CHAPTER X
AT THE OASIS OF JALO
JALO is one of the most important oases in Cyrenaica. It lies about 240 kilometers from the Mediterranean at its nearest point, beyond Jedabia, and about 600 kilometers from Kufra, which is directly south. The oasis is not only the largest producer of dates in all the province, but it is the trade outlet for the products of Wadai and Darfur which come through Kufra. Everything from the outside world that goes to Kufra passes through Jalo.
“The desert is a sea,” said El Bishari, a prominent chieftain of the Majabra tribe, “and Jalo is its port.” It was at the height of its importance something like thirty years ago when El Mahdi maintained the Senussi capital at Kufra. In those days caravans of two or three hundred camels came and went between Jalo and the south each week, but when I was there the traffic had shrunk to less than a tenth of that. In summer, however, it is swollen by the demands of the date harvest.
HAWARIA, A LANDMARK OF KUFRA
It can be seen for hours before arriving at Kufra, and once it is sighted the caravan is safe
There are two villages at Jalo, over a mile apart, Erg and Lobba. Between and around them are scattered the date-palms in picturesque profusion to the number of nearly a hundred thousand.
Twelve miles to the west lies Aujila, which is the ancient oasis mentioned by Herodotus as famous for its dates. In Aujila is the tomb of Abdullahi El Sahabi, who is reputed to have been a clerk of the Prophet Mohammed. Whether such is actually the case is somewhat problematical; but at least the prophet did have a clerk named Abdullahi El Sahabi, that Abdullahi did come to North Africa, and the tomb of a man of that name is found at Aujila. Many a tradition has been based on flimsier evidence. The story is told that the Grand Senussi found the body of Sahabi buried in a remote spot, and forthwith saw in a vision the spirit which had once inhabited the body.
“Dig up my body,” said the ghostly visitor, “put it on a camel, and go forth. Where the camel halts, there you shall build my tomb.”