I Saw A Great Quantity Of Petrified Wood Upon
One Of These Hills, Amongst Which Was The Entire Trunk Of A Date Tree.
April 22d.—From Onszary we travelled E. by S. for one hour, and then E.
At the end of
Three hours, the hilly country terminates, beyond which,
in this route, no petrified wood is met with; we then entered upon a
widely extended and entirely level plain, called by the Bedouins El
Mograh [Arabic], upon which we rested after a march of five hours and a
half. While we were preparing our dinner two ostriches approached near
enough to be distinctly seen. A shot fired by one of the Arabs
frightened them, and in an instant they were out of sight. These birds
come into this plain, from the eastward, from the desert of Tyh; but I
never heard that the Bedouins of this country take the trouble of
hunting them. The plain of Mograh is famous for the skirmishes which
have taken place there, for the caravans that have been plundered in
DAR EL HAMRA
[p.462] crossing it, and for the number of travellers that have been
murdered on it. In former times, when this desert was constantly over-
run by parties of robbers, the Mograh was always chosen by them as their
point of attack, because, in the event of success, no one could escape
them on a plain where objects can be distinguished in every direction to
the distance of several hours. Even at present, since the route has been
made more secure by the vigilance of the Pasha of Cairo, robberies
sometimes happen, and in the autumn of 1815 a rich caravan was plundered
by the Arabs Terabein.[These Arabs, under their Sheikh Abou Djehame
[Arabic], made an excursion about the same time over the mountains
towards Cosseir, and plundered a caravan of pilgrims and merchants who
were going to Kenne. The Sheikh was seized on his return by the Maazy
tribe and carried to Cairo, where he remained a year in close
confinement, and after having delivered part of his booty into the
treasury of the Pasha, was released a few days before I set out.]
The desert of Suez is never inhabited by Bedouin encampments, though it
is full of rich pasture and pools of water during winter and spring. No
strong tribes frequent the eastern borders of Egypt, and a weak
insulated encampment would soon be stripped of its property by nightly
robbers. The ground itself is the patrimony of no tribe, but is common
to all, which is contrary to the general practice of the desert, where
every district has its acknowledged owners, with its limits of
separation from those of the neighbouring tribes, although it is not
always occupied by them.
In the afternoon we proceeded over the plain, and in eight hours and
three quarters arrived opposite to the station of the Hadj, called Dar
el Hamra which we left about three miles to the north of us, and which
is distinguished by a large acacia tree, the only one in this plain.
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