Part 5

Of all the questions asked by intending travellers in the Libyan Desert, none is more frequent than that as to the most likely whereabouts of undiscovered oases, and especially as to the possibility of finding the mysterious “Zerzura, or Oasis of the Blacks.” Hitherto the only aid which I have been able to render to such inquirers has been to acquaint them with the various statements which have been made by Arabs at different times as to the situation of Zerzura, with the routes which have been followed by others (including myself) who have sought in vain for it, and with the indications of old tracks which have been encountered by these previous travellers. So contradictory have been the various Arab statements, and so numerous the vain attempts to find the place, that I have at times felt almost convinced that “Zerzura” is a myth. But Owenat and Merga were little more than traditions until a year or two ago, and I think there is a sufficient possibility of the existence of undiscovered springs or oases to encourage a further look- out being kept for them, more especially as a consideration of the general surface-contours and static water-contours which are now available may furnish a new aid in the matter by narrowing down the field of search.

As regards Arab traditions concerning Zerzura, the earliest account of them which I have been able to trace is that of Sir Gardner Wilkinson in his ‘Topography of Thebes and General View of Egypt,’ published in 1835, p. 359. Wilkinson’s book is now rather scarce, and his statement concerning Zerzura is so short that I quote it in full:

“About five or six days west of the road from el Hez to Farafra is another Oasis, called Wadee Zerzoora, about the size of the Oasis Parva, abounding in palms, with springs, and some ruins of uncertain date. It was discovered about nine years ago (_i.e._ about 1826) by an Arab in search of a stray camel, and from the footsteps of men and sheep he there met with, they consider it inhabited. Gerbabo, another _Wah_, lies six days beyond this to the west, and twelve days from Augela; and Tazerbo, which is still farther to the west, forms part of the same Oasis; and they suppose that Wadee Zerzoora also communicates with it. The inhabitants are blacks, and many of them have been carried off at different times by the Moghrebins for slaves; though the “Vallies of the Blacks,” a series of similar Oases, lie still farther to the west.”

In footnotes he adds:

“It is supposed that the blacks, who invaded Farafreh some years ago, and kidnapped a great number of the inhabitants, were from this Oasis.

“By another account Zerzoora is only two or three days due west from Dakhleh, beyond which is another _wadee_; then a second abounding in cattle; then Gebabo and Tazerbo; and beyond these is Wadee Rebeeana; Gebabo is inhabited by two tribes of blacks, the Simertayn and Ergezayn.”

Particular interest attaches to Wilkinson’s account of the tradition, not only because of its being the earliest, and therefore less likely to be coloured by imagination than later versions, but also because of the remarkable fact that although some of the other places named in the above extract were unknown to European geographers at the time, they have all since been discovered; “Gebabo” and “Tazerbo” by Rohlfs, and “Rebeeana” by Mrs. Forbes and Hassanein Bey.

The weak point in the account is the loose Arab way of stating directions. Gebabo (Kufra) is not _west_ of the Baharia-Farafra road, but south-west. If we amend the bearing in the first account accordingly, and take Zerzura at about midway between the Baharia- Farafra road and Kufra, it must lie near the intersection of the parallel of 26° with the meridian of 26°, or some 200 kilometres east of the Mehemsa Hattia, and some 150 kilometres north-west of Rohlfs’ “Regenfeld” camp. In the second account given by Wilkinson, the words “due west” suggest that the bearing is more certain. Two or three days (say 120 kilometres) due west of Dakhla would put Zerzura in about latitude 25½°, longitude 27½°, or about 30 kilometres north of Rohlfs’ “Regenfeld.” There is thus a difference of more than 100 kilometres between the two positions indicated by the accounts given to Wilkinson.

Rohlfs evidently knew of the traditions regarding Zerzura before making his attempt to reach Kufra from Dakhla in 1874; and since such an intermediate oasis, if it really existed, would be an immense aid to him in attaining his objective, he made careful inquiries concerning it before leaving Dakhla. But he found that though every one in Dakhla knew the names of Zerzura and Kufra, no one could tell him where Zerzura was, nor how far it lay from Dakhla.[27] Evidently Rohlfs placed little faith in its existence, for during his journey he gave the name “Zerzura” to a locality, about 120 kilometres west-south-west of Dakhla, where he found nothing but very sparsely scattered vegetation.[28] Ascherson, who was with Rohlfs in Dakhla, was however informed by Hassan Effendi, one of the principal inhabitants of Mut, that about a hundred years before (_i.e._ about 1770) there had been frequent raids on Dakhla by Arabs from the south-west; and that in order to stop these raids the Mameluke Government of the time installed a military colony, called the Surbaghi, in the village of Qalamun. These Surbaghi went out and destroyed all the wells for seven or eight days’ distance along the road by which the raiders had come. This road, which up to that time had served as a trade route from Darfur, before the road through Kharga was opened, was in consequence forsaken. The road was said still to exist, and to lead into the desert from Mut. At a day-and-a-half’s journey from Mut there were said to be two “pillars,” half an hour’s distance apart, which Hassan Effendi’s guard likened to minarets. In the neighbourhood there were said to be large stone-quarries, and about thirty years previously an iron instrument had been found; the instrument was still in Hassan Effendi’s possession, and some wonderful stories had grown up as to the manner of its use.[29]

Ascherson himself believed this information of Hassan Effendi’s to be substantially correct, but he thought the “pillars” might be merely pinnacle-shaped natural rocks. I am likewise inclined to believe it trustworthy, but I think the “wells” may have been merely water- dumps—that is, collections of jars of water. My reason for this view is twofold. In the first place, the ground-levels in that part of the desert are so far above the static water-level, that if wells were bored they would have to be very deep, and the water would not rise anywhere near the surface (there can, of course, be here no question of local rainfall as a source for the water in the “wells”); and in the second place, it seems very probable that the accumulation of large broken earthenware jars which I discovered in 1916 at the place I named “Pottery Hill” (latitude 24° 26′ 27″, longitude 27° 38′ 54″) is one of the dumps in question.[30]

The importance of the above interpretation of Hassan Effendi’s story, if accepted, as I think it must be, lies in the proof which it furnishes that there cannot possibly be an undiscovered oasis anywhere near a point seven or eight days from Dakhla in the direction of Kufra. A consideration of the static water-levels and the contours of the ground would lead us to this conclusion if the views I have advanced on the underground-water question are correct; but the fact that the raiders would never have made such a large water-dump if water could have been readily got from a well in the vicinity makes the conclusion almost certain independently of my hypothesis, and thus incidentally tends to support the latter. Is it possible that “Zerzura,” which I am told signifies in Arabic a starling (but is commonly applied to any small bird), is here a corruption of some other name derived from “zeer,” a water-jar, and that instead of “the _oasis_ of the blacks,” Zerzura was really “the _water-depôt_ of the blacks”?

Schweinfurth has recorded[31] a story which was told him in Kharga Oasis, that in 1872 some Arabs of a Darfur caravan, who had missed the road, found a small oasis about 1½ days’ journey to the west of Beris. The oasis was said to contain pools full of wild geese, date-palms, and a temple. People who went out of Beris to find the place returned unsuccessful. I am, however, rather inclined to think that the story has some basis of fact, because in 1898 I myself found springs and traces of ancient conduits in the dunes north-west of Beris, and there may be other water-sources beyond the point which I reached.[32]

A writer in the ninth edition of Murray’s ‘Guide to Egypt,’ published in 1896, gives the following different statements of Arabs as to the position of Zerzura:

(1) Some days south of the Dakhla Oasis.

(2) Five days west of Farafra Oasis.

(3) Three days west of Dakhla Oasis.

(4) Two or three days west of Selima Oasis.

The first of these statements would correspond sufficiently well with Bir Terfawi, which is about 280 kilometres due south of Dakhla Oasis; the second would place Zerzura about in latitude 27°, longitude 26°; the third corresponds with the second account given to Wilkinson; while the fourth would place it far to the south-west, in latitude 21½°, longitude 28°, or rather less than halfway between Bir Terfawi and Merga.

Mr. Harding King, who in his journeys in the Libyan Desert in 1909 and 1911 devoted much attention to the collecting of native information regarding its geography, thinks that “Zerzura” may possibly be only a generic name applied to any mythical or undiscovered oasis.[33] He heard the name applied to the following localities:

(1) Rohlfs’ “Sersura.”

(2) The “Egyptian Oasis,” said to have been seen by an Arab from the top of a high black hill lying in the dune-belt ten long days by ordinary caravan from Kharga. Another Arab is said to have seen what is possibly the same place eight days somewhere to the south of Dakhla. Both these accounts agree that the place is a large oasis lying at the foot of a scarp and containing olive trees.

(3) A stone temple eighteen hours’ journey west of Gedida in Dakhla Oasis.

The information given to Mr. Harding King as to the position of the “Egyptian Oasis” would place it about in latitude 23°, longitude 28½°, or only some 50 kilometres north-west of Bir Terfawi; in fact, considering the vagueness of the information, it might correspond fairly well with Terfawi itself, except that there are no olive trees at Terfawi, nor is that place overlooked by any escarpment or hill. The “high black hill in the dune-belt” may just possibly be one of those I mapped near the farthest point I reached with Moore in 1916, in about latitude 24°, longitude 26°, though this would imply a direction south- west of Dakhla, not south. It is not likely to be Gebel Kamil, as that mountain lies much nearer to Merga than to Dakhla.

The “stone temple,” according to the information given to Mr. Harding King, would be about 80 kilometres west of Dakhla Oasis, in about latitude 25½°, longitude 28°, or not very far from the second of the positions indicated by Wilkinson for Zerzura. But I think it is likely that the statement really refers to the “Deir el Hagar,” a well-known temple ruin much nearer to Dakhla.

So much for the various statements as to whereabouts Zerzura _may be_. Let us now inquire where it is _not_. On the map I have indicated the principal routes followed by explorers of the southern and western parts of the Libyan Desert during the last fifty years. We may be tolerably certain that Zerzura is not on, or very close to, any of these routes; for although a depression within a kilometre or so of one’s track may easily be passed without notice, the existence of a large oasis, such as most of the traditions make Zerzura out to be, would almost certainly be betrayed to an explorer by animal-tracks leading to it from considerable distances, except possibly in places where the ground was very sandy.

[Illustration: _Pottery Hill from the south: at foot, petrol and water supplies of Prince Kemal el Din’s Expedition of 1923_]

[Illustration: _Jars at northern foot of Pottery Hill found by Prince Kemal el Din in 1923_]

[Illustration: _Jars, worn away by sand-laden winds, found by Dr. Ball in 1917 at southern foot of Pottery Hill_]

There is another method now available to us by which we may narrow down the search for Zerzura or other “lost” oases; and that is, by a consideration of the general contours of the country and those of the static water-surface. Every oasis in the Libyan Desert must owe its existence to one or other of two conditions: either it must depend on springs fed by local rainfall, in which case, like the oases of Owenat and Arkenu, it probably lies near to mountains of considerable height; or else it must depend on underground supplies, and must therefore lie in a depression wherein the ground-level and static water-level are practically coincident, as in the cases of Kharga, Dakhla, Farafra, Baharia, and Siwa. It is highly doubtful whether any mountain masses at all approaching the altitude of Arkenu and Owenat can remain undiscovered in any of the various areas in which Zerzura has been traditionally placed. Zerzura is immensely more likely to be in a depression, and indeed Wilkinson’s name _Wadi_ Zerzura almost conclusively points to that view. The depression is more likely to be shallow than very deep, for it presumably lies in the sandstone country of the south-west, and all the known depressions of great depth are confined to the limestone country of the north-east. It is quite easy to trace out on our new map the areas wherein the static water-surface would be reached by a depression of say 50 or 100 metres below the general ground-level as indicated by the contours. We must, however, remember that our ground-contours are liable to be considerably in error in areas where observations have been few—that is, in precisely those areas where the depression, if it exists, is most likely to be found. So we must allow a good margin for our depth, and I have chosen 100 metres on this account. On the map I have drawn the “locus” of points in the southern part of the Libyan Desert where the static water-surface is 100 metres lower than the general ground-surface[34]; and I have edged with red the only areas in the west and south in which the two surfaces are within 100 metres of each other—that is to say, the areas within which comparatively shallow depressions with underground springs _must_ lie, if our contours of the two surfaces are drawn with even approximate correctness. It will be seen from the map that this restricts the search very considerably. In fact, if Zerzura is within the frontiers of Egypt, it lies in all probability either to the west of longitude 26° 20′ and north of latitude 26°, or to the east of longitude 27° and south of latitude 23° 30′. We may dismiss from our field of search all the broad tract of rising ground which extends from near the Dakhla escarpment south-westwards towards Owenat; for unless Zerzura is in a depression of great depth, it cannot possibly lie within this tract. This consideration shows that most of the previous rough estimations of the possible position of Zerzura must have been erroneous; and indeed it is remarkable how few of the various explorers’ tracks traverse the only two areas within which Zerzura, if it exists, almost certainly lies. The northern area has only been crossed by the Rohlfs expedition of 1874, and that near its eastern edge; while the western part of the southern area has only been crossed by Prince Kemal el Din’s expedition of 1925. Of all the Arab traditions, only those which would place Zerzura far to the west of Farafra, or far to the south-south-west of Dakhla, can now have any high degree of credibility. It can hardly, I think, be doubted that the various traditions refer to more than one place; and in view of the almost totally unexplored state of the only two areas in which our new contour-maps indicate the possibility of unknown oases existing, it is quite conceivable that at least one oasis may lie within each of them. In the northern area, Siwa would probably make the best starting- point from which to conduct a search, as it is easily reached by motor- car from Alexandria or Cairo, and exploratory journeys southwards from Siwa would mostly lie along the direction of the dune axes. In the southern area, Terfawi or Sheb would form the best base for exploration; at each of these places there is a good water-supply. I am inclined to think that the southern area is more likely to yield results than the northern one. Water was found to exist at a point some 15 kilometres west of Terfawi, and though no other source was observed on the way to Owenat, it was impossible to see very far on either side of the track, so that such a source might have been passed within a few miles without notice. Terfawi itself is very difficult to find, being inconspicuous even when one is fairly close to it; and as it is in a sandy area, tracks leading to it are soon obliterated. Another factor which favours this southern area is that, the country being all Nubian sandstone, the depth from the surface to the actual water-bearing beds (as distinguished from the depth to the static water-surface) is certain to be much less than in the northern area, where Cretaceous strata may overlie the sandstone; hence there is more likelihood of the existence of natural springs in the south than in the north.

9. _Can Travel in the Great Tracts of the Libyan Desert which are now Waterless be facilitated by the Sinking of New Wells?_

It has sometimes been asked whether tracts which it is now difficult or impossible to cross by camel, owing to the non-existence of wells or natural springs within them, might possibly be opened up to transport by the sinking of new wells along a proposed route, as has in fact been done by the Senussi in the case of the well at Sarra, between Wanianga and Kufra. Hitherto there have been no data from which to form an opinion on this question; but a study of the new map will enable at least a qualified answer to be given.

To be a practicable proposition, a new well must fulfil two conditions: the first, that the boring must not be required to descend to a very great depth; and the second, that the water when struck must rise in the bore to within a reasonable distance, say 20 to 30 metres, of the ground-level at the place. The first of these conditions will be satisfied if the geological horizon of the water-bearing bed is comparatively near the surface; the second, if the level of the static water-surface in the locality is within 20 or 30 metres of the ground- level.

As regards the first of these conditions, we know that the water-bearing beds underlying the Libyan Desert are situated within the geological formation called the Nubian sandstone. We may therefore eliminate from our consideration all tracts in which this formation is overlain by any great thickness of younger rocks, for all these rocks will have to be passed through in order to tap the water-bearing strata.

Concerning the second condition, our map at once informs us that the areas in which the static water-surface is within 20 or 30 metres’ depth below the ground-level are decidedly limited. Even if we suppose that there may be unknown depressions extending to a depth of 70 metres below the general level of the country indicated by the contour-lines, we see that the localities in which the second condition would be fulfilled are confined to the tracts edged with red on the map. Outside these tracts, not only have we no chance of discovering oasis-depressions, but we also have no prospect of being able to bore wells in which water would rise to within a reasonable distance of the ground-level. Thus the broad tract of rising ground which extends south-westwards from Dakhla to Owenat must always remain a waterless waste.

In the Egyptian portion of the Libyan Desert there are, as will be seen from the map, only two areas in the west and south in which new wells might successfully be bored: one extending for some 300 kilometres or so to the south of Siwa Oasis in the neighbourhood of the western frontier, the other extending for some 400 kilometres westward from the Nile in the neighbourhood of the southern boundary. Fortunately, however, these areas are so situated that wells sunk within them might be of considerable use in opening up the outermost parts of Egypt to exploration. A well near the western frontier about on the parallel of 26°, for instance, might make it just possible for cars or camels to reach Owenat directly from Siwa, since it would divide the present waterless stretch of 830 kilometres into two stretches of about half that length; while one or two wells near the southern frontier between the meridians of 27° and 28° would render Owenat fairly accessible to camels coming from the Nile _viâ_ Terfawi or Sheb, and might be of great use to explorers or geologists desirous of making a detailed investigation of the Owenat and Arkenu region. From the little I saw of Gebel Owenat during my visit to it in 1925, its geology must be of extreme interest. The south-western part of the mountain appears to be entirely composed of granite and other crystalline rocks, while the eastern part presents huge cliffs of sandstone, with crystalline rocks showing only at the foot; there is evidently a great fault traversing the mountain mass, with a downthrow to the east; and the thickness of Nubian sandstone exposed on the eastern precipices is greater than that at any other place I have seen.[35] Gebel Kissu probably resembles the south-western part of Owenat in being entirely composed of crystalline rocks.[36] East of Gebel Owenat there are many igneous hills, some of which exhibit bands of a dark brown colour. These bands, though probably mostly igneous dykes, may possibly in some cases be the gozzany outcrops of veins containing metallic minerals; I had no opportunity of examining them at close quarters, but I saw enough to make me long for facilities to undertake such an examination.

It may be remarked that a well in the northern area would probably have to be very deep, owing to the comparatively high geological horizon of the surface rocks there; but in the southern area, where the Nubian sandstone forms the surface rock, no great depth of boring would be likely to be required in order to tap the water-bearing beds.