THE SUAKIM-BEEBER ROUTE.

Kumara Times, Issue 2662, 19 March 1885, Page 2

THE SUAKIM-BEEBER ROUTE.

A cablegram this afternoon states that it is expected the British troops at Suakim, under Major General Graham, will next week advance against the rebels under Osman Digna, near Suakim. This will be with the view of inarching on to Berber, the nearest important town on the Nile to that seaport. The following description of the route from Suakim to Berber will prove of interest as being also the route which the Australian contingent will be required to take on landing at Suakim, unless they be kept for garrison duty at the port:— The country to be threaded from Suakim to Berber is, by all accounts, extremely trying during the hot season, which begins about March. Different estimates of the distance have been formed. Sir Samuel Baker computes it at 280 miles, which he accomplished in fourteen days with camels. This was also the time occupied by Dr. Sohweinfurth. The toilsome march is carried over great elevations mostly exposed to the sun, though shelter is sometimes reached. The height above the sea, three hours'journey out of Suakim, is 695 feet; and this is increased to 1785 feet when, between seven and eight hours’ march from the starting point, a Tamarisk wood is gained. In something under twelve hours, the caravan caches Wady Teekke which is 2Q30

feet above sea level. Theu, rising to 3033, the road lies through the first Attaha pass, and it then descends somewhat to the pools in the valley between the two Attahas. The highest pass, that of the second Attaba, which is 3415 feet, is next surmounted, and again there is a descent, as Upper Wady Gabel is reached. Sinkat, memorable as the place of slaughter, the summer cam]) in the great valley of Okwa, is the next point; and a conspicuous elevation along this road between mountain fastnesses is the hill of Erkoweet, 5499 feet in height. O-Mareg, the summer camp in the valley, has a height of. 3188 feet; and three hours to the west of this, in front of the pass, is the small Wady, near to which are the wells in Wady Amet. Five hours west of these wells the elevation on the southern slope of the mountain O-Knrr is 2635 feet. Thence the heights are as follow : Small Wady, an hour west of Wady Arab, 2427 feet; grassy Wady, west of Wady Arab, an hour from the great khorbed, 2501 feet; near the wells in Wady KametAtai, 2412 feet; several camping places, one being Wady Kokreb; after which is the great Wady, an hour westward, 2155 feet; and after this elevations mostly fall beneath 2000 feet. A valley of acacias lies near the wells of Roway, and there are bush forests near other wells, rain-pools, and camping-places. The town of Berber (el Mekherif) is 30 feet above the highest level of the Nile, or 1368 feet above the sea. Camels, it is well known, can march for three days without taking water, being provided by nature with the power of storing the fluid. With horses, it is necessary to push on from well to well, the intermediate distance varying from thirty to fifty miles, or even more. By good feeding a forced march of fifty miles a day might be possible, though with a certain loss of horses, and perhaps of men. Marching during the cool hours of night may he practicable, and will be necessary if Berber is to be reached in six days. The route is not more difficult for cavalry than for infantry to travel. Indeed, those travelers who have made the journey on horseback as well as on camels regard a foot march as a trial almost beyond human endurance. But the task, though an arduous one, has been accomplished by a European, Mr Vizetelly, the artist, who accompanied Hicks Pasha’s unfortunate expedition, and who is supposed to be a prisoner in the Mahdi’s camp, marched on foot every step of the way.