Chapter XV: Some Economical Aspects of the Oasis

The Staple Crops of the Oasis — Rice the Summer Crop in Northern Kharga — The Value of Rice in the Reclamation of Land — The Date Harvest — Conditions under which the Date-Palm flourishes — Varieties — Propagation — The Doum-Palm — Lucerne — Its Value in Land-Reclamation — The Vine — Oranges and Other Fruits — The Wadi Molûk — Earthy Minerals — The Ancient Alum Mines — The Phosphatic Deposits.

The staple crops of the oasis are dates, rice, wheat, and barley, while for fodder large quantities of lucerne are grown. It seems at first sight a curious anomaly that in an arid region, where water is so scarce and precious a commodity, rice should be grown as the summer crop. Few, if any, plants require such an abundance of water as rice, which from the time of sowing to that of reaping has to be continually irrigated by fresh water, the fields being, indeed, during the whole period that the crop is on the ground, in a constant state of saturation. Rice does not thrive in stagnant water, and it is noticeable that the best crops in the oasis are raised on lands which have a decided slope, and over which fresh water can be kept constantly running. The proper irrigation of a rice-field is a matter of no small difficulty, and the ingenious manner in which the oasis cultivator lays out his irrigating channels and subdivides them by means of notched weirs, so as to insure every portion of the crop getting a continuous supply of fresh water, is well worthy of close examination.

In the Nile Delta, according to Sir William Willcocks,[13] rice requires about twice as much water as the other commonly-grown crops, but in the oases I do not think I am mistaken in saying that it needs three times as much as any other grain. Rice appears to have been grown from time immemorial, and certainly at the present day the inhabitants would as soon think of giving up their date-trees as of replacing it by any other crop. Now, however, that facilities exist for the export of farm-produce to the Nile Valley markets, it will be interesting to observe whether rice will to any extent be replaced by more valuable crops.

In Upper Egypt the summer crop is largely durra millet (sorghum), but this plant does not thrive in the oasis, though whether on account of an uncongenial soil or owing to unsuitable climatic conditions I am unable to say. It has frequently been tried—in fact, small areas are annually planted, but never produce crops—at any rate, in the northern part of Kharga—in any sense comparable with those of the Nile Valley. The very fact that durra cannot be satisfactorily grown suggests a probable reason why rice, the least valuable of the Egyptian cereals, and the one requiring most water, is so universally grown in Northern Kharga. Rice, as is well known, will grow on land containing a proportion of salts which would be injurious, or even fatal, to the majority of crops, and will at the same time exercise a beneficial and cleansing effect on such land. The growing of rice may therefore have come about through the actual necessity for a periodical cleansing of land, which would otherwise have become salted to a sufficient extent to adversely affect other crops grown on the same ground. At the present day, barley and wheat alternate with rice.

The thorough and prolonged soaking to which land is subject when under rice is in itself of considerable value to succeeding crops, and in the reclamation of heavy clay-lands in the Headquarters district my experience has been that as a first crop there is nothing to equal this cereal. In many cases, indeed, it was found to be the only crop which could be at all satisfactorily raised on new lands with only a moderate application of manure. A good tilth, moreover, is far more rapidly obtained than when other crops are grown, the difference in the second and third years between lands which have and have not had rice on them being most marked.

I was much surprised to find that rice is not grown in the southern districts of the oasis, with the exception of a couple of small areas near Dakhakhin. Extended inquiries failed to elicit satisfactory reasons for this remarkable difference from the practice followed in the north, the universal reply to my questions being that they, the inhabitants, in not growing rice, were merely following the custom of their ancestors! I noticed, however, that durra was grown on a much larger scale than in the north of the oasis, and that the crops in some cases reached a fairly good standard. It seems probable, therefore, that in this part of the depression the soil is of higher average quality, so that the land, renovated by the annual deposition of a fresh layer of wind-borne sand and clay-dust in the manner already described, does not need a periodical cleansing by rice. This, at least, is the only satisfactory explanation which has occurred to me.

The harvesting of the date-crop in September and October is the most important event of the year in Kharga Oasis. A large portion of the crop is exported to the Nile Valley, the Bedawin becoming traders for the time being, and transporting the produce across the desert by means of camels. There are over 60,000 adult date-palms, the chief palm-groves being at Kharga, Gennâh, and Bulaq in the north, and at Beris in the south. The selling-price in the oasis fluctuates to some extent, but averages twenty piastres a ‘weba’ of between 60 and 70 pounds, the weight of a weba varying considerably according to the moistness of the fruit and the astuteness of the man entrusted with the measuring. The price works out roughly at 4 pounds for threepence.

In a book[14] entitled “The Great Sahara,” published nearly fifty years ago, Canon Tristram gives a very full account of the cultivation of the date-palm in North Africa. The date-palm (_Phœnix dactilifera_) is a tree specially characteristic of the Sahara, where the climate is marked by deficiency of rainfall and by considerable variations of temperature. Although it flourishes best in rainless regions, the date-palm will not fruit unless its roots are well watered; it must, indeed, as the native proverb puts it, ‘have its head in the fire and its roots in water.’

In Egypt there are about fifty varieties of date-palm the chief kinds in Kharga Oasis being the Saîdi, Tamar, Fâlig, and Hamrâwi. The Saîdi dates of the oases are generally considered to be superior in flavour to almost any other Egyptian variety, and have in consequence a ready sale in the Nile Valley. The other varieties are not exported to any great extent, except, perhaps, the Fâlig; the Tamar, while producing a heavier crop than the other kinds, yields fruit of comparatively poor quality, which is on that account almost entirely used for home consumption. The Hamrâwi trees are very limited in number, but produce fruit of large size and excellent flavour; Hamrâwi dates are, however, I believe, regarded as having bad keeping properties.

Dates are met with of almost every variety of colour except pure black or white. All the different kinds ripen at or about the same time—in the early part of September. A tree will bear from eight to ten bunches, each carrying from 12 to 20 pounds of fruit, so that in full bearing it will yield from 100 to 200 pounds of dates annually. The fruit exported from the oases, being entirely disposed of in the native markets of the Nile Valley, is packed and sewn up without any special care in palm-leaf baskets. For local use small quantities of selected fruit are frequently preserved in a moist state in earthenware jars.

Date-stones cast on the ground and accidentally buried under an inch or two of soil will germinate freely, but the resulting plants are of little use. Not one in a hundred will turn out of the same variety as its parent, so that plants raised from seed must in the great majority of cases be regarded as bastards, of no value as fruit-producers. In Kharga all new trees are raised from slipped plants—that is to say, from the young shoots which spring up at the butts of the parent trees. These are detached and planted out separately on new ground. The greatest care has to be taken to protect them from hot winds and sandstorms, and they must be watered daily for a number of weeks after being planted. Growth is very slow for the first two years, and even under the most favourable conditions the trees will not commence to bear fruit for five or six years. Date-palms come into full bearing when from twenty to twenty-five years old, and may live to a century or more. Every year the lowest ring of branches is cut off, so that the age of a tree can be fairly accurately ascertained by counting the rings of notches on the stem. The wild, unkempt, weather-beaten trees occasionally met with in outlying, uninhabited portions of the oasis have a very different appearance from the trim, erect palms of the cultivated areas.

In the oases and in other parts of Egypt a fermented liquor called ‘lagmi,’ with a peculiar insipid taste, is obtained by making a deep incision in the top of the date-palm, the liquid oozing out and being collected in a vessel, generally made of the rind of a gourd. As much as 10 quarts can be obtained in a day, and the tree may be bled once or twice a month without sustaining any harm; the operation may, in fact, prove of considerable benefit to a sickly palm. A very strong spirit—date-brandy—is also made from the fruit.

Tristram records that the heart or cabbage of a date-palm, which in taste is said to resemble the sweet potato, is eaten by the natives when a tree falls or is blown down. The uses to which the leaves, fibre, and wood of the date-palm are put are innumerable, and include the manufacture of such diverse articles as baskets, mats, ropes, and saddles.

The doum-palm, or gingerbread-tree, flourishes in a semi-wild state in many parts of the oasis, more especially in the tract of country lying between Gennâh and Bulaq. The fruit is brown and mealy, and, in localities where the trees are properly tended, is said to be very nutritious, and to resemble gingerbread in taste and colour. In some parts of the Sahara the spongy internal portion of the nut forms an important article of food, and when mixed with an infusion of dates constitutes a cooling drink much valued for use in cases of febrile disorders.

Although pasture or grazing lands can hardly be said to exist in the Western sense of the term, lucerne is very commonly grown in Kharga to provide a supply of green fodder for cattle. The plant seems to be peculiarly adapted to the local conditions, and is often kept on the ground for long periods, the crop providing very frequent cuttings and improving from year to year. It is seldom or never grazed direct, probably for the reason that cattle are apt to pull the plants out by the roots, the ground on which it best thrives being very loose and sandy. In the reclamation of new lands, where the soil is deficient in organic matter and nitrogen, this leguminous plant has been found to be of very great value. Excellent results were obtained at Headquarters on desert surfaces which had never previously borne vegetation. On the more sandy areas the plant quickly established itself, becoming in the second year an even and strongly-growing crop from 18 inches to 2 feet high, yielding heavy cuttings every few weeks. For benefiting a poor soil by the introduction of nitrogen from the atmosphere probably nothing could be found to excel lucerne, which, judging by the numerous and well-marked nodules formed on the roots, acts as a most efficient host-plant for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. My attention was first drawn to these nodules by Mr. D. Milne, who was formerly in charge of the agricultural work at Headquarters, and both he and my present assistant, Mohammed Said, an Egyptian agriculturist of wide practical experience, have formed a very high opinion of the utility of lucerne in the reclamation and fertilization of raw and new desert soils.

In ancient days the vine was extensively cultivated in the oases, and under the Romans there appears to have been a considerable trade in wine. At the present day excellent oranges, as well as apricots, mulberries, and olives, are grown in both Kharga and Dakhla, but only in comparatively small quantities, though the soil and climate appear to be eminently suited to the cultivation of fruit-trees.

Cotton cannot be said to be cultivated in the oases, as the very occasional plots one meets with are evidence that its culture is not understood by the natives, who aim at the production of wood rather than fibre. Experiments made at Headquarters, however, show that many Nile Valley crops not hitherto grown in Kharga, such as cotton, sugar-cane, and beans, can be successfully raised without difficulty.

There exists in the possession of His Excellency Johnson Pasha, formerly of the Egyptian Ministry of Justice, a curious old Arabic document, purporting to describe the so-called Wadi el Molûk, or Valley of the Kings, a depression or valley in which, according to tradition, large quantities of gold, silver, and other precious metals exist. The place is described in true Oriental fashion, and the manuscript relates in detail how the route, starting from an old monastery in the neighbourhood of Esna, proceeds. According to the information given, the Wadi el Molûk would appear to lie somewhere within the desert triangle between the points Esna, Aswân, and Beris, but although a number of more or less serious attempts have been made to discover its whereabouts, this El Dorado has not yet been located. Judging by the geological conditions—so far as they are known in the area in question—one might, with equally good chances of success, search for metalliferous deposits of gold and silver in the Weald of the South of England.

Earthy minerals exist in the oasis of Kharga, and appear to have been extensively mined by the ancients in some localities. Deposits of ochre occur near several of the wells to the east and south-east of Kharga village, notably to the west of Ain Aid, to the west of Ain Khalîl, and to the north of Ain Girgâwi. The best occurrences are to the south of the Gorn el Gennâh, in which district the ferruginous waters of certain wells have deposited thick banks of ochre along their channels.

The sulphates of aluminium and magnesium are widely distributed in the oasis, though the deposits are seldom of sufficient extent to repay extraction. They occur as thin bands in the shales and sandstones of the surface-water series, seldom exceeding a few centimetres in thickness, and being generally of very limited horizontal extent. The alum, which is often found in beautiful fibrous or hair-like crystalline masses, is frequently of a delicate rose tint, and analysis shows the colour to be due to the presence of small quantities of cobalt. Epsomite (Epsom salts or hydrous sulphate of magnesia) is also found in fibrous crystalline seams, a remarkably pure deposit, containing several hundred tons, having been quite recently located a few kilometres west of Headquarters.

In the foot-hills to the north of Bellaida, at the base of the eastern slopes of Jebel Tarif, and in the hills immediately to the west of Qasr Lebekha, ancient mines of the most extensive description are to be seen. The rocks in these localities consist of variegated sandstones and grits, many of the beds being so dark and ferruginous that the hills, as a whole, have a blackened and almost volcanic appearance. They are literally honeycombed with ancient workings, many of which, both in the form of large chambers and narrow tunnels, penetrate for long distances underground. Huge dump-heaps mark the entrances of the workings, and bear witness to the enormous quantities of ‘country’ rock removed in the winning of the useful mineral. The rude shelters built by the miners are to be seen in the immediate vicinity, and in many cases are still intact.

The extent and magnitude of the underground workings prove that whatever the mineral mined, it was a substance of considerable value in those days; and an examination of the blind terminations of the tunnels occasionally reveals the presence of very thin seams of aluminium sulphate, which, in the absence of indications of other useful minerals, we must conclude was the substance sought. The bands of alum were evidently followed until they thinned out to a fraction of an inch, or disappeared altogether.

A reference to the geological sequence will show the stratigraphical position of the phosphatic series of the oasis, consisting of hard bands composed of fish-remains, coprolites, and phosphatic nodules. The beds have a wide extension in Northern Kharga, and are especially well developed on the flanks of Jebel Tarwan and Jebel Têr, in the centre of the depression. As a rule, they consist of an upper brown-coloured series, individual beds of which in places have a thickness of 2 or 3 metres, and a lower division consisting of three or four thin, hard, and lighter-coloured bands, in which the phosphatic nodules are often cemented by iron pyrites. The upper bands may contain anything up to 60 per cent. of tricalcium phosphate, so that the deposit may be regarded as of considerable potential value.