The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume X, No. 6 [‎107v] (67/186)

606
A JOURNEY TO SIWA IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 1896.
shut up within its walls, and all they see of the world is from slits at the top of the
harem town walls. Eock and wall rise some 50 feet above the plain. Ihe gates
and passages leading up into it are cut in the rock. The women never come out,
and after sunset every man has disappeared within.
At the foot of this wall—in the first square through which runs the canal are
the booths where the men spend most of their day, that is, such time as is not
taken up by the cultivation of their gardens. The archway by which I entered
the inner or Government square is close to the wall; between this and the square
runs a narrow street, in which are the few shops of Siwa. Behind Government
house—a building which juts out into this square—a doorway in the circular wall
leads up the rock-cut steps into Eckman Haboom house, which is then reached by
a passage cut upwards through the rock. This square is surrounded on three sides
by small square yards fenced in with palm branches. Here the dates are heaped
up after having been dried in the square. As you face south with the town before
you, a conical-shaped rock rises to your right. The gardens stretch to the east,
and at some little distance stands Mahomet Said’s country house, where I should
have been entertained had I stayed another day; but as under no circumstances
could I see the inner town, and that by staying I laid myself open to the most
constant questionings, I preferred leaving the next day, and returning by a different
route. I wandered about the rest of the afternoon, spending some time in the outer
square, where all commercial business is transacted. Here the merchants (Tugars)
from Alexandria bring their tea and sugar, those of Banegharsi their dried meat
and balra (Arab shoes), for exchange.
I gave as a reason for starting the next morning, that it was important I should
stop the advancing army by carrying to it as speedily as possible the good news
of their submission; but I had some difficulty in getting off, and was glad to find
myself fairly on the road.
Our way took us back across the lowlands covered with “ halfa ” grass, which
stretches 3 miles across from hills on the north to sand-dunes on the south. We
had chosen the northern track by the hills going into Siwa; we now returned by
the southern. At about 4 p.m. we reached the Salt plain. The salt la)' about in
great white slabs that might have been mistaken for ice. The ground was broken
up into small pools of clear water glistening on beds of crystallized salt as white
as snow. The great dried blocks on all sides spoke of a time when the whole
plain must have been under water.
That evening we encamped near one of the Senoussi gardens. These sauya of
Senoussi are to be found in almost every oasis. They are cultivated by blacks,
slaves of Senoussi. They form little colonies of about a hundred, and are
bound to provide food for any passing member of the sect. The dates lie in
heaps under the trees ready for those who will help themselves. Every Arab may
take food for himself and his camel, but is not allowed to buy them for sale in
Egypt.
We filled our skins at a rush-covered spring. The smell of the decaying
vegetation around is terrible, and taints the water, which would otherwise be
good.
W bile we were filling our skins, one of the blacks passed by driving cattle to
one of the grass-covered hollows, of which we passed many on our onward journey.
He seemed astonished to see me, but said nothing. It was on this, our second day
from Siwa, that Dau admitted his ignorance of the route for which I had engaged
him as guide. He implored me to return the usual way, but it would have been
awkward if the English colonel had reappeared on the scene, having missed his
army; so I decided to push on, trusting to our being able to follow the track of