Chapter V (2)

=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,[96] 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=[97] 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=,[98] 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.[99] 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.