An Egyptian oasis

by H. J. L. Beadnell

The second part of the modern operations is conducted with an ordinary percussion hand-boring outfit of European manufacture. As the method of boring with this type of rig is essentially the same all over the world, we only propose to describe it in brief. The proceedings commence with the erection of a timber framework, or derrick, immediately over the mouth of the pipe; at the summit of the derrick is a pulley, over which passes the rope or chain which connects on one side with the drum of the winch, and from the end of which, on the other side, are suspended the actual tools with which drilling is continued. The boring-rod is made up to the required length by screwing together a number of 10-foot sections, the terminal length being a shorter rod fitted with a chisel, auger, or sand-pump, according to the work in hand.

The rate of progress depends to a great extent on the rapidity with which the blows of the chisel are delivered. This, of course, varies considerably, depending on the depth of the well and consequent weight of the rods in use. Where the weight is great and the formation sticky, the rods have to be lifted by means of the winch, and not more than two or three blows a minute can be struck. When the rods are light or working freely, as, for instance, when drilling in sandstones, the winch can be dispensed with, and the necessary motion conveyed by means of a lever actuated by a number of men. In this way progress can be very much accelerated, as many as twenty or twenty-five blows being delivered per minute. At the best, however, the method of drilling by percussion with a solid rod is necessarily slow, owing mainly to the fact that the terminal tool cannot be changed or withdrawn without the entire length of rod being taken to pieces. It is seldom, therefore, that a well of 120 to 150 metres is completed in less than five months, and the average time taken is more like nine months or a year.

It will readily be admitted that this method of sinking wells is in many respects well adapted to the local conditions obtaining in such isolated localities as the oases, where time is of little consequence to the inhabitants. The completed wells are frequently equal in almost every respect to those put down by means of the most up-to-date appliances; in fact, the only objections to the method are its slowness, the limited depth to which it is applicable, and the difficulty of fixing to the wooden casing satisfactory appliances for regulating the discharge.

The patience and industry of the inhabitants of the oases are well exemplified by their unceasing attempts to maintain undiminished the water-supply on which their very existence depends. The population must always have borne a direct ratio to the total discharge of the wells, as on the latter depends the amount of food-supplies which can be raised. At no period, as far as we can judge, has the output of the wells been greater than the requirements, and it is probable that there has always been a population somewhat in excess of that which could be supported by local products, the surplus portion being disposed of by emigration to the Nile Valley.

The methods of dealing with wells in which the flows have diminished or altogether ceased are of considerable interest, as they have given rise to a class of men called ‘ghattasin’ (divers), which one would never have expected to find in such remote and arid localities as the oases of the Libyan Desert.

It is seldom that the poorer inhabitants can command the use of a hand-rig for the cleaning of their wells, so that they usually have recourse to appliances of the most primitive description. Perhaps the simplest form consists of a short iron rod, a sort of crowbar or jumper, suspended from a palm-fibre rope, and with a tiny basket attached to the lower end. In some cases the end of the jumper is itself fashioned into the form of a cup, so that the basket of plaited grass or palm-leaf can be dispensed with. The rod is worked up and down in the bore, so as to stir up the sand and clay at the bottom, which settles in the basket or cup, and is periodically hoisted to the surface. The rope is worked over a wooden roller fixed alongside the mouth of the well, a contrivance which enables the up-and-down motion to be given with a minimum of energy and friction. The process is often continued for years, the material which can be removed in a day only amounting to a few handfuls.

The above method is only applicable to bores in which the wooden casing is more or less intact. Where the latter has rotted and allowed the sides of the well to collapse, a much more difficult and complicated procedure is necessary before the discharge can be re-established. In a case of this sort the original rectangular shaft has to be entirely cleared of material, and a new string of casing placed in the exact position occupied by the original pipe of the well. Moreover, the timber of the shaft itself has generally to be repaired or entirely renewed, as otherwise there would be very great danger of the sides collapsing when the material from within was removed. The process is rendered extremely difficult and laborious by reason of the entire work having to be carried on under water. Although a well may have stopped flowing, the passages are never so completely blocked as to altogether prevent the water from rising to within a few feet of the surface, and any excavation made will always be found to become speedily filled with water. The work can, therefore, only be carried out by men who have trained themselves to remain and work under water, and a limited number of these divers are found in most of the Egyptian oases.

I have frequently watched and chatted with the divers at work on old wells, both in Dakhla and Kharga. Unlike the usual custom of remunerating men employed on well-cleaning by shares of the resulting water, divers are generally paid in cash at the rate of about a shilling a day, each man receiving his food as well. The descent is always made feet first, hand over hand down a rope stretched from the top to the bottom. When the diver wishes to return to the surface he signals by a motion of the rope to those at the top, who promptly haul him up.

The rate of progress depends, of course, on the depth at which the work is proceeding. In a well I once visited near Hindaw, in the oasis of Dakhla, divers were working at a depth of 29 metres. Each man descended six or seven times a day, remaining on each occasion from two to two and a half minutes under water. Work had been in progress here for four years, and the excavation was still 16 or 17 metres from the bottom of the shaft.

The excavated material is placed in baskets, which, when full, are drawn up by hand. As soon as the shaft has been cleared to the bottom the new casing is inserted, the intervening space filled in, and the work carried on as in a new bore. Many extinct wells have thus been put into good working order, though in some cases the divers have been unable to overcome the difficulties encountered, and the wells have been finally abandoned after months, or even years, of labour.