Of the Wadi Ghadrib, which heads near the hills of Gebel Abu Rahia and Gebel Um Rewat, in latitude 23°, and follows a course roughly parallel to, but a few kilometres west of that of Wadi Timsah, not very much is known. Its prevailing character is sandy and arid.
The small tributary called Wadi Abu Hashim, which enters Wadi Garara from the south in about longitude 34° 5′, is important as containing the important wells known as Bir Abu Hashim. The wells are excavations in the alluvium of the wadi floor, and furnish good water at a depth of about eight metres. A beacon has been erected on a high hill to the west of the wells and overlooking them, the position of which is latitude 23° 41′ 44″ N., longitude 34° 3′ 33″ E., altitude 386 metres above sea and sixty-six metres above the wells. The principal roads from Bir Abu Hashim are, to Aswân (first water at Um Hibal, nearly one hundred kilometres distant), to Daraw (first water at Bir Qoleib, seventy-five kilometres distant), and to Abu Saafa Springs (a journey of about one hundred kilometres with possibly water en route at the Galt el Aguz, sixty kilometres from Abu Hashim).
Wadi Natash commences among the low hills forming the Nile — Red Sea watershed between Gebel Migif and Gebel Abu Had. It pursues a course roughly parallel with that of Wadi Shait, at first over a sandy plain from which rise the two conspicuous cones called El Nahud (the breasts), and afterwards narrowing in among hills. Pursuing a somewhat devious course in a direction generally a little south of west, Wadi Natash passes south of Gebel Nugra (in longitude 33° 40′) and enters on the great plain called Atmur Nugra, where it joins the Wadi Kharit and drains to the Nile near Kom Ombo.
There is, I believe, no water source in Wadi Natash itself, but Bir Masur is situated in a branch wadi only a few kilometres north of it in longitude 34°. At Bir Masur there are numerous pits sunk in the alluvium of the wadi, in one or more of which good water can generally be found at a depth of about ten metres; but the supply cannot always be relied on, for although I obtained plenty of water in March 1906, I found there was only a very small quantity available in October of the same year.
Wadi Alaqi, the greatest of all the Egyptian wadis draining westwards to the Nile, has its head on the main watershed near Gebel Is, close to the 22nd parallel in longitude 35° 27′. Its main channel, over 350 kilometres in length, pursues a general westerly course, winding at first, past the old mining centres of Darahib and Alfawi, towards Gebel Muqsim, on the 34th meridian, and then, curving round to the north of that mountain, it turns to the north-west, past the gold mines of Um Gariart, and enters the Nile Valley opposite the large village of Dakka, in latitude 23° 8′. The area of its basin is unknown, much of it being unexplored, but it probably comprises no less than four square degrees of the earth’s surface, or 44,000 square kilometres. Its heads and upper tributaries lie among high mountainous tracts partly in Egypt and partly in the Sudan, and occasionally the rainfall in these southern parts of the eastern desert is sufficient to convert the usually dry wadi into a temporary stream for a part or all of its length. That it may on the rare occasions of sufficient rainfall discharge no inconsiderable quantity of water into the Nile is proved by Linant’s experience about 1830, when he records that the torrent from the Wadi Alaqi into the Nile was so great as to prevent his dahabîa sailing up the river past the point of influx, even with a good wind and all sails set.[87] A great flow of water down the Wadi Alaqi also occurred in the autumn of 1902 as a consequence of heavy rains in the mountainous country east of the meridian 34° 30′. This torrent was observed by Mr. John F. Wells, who was then manager of the Um Gariart mine. In the early morning news was brought to the mine that great waters were coming down the wadi. Except for a slight rainfall at the heads of the Wadis Qoleib and Haimur, the drainage of which did not appreciably swell the flood of the main wadi, there had been no rain within one hundred kilometres of the mine, and when the alarm was given, at 6.30 a.m., only a small trickling of water down the wadi was visible, and the news was thought to be an exaggeration. But an hour later the whole wadi was a raging torrent, and by nine o’clock there was a mighty stream, over 300 metres wide and from one to two and a half metres deep, rushing past the mine. The flow continued for about two and a half days. On this occasion the stream, in spite of its magnitude at Um Gariart, did not reach the Nile; after flowing for some seventy kilometres past the mines, it entered a wide depression at Hagab Kara, some forty kilometres from the mouth of the wadi, where it formed a great pool and sank into the sand. Mr. Wells informs me that the water did not penetrate the sandy and gravelly floor of the wadi to the bed rock (the thickness of the sandy and gravelly layer at Um Gariart is fourteen metres) till three months later, and then the rock, though damp, did not absorb enough water to yield any supply to wells sunk in it. The local Arabs stated that these downrushes of water, which they term “seil,” occur on an average at about ten-year intervals; the last one occurred seven years before that of 1902.
The part of the basin of Wadi Alaqi falling within the limits of the district described in this volume includes the whole country west of the main watershed between the parallels of 22° and 23°. This area is drained by numerous tributaries of Alaqi, all entering the main wadi from its north side. The following is a brief description of these tributaries, commencing with the uppermost (easternmost) of them.
Wadi Himeitra is a small wadi draining the south face of Gebel Himeitra. It contains a well, Bir Himeitra, at the foot of the mountain, which is said to yield constant supplies of water. Below the well, Wadi Himeitra continues for about ten kilometres in a south-westerly direction, joining the Wadi Alaqi about seven kilometres above the ruins of Darahib.
The Miti Kwan, the next tributary of Alaqi, has its heads in the north flanks of Gebel Himeitra. Near its head it receives as feeders from the north-east the Wadis Kirir and Duag, draining mountains of the same name which form part of the Adar Qaqa range. About fourteen kilometres further down its course, the Miti Kwan receives the Wadi Merau, which drains the hills of the main watershed round Eir Arib. Below the point of influx of Merau, the Miti Kwan pursues a very winding course among the hills for some eleven kilometres, then receives from the north the Wadi Miaus, a small wadi with many branches among the hills and containing a well, Bir Miaus, about seven kilometres up from its mouth. After receiving Wadi Miaus, the Miti Kwan continues a winding course for about nine kilometres and enters the Wadi Alaqi on the 22nd parallel, about fifteen kilometres below the ruins of Darahib. A well-known road, connecting the Wadi Alaqi with the Abu Hodeid and Meisah wells, leads up the Miti Kwan for a distance of some twenty-three kilometres, and then passes northwards over a stony plain, crossing the watershed into the head of Wadi Hasium, in which is Bir Kagog.
Wadi Dageina is a small many-branched tributary of Alaqi, draining the hills east of Gebel Egat.
Wadi Alfawi, which enters Wadi Alaqi a little lower down its course, is likewise a small wadi draining the hilly tract east of Gebel Egat; there are some old mines on its western side close to its junction with Wadi Alaqi.