The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume X, No. 6 [‎106v] (65/186)

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A JOURNE1T TO SIWA IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 189*3.
The manners of my host and his guests were, however, if not cordial, perfectly
courteous.
There were several round tables placed down the middle of the room, candles
burned in candlesticks, all of which had been imported from Cairo at a fabulous
cost. Lamps of olive oil were also about the room. The food was more than
abundant. A whole sheep stuffed with rice, raisins, and pistachio nuts; soup r
chicken, vegetables, succeeded each other. Then came trays of delicious fruit—the-
trays made of woven date-fibre; the fruit, delicious black grapes, figs, a small
variety of water-melon, sweet lemons, pomegranates, and mandarins. Our host
did not sit down, but directed the servants, who were most likely slaves. There
is still some traffic in slaves from Kura, the price of one of these being a small
roll of blue and black cloth, such as the natives wear. I fancy most of the Siwans’
dislike of admitting Christians to their town is the dread that their slave trade
will be interfered with. There was no conversation during the meal, for any
one to talk would have meant a disregard for the other more important function
of eating.
After a long dinner we rose and washed our hands in brass basins, with water
poured out of ewers. Then all sat on the divans round the room. A servant then
walked round, showering rose-water over us so liberally that another had to follow
with a towel and wipe us dry, and while he did this a third stifled us with incense.
This unpleasant ceremony cost our host a large sum, for rose-water imported from
Egypt becomes of fabulous value, and the servants were unpleasantly liberal in
dispensing it. The conversation was carried on in Arabic when they addressed
either Maha Bey or me, but in Berber—of which neither he nor I understood a
word—when they spoke among themselves. We had English to fall back on when
they were sufficiently engaged to leave us alone. My tent meanwhile had been
pitched close to;Maha Bey’s, and I slept in all security, watched over by his sentinels.
Next morning Maha Bey, kindly wishing to show me as much of the place as he
could, found a reason to visit the tombs and the villages of Menchiha, some H
mile from Siwa. As we crossed the canal beyond the first square, I caught some
of the small fish. They positively swarm, even in the puddles on its side.” Once a
year the poor of Siwa have a grand fishing, and catch enormous quantities to feed
on. Threading through the outskirts of the town, I saw a few poor houses. The
children I saw, and one woman, who came out of a doorway and gave me water
kindly enough, were all black, and I suspect these are slaves.
The Siwans themselves, though darker than Beduins, have nothing of the
negro about them. They are of Berber race, and their faces are long and lean
cheek-bones very prominent, eyes dark. Their expression is forbidding°; lank and
wiry, they look as if they could endure any hardship.
We reachedlthe tombs first. They were hollows cut in the rock, said to be
made by the Eomans. They were quite empty, though a few bones could still
be seen lying about. Maha Bey had found these tombs the resort of all that
was disreputable in Siwa, and had had them emptied. From report, Siwan morals
are of the lowest, even in native eyes; so we will hope that he did good work. We
went on to the village Menchiha, a curious little town built high up on a rock
some 5° feet high.. As at Ghanhara and Siwa, at night the gates are shut and the
inhabitants safe within the walls. Their gardens spread out all round in lovelv
vegetation. Five springs of different temperature flow from the rock and irrigate
the gardens. This water is quite sweet, and the women come down and carrv it un
into the town above—an arduous task. 1
, 8heiks received u s most kindly, showed us their beautiful gardens—of
which they were justly proud—and then gave us a luncheon of fruit, most delicious-