The Oases of Arkenu and Ouenat.—One of the most interesting and important results of Hassanein Bey’s expedition is the confirmation of the real existence of the oases of Arkenu and Ouenat, and a fairly exact determination of their positions and altitudes. There has long been a tradition that two oases existed in or near the southwestern corner of Egypt. Thus the map of Africa on a scale of 1:4,000,000 published by Justus Perthes of Gotha in 1892 shows an unnamed small oasis and well in Lat. 21° 51′, Long. 23° 3′, and another “uninhabited oasis,” also unnamed, about 48 km. due east of it in Lat. 21° 50′, Long. 23° 29′. Both these oases were doubtless placed on the map from vague Arab statements; they appear not to have been previously visited by any explorer, and indeed their very existence was so doubtful that they have not been shown on the maps either of the English or of the French General Staff.

I have not been able to trace any published reference to the existence of Arkenu, but that of Ouenat has been mentioned in recent papers by Mr. Harding King and Lieutenant-Colonel Tilho. In Mr. Harding King’s paper of 1913[9] on “The Libyan Desert from Native Information,” he states that he heard of a place called “Owana” or “Owanat,” about half-way along a road from Merga to Kufra, where there is a well and green grass after rain. The map appended to his paper shows that Mr. Harding King’s estimate of its probable position was Lat. 21° 37′, Long. 24° 45′, which differs by nearly 130 km. from the nearer of the two oases shown on the above-mentioned German map.

Lieutenant-Colonel Tilho, who carried out exploratory work in Tibesti, Erdi, Borkou and Ennedi in 1912-17, mentions[10] “the still unknown massif of El Aouinat, situated approximately between the 22nd and 23rd degrees of latitude north and the 24th and 25th degrees of longitude east,” and a route he heard of from Aouinat to Merga.

Hassanein Bey’s observations give for the positions and altitude of his camps at Arkenu and Ouenat:

Lat. N.Long. E.Meters above sea
°′″°′″
Arkenu221232244415598
Ouenat215229245416616

Thus Ouenat is only some 34 km. from where Mr. Harding King guessed its position to be from his guide’s statements, but it is outside the somewhat wide limits of latitude indicated by Lieutenant-Colonel Tilho, and is nearly 150 km. from the place marked “uninhabited oasis” on the German map; while Arkenu, which is presumably the small oasis marked to the west of the “uninhabited oasis,” is now proved to be some 180 km. from where it is shown on that map.

It may be remarked that Arkenu is well within the boundaries of Egypt, while Ouenat is a short distance over the boundary, in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.

The principal interest in these places lies in the possibilities they open up for further exploration of the southwest corner of Egypt, which has hitherto been inaccessible to military patrols, and even to the boldest of explorers, by reason of the absence of any certain knowledge as to the existence and position of permanent water-supplies. Now that Arkenu and Ouenat are exactly located, with the existence of drinkable water in reasonable quantities, it may be possible for a traveler from Egypt to reach them and procure the necessary water-supplies for his return journey. I say it may be possible, for there are still great difficulties about access to Arkenu and Ouenat from Egypt, although both the compilers of the German map and Mr. Harding King were informed that an old track to Egypt runs from Ouenat. According to Mr. Harding King’s informant, the track runs to Dakhla Oasis, which is a distance of some 600 km. through a waterless desert, and consequently the journey between the two places is a very formidable undertaking for camels, even in winter; while the suitability of the ground for motor-cars, especially in the mountainous region round the oases themselves, is as yet unknown.

An interesting feature of Arkenu and Ouenat is that they are not depressions with underground water-supplies, like all the other oases of the Western Desert of Egypt, but mountainous areas where the water is dependent on local rainfall and collected in natural basins in the rocks.[11] The Nile Valley in the same latitudes has practically no rainfall, but here, some 700 km. westward into the Sahara, there is sufficient rain to maintain perennial though limited supplies—at Ouenat even sufficient for the needs of a settlement of some one hundred and fifty Badawi—and at certain seasons to provide grazing for animals in the valleys and lowlands. The ground-level in this region is high (six hundred meters above sea-level), but the mountains near the oases rise to heights of over eleven hundred meters above the sea, and it can hardly be doubted that the rainfall is connected with the orography, the mountains attracting or helping to form clouds. In this connection it is worth noting that in the more open country further south, as well as in that to the north, the absence of vegetation shows that rainfall is evidently much scarcer than in the mountains around the oases; also that Ouenat, where the mountains are higher than at Arkenu, possesses better and more abundant water. The conservation of the water through the dry season is partly conditioned by the almost impermeable nature of the crystalline rocks composing the mountains, and partly by the sheltered position of the pools in the rocky gullies, which diminishes evaporation.

The full extent of the mountains of Arkenu and Ouenat is not yet known, but they cover at least 1000 square km. Hassanein Bey’s main route lay along the western feet of the masses, so that their western limit is ascertained, as also their north and south extension; but their eastern limits in Egypt are unknown, and it is not yet certain whether there may be a continuous chain of hills connecting the two masses to the east. Hassanein Bey made a round reconnaissance extending some 40 km. eastward of his camp at Ouenat, without reaching the limits of the mass. The mountains are visible from great distances from the north and south, Arkenu having been sighted from at least 60 km. north, and Ouenat remained visible for at least the same distance on the track southward from it. There is a possibility that the mountains may be less conspicuous to a traveler approaching from the east, owing to their breaking up into smaller hills and the ground on that side of them being higher and falling away gradually toward the Nile; but this must remain uncertain until further exploration is undertaken.