CHAPTER V.. * * * * *

* * * * * =THE WADIS DRAINING EASTWARDS TO THE SEA.= * * * * *

The eastward drainage differs strikingly from the westward in being much steeper and more complex, due to the greater proximity of the mountains to the sea than to the Nile. While all the westward drainages form parts of but three great basins, there are on the seaward side no less than forty-seven distinct drainage basins, each having a separate outlet to sea (see Plate II). Only two of the eastern basins, Hodein and Di-it, are comparable in size with the great basins of the west, the remainder being relatively small.

The following list gives the names in order, from north to south, of the main wadis draining to the sea, with their tributaries so far as they fall within the area treated of in this volume, the principal feeders of the tributaries being indicated in parentheses. It may be remarked that the minor feeders and tributaries are frequently of greater importance to the Arabs than the main channels, owing to their containing vegetation in greater abundance.

WADI DABUR.

WADI IGLI.

WADI UM KHARIGA.

WADI SUKARI.

WADI UM TUNDEBA.

WADI AMBA-UT.

{ Wadi Ghuel. { { Wadi Fegas. { { Wadi Ma-ud. { WADI GHADIR { Wadi Sabahia. { { Wadi Zabara (Wadi Atabi, Wadi Um Abid, Wadi Um { Dafiri). { { Wadi Allawi (Wadi Lewewi).

WADI UM GAMIL.

{ Wadi Huluz (Wadi Abiad lil Huluz, Wadi Mahali, { Wadi Tarfawi, Wadi Hilgit lil Huluz, Wadi Um { Semiuki, Wadi Um Hegiligi lil Huluz, Wadi { Marasan, Wadi Um Suerab lil Huluz, Wadi Abu { Gerifat, Wadi Um Iteili, Wadi Ga-etri, Wadi Abu { Etl). { { Wadi Um Suerab lil Gemal. { { Wadi Durunkat. { { Wadi Hafafit (Wadi Abu Had, Wadi Hefeifit). WADI GEMAL { { Wadi Nugrus (Wadai el Nom, Wadi Abu Rusheid, { Wadi Abu Sada, Wadi Sikait). { { Wadi Mukhatatat. { { Wadi Um Sueh. { { Wadi Um Heran. { { Wadi Nasbia. { { Wadi Abiad (Wadi Um Seyal). { { Wadi Um Kabu.

WADI UM EL ABBAS Wadai el Anz.

WADI ABU GHUSUN Wadi Romit (Wadi Shoab, Wadi Abu Hegilig, Wadi Hefeiri).

WADI EL RANGA.

WADI HAMATA.

WADI HARATREIT.

WADI KHASHIR.

WADI MIKBI.

{ Wadi Um Karaba. { { Wadi Eidab. { { Wadi Um Gunud. { { Wadi Um Rishan. { { Wadi Um Homar. WADI LAHAMI { { Wadi Sefent. { { Wadi Um Khuzama. { { Wadi Um Ghobasha. { { Wadi Gumudlum. { { Wadi Abu Marwa lil Lahami.

{ Wadi Naait (Wadi Um Sumur, Wadi Abu Marwa lil WADI MUKHIT { Naait, Wadi Abu Ghalqa). { { Wadi Abu Daba (Wadi Murra).

WADI ABU DIBBAN.

WADI MINDEIT Wadi Um Sellim lil Mindeit.

{ Wadi Um Maiat. { WADI KALALAT { Wadi Dibag lil Batoga. { { Wadi Um Sellim.

WADI UM GORAN.

WADI KUNSEROB Wadi Dibag lil Kunserob.

WADI ABU BERIGA.

{ Wadi Abu Debebi lil Khoda. { { Wadi Salib el Abiad. { { Wadi Salib el Azraq (Wadi Um Karaba). { { Wadi Allawi. { { Wadi Um Tawil lil Khoda. { { Wadi Hindia. { { Wadi Um Akra. { WADI KHODA { Wadi Shut (Wadi Abu Hugban, Wadi Tawil lil { Shut). { { Wadi Um Gubur. { { Wadi Shib. { { Wadi Um Seyal lil Khoda. { { Wadi Gumudlum. { { Wadi Bulluk. { { Wadi Um Lassaf. { { Wadi Shenshef.

WADI UM ETLI.

WADI SORUBIAB Wadi Bint el Kurdum.

{ Wadi Titai. { { Wadi Abu Nikheil. { { Wadi Abu Reye. { { Wadi Um Buerat. { WADI RAHABA { Wadi Abiad (Rod Elbel, Wadi Abu Ribian). { { Wadi Megah. { { Wadi Hutit. { { Wadi Dagalai lil Rahaba. { { Wadi Abu Had. { { Wadi Marafai.

{ Wadi Arned (Wadi Muegil, Wadi Um Arta). { { Wadi Saalek. { { Wadi Um Reit (Wadi Dreb, Wadi Malhat). { { Talet Um Danaqa. { { Talet Um Sideiri. { { Wadi Gihab (Wadi Gihab Abu Derb). { { Wadi Maghal. { { Wadi Naam (Wadi Fil, Wadi Abu Seyal, Wadi Um { Bisilla, Wadi Erf Um Araka, Wadi Arais, Wadi { Silsila, Wadi Abraq, Wadi Betan). { { Wadi Dif (Wadi Feqoh, Talet Um Karaba, Wadi { Enqireidia, Wadi Gelabat Shabai). { { Wadi Orga el Atshani. WADI HODEIN { { Wadi Orga el Rayani. { { Wadi Anfeib (Wadi Anfeib el Tawayib, Wadi { Atalab, Wadi Mitatib). { { Wadi Khasiya. { { Wadi Madi (Wadi Difotib, Wadi Eirahimib, Wadi { Faditiai, Wadi Shellal el Gharbi, Wadi Sinatib, { Wadi Tugudbaia, Wadi Berendiyeb, Wadi Atluk, { Rod Mukrayib, Wadi Kolaiqo, Wadi Edunqul). { { Wadi Um Tenedba. { { Wadi Khashab (Wadi Dehaiartib). { { Wadi Um Seleim. { { Wadi Kreiga (Wadi Korbiai, Wadi Meneiga, Wadi { Abiad, Wadi Eberer, Wadi Shigig).

WADI KOLAIQO.

{ Wadi Radad. { { Wadi Shellal el Sharqi. { { Wadi Muqur (Wadi Ti Ilak, Wadi Tikosha). { { Wadi Qadiloi (Talet Tihu Shana). { WADI SHAB { Wadi Baaneit. { { Wadi Kilanai. { { Wadi Diqdib. { { Wadi Um Saha. { { Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi. { { Kwat Hewah.

{ Wadi Mantil Hasium. { { Wadi Hilwit Hasium. { { Wadi Shinai. { { Wadi Delawet. { { Wadi Abu Hodeid. { { Rod Anut Berer. { { Wadi Tikraneib. { WADI IBIB (HASIUM) { Wadi Abu Hireiq. { { Wadi Odruk. { { Wadi Nilateib. { { Wadi Medarai (Wadi Merdiyeb, Wadi Um Rasein). { { Wadi Soaorib (Wadi Haiyo, Wadi Hankuk, Wadi { Dishlo, Wadi Eimya, Wadi Qidmib). { { Wadi Um Bishtit (Wadi Delawet, Wadi Orgem). { { Wadi Habliai.

{ Wadi Sarobaiya. { { Wadi Awitla. { { Wadi Lasewid. { WADI MEISAH { Sarob Kwan. { { Akla Da-aiyob. { { Hanqun Ra-ub. { { Wadi Eqaiyib.

{ Wadi Shendib. { { Wadi Hareitra. { { Wadi Qurat (Wadi Dibir, Wadi Hashimaiyib, Wadi { Oshqeq, Wadi Mashushenai). { { O Harbub. { WADI KIRAF (DI-IB) { Wadi Salalob. { { Wadi Warabeit (Sarob Kwan, Wadi Wi-eqwer, Wadi { Kwileimidaiyeib). { { Wadi Qumad Lim. { { Wad el Qireira (Wadi Didaut, Wadi Baueiwai). { { Wadi Halal Hendiyeb.

WADI DI-IT.

WADI EIKWAN.

{ Wadi O Sir Hadal. { { Wadi Qeirat. WADI YOIDER { { Wadi Siamtit. { { Wadi Akwamtra.

WADI AIDEIB Wadi Yahameib (Wadi Akau, Wadi Kansisrob).

WADI TODHI.

WADI DELOWA.

{ Wadi Um Seyal. WADI SERIMTAI { { Wadi O Sir Eirab.

WADI SHELLAL.

WADI AQILHOQ.

WADI AQWEI.

WADI KREIT-REIT-OR.

WADI QABATIT.

=Wadi Dabur= falls only partly within the district to be described in the present volume. It drains the hill country between Gebels Atut and Igli, by numerous feeders, and courses north-east to enter the sea about latitude 25° 16′, beyond the limits shown on the map.

=Wadi Igli= is a short wadi draining from Gebel Igli and coursing a little north of east to the sea somewhat south of latitude 25° 10′.

=Wadi Um Khariga= has its principal head in a cul-de-sac west of Gebel Ghuel and north of Gebel Hangalia, at an altitude of approximately 800 metres above sea-level. Near its head there is an easy pass entering from the west, forming a line of communication with Hangalia mine; the highest point of the pass is 773 metres above sea-level. After coursing for about twelve kilometres a little west of north between the high hills called Gebel Um Khariga, with a rapid fall, the wadi turns north-east, receiving just below the bend a large tributary which heads in an easy pass to Wadi Ghadir. Near this place a road crosses the wadi northwards through the low hills, and passes west of Gebel Igli el Iswid; it is said to go on to Qena. Further on in its course towards the sea, Wadi Um Khariga receives another tributary draining the south flanks of Gebel Igli el Iswid. The lower portion of Wadi Um Khariga has not been surveyed in detail; but it passes through a tract of lower hills and enters the sea in about latitude 25° 5′. The total length of the main channel of Wadi Um Khariga is about fifty kilometres, and the area of its basin is about 300 square kilometres.

=Wadi Sukari=, the next wadi to the south, heads at a pass from Wadi Ghadir; for about nine kilometres it courses east of north between the eastern range of Gebel Um Khariga and the craggy Gebel Sukari, then turns more to the east and enters the sea a little south of Wadi Um Khariga. Near the south end of Gebel Sukari there are numerous ruins and some ancient gold mines.

=Wadi Um Tundeba= heads near the mountain of the same name, and courses about north-east to the sea. In one of the heads of this wadi, about three kilometres west of the summit of Gebel Um Tundeba, is an important water source, called =Galt Um Tundeba=. This is a rock basin situated about one kilometre up a little wadi; it contained a good supply of water in December 1905, but as it depends for its supply on rainfall in the surrounding hills, it cannot be relied on as a permanent water source.

=Wadi Amba-ut= is a small wadi originating near the granite hills called Gebel Amba-ut, and following a course about parallel with the Wadi Um Tundeba seawards.

=Wadi Ghadir=, which drains by numerous tributaries the eastern face of Gebels Hangalia and Zabara, as well as the hilly country round Gebels Ghadir, Allawi, and Lewewi, has a basin of over 500 square kilometres and a length along its main channel, not counting its feeders, of about forty-five kilometres; it enters the sea in latitude 24° 50′.

The principal head of Wadi Ghadir is at an easy pass between Gebels Ghuel and Um Khariga, in latitude 24° 55′, at an altitude of about 500 metres above sea-level. Coursing south-east, it receives important feeders from gorges in the west face of Gebel Ghuel; the principal of these feeders, =Wadi Ghuel=, contains water holes, which gave an excellent supply of rain water in 1905-06. A little further along its course, Wadi Ghadir passes the low hill district called =Kurdeman=, where there are some old gold mines, and then receives as tributaries =Wadi Fegas= and =Wadi Ma-ud=, draining the mountains of Ghuel and Hangalia. Taking now a more easterly direction towards Gebel Ghadir, it receives from the north-west =Wadi Sabahia=, draining the craggy felsite hill of the same name; there are some old gold mines about a kilometre north-east of this hill, in a branch of Wadi Sabahia.

The =Wadi Zabara=, an important tributary draining the north flanks of Gebel Zabara and the south-east part of Gebel Hangalia, enters Ghadir from the south-west, nearly opposite Wadi Sabahia. Wadi Zabara has itself three main heads, called by the separate names of =Wadi Atabi=, =Wadi Um Abid=, and =Wadi Um Dafiri=. There are ruins and ancient mines close to where the Wadi Atabi joins Wadi Zabara, while in the upper part of Wadi Um Dafiri are more extensive ruins and numerous ancient emerald mines, as well as a series of rock basins which were yielding good water in 1905-1906.

After receiving the Wadi Zabara, Wadi Ghadir continues its course south-east past Gebel Ghadir, from the slopes of which numerous small feeders enter the main channel. Almost due south of Gebel Ghadir, in the southern one of two branches into which the wadi splits as it passes round a low island-like mass of hills, is =Bir Ghadir=, a well sunk in the alluvium of the wadi floor. When I visited it early in 1906 this well was filled by downwash, and the Arabs of the district deferred digging it out until the rock basins were empty; it is an important water source and is said to yield good supplies. The mines of Hangalia were supplied by water from Bir Ghadir in 1905, when nearer sources were dry.

About six kilometres below the well, Wadi Ghadir passes close north of Gebel Allawi, where there are some old gold mines. The =Wadi Allawi=, which with its tributary =Wadi Lewewi= drains the hilly country between Gebels Zabara and Sikait, enters Ghadir a little to the east of Gebel Allawi; both Allawi and Lewewi are very tortuous wadis, their names in fact meaning “crooked” in the Ababda tongue (Lewewi is a diminutive of Allawi).

=Wadi Um Gamil=, the next wadi entering the sea to the south, drains the hilly country south-east of Sikait. Very little is known about its course, the only part surveyed being the heads east of Gebel Sikait.

=Wadi Gemal= is the terminal portion, about sixty kilometres in length, of the main drainage channel from a basin nearly 200 square kilometres in area. With its numerous large feeders, the principal of which is Wadi Huluz, about eighty kilometres in length, the Wadi Gemal drains the Hafafit and Nugrus ranges of mountains on the north, and a great mass of high mountains, including Gebel Hamata, on the south. It will be convenient here to describe only the Wadi Gemal proper, leaving the great wadis which join to form it, and its major tributaries, for separate treatment.

The name Wadi Gemal is first given to the drainage at the point where Wadi Huluz turns sharply eastward in longitude 34° 39′. At this point the country becomes more open than in the gorge-like Wadi Huluz. To the north is a mass of low granite hills, some of which have remarkable shapes, with a great deal of drift sand, while to the south are the higher dark hills flanking Gebel Um Suerab. Among these surroundings the wadi pursues a winding course, with a general north-easterly direction, receiving the Wadi Um Suerab lil Gemal and the Wadi Durunkat as tributaries from the south.

About six kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Durunkat, on the right (south) side of Wadi Gemal, is a locality called =Geli=, where there are extensive ruins. A very remarkable rock in the middle of the main wadi marks the place whence a track leads south-east past the ruins and across the heads of Wadis Um Ghazal and Mukhatatat into the upper part of Wadi el Abiad.

Passing a remarkable bell-shaped hill (Gebel Um Regeba, rising to 571 metres above sea, the “mosque rock” of Floyer’s map) about four kilometres on the left, Wadi Gemal receives two small feeders coming from among the hills to the south, and then the important tributary called Wadi Hafafit enters from the north-west.

Below the point of influx of Hafafit, the Wadi Gemal becomes more narrow, and shut in by high hills. Near the meridian of 34° 49′ there are some ruins on the north side of the wadi, and a little further on the Wadi Nugrus, one of the largest tributaries of Wadi Gemal, enters from the north-west at a rather sharp bend. Further down, Wadi Gemal receives =Wadi el Mukhatatat= and =Wadi Um Sueh= from the south, and =Wadi Um Heran= and =Wadi el Nasbia= from the north. The Wadi Abiad, which next joins Wadi Gemal from the south, is an important feeder. Two kilometres below the mouth of Wadi el Abiad, the =Wadi Um Kabu= enters Wadi Gemal from the north-west, while nearly opposite to it is a small wadi, called =Um Sellimi=, in which there are water pools after rain. The wadi now curves more northward round the base of the double-topped hill mass called Madaret Um Gamil. Just beyond the northward turn a road leads up a narrow tortuous gully in a north-westerly direction, passing close south of the hill summit and forming the most ready means of ascent of Madaret Um Gamil; the climb from the road at the top of the gully is only about 200 metres. The course of the Wadi Gemal to the sea has not been surveyed beyond four kilometres east of Madaret Um Gamil; it goes through low hilly country and enters the sea in about latitude 24°.

The fall of the Wadi Gemal averages about six metres per kilometre, being as low as four metres per kilometre in some places, and probably exceeding ten metres per kilometre where it emerges from the hills on to the coast-plain. It is interesting to note that the observations of level indicate a local increase of gradient above the place of influx of Hafafit and Nugrus. The Wadi Gemal is well supplied with trees, as are also almost all its tributaries with the exception of the sandy Wadi Hafafit.

=Wadi Huluz= is a long winding wadi, mostly shut in by high rock walls, draining the high mountains round Gebel Hamata and coursing north-east for a distance of over seventy-five kilometres to the point, near Gebel Um Suerab, where, turning sharply eastward, it enters more open country and takes the name of Wadi Gemal. The slope of Wadi Huluz averages fifty metres per kilometre for the first ten kilometres from its heads in the mountains. In the next ten kilometres the slope is much flatter, being twenty metres per kilometre. From twenty to forty kilometres from its head the average fall is only ten metres per kilometre, while still further down the rate of fall lessens till in the last reaches, just before entering the Wadi Gemal, it is only six and a half metres per kilometre.

The principal heads of Wadi Huluz are close to the south-east of Gebel Hamata, in a cul-de-sac formed by the high mountains of Gebel Hamata (1,978 metres above sea) and Gebel Ras el Kharit (1,661 metres). Here a number of steep gorges unite to form the main channel, which due south of Hamata has an altitude of 1,053 metres above sea-level. Following a winding course among the mountains as a rapidly falling valley with a sandy floor averaging 100 metres or more in width, it passes west of the great mass of Hamata, receiving the drainages from the north-east flanks of that mountain and from the north face of Gebel Um Hasidok. At its crossing the meridian of 35° it receives as a feeder the =Wadi el Abiad lil Huluz=, which drains the north face of Hamata and the south flanks of Gebel Abu Ghusun; draining mostly from granite country, this feeder has a floor of coarse granitic sand, from the whitish colour of which it takes its name.

The next feeder of Wadi Huluz, called =Wadi Mahali=, enters from the south, its head being on the main watershed between Gebels Um Usher and Um Hasidok. Passing between Gebels Um Usher and Um Laham, the Wadi Huluz receives =Wadi Tarfawi=, draining the mountain of the same name from the east. Further down, feeders come in from Gebel el Mehali on the south and from the high hills south of Gebel Um Heshenib on the north. Near the meridian of 34° 50′ two important tributaries enter Huluz near together from the south. The upper one, =Wadi Hilgit lil Huluz=, heads in a very steep and difficult pass, leading into Wadi Hilgit lil Kharit. The lower one, called =Wadi Um Semiuki=, drains the north-east flanks of Gebel Abu Hamamid. Nearly opposite the mouth of Wadi Um Semiuki is another feeder of Wadi Huluz, which I believe forms the main drainage channel for the south face of Gebel Um Heshenib; but it is said to be very steep and stony, and my Arabs preferred to reach Gebel Um Heshenib by a small wadi, containing several tombs, some four kilometres higher up Wadi Huluz, whence there is a stony pass leading into the above-mentioned main drainage channel at a point above the obstructions in it.

About eight kilometres further on, on the north-east side of the wadi, there is a low gap over which by a very easy pass one can descend into the head of Wadi Durunkat, leading to Wadi Gemal. Some three kilometres lower down, Huluz receives two tributaries together; one, from the south-east, is called =Wadi Um Hegiligi lil Huluz=, while the other, from the south-west, is called =Wadi Marasan= and heads in an easy pass on the main watershed, over which a track leads south-east and south to the well and tomb of Sheikh Shadli.

Two sheikhs’ tombs and some smaller graves exist at a bend in the Wadi Huluz, three kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Marasan. Below these enter as feeders =Wadi Um Suerab lil Huluz= from the north, and =Wadi Abu Gerifat= from the south. The wadi now becomes very tortuous. Near the meridian of 34° 40′, on the south side of the wadi, at a bend where trees are very abundant, is a small gully containing the important water holes called =Um Gerifat=. These are rock basins fed by rain water draining down steep gorges from the hills round the twin-peaked Gebel Um Sedri; they are easily accessible in a few minutes from the main wadi, and contained good supplies of water in the winter of 1905-1906. About four kilometres lower down, the =Wadi Um Iteili= enters from the east, and about five kilometres beyond this Huluz opens out into a somewhat triangular space, when the =Wadi Gaetri= enters from the west and =Wadi el Khisei= from the east. The Wadi Gaetri leads by an important pass into the more open country to the west (wells of Wadi Khashab and Wadi Natash).

At the open space above-mentioned, Wadi Huluz turns northward, winding somewhat, for some eight kilometres, and then, after receiving the =Wadi Abu Etl= as a feeder from the west, turns sharply eastward and becomes the Wadi Gemal.

=Wadi Durunkat=, a tributary of Wadi Gemal, forms an important road from Wadi Gemal into the higher parts of Huluz. By following it up to its head about twenty kilometres from its junction with Wadi Gemal, one can enter Wadi Huluz by a very easy pass in longitude 34° 46′, thus cutting off the long winding course of Wadi Huluz itself; and from this pass one can cross the main watershed by the Wadi Marasan to reach Bir Shadli.

=Wadi Hafafit=, another tributary of Wadi Gemal, has its head situated close to the east side of Gebel Migif, in latitude 24° 50′, on the main watershed, where there is an easy pass into the head of Wadi Shait. Following a very straight course for nearly forty kilometres south-east, with the remarkable range of high gneiss mountains called Gebel Hafafit on the left, and the sugar loaf granite hills of Abu Had on the right, Wadi Hafafit forms a broad barren valley in which there are heavy accumulations of blown sand. =Wadi Abu Had=, a small western feeder of Hafafit, is well known by reason of the well of bitter water, =Bir Abu Had=, at its head. An eastern feeder of Wadi Hafafit, which joins it shortly before the junction with Wadi Gemal, is called by the diminutive name of =Wadi Hefeifit=.

=Wadi el Abiad=, likewise a tributary of Wadi Gemal, derives its name from the coarse white granitic sand which forms its floor. Its heads are situated near latitude 24° 20′, among the granite mountains called Gebel el Abiad and on the northerly slopes of Gebel Um Heshenib. There is a very steep pass from its head, east of Gebel Um Heshenib, into Wadi Huluz. Pursuing an almost northerly course and falling rather rapidly, Wadi el Abiad is at first very wide, with high granite hills on each side. It narrows further down, at a point opposite Gebel Shoab, where a small eastern feeder leads by an easy sandy pass into the Wadi Shoab. A little lower down, passing into diorite country, it turns more to the east, and after receiving the =Wadis Um Seyal el Foqani= and =el Tahtani= from the south-east, enters the Wadi Gemal near Madaret Um Gamil. The wadis called Um Seyal receive their name from the abundance of acacia trees in them; at the head of Wadi Um Seyal el Foqani there is a pass leading by the Wadai el Anz into Wadi Um el Abbas.

=Wadi Nugrus=, an important tributary of Wadi Gemal, commences its course on the main watershed west of Gebel Nugrus, in latitude 24° 48′, at the pass into Wadi Gerf, 690 metres above sea-level, and courses south-east in almost a straight line for nearly forty kilometres to join the Wadi Gemal in latitude 24° 34′ and longitude 34° 50′. The fall to this point is some 450 metres, or an average of over ten metres per kilometre, but the fall is most rapid near the head, where the floor of the wadi is rocky and steep; the slope for the first few kilometres is over double the average.

The approach to the head of Wadi Nugrus from the north, by one of the heads of Wadi Gerf, is almost a plain. But as soon as Wadi Nugrus is entered one becomes very sensible of the greater steepness of the eastern drainage by the stony nature of the track and the rapid fall. The wadi here is in fact only a narrow gorge with the huge mountains of Hafafit and Nugrus on the west and east sides respectively. Some three kilometres below the pass, close to the west side of the wadi, in a narrow gorge, is the spring called =Megal el Harami=, situated in gneiss rocks, and giving supplies of good water; the water infiltrates slowly, however, so that the yield is not sufficiently rapid to supply large quantities at once. Lower down, the wadi broadens out considerably, with a sandy floor in the middle of which low dark hills rise like islands. About thirteen kilometres below the head, an important feeder, the =Wadai el Nom=, comes in from the north-east. This wadi drains the south-east flanks of Gebel Nugrus and the west flanks of Gebel Hangalia; it contains rock basins holding water for some time after rain, and leads to a steep winding pass which enables one to make a circuit round the great granite mountain of Gebel Nugrus. The pass is, however, impracticable for baggage camels, and one has to dismount from a riding camel in order to get over.

Beyond the junction of Wadai el Nom, the Wadi Nugrus continues its straight course south-east, between the long range of Gebel Hafafit on the west and Gebel Zabara on the east. Some thirty kilometres below its head, Wadi Nugrus receives the =Wadi Abu Rusheid= from the north, and a little further on one encounters on the east the ruins of an old village called =Medina Nugrus=. Just opposite the ruins is a small feeder called =Wadi Abu Sada=, a short distance up which are rock basins yielding water after rain, but these were dry in 1905. Not far below this, there are some old workings in a small feeder on the east side of the Wadi Nugrus, six kilometres above its junction with Wadi Gemal.

=Wadi Sikait=, a tributary of Wadi Nugrus, heads in some high red granite hills north-west of Gebel Sikait. A pass leads over the western head, while in the eastern one is a small spring, which, though a mere trickle, is said to be constant and to yield excellent water. These two heads join at a well recently sunk by miners. Lower down, on the flanks of Gebel Sikait, are numerous emerald mines, with an ancient tower and many other ruins, and in the wadi near these is another recently sunk well, which has only yielded water of inferior quality. From near the mines there lead two tracks on either side of the wadi. That to the west is a rough path over gneiss hills into Wadi Abu Rusheid. That to the east winds past the ancient tower, ascending gradually to a pass into one of the heads of Wadi Um Gamil. Lower down the Wadi Sikait are many ancient mines, and the ruins of three rock temples and an ancient village. Just before the Wadi Sikait enters Wadi Nugrus, a track leaves on the east for =Wadi Um Heran=, in which I am told water is sometimes to be found. The length of the Wadi Sikait is about fourteen kilometres, and its fall is from 535 metres above sea at the pass at its head to about 250 metres where it enters Wadi Nugrus, or an average slope of twenty metres per kilometre. It is a narrow gorge shut in by high hills, with a fair abundance of trees.

=Wadi Um el Abbas= originates by the union of several heads in the neighbourhood of the high granite hills of Um el Abbas and Abu Hegilig. One of its heads leads to an easy pass called =Kab el Haram=, four and a half kilometres east of Gebel Abu Hegilig. Another, close east of Gebel Abu Hegilig, leads to another easy pass into the head of a tributary of Wadi Romit. A third head, called the =Wadai el Anz=, leads to yet another pass into Wadi Um Seyal el Foqani, a tributary of Wadi el Abiad. The course of the Wadi Um el Abbas has only been surveyed for a short distance below the place where its heads unite; it pursues a north-easterly course among low hilly country and enters the sea in about latitude 24° 36′.

PLATE VI.

Ball. Geography & Geology of South-Eastern Egypt.

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

=Wadi Abu Ghusun= commences its course among the high mountains of Gebel Abu Ghusun, north of Gebel Hamata. Pursuing a northerly course for about ten kilometres, it passes close east of the sharp granite peak of Gebel Hefeiri, then turns more to the east, receiving Wadi Romit as an important tributary from the west near the bend, and reaches the sea in about latitude 24° 29′.

=Wadi Romit=, a tributary of Abu Ghusun, originates in the granite mountains called Gebel el Abiad, near the parallel of 24° 20′ and follows a winding course in a general easterly direction for about sixteen kilometres to its junction with Wadi Abu Ghusun. It receives several important tributaries. The chief of these, =Wadi Shoab=, originates close to the south-west of Gebel Shoab, where there is an easy pass into the Wadi el Abiad. Another tributary of Romit, the =Wadi Abu Hegilig=, drains the south part of Gebel Um el Abbas, while a third is the =Wadi Hefeiri=, draining the hills round the granite peak of the same name. All these tributaries, like Wadi Romit and Wadi Abu Ghusun itself, contain abundance of trees, and have a rather rapid fall.

=Wadi Hamata= drains the eastern flanks of the high hills north of Gebel Hamata, its principal heads being about latitude 24° 15′. Only the heads of this wadi have been surveyed; it follows a winding course among the lower hill country and reaches the sea in about latitude 24° 24′.

Of the three wadis draining seawards south of Hamata, called =Wadi Haratreit=, =Wadi Khashir=, and =Wadi Mikbi=, very little is known, not even their heads having been visible from the stations which I occupied. The summits of the mountains drained by them have, however, been mapped, and their courses are approximately known from the accounts of Floyer; these are indicated on the map probably in nearly their true positions. Draining mostly steep and precipitous mountain faces, the upper parts of these wadis must have an extremely rapid fall, and consequently a rough stony floor.

=Wadi Lahami=, which enters the sea north of the peninsula of Ras Benas, is well known by reason of the easy pass over the main watershed at its head forming an important means of access to Berenice from the west. At this point, four kilometres north-east of the white quartz cone called Marwot Elemikan, the watershed is sandy, level, and low, being only 590 metres above the sea. The drop on crossing the watershed is fairly rapid, the wadi winding about among the hills in a general north-easterly direction. About six kilometres below its head, Lahami receives the =Wadi Um Karaba=, which drains the south face of Gebel Abu Gurdi. A little further on, =Wadi Eidab= enters from the south-east; this feeder is said to head in a rough steep pass over the hills into the Wadi Abu Daba. After passing between the high hills of Gebels Um Goradi and Um Gunud, Wadi Lahami receives the short =Wadi Um Gunud=, in which there are two well known galts, or rock basins forming reservoirs of rain water; these contained good supplies in 1906-7. Lower down, Wadi Lahami crosses a stony sloping plain, where it receives the drainage from the north and east flanks of Gebel Abu Gurdi and from the mountains to the north of it, by a series of feeders, the principal of which are =Wadi Um Rishan=, =Wadi Um Homar=, and =Wadi Sefent=. East of the plain there is a sort of shunt or loop-line of Wadi Lahami, called the =Wadi Abreik=, which is preferred to the main channel for a road. Just receiving Wadi Sefent, Wadi Lahami turns sharply eastward, and then north-eastward, receiving as feeders =Wadis Um Khuzama=, =Um Ghobasha=, and =Gumudlum=, draining Gebels Um Sellim and Gumudlum to the north; these feeders are said to contain natural reservoirs full of water after rain. From the south, Lahami is fed by the =Wadis Um Eshub= and =Abu Marwa lil Lahami=, draining the lower hill country. The lower course of Wadi Lahami has not been traced in detail. It passes north-west of the well marked granite peak called Gebel Um Huk, as remarked above, and reaches the sea north of the peninsula of Ras Benas. To get to Berenice, one leaves Wadi Lahami about twenty-four kilometres below the pass at its head, and turns off south-east up the tributary Wadi Abu Marwa, which leads to Wadi Naait by an easy road.

Wadi Lahami is well supplied with trees; it presented a very green appearance early in 1906, but the absence of rain for a year made it much more desolate looking in 1907, all the foliage being then blackened and withered. Its length is approximately fifty kilometres, its average slope twelve metres per kilometre, and the area of its basin is about 650 square kilometres.

The drainage from the low hills on the =Peninsula of Ras Benas=, except for a small portion which joins Wadi Mukhit, reaches the sea by a multitude of small wadis, none of which bear special names. The hills being nearer to the south side of the peninsula than to the north, the wadis draining southwards are on the whole much shorter and steeper than those draining northwards, and the latter cross a sloping plain two or three kilometres wide to reach the sea. Passage across the hills from south to north is only possible to camels at a few places. The southern wadis are mostly barren, but the northern ones contain abundance of a dark coloured grass of which camels are fond. There is no permanent water source on the peninsula, the nearest reliable source of supply being a galt in Wadi Mindeit, on the main land, about twelve kilometres west of Berenice. The tip of the low sandy projection of Ras Benas is marked by a sheikh’s tomb, one of the largest on the coast. It is chiefly built of wreckage cast up on the beach. From the hills it looks like a rectangular rock, and I determined its position by triangulation as latitude 23° 53′ 50″ N., longitude 35° 47′ 13″ E. The sheikh’s memory appears to be greatly venerated by sailors, and several of my camel men made pilgrimages to the tomb to pray.

The =Island of Mukawar=, about six kilometres south of the sandy tip of the ras, is nearly two kilometres in length from north to south. I did not visit it, but it has the appearance of being made of coral; its highest point, near the south end, is thirty-four metres above the sea-level.

=Wadi Abu Daba= drains the eastern flanks of Gebel Eidab and Gebel Um Maiat, and courses eastward through the lower hill country to the coast plain, where it joins the drainage from Naait in Wadi Mukhit. The principal feeder of Abu Daba is =Wadi Murra= which enters it from the south-west a few kilometres before its emergence on to the plain. At the head of Wadi Abu Daba there is said to be a rough steep pass over the mountains into Wadi Eidab. The place where Abu Daba debouches on to the coast plain is marked by a group of low bouldery looking granite hills called Khasheib Abu Daba.

=Wadi Abu Dibban= is a short wadi draining eastwards from the hills across the coast plain to the sea a little north of Berenice. In its course across the plain it passes a little north of a conspicuous granite hill called Sikeit, a well known landmark five kilometres north-west of Berenice.

=Wadi Mindeit= drains the hills between Gebel Um Maiat and Gebel Kalalat, entering the sea at Berenice. =Wadi Um Sellim lil Mindeit=, a shorter wadi coursing across the plain a little further south, is interesting as furnishing the nearest fresh water source to Berenice; it leads to a rock basin or galt among the hills, where rain water collects. This source is some ten or twelve kilometres from Berenice.

=Wadi Naait= is a narrow tortuous gorge, with a sandy floor shut in by high hills, coursing eastward to the coast plain a little south of the 24th parallel. Though only a small wadi some sixteen kilometres in length, it is well known because it forms the usual road from Wadi Lahami to Berenice. Its actual head has not been surveyed, but lies probably between the mountains of Um Gunud and Um Hegilig. Its principal feeders are =Wadis Um Sumer= and =Abu Marwa lil Naait=, which enter it from the north-west, and =Wadi Abu Ghalqa=, entering from the north and draining the granite hills called Gebel Abu Ghalqa. All three of these feeders enter Naait near together, some ten kilometres before it emerges on the plain; the lower part of the wadi is free from lateral branches. The fall is ten metres per kilometre among the hills. On emerging from the hills on to the sandy coast plain, it joins an ill-defined drainage line called =Wadi el Mukhit=, which enters the sea at Port Berenice, some fifteen kilometres further east. The name Wadi el Mukhit is also given to other ill-marked drainage lines entering Port Berenice from the sandy tract between the hills of the main land and the hills of the peninsula of Ras Benas. Some three kilometres north-east of the mouth of Wadi Naait, on the coast plain, is a conspicuous isolated low hill, forming a well-known landmark and called =Grain el Rih=. The plain drained by Wadi el Mukhit is a dreary sandy waste, and the crossing of it in a high wind is very trying by reason of the immense clouds of sand raised and carried in the air.

=Wadi Kalalat= heads in the north-west portion of Gebel Kalalat, and courses nearly eastward to reach the sea in latitude 23° 52′. For the first two-thirds of its course of about thirty kilometres, Wadi Kalalat is shut in by high hills, and falls rather rapidly. At its head a rough steep pass is said to exist into the head of Wadi Shut. After passing round the north flank of Gebel Kalalat, the wadi receives two small tributaries called =Wadi Um Maiat= and =Wadi el Dibag lil Batoga=, the former draining the north-east face of Gebel Kalalat and the latter the north-west face of Gebel Batoga. After receiving Wadi Dibag, the Wadi Kalalat makes a bend northward for about two kilometres, then turns south-eastward to the opening of the hills on the coast-plain. About two kilometres above the point where it leaves the hills, on the south side of the main wadi, is a rocky gully containing the =Galt Batoga= a rock basin which contained good water in 1907 and which is very easy of access in a few minutes from the main wadi. About one and a half kilometres further down, the small =Wadi Um Sellim=, draining the north-east parts of Gebel Batoga, joins the Wadi Kalalat just before it opens on to the coast-plain. The course of Wadi Kalalat from here to the sea, about eleven kilometres, is ill-marked, over a sandy plain. A ruined enclosure of considerable size, called =Garia Kalalat=, lies close south of the wadi about seven kilometres from the sea.

=Wadi Um Goran= is a small wadi draining by many heads from the east face of Gebel Batoga and its foot hills to the sea in latitude 23° 50′.

=Wadi Kunserob=, draining the south parts of Gebels Kalalat and Batoga, courses at first nearly southwards, then curves round south of Gebel Dibag, and after receiving =Wadi Dibag lil Kunserob= from the north-west, proceeds eastward through the hills and across six kilometres of sandy coast-plain to the sea in latitude 23° 47′.

=Wadi Abu Berigâ= is a short drainage line from among the hills to the sea, a little south of Wadi Kunserob.

=Wadi Khoda= is an important main drainage channel some forty-five kilometres in length, coursing a little north of eastward to reach the sea in latitude 23° 43′. For the greater part of its length it is shut in by high hills, only the last six kilometres being across the sandy coast-plain. With a basin approximately 780 square kilometres in area, it drains the mountains of Abu Dahr, Dahanib, Shut, Reyan, Shenshef, Hindia, and Um Akra, some of which rise to over 1,000 metres above the sea; it thus receives a fair amount of water in rainy years, and is well supplied with trees and bushes. Its average fall is about nine metres per kilometre.

The head of Wadi Khoda is formed by the union of three wadis, coming approximately from the north, west, and south, in the form of a cross. The central one of these, =Wadi Abu Debebi lil Khoda=, heads in a very easy pass leading to Bir Betan and the old mines of Um Eleiga. The one to the north, =Wadi Salib el Abiad=, is said to lead into Wadi Khiua, and to possess some old mines, but has not been explored. The remaining one of the three, =Wadi Salib el Azrak=, drains the east face of Gebel Abu Dahr and the high hills east of it; the feeder of it from Abu Dahr, called =Wadi Um Karaba=, leads by an easy pass, just north of the mountain, to Bir Betan and the Um Eleiga mines, while some eight kilometres from its junction with Khoda a track leads up a gully south-westward over another easy pass to Bir Rahaba. The names Salib el Abiad and Salib el Azrak refer to the form of the wadis and the nature of their floor, salib meaning “cross,” while abiad and azrak refer to the prevailing white and dark colours of the sand in the respective arms of the cross; these colours are due to the wadis draining light-coloured granites and dark-coloured serpentines and schists respectively.

A little below the union of the three arms above-mentioned, Wadi Khoda expands into a small rather stony plain, where the sinuous =Wadi Allawi= enters from the north. This important feeder, which drains the eastern face of Gebel Dahanib, is mostly shut in by high hills, and is relatively well wooded; if it be followed up for about ten kilometres, one comes to the tomb of Sheikh Farhan, near which meet many small feeders, one of them containing a small rock basin near its head.

About eight kilometres below the point of entry of Wadi Allawi, Wadi Khoda receives two feeders from opposite sides; that from the north, =Wadi Um Tawil lil Khoda=, drains from Gebel Dahanib, while that from the south, =Wadi Hindia=, is a sandy rapidly-falling wadi draining Gebel Hindia.

Some five kilometres further down, =Wadi Um Akra=, draining the mountains of the same name, enters Khoda from the south, while another two kilometres brings us to the place of influx of =Wadi Shut=, an important feeder from the north. The head of Wadi Shut is on the west side of Gebel Kalalat, whence its course is westward for about ten kilometres; it is then joined by the =Wadi Abu Hugban=, coming from the south-west, and from this point it runs south-south-east for some twenty-three kilometres to its junction with Wadi Khoda. Wadi Shut is a rather wide wadi with a sandy floor, fed by many tributaries from the mountains of Dahanib, Um Hegilig, Reyan, and Shut. Its principal feeder in the lower part of its course is =Wadi Um Tawil lil Shut=, which drains the south part of Gebel Dahanib and enters Shut from the west about five kilometres above its junction with Khoda. The Wadi Shut has a fair growth of trees, and is said to possess also a large water source, the exact locality of which has not, however, been ascertained.

Just below the place where Wadi Shut joins it, Wadi Khoda receives a small feeder called =Wadi Um Gubur=, entering from the north and marked by several graves near its mouth. On the other side, two kilometres further on, =Wadi Shib= enters from the south, and five kilometres further the =Wadi Um Seyal lil Khoda= enters Khoda from the north.

The =Wadi Gumudlum=, the next great feeder of Khoda, enters from the north four kilometres below Wadi Um Seyal. It is a wadi some eighteen kilometres in length, coursing south-south-east, and having its head on the west side of Gebel Kalalat. A little below wadi Gumudlum, near a boss of white quartz, several small feeders, of which the two principal are called =Wadi Buluk= and =Wadi Um Lassaf=, enter Wadi Khoda from the south; these drain the north side of the high hills called Gebel Um Etli.

The last feeder of Wadi Khoda, the =Wadi Shenshef=, enters the main wadi some three kilometres above the place where it debouches on to the coast-plain, or eight kilometres from the coast. It is a narrow and very tortuous gorge winding among high hills. If it be followed up for about ten kilometres, one comes to several small wells called =Bir Shenshef=, which contained water in 1907, and a little above the wells, where the wadi becomes more open, there are ruins, called =Hitan Shenshef=, which attest the former existence of a town or large village. The ruins are on both sides of the wadi, and many of them are extremely well built of slabs of quartz schist; besides the houses in the wadi itself, there are small towers on the hills. As there are apparently no mines in the hills here, the origin of the ruins is not clear; from the strong situation and the watch towers, and its proximity to fresh water and the sea, it may possibly represent an old slave dealer’s stronghold.

For some eighteen kilometres south of the Wadi Khoda, the seaward drainages have not been explored, but they are believed to be only short wadis, as the high mountains of Faraid are here only about ten kilometres from the coast. From guides’ statements, the =Wadi Um Etli=, coursing eastward and draining the south faces of Gebel Um Etli, enters the sea in about latitude 23° 38′, and there is probably at least one other short wadi draining to the sea about in latitude 23° 35′ from the north part of Gebel Faraid. The sandy coast-plain in this region is about five kilometres wide.

The =Wadi el Sorubiab=, draining from the north part of Gebel Faraid, and the =Wadi Bint el Kurdum=, draining the mountains around the remarkable “Bodkin” peak, enter the sea together by way of a small lagoon in latitude 23° 30′. Another wadi, for which I could not obtain any name from my guides, drains the extreme south parts of Gebel Faraid and the north slopes of the smaller Gebel Fereyid, entering the sea in about latitude 23° 19′.

=Wadi Rahaba=, with a basin of about 900 square kilometres in area, drains the country between Gebels Faraid and Abu Dahr. From its head, situated about six kilometres south-east of Gebel Abu Dahr, there is an easy pass into Wadi Salib el Azrak, a tributary of Wadi Khoda. About three kilometres below its head, a feeder called =Wadi Titai= enters Rahaba from the hill country to the east; and a kilometre lower down, another feeder called =Wadi Abu Nikheil=, comes in from the west. At this point there is an important well, =Bir Rahaba=, sunk in the alluvium of the wadi floor; this is said to yield good summer supplies, but was filled up by downwash when I visited it early in 1907. Some three kilometres below Bir Rahaba, a tributary called =Wadi Abu Reye= enters Wadi Rahaba from the north-west; and there is said to be a well, called =Bir Abu Reye=, about one and a half kilometres up this wadi. Another feeder, the =Wadi Um Buerat=, joins Rahaba from the south-west a little further on, and then the wadi, which has thus far taken a southerly course, turns south-east, winding considerably for some eight kilometres till it is joined by its most important feeder, the Wadi el Abiad.

This =Wadi el Abiad= drains the western side of the northern peaks of Gebel Faraid, and derives its name from the white granitic sand which forms its floor. It has a length of some twenty kilometres and is fed by the =Rod Elbel=, which heads in a sandy plain at the foot of the highest peak of Faraid, and by the =Wadi Abu Ribian=, which collects the drainage from the lower hill country west of the Bodkin peak.

About three kilometres lower down than the point of influx of Wadi el Abiad, Wadi Rahaba receives the =Wadi Megah= as a tributary from the north-west; a well, called =Bir el Gahlia= is said to exist at the head of this wadi, about twelve kilometres up from its opening into Wadi Rahaba. Some six kilometres further down, Wadi Rahaba opens out; its course down to this point has been shut in by high hills, but now becomes an ill-marked drainage line over a sandy plain. The plain is broken by small hills, and is limited east and west by other hills which increase in height further away, forming in fact the foot-hills of Gebels Orga and Um Tenebda on the west and of Gebel Faraid on the east. In this part of its course Rahaba receives several tributaries, the principal being =Wadi Hutit= from the north-west, =Wadi Dagalai lil Rahaba= and =Wadi Abu Had= from the east, and =Wadi el Marafai=, which runs for some ten kilometres nearly parallel to Wadi Rahaba, among low hills two or three kilometres east of the main Wadi, joining the latter about due west of Gebel Fereyid.

Wadi Rahaba curves round to the south of Gebel Fereyid in a quadrant of about seven kilometres radius, and then proceeds nearly due east to reach the sea in about latitude 23° 12′.

The upper parts of Wadi Rahaba, where it is shut in by high hills, contain many trees and bushes; but the lower parts are more barren and sandy, the actual drainage line being in places difficult to define on account of the paucity of vegetation and the openness of the plain. The total length is about seventy-five kilometres, and the total fall 450 metres; the slope averages eight metres per kilometre in the upper twenty-five kilometres, where the wadi is narrow and shut in, but only five metres per kilometre in the broad and sandy course which forms the remaining fifty kilometres.

=Wadi Hodein=, one of the largest and most important of the seawards draining wadis of the Eastern Desert, has a basin of nearly 12,000 square kilometres, or over a square degree of the earth’s surface. Its main channel, formed by the union of the Wadis Arned, el Sania, Um Sumur, Saalek, Um Reit, and el Nom, in latitude 23° 18′, longitude 34° 43′, and reaching the sea at Bir Shalatein in latitude 23° 8′, longitude 35° 37′, has a length of 108 kilometres and an average slope of three metres per kilometre. For the first fifteen kilometres of its course it is shut in by the high sandstone scarps of Gebel Abraq and Gebel Hodein; but shortly after passing the Abu Saafa Springs its channel becomes wide and sandy, passing through lower metamorphic hill country; and in the last twenty-five or thirty kilometres of its course it is merely an ill-defined drainage line over the sandy coast-plain. Its lower reaches are dreary and inhospitable, but its upper-portion is pleasantly wooded, and contains the perennial springs of Abu Saafa. Wadi Hodein is remarkable for the large number and length of its tributary wadis, some of which exceed the main channel itself in length, while many of them contain wells and form important lines of communication by leading to easy passes over the main watershed. In the description which follows, I shall first consider the wadis which by their union form the head of the main channel, afterwards tracing the course of the main wadi in detail to the sea, noting the influx of the various tributaries on either hand, and finally describing the larger tributaries themselves.

The most important of the wadis which join to form the head of Wadi Hodein are Wadis Arned, Saalek, and Um Reit. These join in a small plain with the =Wadis el Sania=, =Um Sumur= and =El Nom=, which are smaller and will not need further mention.

=Wadi el Arned= originates on the main watershed about five kilometres south-east of Galt el Aguz. The watershed here is only 427 metres above sea-level, and is so flat and sandy that it is almost impossible to say within a kilometre where the divide actually is; the wadi in fact heads in a sandy plain about two kilometres wide with low sandstone hills on either hand, from which feeders join the main drainage line. About six kilometres below its head, Wadi Arned is joined from the south by its most important feeder, the =Wadi Muegil=. This wadi, which has a length of some twenty kilometres, originates in the hill country about nine kilometres north of Gebel Um Reit, where an easy pass connects it with Wadi Saalek; it flows in a northerly direction, entirely among sandstone hills, and is fairly provided with vegetation. Some two kilometres lower down, Arned receives a smaller feeder from the north, called =Wadi Um Arta=; by following this up for about five kilometres, one can reach a rather steep and sandy eastward pass into the head of Wadi Silsila, and this forms the shortest route from the Galt el Aguz to the springs of Abraq. About four kilometres below the junction of Wadi Abu Arta, near an isolated hill on the east side of the Wadi Arned, there appears to be another opening into one of the heads of Wadi Silsila; this opening is very sandy and looks like a practicable alternative route to Abraq Springs, though it has not been explored. Lower down its course, Wadi Arned is at first very sandy and bare, with high sand-drifts swathing the feet of the hills on the east; but it gradually narrows into a gorge and becomes less sandy, then opens out again, and near its junction with Wadi Hodein it contains abundant vegetation. The Wadi Arned forms the easiest and most direct road from Abu Saafa to Daraw, via Galt el Aguz, Bir Abu Hashim, and Bir Qoleib.

=Wadi Saalek= is a short wadi with many feeders, draining the hills round Gebel Saalek; one of its northern feeders leads to a pass into the head of Wadi Muegil, while one of its south branches heads in a pass leading round the west side of Gebel Um Reit to Wadi and Bir Um Reit.

=Wadi Um Reit= heads in the granite mountain called Gebel Um Reit and flows north-eastward, to the south of the mountain, for about twenty-two kilometres, to its junction with Arned and Saalek to form Wadi Hodein. The head of Wadi Um Reit leads to a pass north-west of the mountain into Wadi Saalek, while the western head of Um Reit, which bears the name =Wadi el Dub=, leads on to a sandy plain forming the main watershed, whence there are easy tracks to the various feeders of Wadi Timsah. The well called =Bir Um Reit= is a deep excavation, in the wadi floor at the foot of the mountain, near a large tree. Dr. Hume, who visited it in 1906, found it to yield water of only mediocre character. It is about one hundred kilometres by road from Bir Abu Hashim, the nearest well to the west, but only about thirty kilometres from Abu Saafa Springs, the nearest water eastward; to get to Abu Saafa from Bir Um Reit, one has only to follow down the wadi, and the supply at Abu Saafa can always be relied on for quantity and quality. Near the well, Wadi Um Reit receives feeders draining the high granite hills of Etresia; the principal of these is called =Wadi Malhat=. The lower part of the course of Um Reit is almost entirely in sandstone hills; it has not been mapped in detail except near its junction with Hodein.

We turn now to the main channel of Wadi Hodein, which originates, as above-mentioned, by the union of the Wadis Um Reit, Saalek, Arned, and other smaller wadis in a small plain, and shall follow its course onwards to the sea. Three small feeders, =Talet Um Danaqa= and =Talet Kurit= on the south, and =Talet Um Sideri= on the north, join the channel a few kilometres below its head, while about nine kilometres from the head there enters a larger wadi coming from the south, called the =Wadi el Gihab=. The main Wadi Gihab has not been followed, but its eastern branch, called =Wadi Gihab Abu Derb=, contains a large and very easily accessible galt about four kilometres from Hodein, and leads about ten kilometres further on, to a very steep and difficult pass into Wadi Dif; this pass is practicable only on foot, being risky even for unladen camels.

The =Springs of Abu Saafa= are situated in the Wadi Hodein, about two kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Gihab, at an altitude of 310 metres above sea-level. The Wadi Hodein is here narrow, and shut in by very high steep sandstone scarps. There are four springs, all issuing from the northern scarp at intervals of about sixty metres along the wadi, and all about three metres above the wadi floor, trickling into pools about a metre in diameter close by. The most westerly of the four springs is a mere trickle; the next yields a rather greater flow, from a carved niche in the rock, with a Greek cornice; the third is the one most used, having the greatest flow of the four, while the easternmost is almost stagnant and has yellow incrustations near it. The rate of flow, even from the largest spring, is very slow, probably not more than ten litres per minute, and the overflow from the pools is only a tiny stream a few centimetres wide which soon loses itself in the sand of the wadi floor; but the pools are large enough for a dozen or more camels to drink from, and soon fill up again when emptied. The water is of excellent quality, very clear, and the supply never fails. Near the springs there are five or six small date palms, and the wadi hereabouts has many other trees. After rain, this part of Wadi Hodein at times becomes a stream; this was the case in October 1907, for I found numerous pools in the wadi floor, and scum and froth showing that an impetuous stream about half a metre deep had flowed down the wadi only a few days prior to my visit. Just below Abu Saafa Springs, Wadi Hodein receives the short =Wadi Maghal= from the north-west; this wadi, which is walled in by high sandstone plateaux, contains water holes about three kilometres from Wadi Hodein; but these are less important than the springs of Abu Saafa, and are, moreover, off the main road.

Wadi Hodein now opens out, the high sandstone scarps of Gebels Abraq and Hodein running north and south-east, and enters a sandy plain with very low hills, from among which some small feeders join the main wadi. About fifteen kilometres below the opening of scarps, Wadi Hodein receives, from the north-west, the Wadi Naam, a great tributary draining the mountains of Zergat Naam, Um Bisilla, and Abu Dahr. The next influx is from Wadi Dif, which enters Wadi Hodein from the south-west about six kilometres further on; Wadi Dif itself is only a short wadi, but it collects the drainage of an immense area to the south by long feeders, and contains a good well. Nearly opposite to Wadi Dif, the =Wadi Orga el Atshani= joins Wadi Hodein from the north-west; the Wadi Hodein has here two large island-like masses of low hills in it, between which the main drainage line passes. Lower down, =Wadi Orga el Rayani= enters by two mouths from the north. Both the Wadis Orga are said to originate near Gebel Orga, some thirty kilometres to the north, but their courses have not been mapped; the one called El Rayani is said to lead to a good well, =Bir Orga=, about twelve or fourteen kilometres above its junction with Hodein. On the opposite (south) side, Wadi Hodein receives the Wadi Anfeib, draining the high sandstone plateau of Gebel Anfeib. A little further on the small =Wadi el Khasiya= comes in from the north, by two channels, one on either side of a small group of isolated hills; and nearly opposite is the mouth of Wadi Madi, which drains the west side of the great mountain mass of Gerf, some sixty kilometres to the south, and possesses a good well about fifty kilometres up its course from Wadi Hodein. Several feeders come in from the north a little further down the wadi, of which the chief is the =Wadi Um Tenedba=, draining the mountain of the same name, while others drain the hill country round Gebel Harhagit. On the other (south) side is the mouth of Wadi Khashab, draining the west side of Gebel Khashab and the hills west of it. A few kilometres further on, Wadi Hodein widens considerably, and from here onward it is very sandy and arid. A long spur running north-west from Gebel el Anbat nearly cuts across the wadi, the main channel of which passes north and east of the spur, while to the west of it is a rather broad sandy plain with ill-marked drainage lines from the hills, of which the chief bears the name of =Wadi Um Seleim=. Near Gebel el Anbat are numerous small feeders of Wadi Hodein from that hill and the other hills to the north-east. About eight kilometres below Gebel el Anbat, Wadi Hodein quits the hills and, turning a little north of east, merges into the coast-plain, over which its remaining course of about twenty-seven kilometres is very ill-defined. Just where it leaves the hills, Wadi Hodein is joined from the south-west by Wadi Beida, draining the mountain of the same name and containing two wells; and a little further on it receives Wadi el Kreiga, which drains the hill country round Bir Meneiga. The junctions of Wadi Beida and Wadi Kreiga with Wadi Hodein are very difficult to trace on the ground, being almost lost in the general sandy plain.

=Bir Shalatein=, a very salt well in the Wadi Hodein, about two kilometres from its mouth and only about seven metres above the sea, is chiefly of importance by reason of its marking the administrative limit of the Egyptian and Sudan spheres of government. It is merely a few shallow pits sunk in the wadi bed, yielding water drinkable only by camels. An iron beacon two metres high has been erected on a low bank close to the well, and will enable the well, which is itself inconspicuous, to be easily found.

=Wadi Naam=, a great tributary of Wadi Hodein coming from the north-north-west, originates about ten kilometres south-east of Gebel Zergat Naam by the union of the Wadis Abu Seyal, El Fil, and Um Bisilla, and courses south-south-east for about forty-nine kilometres to its junction with Wadi Hodein. It is a very barren wadi, being for most of its length a broad, shallow, and very sandy drainage line among low hills, and in its lower parts, where it crosses the plain of Abraq, its course is very ill-marked. Its slope decreases from five metres per kilometre near its head to about three metres per kilometre in its lower reaches. Besides the three wadis which, as above-mentioned, unite to form its head, Wadi Naam has several large tributaries, of which the chief are the Wadis Silsila and Abraq on the west, and Wadis Erf Um Araka, Arais, and Betan on the east.

The =Wadi el Fil=, which may be regarded as the main head of Wadi Naam, though it is not the longest, drains the north-east portion of Gebel Zergat Naam (sometimes called Hagar el Fil). The rocky gullies forming its heads contain rock basins which yield water for a short time after rain.

=Wadi Abu Seyal= drains the south part of the same range; its head is very steep, and is said to contain a very large galt, which holds supplies of water for five months after rain.

=Wadi Um Bisilla= drains Gebel Um Bisilla, which it half encircles, its main head being north-east of the mountain, where there is an easy pass into Wadi Abu Nilih, and thence an easy road to the head of Wadi Lahami. About eleven kilometres west of the mountain, Wadi Um Bisilla receives, from the north-east, the =Wadi el Khiua=, which, with its tributaries, =Wadis Abu Fagir= and =Abu Nilih=, drains the low hill country north of Gebel Um Bisilla. The lower parts of Wadis Um Bisilla and Khiua have not been surveyed in detail; their courses as shown on the map are only approximate, but being based on guides’ statements near the spot they are probably substantially correct.

=Wadi Erf Um Araka= heads as a series of small wadis among the low hills south of Um Bisilla, and curves round westward between the high hills of Abu Shigelat and Erf el Gimal on the north, and Erf Um Araka or Gebel Belamhandeit on the south, to join Wadi Naam about five kilometres lower down than Wadi Um Bisilla. The hill country round the heads of Wadi Erf Um Araka is fairly open, so that one can proceed freely from the head of Wadi Arais, across those of Wadi Erf Um Araka, and on into the heads of Wadi Um Bisilla.

=Wadi Arais= originates by the union of many small feeders in the low hill country between Gebels Um Guruf and Hendusi, and courses for the first fourteen kilometres in a south-south-west direction. About nine kilometres below its head the =Wadi Um Guruf=, draining the hills round the conspicuous granite boss called Gebel Um Guruf, enters from the north-west. Some five kilometres further on, just beyond the place where Arais makes a sharp westward bend, =Wadi Belamhandeit=, draining the east face of the long gneiss range called Erf Um Araka or Gebel Belamhandeit, enters from the north. Wadi Arais now narrows into a winding gorge, cutting westward for about ten kilometres through the complex of high gneiss hills called Gebel Arais to join Wadi Naam. Its junction with Wadi Naam takes place in a small plain, with the sandstone plateaux of Gebel Um Sididad on the west and the gneiss hills of Gebel Arais on the east. The fall of Wadi Arais is from 464 metres above sea at the pass into Wadi Erf Um Araka, to 345 metres where it joins Wadi Naam after a course of twenty-five kilometres; so that its slope averages four and a half metres per kilometre.

=Wadi Silsila= heads in high sandstone hills on the meridian of 34° 40′, north of Gebel Abraq, where at least one pass, steep and sandy, leads to the Wadi Arned. Its course is almost due east, over a plain with low sandstone banks, with a great deal of blown sand. Feeders enter it from the sandstone hills which bound the plain, the principal being the =Wadi Um Sididad=, draining the high sandstone hills, called Gebel Um Sididad, on the north. About seven kilometres before it joins Naam, Wadi Silsila cuts through the range of low sandstone hills which stretches southward from Gebel Um Sididad to near Abraq springs; in proceeding to Abraq from the pass at the head of Wadi Silsila, one bears off to the south before reaching this range, entering the drainage of Wadi Abraq over an open sandy plain.

=Wadi Abraq= is a rather ill-defined drainage line which originates on the north side of Gebel Abraq, and after skirting the high sandstone scarp, from which it receives small feeders, for about thirteen kilometres, turns eastward to join Wadi Naam, about nine kilometres above its junction with Hodein. Wadi Abraq is sandy and barren, and would be scarcely worthy of mention but for the fact that it contains some of the most important water sources of the entire Eastern Desert, the =Abraq Springs=. There are no less than five springs within a length of as many kilometres of the wadi, yielding perennial supplies of excellent water.

The first spring from the north, called =Bir el Sunta=, is a pool about two metres in diameter at the entrance to a little gully in the face of the high sandstone scarp; it is very easily accessible to camels, being practically on the plain, and fills as rapidly as it is emptied. The second and third springs, called together =Bir Abu Dibesat=, are about 1,500 metres south-east of Bir el Sunta, near the tomb of Sheikh Hamid; they form smaller pools at the foot of the scarp. The fourth spring, =Bir Abraq=, is situated a short distance up a stony gully which emerges from the scarp a little further south; the water lies in large pools under dipping sandstone beds on the south side of the gully. The fifth spring, =Bir Gumbit=, is said to be some three kilometres further south-east, and, like the others, at the foot of the sandstone scarp; it has not, however, been visited by the survey party.

The water at all the Abraq Springs is of excellent quality; it contains masses of green algæ, but these are easily avoided in baling out, and the water can be obtained quite clear. Of the four springs visited, the one called Bir Abraq is the chief; but Bir el Sunta is rather easier of access for camels. The springs are practically all at the same level, viz., 330 metres above sea, and all derive their water from the same sandstone beds. No camel food grows near the wells, and there are very few trees in the vicinity; consequently, the Arabs of the neighbourhood do not camp near the springs, but in Wadi Hodein and its tributaries, drawing water from Abraq or Abu Saafa at intervals. There are, however, ruins of a large ancient fort on a low hill east of Bir Abraq, and some Arab graves a little further north; among these latter is a large tomb said to be that of Sheikh Hamid.

=Wadi Betan= originates on the north side of Gebel Abu Dahr, where an easy pass, 610 metres above sea-level, connects its head with Wadi Um Karaba, and courses at first westward to near Gebel Hendusi; it then turns southward to join Wadi Naam a few kilometres only above its junction with Wadi Hodein. Its total length is over fifty kilometres, and its average slope is about seven metres per kilometre. Only the head of Wadi Betan has been surveyed in detail; but this is the most important part, as containing water sources and old mine workings; and the lower part of its course as shown on the map is probably substantially correct, being based on statements made near the spot by guides familiar with the district.

About five kilometres below its head, Wadi Betan contains the two wells called =Bir Betan=. These are excavations in the alluvium of the wadi. The lower one is at the mouth of the small Wadi Um Eleiga, while the other is about 600 metres further up Wadi Betan, close to a small tree. Both these wells were filled up by downwash when I visited them in February 1907, and their places were only recognisable by the clay “hôds” near them; at this time there was no necessity for the Arabs to open them, as a galt at the head of the wadi, just south of the pass into Wadi Um Karaba, was yielding a good supply of water.

Just above the wells, Betan receives from the south the feeder called =Wadi Mistura=, draining the west side of Gebel Abu Dahr. The little =Wadi Um Eleiga=, which drains into Betan close to the south well, is of importance as leading to some extensive ruins and old workings about two kilometres up from its mouth. The ruins are mostly rubble hovels, while the workings, which were evidently for gold, vary from mere scratchings to pits ten metres deep in the rock. A diorite mill-stone is to be seen near the ruins.

The =Wadi Abu Debebi lil Betan=, which joins Betan on the north about three kilometres below the wells, leads by an easy pass into =Wadi Abu Debebi lil Khoda=, one of the heads of Wadi Khoda, and forms the nearest way to the coast from Bir Betan. =Wadi Abu Sieiyil= is a small feeder entering Betan from the south, three kilometres further down. The principal remaining tributaries of Betan are the Wadis Hefeiri, Abu Beid, and Egat. =Wadi Hefeiri= runs westward from near the Abu Debebi pass, and turning south near Gebel Hendusi, receives the =Rod el Hendusi= just before entering Betan. =Wadi Abu Beid el Azrak= originates near Gebel Abu Sieiyil west of Abu Dahr, and flows southwards to join =Wadi Abu Beid el Abiad=, which in turn flows into Wadi Betan. A well, =Bir Abu Beid=, is situated near the junction of Wadi Abu Beid el Abiad and Wadi Abu Beid el Azrak, where there are numerous seyal trees; it was yielding a fair quantity of good water in 1906. Of the =Wadi Egat=, nothing has been seen; it is, however, stated by the Arabs to originate in the rugged hilly tract south of Gebel Abu Dahr, and to join Wadi Betan lower down its course than Abu Beid.

=Wadi Dif= originates in the sandstone hills round Bir Dif, and pursues a very sinuous north-easterly course, cutting through the high sandstone plateau which is named Gebel Hodein to the north, and Gebel Dif to the south of it. For the major part of its length of twenty-nine kilometres it is very narrow, with very high steep sandstone scarps on either side, but it is a little more open near its origin, where Wadi Feqoh joins it, and in its lower part it winds as a broad sandy valley through the low hills which separate the Wadi Hodein from the high sandstone plateaux; it joins Wadi Hodein close to the meridian of 35°. Except the Wadi Feqoh, which is of immense length, and drains a very large area, Wadi Dif has only a few insignificant feeders. Of these, =Talet Um Karaba= and =Wadi Enqireidia= enter from the south plateau near the place where Wadi Dif leaves the high sandstone hills; and =Wadi Gelabat Shabai=, coursing north-east through the low hill country flanking the plateau, joins Wadi Dif just above its junction with Hodein.

=Bir Dif= is situated in a small gully forming the head of Wadi Dif, in latitude 23° 12′ 42″. To a traveller coming up Wadi Dif, Wadi Feqoh forms the main continuation of Wadi Dif, and the gully containing Bir Dif appears to be a lateral tributary coming in from the west; but the Arabs restrict the name Dif to the drainage line below the spring, and apply the name Feqoh to all the upper main channel. Bir Dif is a spring forming two pools of good water, situated about a kilometre up the gully, at the junction of sandstone and schists. The approach to the pools is very stony, but camels can easily reach the water; the spring is 290 metres above sea-level.

=Wadi Feqoh=, a tributary of Wadi Dif, is many times longer than Wadi Dif itself, and even longer than the Wadi Hodein of which Wadi Dif is a tributary, having a length along its main channel of 150 kilometres, with feeders totalling several times that length. Though only portions of Wadi Feqoh have been surveyed in detail, the position of its entire course is known with tolerable accuracy from the statements of guides at various stations from which portions of it could be pointed out. It is for the most part a very barren wadi, forming an ill-defined drainage line through a dreary waterless sandy waste. Its very name, which means “devoid of nourishment,” indicates its character. It originates near the west side of Gebel Soaorib, only some twenty kilometres north of the 22nd parallel of latitude, where the main watershed separates it from the feeders of the Wadi Alaqi. From here it follows a north-westerly course, passing between the mountains of Eir Arib and Hadal Derqa. Curving slightly to the north, it crosses the great sandy plain west of Gebel Korabkansi, and passes close west of the isolated mountain called Gebel Shabih. Further on, it enters a country of low hills with sandy interspaces, passing close west of the low range called Gebel Um el Kalala, and then sweeps round in a great curve towards the east to join the Wadi Dif close to Bir Dif. The fall of its bed from near Gebel Shabih to its junction with Wadi Dif, that is, in a length of seventy-two kilometres, is from 470 metres to 280 metres above sea, giving an average slope of only about 2·6 metres per kilometre; Wadi Feqoh has in fact the most gentle gradient of all the great seawards-draining wadis.

Wadi Feqoh has many tributaries. Those near its head, and others coming in from the western mountains through the low hill country north of Gebel Mishbih, have not been traced; but those draining Gebel Korabkansi and Gebel Niqrub, which are probably the most important, have been mapped in detail. Most of the drainage from these localities eventually finds its way into the great trunk feeder of Wadi Feqoh, called the =Wadi Gimal=, which joins Wadi Feqoh about sixteen kilometres before its junction with Wadi Dif. The tributaries of Wadi Feqoh are of much more interest than Wadi Feqoh itself, as they contain in many places a fair or even relatively rich assemblage of trees and bushes, and at least one good well, Bir Sararat Seyet.

The most southern tributaries of Wadi Feqoh which have been mapped are =Wadi Kamoyib=, draining eastward from Gebel Wadhait, and =Wadi Tawayib=, draining the east face of Gebel Korabkansi. These are for the most part barren wadis each coursing for about sixteen kilometres across a sandy plain to join Feqoh.

The main head of Wadi Gimal is called =Wadi Seyet=. It originates between Gebel Wadhait and Gebel Dreb about latitude 22° 35′, and by means of many feeders drains the east face of Gebels Dreb and Gerf. The principal feeder of Wadi Seyet from the south-west is =Wadi Wadhait=, collecting the south drainage of Gebel Korabkansi, while on the east the =Wadi Sherefa el Gharbi=, which leads to the important Sherefa pass, contributes the drainage from the northern parts of Gebel Dreb and the south-west parts of Gebel Gerf. These both join Wadi Seyet a little south of latitude 22° 40′, while a little further down there enter from the east two small feeders called =Wadi Delawet= and =Wadi Buyet=. The name Seyet is given to this wadi only down to where it passes through a narrow gap between high hills in latitude 22° 42′; below that point it is called Wadi Gemal. Wadi Seyet is remarkably well wooded, containing an immense number of fine large acacia trees, and presented an almost park-like appearance at the end of 1907. It also contains a deep well, =Bir Sararat Seyet=, excavated in the wadi floor just above the gap between the hills above referred to. This well was full of downwash in the winter of 1907. It is said to be twenty metres deep and to yield plenty of good water, but at that time there was plenty of water in galts in the mountains, and the Arabs said they preferred to derive their supplies from these so long as they lasted, only digging out the well when further supplies were necessary. An unnamed feeder from the west, joining Wadi Seyet just below the well, leads by an easy pass into the head of =Wadi Hushenab=, which drains through Wadi Sortdau into the Wadi Gemal lower down its course.

The country between Gebel Korabkansi and Gebel Niqrub Foqani, through which the course of Wadi Gemal lies, is a gently sloping plain with mere low banks, among which the drainage lines branch out forming numerous loops. The main channel runs fairly straight in a north-westerly direction, receiving =Wadis Sortdau= and =Remalib=, draining the hills north-west of Gebel Korabkansi as tributaries on its west side; but a sort of loop line runs off eastward and reaches the main channel again by the =Wadi Haletiai=, which also collects the drainage from the south parts of Gebel Niqrub Foqani. After passing west of this last-named mountain, Wadi Gemal takes a more northerly course; it receives an immense number of feeders from the west and north of Gebel Niqrub Foqani, of which the principal is called =Wadi Umeiatib=. Other feeders enter from among the low hills on the west, the principal being =Wadi Hadelshisheib=, coming from the neighbourhood of the dark cone called Gebel Mismih. From Bir Sararat Seyet to its junction with Wadi Feqoh the length of the main channel of Wadi Gemal is fifty-seven kilometres, and its fall is from 560 metres above sea to about 310 metres, or on the average about four and a half metres per kilometre; its slope is thus much more rapid than that of Wadi Feqoh, though in its lower parts, where it passes over what is almost a plain, its gradient is less than half this average amount. The upper parts of the Wadi Gemal and its tributaries contain as a rule a fair abundance of trees and bushes.

=Wadi Abu Hashim=, which joins Wadi Feqoh about three kilometres above Bir Dif, commences its course near Gebel Butitelib, where an easy pass, broad and sandy, 405 metres above sea-level, divides it from the heads of Rod Mukrayib, a tributary of Wadi Madi. Wadi Abu Hashim follows a north-westerly course, nearly in a straight line, collecting principally the drainage from the western slopes of the range of high schist hills which flank the sandstone plateau of Gebel Anfeib. It has a length of seventeen kilometres, and an average slope of about six metres per kilometre. It is a fairly open wadi, without much vegetation; on its west side are only very low hills.

=Wadi Anfeib=, which enters Wadi Hodein from the south-west eight kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Dif, is formed by the union of three main heads, called =Wadi Anfeib el Tawayib=, =Wadi Atalab=, and =Wadi Mitatib=, draining respectively the northern, central, and southern parts of the great sandstone plateau of Gebel Anfeib. Mitatib is joined half-way down its course by =Wadi Unfagalan=, which likewise heads in the plateau. Below the junction of its three main heads, Wadi Anfeib has a course of only about seven kilometres to run, through low hill country, before it joins Wadi Hodein.

=Wadi Madi=, the next great tributary of Wadi Hodein from the south, heads in the western side of the complex group of mountains called Gebel Gerf, and courses in a northerly direction for over seventy kilometres before joining Wadi Hodein in longitude 35° 7′, five kilometres lower down Wadi Hodein than the mouth of Wadi Anfeib. The heads of Wadi Madi are extremely complex, consisting of a multitude of branching drainage lines, and some of them divide their drainage with the Wadi Gemal, which enters Wadi Hodein by way of Wadis Feqoh and Dif. The most southerly head is the =Wadi Difoteb=, draining from the west side of Gebel Gerf in latitude 22° 39′; but only a part of the drainage from this gets into Wadi Madi, the rest going into Wadi Sherefa el Gharbi. A similar fate is shared by =Wadi Eirahimib=, which heads in a slightly difficult pass, leading into Wadi Um Reddam, about three kilometres west of the highest point of Gebel Gerf in latitude 22° 42′; this wadi courses in a direction a little south of west, falling very rapidly, past the hill mass of Gebel Tueiwi, where it divides, part of its drainage going northwards as Wadi Madi, and part crossing the plain as Wadi Buyet and joining the Wadi Seyet. The next head of Wadi Madi to the north is formed by =Wadi Faditiai=, which drains the high hills east of Gebel Tueiwi, and captures a part of the drainage brought down by the above-mentioned Wadi Eirahimib. Exactly where the name Madi commences to be applied to the drainage is uncertain, as Arabs differ on the point, but it is probably most correct to consider Madi as commencing just south of Gebel Tueiwi, where the drainage of Wadi Eirahimib, with part of that from Wadi Difoteb, divides into two parts, the lesser going down Wadi Buyet to join Wadi Seyet, while the greater forms Wadi Madi itself. On this basis, Wadi Faditiai is a tributary of Wadi Madi, joining it by several openings between latitudes 22° 44′ and 22° 46′. There are numerous feeders from the low hill country both to Wadi Faditiai and to Wadi Madi proper. After receiving Wadi Faditiai, Madi flows in a well-defined trench, with many trees, north-west for a few kilometres to latitude 22° 47′, where it turns sharply, almost at a right angle, to the north-east. A kilometre and a half beyond the bend where there is a high granite hill on the west side of the wadi, is =Bir Madi=. This is a well sunk in the alluvium of the wadi floor, having its mouth lined with stone slabs; in December 1907, when I visited it, the water was four and a half metres deep, with its surface three and a half metres below the wadi floor, and the water was good. The wadi floor here is 476 metres above sea-level. A beacon on the granite hill overlooking the well has the position latitude 22° 47′ 46″ N., longitude 35° 1′ 38″ E., altitude 556 metres above sea. Below the well, Wadi Madi follows a rather winding course among moderately high hills to a little north of latitude 22° 50′, where it gets into more open country and continues as a broad sandy valley, curving gently in a northerly direction, to latitude 23° 5′. Beyond this point, where it receives the Rod Mukrayib and the Wadi Kolaiqo from the west and east respectively, Wadi Madi becomes narrower, and winds about, though still keeping a general northerly direction, among low hill country to its junction with Wadi Hodein. Wadi Madi has many tributaries, the chief being the Wadis Shellal el Gharbi, Tugudbaia, Sinatib, Atluk and Kolaiqo, and the Rod Mukrayib, which will be treated separately further on. The upper parts of Wadi Madi and many of its tributaries are well stocked with trees, but its central parts, where it is wide and sandy, are more barren. Its principal head, the Wadi Eirahimib, falls at an average rate of sixteen metres per kilometre; from near Gebel Tueiwi to Bir Madi the average slope is nine metres per kilometre; while in the final fifty-four kilometres of its course from Bir Madi to Wadi Hodein, the average gradient is rather less than six metres per kilometre.

=Wadi Shellal el Gharbi=, a tributary of Wadi Madi, originates in the mountains about six kilometres north of the highest peak of Gebel Gerf, where a pass connects it with Wadi Shellal el Sharqi, a tributary of the eastward draining Wadi Radad. Flowing at first nearly due west, Wadi Shellal el Gharbi receives the =Wadi Um Reddam=, which collects the drainage from the north faces of the highest peaks of Gebel Gerf. Two of the heads of Um Reddam lead to passes; one eastward to Wadi Shellal el Sharqi, and one westward into the head of Wadi Eirahimib. Entering a lower hill country from which it receives numerous feeders, Wadi Shellal el Gharbi turns north-west to join Wadi Madi about eight kilometres below Bir Madi. It has a rather rapid fall, and contains a fair quantity of trees and bushes. Its total length along its main channel is twenty-one kilometres.

=Wadi Sinatib=, which enters Wadi Madi about six kilometres below Shellal el Gharbi, is a small wadi coursing north-west through the low hill country north of Wadi Shellal.

=Wadi Tugudbaia= conveys to Wadi Madi the drainage from the dyke country south-east of Gebel Niqrub el Foqani. It is only a short wadi, and enters Wadi Madi nearly opposite Sinatib.

=Wadi Berendiyeb=, which joins Wadi Madi from the west about latitude 22° 54′, drains the western flanks of Gebel Niqrub el Foqani. It is a many headed wadi, coursing at first among the low foot-hills of the mountain, and then crossing almost a sandy plain to join Wadi Madi. Its length along its main channel is about twelve kilometres. North of Berendiyeb, there are two other feeders of Wadi Madi coming from the low hills north-east of Gebel Niqrub el Foqani; they have no special names, being broad and sandy and without much vegetation in consequence of their draining only low country.

=Wadi Atluk=, which flows into Wadi Madi from the south-east almost opposite Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani, has a rather curious origin. It arises from a splitting of the course of Wadi Korbiai, part of the drainage of which passes eastward down Wadi Kreiga, while the other part retains its northerly direction as Wadi Atluk. The total length of Wadi Atluk is about twenty-one kilometres. It has not been surveyed in detail, but for most of its course it lies in low hill country.

=Rod Mukrayib= is a many-branched wadi which drains the hilly country between Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani and Gebel Anfeib. One of its heads leads by an easy pass near Gebel Butitelib into the head of Wadi Abu Hashim; another head drains the north face of Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani; while a third drains the south end of Gebel Anfeib, coursing between the sandstone plateau and the schist hills west of it. From the pass into Wadi Abu Hashim to its junction with Wadi Madi the length of its channel is fifteen kilometres, with a fall of from 405 metres to 250 metres above sea, giving an average slope of ten metres per kilometre. It joins Wadi Madi on the north side of an isolated group of hills, just where Wadi Madi begins to narrow in, about nineteen kilometres above its junction with Wadi Hodein. From the point where Rod Mukrayib joins Wadi Madi there is a good open road across the heads of Wadi Edunqul into those of Wadi Anfeib.

=Wadi Kolaiqo=, which joins Madi almost opposite Rod Mukrayib, originates in the hills between Gebel Niqrub el Tahtani and Gebel Khashab, where a pass at its head leads into the heads of Wadi Khashab. It is a fairly wide wadi, shut in by rather high hills, coursing west-north-west with a length of nine kilometres and a fairly rapid fall.

=Wadi Edunqul=, a small tributary entering Wadi Madi, about ten kilometres above its junction with Wadi Hodein, drains by numerous gullies the south end of Gebel Anfeib, coursing a little north of east with a length of about eleven kilometres.

=Wadi Khashab=, a tributary of Wadi Hodein, drains by many branches the hilly country east of Gebel Beida. One of its heads leads to a pass six kilometres due west of the summit of Gebel Beida, whence there is a road to Bir Beida; just before reaching the pass, there is a large quartz vein with some ruins near it. Another feeder of Wadi Khashab, the =Wadi Dehaiartib=, heads in a pass leading to the head of Wadi Kolaiqo. Wadi Khashab has not been explored south of 23° 0′. From this parallel to Wadi Hodein its length is about twenty-six kilometres, but its head may be five kilometres or more further south. The country on the west side of Wadi Khashab consists of low hills, but on the east it drains very high hills, and its feeders course in trenches across the stony slopes at the feet of the hills to join the main channel. Wadi Khashab contains large numbers of trees, whence its name (Khashab = wood). Its average slope is about eight metres per kilometre.

=Wadi Beida= originates at a pass 395 metres above sea-level, six kilometres west of the summit of Gebel Beida, where a road leads over into Wadi Khashab. From the pass Beida courses south-east for seven kilometres, receiving feeders from the high hills on either side. It then turns abruptly at an acute angle, following a northerly direction for one and a half kilometres; then turning east for one kilometre, it receives a great feeder draining the south slopes of Wadi Beida, afterwards turning south for one and a half kilometres to a point marked by the ruin of a small well built stone structure, in which mortar and stucco has been used. From this point the wadi follows a winding course, at first south-east but gradually working round into a north-easterly direction, as a narrow gorge through the high hills of Gebel Beida. Just where the wadi begins to turn northward, about one and a half kilometres below the ruin above-mentioned, are the two wells called =Bir Beida=. The upper well is at the opening of a defile leading south-eastward to a pass, forming the point of departure in the nearest road from Bir Beida to Bir Meneiga; this well was dry in November 1907. The lower well is about 500 metres further down the wadi, at a sharp bend in its course; it is an excavation in the alluvium of the wadi floor, and was yielding good water in 1907 from a depth of about six metres. The Arabs say that the supply at this well only fails after three or four years without rainfall, but the water only infiltrates slowly, so that after it has been emptied by a caravan it requires a day or so to refill. The top of the well is 205 metres above sea-level.

About four kilometres below the well, Wadi Beida emerges from the high hills, and crosses a tract of much lower hill country seven kilometres wide, receiving in this part of its course many feeders from the eastern face of Gebel Beida; it then divides, still preserving its general north-easterly direction, into a number of shallow channels coursing across the sandy plain to join the Wadi Hodein.

From Bir Beida the nearest wells are Bir Meneiga and Bir Shalatein; the water of the latter is, however, very salt and only drinkable by camels. To Bir Meneiga, a distance of thirty-seven kilometres, the track leads over the pass already mentioned south-east of the upper (dry) well, thence into Wadi Kreiga, and up that wadi into Wadi Meneiga; the road is rather stony near Meneiga, and rises rapidly, so plenty of time should be allowed. To reach Bir Shalatein, forty kilometres distant, one descends Wadi Beida into Wadi Hodein and follows Wadi Hodein towards the sea; the road is easy, being mostly across a falling sandy plain.

=Wadi Kreiga=, the last great tributary of Wadi Hodein, originates by the union of the Wadis Korbiai and Meneiga, both draining that north extension of the mountain mass of Gebel Gerf which is sometimes called Gebel Korbiai or Gebel Meneiga.

=Wadi Korbiai= and =Wadi Meneiga= have their heads only separated by a narrow mountain ridge, but there is no possible track over this ridge from one to the other. In each case the wadi contains two water sources near its head, and the limit of “navigability” of the wadi is formed practically by these sources, above which there are steep stony gorges.

=Bir Korbiai= consists of two wells, both situated at the foot of a sudden drop in the rocky bed of Wadi Korbiai, about 150 metres apart, sunk in the bouldery alluvium; there is some rude timbering at the mouth of the wells over which a large stone is placed to prevent infilling by downwash. In December 1907 both wells contained abundance of excellent water, only a metre below ground level. Both wells are easily accessible, though the road to them is stony. The wells are stated to yield good supplies for three or four years after rain has fallen, but after longer drought they only yield a little.

Below the wells, Wadi Korbiai sweeps round in a semicircle of about three kilometres radius round the west flank of the hills to join Wadi Meneiga. On its right side are the steep slopes of Gebel Korbiai, but on the left is lower hill country. Small feeders enter from both sides. The bed of the wadi is stony, but there are a fair number of trees in it. Only a part of the drainage of Wadi Korbiai turns eastward to join Wadi Meneiga in forming Wadi Kreiga; the other part pursues a northerly course into the Wadi Atluk, a tributary of Wadi Madi.

=Bir Meneiga= is important, not only as giving a perennial supply of good water, but also as marking a point on the administrative frontier of Egypt and the Sudan. It consists of two springs in the stony bed of Wadi Meneiga, near its head. The northern spring is taken as marking the frontier; its position is latitude 22° 47′ 8″ N. longitude 35° 12′ 20″ E., altitude 605 metres above sea-level. The southern spring is about 320 metres further up the wadi, at a level four or five metres higher. Each of the springs consists of a tiny pool among the rocks of the wadi floor, easily accessible to camels. The pools only contain eight or ten gallons each, but camels can drink as fast as they like and the pool keeps full. The water is excellent. There are numerous ruins at Bir Meneiga; they consist of rude rubble hovels and extend for over a kilometre down the wadi below the springs.

Above the springs, Wadi Meneiga soon becomes impassable, ending in rocky gorges in the mountains. Below the springs it courses for about seven kilometres in a direction a little west of north to join Wadi Korbiai and form the head of Wadi Kreiga. The fall in this seven kilometres is 200 metres, so that the slope is the phenomenally rapid one of twenty-eight metres per kilometre, and of course the floor of the wadi is very stony and camel progress is very slow. There are several lateral feeders, including one from the east, three kilometres below the springs, leading to the head of Wadi Radad; but I am not sure whether the pass is practicable as I only saw it from the mountain top.

From the mouth of Wadi Meneiga, Wadi Kreiga courses about 15° north of east, as a fairly wide wadi with a stony floor, with high hills on either side from which small feeders enter. The first large feeder, the =Wadi Abiad=, enters from the north-west, six kilometres below the mouth of Wadi Meneiga; it is a steeply falling wadi, which, like all wadis bearing the name of Abiad, has a floor of light-coloured granitic sand. Some eight kilometres lower down, two feeders enter from opposite sides: that from the north is called =Wadi Eberer=, while that from the south bears the name of =Wadi Shigeg=. Neither of these has been followed up far, and their length is unknown; but they are believed to be of no great extent. Below this point the country opens out considerably, and the wadi anastomoses round low hills, while its floor becomes less stony and more easy under foot. The various channels unite again about eight kilometres further down, where the wadi receives a tributary from the north-west just before it passes the high hill mass which forms the southward extension of Gebel Beida. This tributary leads to an easy pass, forming a direct road to Bir Beida. Lower down several lateral feeders come into Kreiga from either side, and the wadi emerges on to a sandy plain with scattered low hills. Across this plain Kreiga takes a more northerly direction for about sixteen kilometres to join the Wadi Hodein. The length of Wadi Kreiga from the mouth of Wadi Meneiga to Wadi Hodein is about fourty-one kilometres. Its fall between these points is from 405 metres to about 70 metres above sea-level, giving an average slope of eight metres per kilometre; the slope in the upper parts, where the wadi bed is stony, is of course somewhat greater, and that in its lower more sandy reaches is somewhat less than this average.

=Wadi Kolaiqo= is a very ill-defined drainage line heading in the low hills called Gebel Kolaiqo, and coursing north-east for about thirty kilometres across the sandy coast-plain to reach the sea about latitude 23° 0′. It is very sandy, and absolutely barren except for a little scrub in its upper parts. It would hardly have been noticed had not the triangulation station on the hill at its head been occupied.

=Wadi Shab=, with a basin of about 1,250 square kilometres, drains the eastern and southern portions of the great group of mountains of which Gebel Gerf is the centre, and reaches the sea in latitude 22° 52′, a little to the north of Mersa Shab. It has a great number of heads, most of which bear special names, the name Shab being applied collectively to them from the locality near the hill of Qrein Salama, about forty kilometres from the sea, where they begin to unite together into one great trunk channel. From the circumstance that its heads are situated in a high mountain mass where the rainfall is relatively great, and moreover have steeply falling stony beds which absorb but little of the precipitation, the upper portions of Shab and its feeders are well stocked with trees. Only in the last stages of its course to the sea, where the absorption of its drainage by the sandy coast plain becomes great, does the abundance of vegetation fall off and the channel become barren. Its principal heads and feeders are Wadi Radad (fed by Wadi Shellal el Sharqi), Wadi Tikosha, Wadi Muqur (fed by Wadi Ti Ilak), Wadi Qadiloi (fed by Tilat Tihu Shana), Wadi Baaneit, Wadi Kilanai, Wadi Um Saha, Wadi Diqdib, Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi, and Kwat Hewah. At least three of these contain good water sources, Bir Muqur, Bir Baaneit, and Bir Diqdib being situated in the upper parts of the wadis bearing the same names. The various heads and feeders of Shab will be described in detail below, commencing from the northernmost one.

=Wadi Radad= may be more properly described as a tributary than as one of the heads of Wadi Shab, as it joins the trunk wadi some fifteen kilometres below the other feeders. It originates in a rugged tract of high hills near Bir Meneiga, and courses eastward for about thirty-six kilometres, joining Wadi Shab on the coast-plain near the low hills of Ti Qireira, about twenty-four kilometres up from the point where Wadi Shab enters the sea. It has not been surveyed in detail, but its course was mapped from the triangulation station of Gebel Gerf and from other occupied stations whence portions of it were visible.

=Wadi Shellal el Sharqi=, a large feeder of Wadi Radad, originates in the mountains between Bir Diqdib and Bir Muqur. It has many heads, the best known of which is one coming from the west, leading to a pass into Wadi Shellal el Gharbi, a tributary of Wadi Madi; while another, a little further south, leads to another pass into Wadi Um Reddam and forms a possible road to Bir Sararat Seyet. Wadi Shellal el Sharqi follows generally a northward course, with a rapid fall, and joins Wadi Radad about eighteen kilometres below the head of the latter.

=Wadi Muqur= heads in the eastern mountains of the Gerf group, which are sometimes called Gebel Muqur. Here the drainage from several steeply falling rocky gullies collects into a single winding gorge shut in by the mountains. The limit to which camels can go up the gorge is marked by a well called =Bir Muqur=. At the time of my visit to this, in February 1908, the well was filled up by debris, through which, however, the water constantly rose and trickled into pools in a series of rock basins at slightly lower levels. The flow was at the rate of about five litres per minute, the overflow from the basins running to waste at this rate in the sand of the wadi. The water was of excellent quality. The Arabs state that when the water ceases to flow as a spring they dig out the debris and use the place as a well. Below the well, Wadi Muqur pursues a winding course north-eastward for about two and a half kilometres; then, receiving the short =Wadi Ti Ilak=, draining the mountains to the west, it turns sharply eastward and emerges from the high hills into lower country about three kilometres further on. In the lower country the wadi changes its direction to east-north-east, receiving many feeders from among the low hills west of Qrein Salama, and its bed divides and anastomoses into a series of channels, which eventually unite just before it enters Wadi Shab, five kilometres north-east of Qrein Salama. From near its head at Bir Muqur to its junction with Shab, Wadi Muqur has a length along its main channel of about nineteen kilometres; it falls from 470 metres above sea-level at the well to 200 metres at its junction with Shab, so that the average gradient is about fourteen metres per kilometre.

A few kilometres before reaching Wadi Shab, Wadi Muqur is joined by the =Wadi Tikosha=, draining the moderately high hills which lie between Wadi Radad and Gebel Muqur, and winding among low hills over the plain.

The =Wadis Qadiloi= and =Baaneit= drain from the east faces of Gebel Muqur and the mountains and hills close south and east of it, into Wadi Shab. There is an eastward extension of hills from Gebel Muqur, partly drained by =Tilat Tihu Shana=, which flows into Wadi Qadiloi; south of this extension there is a sort of bay, occupied by lower hills separating Wadi Qadiloi from Wadi Baaneit, through which several cross channels connect the two wadis. =Bir Baaneit= is a small well in Wadi Baaneit, near its head; it is said to yield water always, but refills slowly, so that only six to ten camels can be watered at once. A little below the well, Wadi Baaneit leaves the hills and courses north-east across a rapidly falling stony plain. On the plain, south of the main channel, are the two ruins called =Darahib Baaneit=. They are built of rubble stone set in plaster, with stucco facing in places, and appear to be ancient Moslem tombs, the larger one having evidently once supported a dome; there are about twenty Arab graves near the ruins.

South of Wadi Baaneit the plain is crossed by many drainage channels coursing north-east to join Wadi Shab, and the plain is covered here with quite a park-like growth of acacia trees. The principal channel, which comes from the hills about four kilometres south Bir Baaneit, is called =Wadi Kilanai=.

A little south of Wadi Kilanai the plain cuts far back to the west, and the drainage entering this portion comes from the heart of the Gerf mountains to the north-west. A large isolated granite hill-mass called Kilia Arib and numerous smaller hills break the monotony of the plain and cause much branching and looping of the drainage channels. The principal artery draining the south parts of Gebel Gerf is the =Wadi Diqdib=, which originates on the south flanks of the highest peaks, right in the heart of the mountain mass. In one of the heads is a well called =Bir Diqdib=, which, though of great service to the Koatil Arabs who inhabit this district with their camels and other animals, is of little importance to the traveller because of its situation in a closed-in wadi and thus not being on any route. From its head, Wadi Diqdib courses south-westward for fifteen kilometres or more among the mountains, receiving many feeders, before it emerges on to the plain. On leaving the mountains it splits up, part of its drainage going round by the north side of Kilia Arib, and part by the south, in each case by a number of anastomosing channels.

The =Wadi Um Saha= drains the hills south-west of Bir Baaneit, and after coursing southwards among the mountains turns the corner and runs north-east across the plain to Wadi Shab.

=Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi=, which drains the south portion of the Gerf massif and the north-east flanks of Gebel Dreb, heads in the important Sherefa pass, 807 metres above sea-level, and forming the direct route from Gebel Hamra Dom and Gebel Um Rasein to Bir Sararat Seyet by way of Wadi Sherefa el Gharbi. The pass is a fairly easy one, though the fall is rapid, especially on the east side, where Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi falls no less than one hundred metres in the first two kilometres of its course. A feeder which enters Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi from the south about two kilometres below the pass is said to lead by another pass to a well called =Bir Bint el Dreb=, situated at the head of =Wadi Dreb=, a tributary of Wadi Feqoh. For the first seven kilometres of its east-south-easterly course below the pass, Sherefa el Sharqi is shut in by very high hills, from which numerous feeders join it; it then divides just before reaching the great white granite hills called Eir Arib, part of its drainage going southward to join Kwat Hewah, and part continuing its course on the north side of the granite hills to join Diqdib near the granite cones of Tibashoi and thence turning northwards over a large sandy plain to enter Wadi Shab.

=Kwat Hewah= drains the eastern flanks of Gebel Dreb and the north flanks of G. Medarai. Its heads unite to form a series of channels in a small plain south-west of Eir Arib, and here it receives a contribution from Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi as mentioned above. As it passes Eir Arib, Kwat Hewah divides, part of its drainage curving round to the north to join that of Wadi Diqdib and Wadi Sherefa el Sharqi on its way to Wadi Shab, and the remainder going south-west to join the Wadi Medarai. From the head of Kwat Hewah there is said to be an easy pass into the Wadi el Krim, a tributary of Wadi Feqoh.

=Wadi Ibib=, which drains the eastern slopes of Gebels Medarai, Abu Hireiq, and Abu Hodeid, and the eastern and northern faces of Gebels Soaorib, Adar Qaqa, Leqaq, Um Seleim, Qidmib, Orgem, and Um Bishtit, as well as Gebel Hamra Dom and the smaller hills south of it, is formed by the union of the Wadis Hasium and Medarai, a little east of Gebel Um Rasein, and enters the sea at Mersa Shab. It has a drainage basin of about 1,800 square kilometres. Including Wadi Hasium, which is simply the upper portion of Ibib, its total length along its main channel is slightly over one hundred kilometres. Its principal tributaries are the Wadis Shinai, Abu Hodeid, Abu Hireiq, Medarai, Soaorib, and Um Bishtit.

=Wadi Hasium=, which forms the upper portion of Wadi Ibib, originates on the main watershed in about latitude 22° 10′ and longitude 35° 15′; a pass leads from its head on to a stony plain, whence a track leads to Miti Kwan, a tributary of Wadi Alaqi. Near its head, Wadi Hasium contains a small well called =Bir Kagog=. A few kilometres further down, the short =Wadi Mantil Hasium=, draining the western face of Gebel Adar Qaqa, enters from the east, while the =Wadi Hilwit Hasium=, draining the mountain of the same name and containing a galt near its head, joins Wadi Hasium from the west. Continuing its course northward past the mountains of Adar Qaqa and Leqaq, Wadi Hasium enters an extensive sandy plain, open to the north, bounded on the west by the mountains of Abu Hodeid and Um Rasein, on the south by those of Leqaq and Um Seleim, and on the east by those of Qidmib and Orgem. This plain, which averages fifteen kilometres in width, is broken by low hills, the principal of which, Gebel Hamra Tit, Kulet Meiqrum, and Kulet Tinasal, rise to considerable heights. Hasium courses slightly east of north near the western edge of this plain to near Gebel Um Rasein, then curves to the east across it, receiving the Wadi Medarai and becoming Wadi Ibib. In its northward course through the plain, Wadi Hasium receives a number of important tributaries from the western mountains, besides a few smaller feeders from the mountains to the south and from the hills on the plain. These may be briefly described in order.

=Wadi Shinai=, draining the hills south of Gebel Abu Hodeid, courses a little south of east and enters Wadi Hasium about latitude 22° 19′; it has not been surveyed in detail, but it contains a well known water source, =Bir Shinai=, which is said to be about seven kilometres from its junction with Hasium.

=Wadi Delawet=, another small feeder which likewise drains the hills south of Abu Hodeid, and enters Wadi Hasium about three kilometres below Wadi Shinai, is of importance as leading to a camel track over hills which forms the means of access to =Bir Odis Maaleq=, I have not visited this water source, but it is said to yield immense quantities of good water, and to be situated at a rather high level in the head of a small wadi called =Wadi Odis=, a tributary of Abu Hodeid. It appears to be a spring fed by the rainfall on the surrounding high mountains, the overflow filling large rock basins. The reason why it is approached by the Wadi Delawet and the track over the mountains, instead of by ascending Wadi Abu Hodeid and the Wadi Odis directly, is that the latter route is very difficult for camels owing to the steep and stony nature of the wadi floor; it is, however, possible to use this route on foot. As nearly as I could make out from my guides’ statements, the total distance of Bir Odis Maaleq from the mouth of Wadi Delawet is about nine kilometres, of which the first four are in the Wadi Delawet and the remaining five on the hill track. The distance by the other route from Bir Abu Hodeid is about four kilometres, some of which is climbing. My native assistant, who was sent to erect the beacon on Gebel Abu Hodeid, took two and a half hours to go on foot from Bir Abu Hodeid to Bir Odis Maaleq, and estimated the latter spring to be some 150 metres higher than Bir Abu Hodeid.

=Wadi Abu Hodeid=, which drains the mountain mass of the same name, lies to the east of the highest peaks of Gebel Abu Hodeid and is shut in between them and another high range further east. It has a general south-south-easterly direction, and a very rapid fall. Its principal feeder is the short Wadi Odis above referred to, which falls into it from the west about six kilometres below its head. About one and a half kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Odis, there is a large and important spring of good water in the wadi, called =Bir Abu Hodeid=. Though I have not visited this spring, its situation is shown on the map with tolerable accuracy, as its position with regard to neighbouring triangulated points was indicated by the guides. My native assistant, who passed the spring on his way to erect the beacon on Gebel Abu Hodeid, reported it to be very similar to the springs of Abu Saafa in appearance, though the latter are in a different rock. From its position in the midst of high mountains, Wadi Abu Hodeid must at times of rainfall collect a great deal of water, and this explains the constant supplies yielded by the spring. Above the spring, the steepness of the wadi renders its ascent very difficult for loaded camels, and there is no road through its head, but guides state that there is good grazing at certain seasons in its upper parts, and animals are taken there to feed. Below the spring, the wadi opens out and curves eastward round the foot of the remarkable rounded peak of Abu Hodeid Oqla to join Wadi Hasium on the plain.

The =Rod Anut Berer=, which joins Wadi Hasium about the same point as Wadi Abu Hodeid but from the opposite side, drains the mountains of Leqaq and Um Seleim which bound the plain to the south.

=Wadi Tikraneib=, a small wadi full of trees, drains a jagged range north of Abu Hodeid Oqla, and joins Wadi Hasium on the plain by several channels.

=Wadi Abu Hireiq=, draining the mountains of the same name, originates about latitude 22° 27′. On leaving the high mountains its channel divides, part of the drainage going north-east as Wadi Merdiyeb, and part south-east as Wadi Abu Hireiq. This latter wadi passes between the main mountains and a high isolated range of hills for about seven kilometres, then curves round to the eastward to join Wadi Hasium. There are numerous loopings and branchings of the wadis in this neighbourhood, caused by the feeders from the hills and by the presence of isolated hill masses, which the drainage lines frequently encircle, and it becomes impossible to say which of the various channels is the main wadi, so that the name Wadi Abu Hireiq is applied to all of them collectively.

=Wadi Odruk= is a small wadi draining between two groups of high hills south-west of Gebel Um Rasein; it joins one of the channels of Wadi Abu Hireiq about four kilometres above its junction with Hasium.

=Wadi Nilateib=, another small wadi further north, drains the south end of Gebel Um Rasein and the north-east faces of the hills close south-west of it. Coursing at first south-east for about three kilometres, it then curves round the foot of Gebel Um Rasein to join Wadi Hasium by two channels. There is a clear passage from the heads of both Wadi Odruk and Wadi Nilateib into Wadi Merdiyeb. All the wadis hereabouts contain plenty of trees and scrub, especially in their upper parts; as Wadi Hasium is approached they become more sandy and barren. It is, of course, the presence of vegetation available for grazing which determines the possession of a name by such small wadis as these two.

The drainage from the east face of Gebel Um Rasein joins Wadi Hasium directly by many small channels, which appear not to bear any special name.

=Wadi Medarai=, which forms the Wadi Ibib by its junction with Hasium, ten kilometres due east of Gebel Um Rasein, has its main head in Gebel Medarai, its length along its main channel being about twenty-five kilometres. By numerous tributaries, many of which contain abundance of trees and scrub, it drains the whole of the high hill country between Gebel Medarai and Gebel Um Rasein, and it also takes a part of the drainage from Kwat Hewah. One of its heads is said to lead to a rather difficult pass, south of Gebel Medarai, into the =Wadi Kirwau=, a tributary of Feqoh. For the first ten kilometres or so of its length, Wadi Medarai courses a little north of east; it then receives the feeder from Kwat Hewah above referred to, and changes its direction to a little south of east, passing close north of Gebel Um Rasein on its way to join Wadi Hasium on the sandy plain of the numerous feeders of Wadi Medarai from the hills west and north of Um Rasein, the principal is =Wadi Merdiyeb=, which originates ten kilometres south-west of Gebel Um Rasein by the splitting of Wadi Abu Hireiq. From this point of origin, it runs in a north-easterly direction in a rather sinuous course among the hills for about twelve or thirteen kilometres, joining Wadi Medarai close north of Gebel Um Rasein. Another little feeder of Wadi Medarai, though only about two kilometres long, is of some importance from its leading to =Bir Um Rasein=, a small well among the north foot-hills of Gebel Um Rasein.

Vegetation ceases to be abundant both in Wadi Medarai and in Wadi Hasium before their junction to form Wadi Ibib, and Wadi Ibib itself is for the most part a barren sandy ill-defined channel coursing north-eastward across a dreary plain for some fifty-seven kilometres to Mersa Shab. In this fifty-seven kilometres its fall is very nearly 300 metres, giving an average slope of only a little over five metres per kilometre. The slope of the lower part of Wadi Hasium is rather steeper than this, while that of Wadi Medarai is about twice as great.

But though Wadi Ibib itself is barren, it has some great tributaries which contains abundance of trees and scrub in their upper reaches, as well as several wells. The principal of these tributaries are the Wadis Soaorib and Um Bishtit, which with their feeders drain the mountains of Soaorib, Qidmib, Orgem, and Um Bishtit, while other smaller tributaries drain the lower hills north-east of Um Bishtit and Gebel Hamra Dom.

=Wadi Soaorib= originates in the midst of high mountains a little south of latitude 22° 10′, between the southern portion of Gebel Soaorib and the range which extends southwards from Hadal Aweib Meisah. At its head is a difficult pass westward into the head of Miti Kwan, a tributary of Alaqi. Curving at first eastward, it soon takes on a north-westerly direction, and in latitude 22° 11′ 30″ reaches a small open space called =Mitba=; here it is met by several tributary wadis of which the principal is the =Wadi Haiyo=, draining the eastern slopes of Gebel Soaorib. From Mitba the direction of Wadi Soaorib becomes more northerly, and about nine kilometres below Mitba it turns to the west, emerging from the mountains into the more open country which forms the south end of the great plain already referred to. Here it is joined by the =Wadi Hankuk=, draining north-eastward from Gebel Adar Qaqa, and a few kilometres further on by the =Wadi Dishlo=, which drains the western flanks of Hadal Aweib Meisah and enters Soaorib from the east. About three kilometres below the point of influx of Wadi Dishlo, Wadi Soaorib is joined from the south-west by another tributary which drains the west side of Gebel Um Seleim. From this point onwards, Wadi Soaorib courses a little east of north in a not very well defined course for about twenty-two kilometres over a gently falling sandy plain, joining Ibib to the north-west of the sand-swathed hills called Baqari Daba. In this part of its course, Wadi Soaorib receives small feeders from among the hills west of it on the plain, the principal of them draining north-eastward between the hills called Kulet Meiqrum and Kulet Tinasal. It also receives more important tributaries from the mountains to the east of it, the principal of these being the Wadis Eimya and Qidmib. =Wadi Eimya= drains the western face of Gebel Qidmib, while =Wadi Qidmib= drains the northern parts of the same mountain. Wadi Qidmib has two main heads; the western one lies between two high mountain ridges, and contains a well called =Bir Qidmib=, while the eastern one leads to a steep pass by which Wadi Meisah can be reached. Before reaching Wadi Soaorib, Wadi Qidmib is joined by other feeders draining the western flanks of Gebel Orgem and Baqari Daba.

From its head at the pass into Miti Kwan to its junction with Ibib, Wadi Soaorib has a length of about fifty kilometres. The level of the pass is unknown, but from Mitba to Ibib the level of the wadi floor falls from 505 metres above sea to 260 metres in a length of about forty-one kilometres, giving an average slope of six metres per kilometre. Most of the upper portions of Wadi Soaorib and its tributaries are well stocked with trees and bushes, but as the wadi crosses the sandy plain it becomes more and more barren. The place where it enters on the plain in latitude 22° 20′ marks a tribal boundary, the upper parts, including Wadi Dishlo, belonging to the Balgab Arabs, while the lower parts, including Wadis Eimya and Qidmib, are Kurbeilab territory.

=Wadi Um Bishtit=, which joins Wadi Ibib some five kilometres lower down its course than does Wadi Soaorib, heads in a small open space in latitude 22° 26′ and longitude 35° 35′. At its head there are two easy passes, one leading northward into the head of Wadi Habliai, another tributary of Wadi Ibib, and the other southward into the heads of Wadi Meisah. Just below its head Wadi Um Bishtit is joined by the small =Wadi Delawet=, draining the hills close to the south; while a little lower down is another small tributary from a rocky gorge among the south hills, which is important as leading to =Bir Um Bishtit=. This well, which was filled by downwash when I visited it in March 1908, is situated in the floor of the gorge at a sharp bend, about a kilometre up from the main wadi. According to the guides, it requires excavating about five metres deep, and yields water in quantity for about a year after rain, but when there has been no rain for a year only small supplies can be got, as it fills slowly; at the time of my visit there was no necessity to open the well because there was plenty of water in galts in the mountains of Meis-heit-ar, a little further south. The well is easy of access, and lies at 330 metres above sea-level.

The total length of Wadi Um Bishtit is about fourteen kilometres. In the first half of its course it runs north-westward, shut in by high hills, and contains abundance of small trees. After cutting through the hills it receives the Wadi Orgem from the south, and turns northward in opening country to join Wadi Ibib north of the hills called Adar Aweib Um Bishtit. Its average slope is about nine metres per kilometre.

=Wadi Orgem=, which joins Wadi Um Bishtit about four kilometres below the gorge containing the well, has its head at an easy pass near the remarkable peak of O Shakafa; this pass leads into Wadi Meisah, about three kilometres above Bir Meisah. From the pass, the Wadi Orgem runs between the high hill ranges of Orgem and Um Bishtit, in a direction a little west of north, for about sixteen kilometres to its junction with Wadi Um Bishtit.

=Wadi Habliai=, which heads in an easy pass about three kilometres east of Bir Um Bishtit, and runs northwards for about ten kilometres to join Wadi Ibib, is a broad sandy and rather barren wadi draining gneiss hills; the hills on the east are much lower than those on the west, and their feet are swathed in drift sand.

The last feeders of Wadi Ibib are those draining from the isolated range of high granite hills called Gebel Hamra Dom. These feeders are very numerous, some coming from the west side of the hills and curving round its south end to join Wadi Ibib, while others from the east side course east and north-east over the plain directly into Wadi Ibib. They contain numerous small trees near their heads, and after rain there springs up short grass in this locality, affording for short periods grazing for great flocks of sheep. The most northerly drainage channel from the east side heads in the hills a little north of the highest peaks, and here, after rain has fallen recently, shallow wells are dug in the sand and yield good water. The place where the wells are is called =Ti Dabei Hamra Dom=. One cannot rely on getting water there for long after rain has fallen, as the supplies are soon exhausted. In January 1908, I heard that water and grass were extremely abundant, and large numbers of Arabs were encamped there with their flocks and herds. But when I reached the place at the end of the next month, most of the grass had been eaten up; only a few Arabs remained, and these were baling out the last drops of water from the holes to fill their skins preparatory to forsaking the place.

=Wadi Meisah=, which drains the north and east slopes of Hadal Aweib Meisah, the eastern slopes of Gebel Qidmib, and the mountains of Meis-heit-ar, besides the lower hills of Titailibab, Tahaqayet, and Eqrun, has a total length along its main channel (including Wadi Awitla, the central one of its three main heads) of about seventy-five kilometres, and enters the sea about latitude 22° 45′.

Wadi Meisah has three main heads, called by separate names. The most northerly is the =Wadi Sarobaiya=, draining from between Gebels Qidmib and Meis-heit-ar; one of the heads of this leads to a steep pass into Wadi Qidmib. The central head, =Wadi Awitla=, drains the north slopes of Hadal Aweib Meisah. The southern head, the =Wadi Lasewid=, drains the eastern slopes of Hadal Aweib Meisah and the lower hills to the east of it; by ascending its southern feeders, one can pass easily into the heads of Wadi Baueiwai, while one of the gullies opening into it from Hadal Aweib Meisah contains a series of rock basins and a small spring called =Megwel Um Edwa=, rather difficult of access for camels, which was yielding fair supplies of water in April 1908.

These three heads, each of which has numerous feeders, join together in a small plain at the south-east foot of O Shakafa, a remarkably prominent peak practically isolated from the mountains near it, and from this point onwards the main drainage channel is called Wadi Meisah. The little plain where the three head wadis unite is covered with trees, and has almost the aspect of a park; it is 455 metres above sea-level. Curving eastward and northward close round the foot of O Shakafa, Wadi Meisah receives from the south the =Sarob Kwan=, a short and very broad wadi leading to an easy pass into Wadi Didaut, and then winds about as a narrow gorge shut in by high hills. Just where it leaves the foot of O Shakafa, there is a track from the east side of the wadi over a very easy pass into the head of Wadi Orgem. =Bir Meisah= is a well sunk in the alluvium of the wadi bed about three kilometres below O Shakafa, and 410 metres above sea-level. When I visited it in March 1908, it was filled with downwash, and as there was plenty of water in the rock basins of the mountains further north there was then no necessity to dig it out. The Arabs say the well is about ten metres deep, and its water is not so good as that obtainable from the galts, so that they only open it when the other sources in the neighbourhood are exhausted. Two gullies entering Wadi Meisah from the east, just below the well, each contain large galts, called =Meis-heit-ar=, a short distance up from their mouths; these were both yielding good and plentiful water supplies in the spring of 1908. After winding about among the hills for ten kilometres below the well, Wadi Meisah receives a feeder from the west having three heads. The northern one, =Akla Da-Aiyob=, is a very sandy gully, in fact it is choked by drift sand, and all the trees in it are dead. The central one, coming westward from among high hills, is called =Hanqun Ra-ub=, while the southern one, called the =Wadi Eqaiyib=, is only separated from Meisah at its head by an easy pass, so that it almost forms a loop of Meisah itself. To go from Bir Meisah to Bir Um Bishtit, one crosses this pass into Wadi Eqaiyib, then up Akla Da-aiyob, and over another easy pass at its head into Wadi Um Bishtit; the total distance between the two wells by this route is only sixteen kilometres.

In its lower stages Wadi Meisah traverses broad open sandy spaces between low hills, receiving a number of small feeders from either side. It curves round to the eastward a little south of the hills of Eqrun and then courses in a north-easterly direction across the sandy coast-plain to the sea. In the last stages of its course its channel is very ill-defined, the drainage spreading over the plain. The trees, which are fairly abundant in its upper parts, become fewer as one descends, but its lower portions are not always entirely barren, for after recent rain short grass springs up in its broad shallow bed and affords a moderate amount of grazing for sheep. The slope of the wadi floor just below the well is about ten metres per kilometre; lower down, the gradient gradually lessens, and in the last forty kilometres of its course is only a little over five metres per kilometre.

=Wadi Kiraf=, the next wadi to enter the sea south of Meisah, is really the terminal portion of the great =Wadi Di-ib=, the name Kiraf being only applied to the drainage from the point of junction of the Wad el Qireira with Di-ib to the sea, that is, for a distance of some thirty-one kilometres up from its mouth. The Wadi Di-ib is probably the most important and remarkable of all the seawards draining wadis of the Eastern Desert of Egypt and the Northern Sudan. I have only seen that terminal portion of its length which lies in Egypt, that is, north of the 22nd parallel; but the examinations of that length (the part of it lying within Egyptian territory, including Kiraf, is some eighty-five kilometres) is enough to show that the wadi must drain an enormous basin, for the average slope is the remarkably small one of two metres per kilometre, and the wadi floor in many places, instead of being sandy, consists of mud similar to that of the Nile Valley. According to the “Sudan Handbook,” it rises far to the south, probably near the 20th parallel, and flows generally northwards, so that its length must be well over 300 kilometres. Just before it enters Egypt proper, there is an expansion in its bed covered with rich alluvial mud, on which crops of durra are grown; my camels were fed for some weeks on durra obtained from this source whilst I was working in the neighbourhood. In the present volume I shall only deal with that portion of Di-ib and its tributaries which lie north of the 22nd parallel, describing first the main channel and afterwards its principal tributaries.

Wadi Di-ib enters Egypt a little west of the 36th meridian, as a broad sandy drainage channel with many trees. Its bed is here only 170 metres above sea-level. Wadi Di-ib receives two feeders from the east near the 22nd parallel; the Wadi Shendib, draining the western flanks of the high mountain mass of Gebel Shendib, is believed to join Wadi Di-ib a little south of the frontier, while the Wadi Hareitra, draining the north-eastern flanks of Gebel Shendib and the western slopes of Gebel Hanquf, probably enters Di-ib a little north of it. For the first eighteen kilometres of its course north of 22°, Wadi Di-ib flows northward over a sandy plain, with low hills and ridges, their feet often swathed in drift sand, on either side. It then receives an important tributary from the west, called Wadi el Qurat, draining the north slopes of Gebel Shiab and the hilly country between Gebel Mashushenai and Adar Aweib. After receiving Wadi el Qurat, Wadi Di-ib enters mountainous country, being shut in for some fifteen kilometres by Adar Aweib on the east and Gebel Balatitda on the west. In its northerly course here Wadi Di-ib receives many feeders from the hills, of which two entering from opposite sides near Bir Meheriqa are of interest. That from the east is really a drainage channel from the sandy plain south of Gebel Sul Hamid; but it is choked by huge accumulations of drift sand so that the drainage never reaches Wadi Di-ib, but accumulates in a depression called O Harbub, about four kilometres above its mouth. This channel, though very sandy, is quite a practicable road, as I found by traversing it on my way to Gebel Elba from Bir Meheriqa. The feeder from the west, which enters Wadi Di-ib about one and a half kilometres below Bir Meheriqa, is called =Wadi Salalob=; it drains the north face of Adar Aweib, and heads in a very steep pass into Wadi Wieqwer. I managed to get my riding camel over this pass only with difficulty when unmounted, and it is quite impracticable for loaded camels; the rise in the last kilometre before reaching the top of the pass from the direction of Wadi Di-ib is over one hundred metres, the summit of the pass being 315 metres above sea-level.

=Bir Meheriqa= is a spring situated in the mouth of a small gully at the foot of Gebel Balatitda, close to the east side of Wadi Di-ib, and practically on the same level as the wadi floor (120 metres above sea-level), so that it is extremely easy of access. The floor of the gully is covered with conglomerate of recent formation and in this are several holes with pools of clear water about one metre in diameter by twenty centimetres deep, which fill as fast as emptied. The water is rather salt, but is drinkable. The portion of Wadi Di-ib which lies among the mountains has a floor of sandy mud, with abundance of trees and plants, among which several gazelles were grazing as I passed through.

About six kilometres below Bir Meheriqa, Wadi Di-ib is joined from the west by Wadi Warabeit, which drains a rather large extent of high hills to the west and cuts through the hills north of Adar Aweib to reach Wadi Di-ib. This wadi forms the route to Bir Meisah from Bir Meheriqa via the well known easy passes of Bani Sana and Sarob Kwan; the total distance is about sixty-five kilometres.

Soon after receiving Wadi Warabeit, Wadi Di-ib gets into lower hill country, with great accumulations of drift sand. From near Gebel Tishushi Tiboki it receives the =Wadi Qumad Lim= from the north-west, and then after passing the extensive group of low hills of Tishushi it is joined by the Wad el Qireira, which drains a large area east of Hadal Aweib Meisah.

From its junction with Wad el Qireira to the sea, Wadi Di-ib is called by the special name of Wadi Kiraf. It is merely an ill-defined drainage channel coursing north-east across a great sandy plain for a distance of thirty-one kilometres to the sea, with only one insignificant feeder, =Halal Hendiyeb=, joining it from the westward close to the dark little hill called Einiwai. The Wadi Kiraf is almost barren, the great accumulations of sand about the lower parts of Wadi Di-ib probably absorbing most of the drainage. But to the west of the mouth of Kiraf there is quite a dense growth of bushes and trees, covering a large tract and visible from low hills at considerable distances. This locality is called =Shekra el Delam=; I did not visit it, but the Arabs say there is no wadi there, and it is possibly due to the drainage of Wadi Kiraf running below the surface of the sandy plain and being dammed back by the sea. A salt well, called =Bir Adal Deib=, exists close to the shore in the same locality.

Of the =Wadi Shendib=, only a few of the heads are situated in Egypt, Gebel Shendib being a mass of mountains cut through by the 22nd parallel. Collecting from the west face of the mountain group, a number of drainage lines unite, in the lower hills flanking the main mass, to form the main channel of Wadi Shendib, which courses westward through low hill country a little south of the 22nd parallel to join Wadi Di-ib. None of the heads have been surveyed in detail; their position is shown on the map from the statements of guides combined with the knowledge gained by triangulating fourteen of the principal peaks and sketching the mountain forms from a considerable distance. As the mountain peaks are of great height (the highest peak of Shendib, marked by an iron beacon, is 1,912 metres above sea) and frequently wrapped in clouds for days or even weeks together, it is probable that the heads of Wadi Shendib are very steep and convey considerable streams at certain seasons.

=Wadi Hareitra=, which lies just within Egypt, has likewise only been sketched in from a distance, but having been approached more closely its course is better known than that of Wadi Shendib. Its main head is nearly on the frontier, in longitude 36° 20′, between Gebels Shendib and Hanquf. From its head it makes a nearly quadrantal turn northward and westward, with a radius of about ten kilometres, among the mountains from which it receives tributaries, and then crosses the plain westward, turning south-west among low dark hills to join Wadi Di-ib after a course of about forty to forty-five kilometres from its head.

The unnamed drainage channel which is blocked by sand at =O Harbub= before reaching Wadi Di-ib heads in a tract of low hills with sandy interspaces about thirteen kilometres west of Gebel Elba; it receives no part, however, of the drainage of Elba itself, which goes northward by other more important channels. It is a broad and shallow ill-defined drainage line across the sandy plain, with very few trees, but its feeders from the low hill tract of Sul Hamid are less barren. The principal interest of this drainage line lies in its forming a convenient direct road from Bir Meheriqa to Bir Akwamtra and Halaib, being far less sandy, as well as shorter, than any alternative route round the north side of Sul Hamid. In using this road, one leaves the drainage line to the south on the plain, and skirts the hills of Sul Hamid till one reaches the flat sandy divide at the head of Wadi Eikwan, with the “Scragged hill” of Qash Amir in view. Here one turns eastward about four kilometres south of Qash Amir, and follows an easy pass into Wadi Siamtit, a small feeder of Wadi Yoider, whence tracks lead to Bir Akwamtra, Bir Kansisrob, and Halaib.

=Wadi el Qurat=, which joins Wadi Di-ib from the west in latitude 22° 8′, is a broad wadi with great abundance of trees. Its main head, which has not been surveyed in detail, appears to be in Gebel Shiab, about twenty-four kilometres above its junction with Di-ib, and the first part of its course is through a rugged tract of low hills. Before reaching Wadi Di-ib it is joined by the =Wadi Dibir=, and Wadi Hashimaiyib on the north and by =Wadi Oshqeq= on the south. The northern feeders are rather complex, owing to numerous anastomosings and cross-connexions in the low hill country between Gebel Mashushenai and Adar Aweib; but they contain abundance of vegetation and give good grazing grounds. The short Wadi Dibir heads in =Wadi Mashushenai=, part of the drainage of which it captures. Wadi Mashushenai is a little wadi to the south of Gebel Mashushenai, with a well, =Bir Mashushenai=, near its head; part of its drainage goes south to Wadi Dibir as above mentioned, while the rest continues as Wadi Mashushenai, flowing south-eastward among low hills for about five kilometres to join Wadi Hashimaiyib.

=Wadi Hashimaiyib= heads between Gebel Warabeit and Gebel Mashushenai. Curving round the north of Gebel Mashushenai almost in a semicircle, it runs south-south-east among low hills to join Wadi el Qurat after a course of about sixteen kilometres. Besides the Wadi Mashushenai above-mentioned, Hashimaiyib receives, just before entering el Qurat, the =Wadi Sinqinyeib=, which drains part of the west face of Adar Aweib and the hills west of it, with a length along its main channel of ten kilometres. There is an easy road up this wadi, passing close west of Adar Aweib into Wadi Wieqwer, a tributary of Wadi Warabeit; there is no actual pass, because the westward drainage of Adar Aweib actually splits, one part going north by Wadi Wieqwer, and the other south by Wadi Sinqinyeib.

=Wadi Warabeit= has its most important head at the easy and well known pass of =Bani Sana=, leading into Wadi Hamida. It is here a rather wide wadi, with a fairly rapid fall (about thirteen metres per kilometre), between the high hills of Gebel Hamida and those forming the south prolongation of Gebel Geror, and receives numerous feeders from either side. For the first six kilometres, it runs south-east; it then arrives at a small open space, where it is joined by eastward drainages from Gebels Hamida and Warabeit, and turns rather sharply to the east-north-east. After coursing in this direction for some five kilometres, it enters another open space, where it receives several feeders, the principal being the =Wadi Wieqwer=, draining northwards from the hills west of Adar Aweib. It then receives the =Wadi Kwileimidaiyeib= from the north, and cuts eastward through the hills to join Wadi Di-ib. The total length of the Wadi Warabeit from the pass of Bani Sana to Wadi Di-ib is nineteen kilometres, and in this length it falls from 335 to 113 metres above sea-level, so that its average slope is nearly twelve metres per kilometre. Both the wadi itself and its feeders are abundantly supplied with trees and bushes, while coarse grasses abound in places. Wadi Warabeit forms a convenient road from Bani Sana to Bir Meheriqa, being free from sand and well stocked with camel food.

=Wad el Qireira=, which joins Wadi Di-ib from the south-west to form Wadi el Kiraf, is really only the terminal portion of the more important Wadis Didaut and Baueiwai, which join to the north-east of the conspicuous dark hill mass called Ti Keferiai. It is a broad shallow drainage line across the sandy plain, with little vegetation. To the north of it, small hills are dotted over the plain, the most important being one of red granite, called Osnei, containing a galt which yields water for some time after rain. To the south are the low hills of Tishushi, partly smothered in drift sand.

=Wadi Didaut=, a feeder of the Wad el Qireira, commences its course south-west of the hill of Adar Aqdeib. One of its heads leads to the easy pass of Sarob Kwan, on the road to Bir Meisah. Another leads to a water source in the hills south of Adar Aqdeib, called =Megwel Didaut=, while a small feeder a little lower down, coming from Adar Aqdeib, also contains a water source called =Megwel Adar Aqdeib=. Both these water sources are within about half an hour’s journey from the main wadi. After passing Adar Aqdeib, Wadi Didaut curves round to the north, receiving feeders from the hills of Um Ein and Qara Saba to the south, then turns east-north-east, passing between the hills called Kikeiyet Sharqi and Kikeiyet Gharbi, and then between the red granite hills of Adatalob Adara and the black mass of Ti Keferiai to join Wad el Qireira. The total length of Wadi Didaut is about thirty-five kilometres, and its average slope is about eight metres per kilometre. Its upper parts possess abundance of vegetation, the beautiful flowering bush called Sarob being conspicuous in Sarob Kwan; but in its lower portions it becomes almost lost in drift sand. There is an easy open track from near Megwel Adar Aqdeib, passing between the high hills called Qara Saba and Gebel Um Ein, to the Wadi Baueiwai.

=Wadi Baueiwai= heads in the mountains south of Hadal Aweib Meisah. Numerous feeders from the mountains course across a tract, about six kilometres in diameter, of very low granite hills called Iarih Meisah; this tract is almost entirely shut in by mountains and high hills, with an outlet south-west of Gebel Um Ein. Through this outlet the main channel passes, and receives the =Wadi Miatit=, draining the mountains of the same name, from the south-west. Curving in a great sweep round the foot of Gebel Um Ein, Wadi Baueiwai turns north-eastward, passing close south-east of the hills of Qara Saba and Ti Keferiai to join the Wadi Didaut and form the Wad el Qireira. From the head of Wadi Baueiwai there appears to be an easy pass by the east side of Hadal Aweib Meisah into the heads of Wadi Meisah. A small feeder of Wadi Baueiwai, draining the north-east flanks of Gebel Um Ein, leads to a water source called =Megwel Um Ein=. Another feeder coming in from the west side of Qara Saba forms an easy route to Wadi Didaut, as already mentioned above. The principal other tributaries of Wadi Baueiwai are the Wadis Aqwem and Hamida. =Wadi Aqwem= is a broad and very sandy wadi coursing north-north-east along the west side of Gebel Nubitra, and reaching Wadi Baueiwai in about latitude 22° 18′; it leads to a water source called =Megwel Aqwem=, situated just south of the end of a long spur of high hills running out north-eastward from Gebel Miatit. Lower down its course Wadi Aqwem is fed by tributaries from the high hills east of it, one of which, the =Wadi Nubitra=, contains a well. This well, called =Bir Nubitra=, is said to yield only very small supplies; it is situated about three kilometres up the Wadi Nubitra, among high hills. One of the many heads of the small Wadi Nubitra leads northwards by an easy pass into the head of Wadi Hamida.

The =Wadi Hamida= heads in the mountain of the same name, and courses parallel to Wadi Aqwem, from which it is separated by a long ridge of high hills. About one and a half kilometres below its head at the easy pass into Wadi Nubitra above referred to, it receives a small gully from the east; by following up this gully, which is narrow and tortuous, for about a kilometre, one can reach a tiny spring called =Megwel Hamida=. When I visited it in April 1908, the spring was a mere trickle, very salt; a galt a little further up the gorge was dry at the same time, but bears signs of holding a useful store of water after rain. About three kilometres below the gully containing the spring, Wadi Hamida reaches an opening whence one can either go south-east for two kilometres to the easy pass of Bani Sana, or north-west through a gap in the longitudinal ridge which encloses the wadi on the left. Wadi Hamida itself, however, keeps straight on its course past Gebel Geror, and joins Wadi Baueiwai south-east of the hill of Ti-Keferiai. The heads of Wadi Hamida contain a fair amount of vegetation, but its lower parts are more barren and very sandy.

=Wadi Di-it= drains the north parts of the hill mass of Sul Hamid, and courses north-east to reach the coast independently about latitude 22° 29′. It has not been explored, and is of no great importance; vegetation in it is probably confined to its upper parts among the hills. Of its total course of about thirty-five kilometres, a large portion lies over the sandy coast-plain.

=Wadi Eikwan= is a broad shallow and sandy channel draining the high jagged hill called Qash Amir and the eastern parts of the low hill mass of Sul Hamid. Its head is about four kilometres south of Qash Amir, in the flat sandy plain. Taking at first a northerly direction past the west side of Qash Amir, it turns to the north-east further on and crosses the coast-plain to reach the sea only a little south of the mouth of Di-it. Its total length is about thirty six kilometres, and its average slope is about nine metres per kilometre.

=Wadi Yoider=, the next wadi to the east, is of considerable importance, as it drains the west portion of Gebel Elba and its heads are extremely rich in trees and other vegetation, while one of its tributaries contains a large well of good water (Bir Akwamtra). The main head of Wadi Yoider may be considered to be the wadi which bears the special name of =Wadi O Sir Hadal=, draining the south-west flanks of Gebel Elba and the north-west flanks of Gebel Hanquf, and heading in an easy pass close to the well of =Bir Salalat O Sir=, about 450 metres above sea-level. Wadi O Sir Hadal courses north-west between the mountain ranges for about eight kilometres, receiving a rather large feeder from the south about six kilometres below its head. It then emerges from the mountains and turns north among lower hills, here receiving the =Wadi Qeirat=, draining westwards from near the summit of Elba. A few kilometres further on it enters an open plain sloping rapidly downwards to the north, receiving the small and narrow =Wadi Siamtit= from between two high hill masses to the west. From here onwards Wadi Yoider courses in gentle curves a little north of east to reach the coast in about latitude 22° 27′. A well called =Bir Nabit=, situated in Wadi Yoider, a few hundred metres up from its mouth, is believed to yield only brackish water. In its journey to the coast Wadi Yoider receives several feeders from among the rugged granite hills of El Sela to the west of it, as well as the important =Wadi Akwamtra= from the north-east flank of Gebel Elba. The head of this Wadi Akwamtra is quite close to the summit of Elba, and its course is at first almost due west, afterwards changing to nearly north among the lower flanking hills, and dividing into two channels which re-unite lower down. =Bir Akwamtra=, one of the best water sources in the Bisharin country, is situated at an altitude of 330 metres above sea-level in the eastern channel of Wadi Akwamtra, about three kilometres up above the place where it leaves the hills. It is an excavation in the stony floor of the wadi. The water in April 1908 was about four metres below the wadi floor, and formed a pool about two metres in diameter in a wide open hollow which filled as fast as it could be emptied. The water was of excellent quality. There are two other wells a few hundred metres further down the same wadi; one of these contained a little water, while the other was dry, and only the principal well was being used. The floor of the wadi near and above the well is very stony, so that it is not a very good camping ground, and the Hamedorab Arabs pitch their tents of matting further down the wadi. When I visited the place there were numerous Bisharin Arabs at the well with their women and children, all busily employed in watering their flocks and herds and washing their clothes. The wadi, in spite of its stony floor, is literally full of large trees, principally acacias, so close together that laden camels cannot pick their way through them for more than a short distance above the well, and thousands of doves inhabit the trees. There are some ruins near the wells, built of boulders set in mud; they are said to have been erected by Dervishes in 1886, when they seized Halaib and Bir Akwamtra. These Dervishes were killed off by Egyptian troops, some of them being chased to Bir Meisah and shot there.

As the densely wooded and stony character of Wadi Akwamtra prevents camels from passing up it much above the well, I found it necessary, in order to pitch a camp within a reasonable distance of the summit of Gebel Elba, to descend Wadi Akwamtra for about a kilometre and to cross the Asut Duk pass leading east into the head of Wadi Yahameib. This pass is too steep for loaded camels, and even riding camels have to be led down it; baggage camels have to go round the hill spurs north of the pass. The head of Wadi Yahameib is also full of trees and scrub, but it is possible to get camels up within four kilometres of the summit of Elba by this route, whereas Bir Akwamtra is over six kilometres from it.

=Wadi Aideib=, with its principal tributary the Wadi Yahameib, drains the north-east portion of Gebel Elba and reaches the sea in about latitude 22° 21′. A well, called =Bir Abu Ramad=, is situated in the wadi bed not far from the sea; like that of almost all the wells close to the coast, its water is probably brackish. The main head of Wadi Aideib is on the east side of the main peaks of Elba. Coursing at first north-eastward, this drainage channel runs through an open sloping plain about one and a half kilometres wide between the mountain spurs, its channel here dividing into a great loop with numerous feeders from the ranges on either side. Passing west of the high isolated granite mass of Karam Elba, it runs northward over the sloping plain, receiving the Wadi Yahameib from the west near the low red granite hills called Ti Hamra, and then courses north of east to the sea.

=Wadi Yahameib= originates on the north-west flanks of Gebel Elba, where steep well wooded gorges unite in a steeply sloping stony plain, covered with trees and scrub, between two great spurs of the mountain. There is no pass at its main head, but just before it enters the plain there is a small feeder from among the hills to the west, by following up which one can get over a rather steep pass called =Asut Duk=; this pass forms a short cut for unladen camels between the wells of Kansisrob and Akwamtra, but is too steep for animals loaded with baggage. Curving round to the east, Wadi Yahameib is fed, just before it joins Wadi Aideib, by the =Wadis Akau= and =Kansisrob=, both draining the north parts of a great spur of Gebel Elba. Wadi Akau contains a small spring, called =Megwel Akau=, a short distance above its opening from the hills, while Wadi Kansisrob contains a great well of good water called =Bir Kansisrob=, a short distance up from its mouth. Bir Kansisrob is second only to Bir Akwamtra in importance, and there are usually many Bisharin camps in the wadi just below it. Like all the wadis draining from Elba, Wadis Yahameib and Aideib are full of trees and scrub and grasses; in going to the foot of Elba up the head of Wadi Yahameib with baggage camels, much more difficulty is caused by the closeness of the trees and scrub than by the stony nature of the floor. The Elba district is, I believe, the only place in the Eastern Desert of Egypt where vegetable growth is so abundant as seriously to hinder one’s caravan in approaching the mountains; for the progress of baggage camels to be arrested while still four or five kilometres from a peak by the steep and stony nature of the ground is common enough; but for the arrest to be due to trees and scrub was a new and interesting experience. Even the sand dunes on the west side of Wadi Yahameib are half-covered with coarse grasses, and look green instead of the usual yellow. When we could get no further with our camping equipment, Mr. Bakewell, who had been in South Africa, informed me that we were in what would be called in that country “open bush”; but in comparison with the rest of the desert the place was a jungle.

=Wadi Todhi= drains the high hills about Karam Elba. In the upper part of its course it flows north-east between Karam Elba and a range of lower granite hills called Mikeriba; emerging thence on to the plain, its drainage spreads out over a tract, called =Karam Hindi=, covered with trees, whence part drains to the Wadi Aideib while another part goes to the sea near Suakin el Qadim.

=Suakin el Qadim=, is a collection of mounds close to the sea a little south of latitude 22° 20′. Bent, who visited the place in 1896, found “nothing earlier than Cufic remains, unless the graves, formed of four large blocks of madrepore sunk deep into the ground, may be looked upon as a more ancient form of sepulture.” My native assistant reported there was no well at the place, nor anything of interest besides the graves.

=Wadi Delowa= is a small wadi entering the sea about six kilometres south-east of Suakin el Qadim. It originates in the low hill country near Mikeriba and flows north-east between the little red hill of Alafot and the low banks called Alafot Onqwab on the north and the granite hills of Kreishim and Taar Ara on the south.

=Wadi Serimtai= is an important drainage line, the main head of which is situated in the Sudan, probably near the great mountain of Asotriba. It enters Egypt in longitude 36° 22′, coursing northward between Gebel Hanquf and Gebel Shendodai, from which last-named mountain it receives a feeder called =Wadi Um Seyal=. After passing Gebel Shendodai it crosses a tract of low granite hills to the foot of Gebel O Sir Eirab, where it receives the wadi of the same name and numerous feeders from Gebel Hanquf. It then turns north-east, passing along the foot of the spurs of Elba, and north of the granite hills of O Wota and Abai Sis to reach the sea ten kilometres north-west of Halaib. About twenty-five kilometres up from its mouth, Wadi Serimtai contains a well called =Bir Sararat Serimtai=, which has, however, not been visited. The =Wadi O Sir Eirab=, an important tributary of Serimtai, drains the south flanks of Gebel Elba, coursing at first south-west and then turning sharply eastward. At the turn is a well in the wadi floor called =Bir Salalat O Sir=, 440 metres above sea-level, close to which is an easy pass leading into the head of Wadi O Sir Hadal, a tributary of Wadi Yoider. From its entry into Egypt to its mouth, Wadi Serimtai has a length of forty-five kilometres, and an average slope of twelve and a half metres per kilometre. It contains plenty of trees and scrub, especially in its upper parts.

=Mera Kwan= is a wadi draining north-eastward from Gebel Shendodai and entering the sea a little north of Halaib. It has not been surveyed in detail, but as it drains from high mountains it doubtless contains plenty of vegetation, especially in its upper parts. The lower half of its course is rather sandy, passing among low hills on to the coast-plain.

=Halaib=, the only permanent village on the Red Sea coast of Egypt south of Qoseir, is situated in latitude 22° 13′ 25″ N., longitude 36° 38′ 56″ E. The name of the place is pronounced locally Oleiyib, and though I have retained the established European spelling as given on the charts, none of the natives would recognise the name if pronounced in its Europeanised form. Its most conspicuous buildings, and the only ones composed of masonry in any form, are a fort and a block-house; there are a few rude wooden shanties, mostly built of timber which has been cast up on the beach, but the bulk of the population live in little reed huts and tents of matting. Halaib is the headquarters of a small police force under the command of a moawen, the men being lodged in the fort. The fort, which stands about forty metres from the sea on low ground, is an irregular octagon in plan, about ten metres in diameter by six and a half metres high. As its top is only eight metres above the sea and there are low banks west of it, the fort is not very conspicuous as one approaches it from the landward side, but being whitewashed and open to the sea it is a good landmark for sailors in the neighbourhood. It has two flagstaffs, from which the British and Egyptian flags are flown on Fridays. The fort is entered by a ladder, the floor forming the police quarters being about three metres above ground. Below are water tanks, and above a trap door gives access to the roof, which is carried on iron rails and plastered over with stucco. The roof vibrates too much for it to be used as a triangulation station, and observations here were taken from an eccentric point on the ground and afterwards reduced to centre. The block-house is a smaller rectangular structure, whitewashed, situated on a low bank about 400 metres south-west of the fort. A small jetty, built of coral, runs out from near the fort far enough for a small boat to get alongside.

There are five wells at Halaib, all within a few hundred metres of the fort. The water is very hard, and exerts a very strongly aperient action on those unused to it, though the Arabs of the place consider it very good. A small Government garden near the fort contains a few small date palms, but there is no other cultivation. There is a sort of bazaar, where one can buy clothes, sugar, dates, fat, etc., but the supplies are small and there was no flour to be got when I was there. Eggs can be purchased from the Arabs, who possess a few fowls, and excellent fish can be got very cheaply from the fishermen. For a daily wage of eight piastres a fisherman supplied me with as much fresh fish daily as I and my men could eat. Sheep can be got from the hills at a day’s notice, a good fat one costing L.E. 1. Firewood has to be brought in from the mountains, and any European making a stay at the place would do well to send to Bir Kansisrob or Bir Frukit for pure water at the same time. The people are very friendly, but only a few speak Arabic. There is a kuttab where boys learn to read and write Arabic under the tuition of a sheikh from Suakin, so that Arabic may perhaps be more spoken after another generation.

There are two islands a little north of Halaib, both low and sandy. The larger one, called =Geziret Halaib el Kebir=, is nearly triangular, with sides about three and a half kilometres long. It can be reached easily by wading across a narrow channel in low states of the sea. On it is the grave, marked by a wooden cross, of Lieut. Stewart, R.N., who lost his life in a fight with Dervishes here in 1886. The smaller island lies further north; it is called =Geziret Kwolala= on account of its nearly circular shape.

Halaib possesses an excellent harbour, though it is sometimes difficult of access to sailing vessels owing to the direction of its entrance. It is visited occasionally by Coast Guard cruisers as well as by small trading boats from Suakin. On enquiry of the local sailors, I found most of the names given on the Admiralty Charts of this district to be unknown to them. For example, Abu Dara, Sherm Alueda, Ras Abu Fatma, Elba Island, Ras Jazriyal, and Cape Elba were all unknown. Abu Dara was called by the natives Shekra el Delam, while Elba Island was called Geziret el Dibia, and Cape Elba is locally known as Ras Hadarba. I obtained the following names for the small anchorages north and south of Halaib, though I could not locate them exactly on the maps, as the sailors could not read a map sufficiently well, and the harbours themselves are mere gaps through the outer coral reef, not visible indentations of the actual coast-line. Starting from Bir Adal Deib and going southward, Mersa Abu el Qâsim is near the mouth of Wadi el Kiraf; a big tree forms a landmark for entering it. Further on is Mersa Harâba, then Mersa Abu Naam with an island opposite to it, then, after passing Ras Unbilat, comes Mersa Yoider, at the mouth of Wadi Yoider, where there is a well called Bir Nabit. Passing Abu Ramad well in Wadi Aideib, and Suakin el Qadim, one comes to Mersa Aqwetit, then to Mersa Serimtai, at the mouth of Wadi Serimtai, opposite the island of Kwolala, and then to Mersa Halaib itself. South of Halaib the principal anchorage is Mersa Shellal, at the mouth of Wadi Shellal. The cape in latitude 22° 10′ is called Ras Qubet Isa. A small anchorage south of Ras Hadarba (Cape Elba) appears to be called indifferently Mersa Hadarba (from the hills near it) or Mersa Qabatit (from the wadi and well near it); but I could not make quite sure if these are one and the same, or two separate anchorages.

=Wadi Shellal= heads between the high mountain masses of Gebels Shendodai and Shellal, and courses north-east for about thirty kilometres to reach the coast about four kilometres south-east of Halaib. In its lower part, where it crosses the coast-plain, it is a broad shallow drainage channel full of scrub. Its upper parts, which have not been explored, are doubtless well supplied with trees, and are stated to be the principal habitat of the Hamedorab Arabs.

=Wadi Aqilhoq=, which drains the eastern parts of Gebel Shellal, courses about parallel to Wadi Shellal a few kilometres further south. It contains a well, =Bir Frukit=, about twenty kilometres up from its mouth, near some dark conspicuous foot hills called Gebel Balatitda. This well yields a constant supply of very good water, and is the place where I sent for my water supplies in commencing my return march to Port Sudan. The position of the well as shown on the map is only approximate, but its direction having been pointed out with the alidade by guides from two plane-table stations, I believe the location is pretty nearly correct.

=Wadi Aqwei= drains east of north from among the foot-hills east of Gebel Shellal, and enters the sea four kilometres west of Ras Qubet Isa. Where I crossed it two kilometres from its mouth it was a broad shallow wadi with plenty of scrub, dividing round a low but conspicuous gravel bank before reaching the sea.

=Kreit-reit-or= is a similar wadi to that last mentioned, coursing north-eastward over the plain from among low hills, and entering the sea five kilometres south-east of Ras Qubet Isa. About two kilometres south of Kreit-reit-or, at a distance of three and a half kilometres from the coast, and thirty metres above sea-level, are the bitter wells of =Ti Kureitra=. These are four wells, sunk about twelve metres deep in the gypseous strata which here underlie the sand and gravel of the coast-plain. The wells are lined with slabs of selenite. The water is so strongly purgative that a number of my Arabs who drank of it were made extremely unwell, and the wells are chiefly used for watering the flocks of sheep which graze in the neighbouring valleys.

From the group of conspicuous though not very high hills called Gebel Hadarba, ten kilometres west of Ras Hadarba (Cape Elba) many drainage channels cross the coast-plain towards the sea in a direction north of east. Some of the drainage lines form the north side of the hills reach the sea east of Ti Kureitra wells; but others lose themselves in a quicksand called =Kuatianai=, or “the devourer,” which covers a large triangular space of about twenty square kilometres about the cape. At the actual cape, rocks are visible at the coast, and the quicksand, so far as I could judge from a distance, appears to be really a lagoon, filled with the sand washed down from the hills. The Arabs state that camels wandering on this sand get swallowed up; the colour of its surface is distinctly darker than the rest of the plain.

On either side of the 22nd parallel, near the sea are low gravel-covered banks of calcareous grit, seventy metres high in places, and through these pass several broad wadis draining from the low hill country further west. The chief of these wadis, called =Wadi Qabatit=, enters the sea at a well defined inlet of the coast called Mersa Qabatit. A well, =Bir Qabatit=, is situated in the bed of another drainage channel a little south of the main wadi, one and a half kilometres south-east of the mersa and 3·85 kilometres south of the 22nd parallel. The ground at the well is only five metres above the sea. The well is a big excavation in the wadi floor, and its water surface is about at sea-level. To me the water tasted decidedly salt, but the Arabs say it does not purge them.

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