Proceeding still in a westerly direction, we came to the telegraph posts and the beginning of the route leading through the desert, which now lay unrolled before us. This road is the same by which we came to El Harish. Ruins of old buildings, asserted by the inhabitants to date from the time of the crusades, strewed the ground in every direction. In some cases the foundations might be clearly traced. It is said that old coins are still found now and then under the ruins. From the numerous aloes growing, it is perhaps to be inferred that graves once existed at this spot. A good view is obtained there of the place and its surroundings, including the sea and the verdant edge of the palm wood near it.
The lazaretto is a wretched building, with a flagstaff and two houses projecting on the two sides. The entrance is from the side fronting the road towards Syria. In the rear is a yard, containing a small garden but no supply of water, which has therefore to be brought from the Wadi. The houses are of the same character as those of El Harish generally, but slightly more European in style. In the larger lives the deputy commissioner, the smaller being occupied by his adjutant, who is a remarkable example of the mixture of races so common in this country. His father was a Dalmatian, whose family came from Sebenico, and he himself was born in Egypt of a Nubian mother, being therefore almost a mulatto. He was educated in Dalmatia, and is a Christian.
The quarantine processes do not take place in the building, but are performed in tents, which are kept in readiness on the premises, and erected as occasion requires.
From the lazaretto we proceeded in the afternoon towards the sea, which is beyond the beautiful palm plantations, and not more than half-an-hour's ride from El Harish. Our path first brought us to the Koubba of Nebi Gasser (see illustration). This is a quiet burial-place planted round with dark green tamarisks, strongly contrasting with the yellow sands, which again are well set off by the background of sea and sky. The repose and peace of this little spot are intensified by the neighbourhood of the vast expanses of desert and sea, which here meet as though to rival each other.
KOUBBA OF NABI GASSER.
Upon the hill of the Koubba, fragments of old masonry lie scattered about. In the interior of the somewhat large building, the door of which bears an Arabian inscription, is a conical cupola upon four roughly constructed arches. To the right, on entering, is the tomb of Nebi Gasser, over which is a canopy of green cloth upon a framework of wood. To the left is that of one of his followers. There are in the sand, on the land side, many traces of graves, which may be known by the aloes growing near. In many places a piece of marble column or of stone still projects, but it cannot be long before all such vestiges disappear under the ever advancing sands. At the side of the Koubba is an old tamarisk of the thick-leaved sort, called by the people Atel, those with the thin leaves, of which there are many examples here, being known as Tarfa.
Going eastward from the Koubba of Nebi Gasser, we soon reached the broad Wadi, which still brings water down from the hills. It may be crossed either close to the sea-shore, or at a shallower spot not far distant. To the left of the Wadi are many vegetable gardens, with numerous wells. The large palm wood lies to the right of the Wadi, and stretches down nearly to the sea. The trees generally are of slender dimensions, but of gigantic height. The scene altogether is one calculated powerfully to stimulate the imagination. The solemn stillness which prevails it is impossible to describe. The regular sound of the distant breakers, mingled with the gentle whisperings of the breeze through the palms; the flights of kites floating aimlessly in the air; the peculiar character of the shade of the palm, through the leafy crowns of which the light penetrates in trembling waves; the dark green tints of the foliage against the transparently blue Egyptian sky;—all combine to produce an effect which must be experienced to be realised.
The different groups of the palm wood are interspersed with pieces of meadow land, watered by seven wells, and upon which are ten mean huts occupied by Arab herdsmen. The wood stretches for some distance over the broad surface of the Wadi, which, when swollen, frequently uproots many trees. In the entire Wadi there are some thirty fresh-water wells for the supply of the vegetable gardens, where onions, tomatoes, melons, etc., are grown. It contains, too, numerous young palm groves of recent plantation. Immediately beyond the point to which irrigation extends, the barren desert again commences.