THE LIBYAN DESERT

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4744, 29 August 1924, Page 2

THE LIBYAN DESERT

LOST OASES DISCOVERED.

VALUABLE EXPLORATION WORK. Hassanein Bey, First Secretary of the Egyptian Legation in Washington, has just been presented with the Fournier’s gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society, the highest honour that can be awarded for exploration, and the most coveted by explorers ail over the world. Singlehanded, and for the first time, he crossed the south, not by the regular caravan route, followed by the Bedouins, but by an unfrequented route which led to his discovery of two hitherto unknown oases in the heart of the desert, the oases of Arkenu and Ouenat. He also corrected the position of the district of wells north if Kufra and the Kufra oasis itself. For the last forty years both have been placed wrongly on the maps, the first being a hundred kilometres out and the second forty. Two thousand two hundred miles were covered in the six and a half months’ camel trek. The journey has been described by Dr. John Ball, the head of the Desert Survey of Egypt, as an almost unique achievement In the annals of exploration. Hassanein Bey brought back a complete survey qf the route he followed, and accurate positions of the oases he discovered and others which had been placed wrongly on the maps. He also has a collection of geological specimens, a valuable set of photographs, and a einomntograph film which will shortly be shown to the public. ROCK DRAWINGS OF ANIMALS. Hassanein Bey, who hap been staying in London, gave some impressions of his journey across the Libyan desert to a representative of “The Observer.” “The great thing that struck me,” iie said, “was the extraordinary change that hap taken place in the desert. Only forty-five years ago, when the intrepid German explorer Rohlfs went to Kufra, there were vast patches .of grass in the desert which are now dry brushwood, and have been so for the last few years. “At Ouenat, the second oasis I discovered, I came across very interesting rock drawings of ostriches, giraffes, and other animals. The absence of the camel seems remarkable. Nowadays one cannot reach these oases from any point except with a camei. and neither giraffes nor ostriches can live there now. It would be interesting to know the date of the drawings. Was the camel not known at all to the inhabitants of these parts of Africa at the time the drawings were made, or was the nature of the desert different from what it is to-day ; was there more grass, and other animals of burden used? Many of the treks of. old routes in the Western desert of Egypt point in a direction towards Ouenat, and it is probable that the route from the Mediterranean coast to Central Africa in ancient times was through Ouenat, and not through Kufra, as it is now. This may afford a valuable link for archaeological research. “The discovery of the oasis is important. because on acount of water being known to he there future explorers will have more scope for their work in that part of the desert, especially as they have been located accurately on the map by astronomical observations. And, incidentally, the presence of these oases in Egyptian and Soudanese territory may prove useful for patrol work. Their inhabitants are of the black tribes of Tebu and Goran. Though they live from day to day on the verge of starvation, they are nevertheless very happy people. DIFFICULTIES OF THE TREK. “Sandstorms were the’ great difficulty at the beginning of the journey. They are a real dnager if one is going on a trek with no landmarks,- especially if the gale is facing one; it is then very difficult to keep one’s bearings and follow the route. "The trek from Ouenat to the hills of Ei di was the most difficult of the whole journey. At one time it looked as though the caravan was to end its progress here. It was a ten days’ trek without water, and we were caught by the heat wave, which badly affected the camels and the men. The guide was also not sure of the route, as he had not been there for several, years. However, we managed to pull through. "Towards the end of the journey, after getting over the long waterless treks, accentuated by the summer heat, we had to cope with the difficulty of the ground which had then become very rocky and broken. The camels were dead beat, and it required great vigilance on the part of the men of the caravan to see that none of them slipped, “It is often said that the Bedouin is unnecessarily a fatalist, but no one can live in the desert during long treks- -and here I am speaking of my own experience of the Libyan desert —without being a fatalist. The desert has? a great charm - and fascination, but it can also be terribly cruel. It is when you see the camels walking with their heads drooping from exhaustion and thirst, when your guide answers your question about the route with a vague and hopeless ‘God knows best,’ and your map is a blank, when your water is scarce, and there is no isign o' the next well, when you scan the horizon and it is the same hazy line between the sky and the sands whicl evei way you look, it is then the traveller feels in need of the help of some Power bigger than the desert itself to help him out of his difficulties.”

Hassanein Bey is shortly publishing a book of his journey. It will be the first book of the desert written in English by a man of the desert.