interesting places in Algeria. It is surrounded by huge hollows containing noble palm groves; and beyond these on every side stretches the limitless desert with its great billows of sand, the encroachments of which on the oasis are only held at bay by ceaseless toil. The town itself consists of a mass of one-storeyed stone houses, each surmounted by a little dome, clustering round the market-place with its mosque and minaret. ”

“ Many rivers derived from this great river water Nubia, and the country of the Djenawa. This river cuts horizontally the equator, traverses Abyssinia, the country of Kuku, comes to Syene, cuts Egypt throughout its whole length and throws itself into the sea between Tunis and Damietta.”
Abdul Hassan Ali, ibu el Hasseyn, ibu Ali el Massoudé, born at Baghdad, and who came to Egypt 955 A.D., where he closed his accounts with the world, and brought his many travels to an end, writes:—
“I have seen in a geography a plan of the Nile flowing from the Mountains of the Moon—Jebel Kumr. ”

“ The coast recedes and becomes low where the desert comes down to the sea. We passed the Kouria Mouria Islands in the night. They are inhabited by the Jenefa tribe, who pursue sharks, swimming on inflated skins. On Thursday we passed very curious scenery, a high akaba, just like the Hadhramout, in the background, and for about a mile between this and the sea a volcanic mass of rocks and peaks and crags of many hues. After passing this we were at our destination, and at three o'clock in the afternoon we left the steamer to land at Merbat. ”

“ At that time the water supply of Abyssinia having ceased, Egypt depends solely upon the equatorial lakes and the affluents of the White Nile, until the rainy season shall again have flooded the two great Abyssinian arteries. That flood occurs suddenly about the 20th of June, and the grand rush of water pouring down the Blue Nile and the Atbara into the parent channel, inundates Lower Egypt, and is the cause of its extreme fertility. ”

“ The mountain scenery was grand, and the climate exquisite, but, from our observations, we came to the conclusion that at no time was this country of much use to anybody, and that it never had been thickly inhabited, the existence of Aydab being probably due to its position as a convenient port opposite Arabia for the inhabitants of the Nile Valley. Water is, and probably always has been, very scarce here, and, except after the rains, this country is little better than a desert. ”

“ Amhara, which word is at present only used to designate the Christian population of Abyssinia, was, previous to the introduction of the Mahomedan religion, the descriptive appellation of an extensive red people, who principally occupied the eastern border of the Abyssinian table land, from the latitude of Massoah in the north to that of lake Zui in the south. To the west of these, and occupying the portion of the table land in that direction, lived a people decidedly different in their complexion, their features, their language, their religion, and their customs. ”

“ It would at first sight appear that the discovery of the lake sources of the Nile had completely solved the mystery of ages, and that the fertility of Egypt depended upon the rainfall of the equator concentrated in the lakes Victoria and Albert; but the exploration of the Nile tributaries of Abyssinia divides the Nile system into two proportions, and unravels the entire mystery of the river, by assigning to each its due share in ministering to the prosperity of Egypt. ”

“ It was the prospect of the coming Reservoir and an increased water-supply in summer that urged on the engineers to make assurance doubly sure by placing the strength of that structure beyond all doubt. It is time to pass from the Delta to Assouan.
No country in the world tells its story more readily to the traveller than Upper Egypt. As he passes up the broad waterway of the Nile, he may survey the whole life of the land without stirring from the deck of his steamer. If he has been in Egypt before, he cannot fail to be struck by the growth of its prosperity ”