A small tributary which joins Wadi Abu Hamamid from the north-east, in longitude 34° 41′, called Wadi Marasani, is important as leading to a pass over the main watershed into Wadi Marasan, a tributary of Wadi Huluz. The altitude of the pass is 685 metres above sea; it is quite practicable for baggage camels.
Wadi el Sheikh, the only great tributary of Wadi Abu Hamamid, originates in longitude 34° 40′, in the hilly tract west of Gebel Abu Hamamid. In the upper part of its course, it is a narrow winding wadi, mostly shut in by high hills, pursuing mainly a direction a little west of south, fed by numerous lateral wadis entering from among the hills to the east, of which the principal are the Wadis Um Somra, Krioni, Um Nasir, Um Hereini, Um Sereiha, Um Deheisi, Um Retba, and Um Hargal. Near the point where Wadi Um Deheisi joins it, the Wadi el Sheikh emerges from the hill country and meanders over a plain. At its entry on to the plain is the tomb and well of Sheikh Shadli, views of which are given on [Plate V.] The tomb, from which the wadi derives its name, is a white domed structure, tended by a Moorish guardian. The Ababda Arabs hold the memory of Sheikh Shadli in high veneration, and make yearly pilgrimages to his tomb. The well, Bir Shadli, close to the tomb, is a shallow excavation in the stony alluvium of the wadi floor. Here there is a perennial supply of water, which, however, varies much in quality and quantity; after rain, there forms a large pool of good water, the surface being maintained almost level with the ground by underground influx; while when there has been no rain for a year or more the water is only found by digging to several metres depth, and then only infiltrates slowly at the bottom of the hole, the quality simultaneously falls off and the water acquires a saline and purgative character.
After passing Bir Shadli and entering on the plain, Wadi el Sheikh splits up into numerous channels, one of which joins the Wadi Abu Hamamid, while the others continue in a south-westerly direction, fed by the Wadis Um Retba and Um Hargal, draining from the north flanks of Gebel Kahfa. Uniting together as they leave the plain to re-form a single Wadi el Sheikh, these drainages turn westward among the hills to join the Wadi Abu Hamamid.
Bir Shadli is one of the best-known centres of the Ababda Arabs. Though there is no permanent settlement, it is seldom that many days elapse without Arabs coming to the place to water their animals, which graze in the adjoining wadis. Many roads converge here. To the west, a track leads to Bir Abu Hamamid. To the north-east, a track leads up the Wadi Sheikh, across Wadi Abu Hamamid, and by an easy pass near Gebel Marasan over the main watershed into Wadi Huluz. To the south-east there are several alternative routes by which one can journey over easy passes north of Gebel Kahfa on to the plain of Selaia and down the Wadi Lahami to Berenice. Yet another road leads a little west of south across the Wadi Um Hargal, and by an easy pass into Wadi Helie, a small tributary of Wadi Kharit which drains the west side of Gebel Kahfa, and in which there is a well of similar character to that of Abu Hamamid.
Wadi Khashab commences its course near Gebel el Heda, a little east of longitude 34° 30′, and continues in a generally south-west direction to the latitude of Gebel Hamrat Mukbud. Here it takes a westerly course, passing south of Gebel Homr Akarim and entering Wadi Kharit from the north in about longitude 33° 49′. Wadi Khashab receives its name from its relatively well-wooded character; in its upper parts it presents the appearance of a broad valley, in which trees are so numerous as to give a very pleasing contrast to the dreary wastes on either side of it. Bir Khashab is a series of pits sunk in the wadi floor in about longitude 34° 23′, which were yielding small supplies of water in 1906.
The principal feeders of Wadi Khashab are Wadi Metawit and Wadi Antar. Wadi Metawit is a short valley originating near Gebel Metawit, and joining Wadi Khashab a short distance above Bir Khashab. It possesses an important well, Bir Metawit, excavated about eight metres deep in the centre of the wadi floor, about three kilometres north-north-west of the summit of Gebel Metawit, on a road leading south-east from Bir Masur to Bir Shadli. This well, near which are some large acacia trees, was yielding a plentiful supply of excellent water in the spring of 1906.
Wadi Antar originates near the hills of Nukheira and El Heda, and courses westward as a very wide shallow sandy depression south of Gebel Um Goraf. At the foot of Gebel Derera it turns southward, receiving the tributary Wadi el Anz from the left a little further on; it turns again westward and then north-west to near Gebel Muktil, beyond which it courses south-west and joins Wadi Khashab in longitude 33° 55′, a short distance only above the point where that wadi enters Kharit.
Wadi el Garara, the great southern tributary of Wadi Kharit, heads on the main watershed east of Gebel Um Harba. Pursuing at first a north-westerly course over a sandy plain, it emerges between two high sandstone hills ten kilometres north of Gebel Um Harba, and turns somewhat more to the west, receiving the Wadi el Kreim, which drains the south-east flanks of Gebel Zergat Naam. A little further on it receives an unnamed tributary which courses north-westward from Gebel Um Harba as a great valley nearly full of blown sand. Still further on its course it is fed by another unnamed tributary which, coming from the main watershed in latitude 23° 30′, courses over a wide sandy plain north-westwards. This latter tributary is very barren, but is of some importance as forming a very easy though sandy road over the main watershed to the Wadi Arned (which leads to the springs of Abu Saafa) and as passing, about five kilometres before reaching the pass, a well known water-hole called Galt el Aguz. This galt is a huge sandstone basin in the hills on the east side of the road, fairly easy of access. After rain it holds an immense supply of water, but owing to the porous nature of the sandstone it becomes dry in a few months of drought; rude Greek inscriptions on the rocks, mixed with spirited drawings of animals, show that this source of water supply was known and used in Ptolemaic days. Besides the drainage from the pass, the tributary first mentioned takes that from the sandstone hills of Um Khafur situated further east.
A little lower down, Wadi Garara receives feeders from the north-east, draining the hills round Gebel Nikeiba and Gebel Felieiti, and then the long Wadi Timsah coming from the south.
Wadi Timsah heads among high granite hills a little north of latitude 23°, and courses in a nearly northerly direction for nearly ninety kilometres to join Wadi Garara. The prevailing character of Wadi Timsah itself is sandy and dreary, but its feeders from the eastern hills are richer in vegetation, and in years when there is rain they furnish in their upper portions good grazing ground for Arab camels. The principal of these feeders, enumerating from the south northwards, are the Wadis Um el Rid, Awamtib (with Wadi Um Marakh), Shabakhit, and Dagalai. All these drain the western parts of the high sandstone hills called by the same names. Water can be got from galts here after rain. Near the head of Wadi Um el Rid, there is a very easy pass over the main watershed into Wadi el Dreb, which leads to the well of Um Reit.