We Rode One Hour And Three
Quarters In A Straight Line Northwards, After Passing, Close By The
Town, Several Mounds Of Rubbish, Which Afford No Object Of Curiosity
Except A Few Large Stones, Supposed To Be The Ruins Of Clysma Or
Arsinoë.
We then turned eastwards, just at the point where the remains
of the ancient canal are very distinctly visible:
Two swellings of the
ground, of which the eastern is about eight or ten feet high, and the
western somewhat less, run in a straight line northwards, parallel with
each other, at the distance of about twenty-five feet. They begin at a
few hundred paces to the N.W. of high-water mark, from whence northwards
the ground is covered by a saline crust. We turned the point of this
inlet, and halted for a short time at the wells of Ayoun Mousa, under
the date trees. The water of these wells is copious, but one only
affords sweet water, and this is so often rendered muddy by the passage
of Arabs, whose camels descend into the wells, that it is seldom fit to
supply a provision to the traveller, much less for shipping. We rested,
at two hours and three quarters from the wells, in the plain called El
Kordhye [Arabic].
April 26th.—We proceeded over a barren sandy and gravelly plain, called
El Ahtha [Arabic], direction S. by E. For about an hour the plain was
uneven; we then entered upon a widely-extended flat, in which we
continued S.S.E. Low mountains, the commencement
WADY WARDAN
[p.471] of the chain of Tyh, run parallel with the road, to the left,
about eight miles distant; they are inhabited by Terabein. At the end of
four hours and a half we halted for a few hours in Wady Seder which
takes its name of Wady only, from being overflown with water when the
rains are very copious, which, however, does not happen every year. Its
natural formation by no means entitles it to be called a valley, its
level being only a few feet lower than that of the desert on both sides.
Some thorny trees grow in it, but no herbs for pasture. We continued our
way S. b. E. over the plain, which was alternately gravelly, stony, and
sandy. At the end of seven hours and a half we reached Wady Wardan
[Arabic], a valley or bed of a torrent, similar in nature to the former,
but broader. Near its extremity, at the sea side, it is several miles in
breadth; and here is the well of Abou Szoueyra, which I have already
mentioned. The Arabs of Tor seldom encamp in this place, but the
Terabein Arabs are sometimes attracted by the well. During the war which
happened about eight years ago between the Towara and the Maazy
Bedouins, who live in the mountains between Cairo and Cosseir, a party
of the former happened to be stationed here with their families. They
were surprised one morning by a troop of their enemies, while assembled
in the Sheikh’s tent to drink coffee.
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