Wadi Kunserob, draining the south parts of Gebels Kalalat and Batoga, courses at first nearly southwards, then curves round south of Gebel Dibag, and after receiving Wadi Dibag lil Kunserob from the north-west, proceeds eastward through the hills and across six kilometres of sandy coast-plain to the sea in latitude 23° 47′.
Wadi Abu Berigâ is a short drainage line from among the hills to the sea, a little south of Wadi Kunserob.
Wadi Khoda is an important main drainage channel some forty-five kilometres in length, coursing a little north of eastward to reach the sea in latitude 23° 43′. For the greater part of its length it is shut in by high hills, only the last six kilometres being across the sandy coast-plain. With a basin approximately 780 square kilometres in area, it drains the mountains of Abu Dahr, Dahanib, Shut, Reyan, Shenshef, Hindia, and Um Akra, some of which rise to over 1,000 metres above the sea; it thus receives a fair amount of water in rainy years, and is well supplied with trees and bushes. Its average fall is about nine metres per kilometre.
The head of Wadi Khoda is formed by the union of three wadis, coming approximately from the north, west, and south, in the form of a cross. The central one of these, Wadi Abu Debebi lil Khoda, heads in a very easy pass leading to Bir Betan and the old mines of Um Eleiga. The one to the north, Wadi Salib el Abiad, is said to lead into Wadi Khiua, and to possess some old mines, but has not been explored. The remaining one of the three, Wadi Salib el Azrak, drains the east face of Gebel Abu Dahr and the high hills east of it; the feeder of it from Abu Dahr, called Wadi Um Karaba, leads by an easy pass, just north of the mountain, to Bir Betan and the Um Eleiga mines, while some eight kilometres from its junction with Khoda a track leads up a gully south-westward over another easy pass to Bir Rahaba. The names Salib el Abiad and Salib el Azrak refer to the form of the wadis and the nature of their floor, salib meaning “cross,” while abiad and azrak refer to the prevailing white and dark colours of the sand in the respective arms of the cross; these colours are due to the wadis draining light-coloured granites and dark-coloured serpentines and schists respectively.
A little below the union of the three arms above-mentioned, Wadi Khoda expands into a small rather stony plain, where the sinuous Wadi Allawi[93] enters from the north. This important feeder, which drains the eastern face of Gebel Dahanib, is mostly shut in by high hills, and is relatively well wooded; if it be followed up for about ten kilometres, one comes to the tomb of Sheikh Farhan, near which meet many small feeders, one of them containing a small rock basin near its head.
About eight kilometres below the point of entry of Wadi Allawi, Wadi Khoda receives two feeders from opposite sides; that from the north, Wadi Um Tawil lil Khoda, drains from Gebel Dahanib, while that from the south, Wadi Hindia, is a sandy rapidly-falling wadi draining Gebel Hindia.
Some five kilometres further down, Wadi Um Akra, draining the mountains of the same name, enters Khoda from the south, while another two kilometres brings us to the place of influx of Wadi Shut, an important feeder from the north. The head of Wadi Shut is on the west side of Gebel Kalalat, whence its course is westward for about ten kilometres; it is then joined by the Wadi Abu Hugban, coming from the south-west, and from this point it runs south-south-east for some twenty-three kilometres to its junction with Wadi Khoda. Wadi Shut is a rather wide wadi with a sandy floor, fed by many tributaries from the mountains of Dahanib, Um Hegilig, Reyan, and Shut. Its principal feeder in the lower part of its course is Wadi Um Tawil lil Shut, which drains the south part of Gebel Dahanib and enters Shut from the west about five kilometres above its junction with Khoda. The Wadi Shut has a fair growth of trees, and is said to possess also a large water source, the exact locality of which has not, however, been ascertained.[94]
Just below the place where Wadi Shut joins it, Wadi Khoda receives a small feeder called Wadi Um Gubur, entering from the north and marked by several graves near its mouth. On the other side, two kilometres further on, Wadi Shib enters from the south, and five kilometres further the Wadi Um Seyal lil Khoda enters Khoda from the north.
The Wadi Gumudlum, the next great feeder of Khoda, enters from the north four kilometres below Wadi Um Seyal. It is a wadi some eighteen kilometres in length, coursing south-south-east, and having its head on the west side of Gebel Kalalat. A little below wadi Gumudlum, near a boss of white quartz, several small feeders, of which the two principal are called Wadi Buluk and Wadi Um Lassaf, enter Wadi Khoda from the south; these drain the north side of the high hills called Gebel Um Etli.
The last feeder of Wadi Khoda, the Wadi Shenshef, enters the main wadi some three kilometres above the place where it debouches on to the coast-plain, or eight kilometres from the coast. It is a narrow and very tortuous gorge winding among high hills. If it be followed up for about ten kilometres, one comes to several small wells called Bir Shenshef, which contained water in 1907, and a little above the wells, where the wadi becomes more open, there are ruins, called Hitan Shenshef, which attest the former existence of a town or large village. The ruins are on both sides of the wadi, and many of them are extremely well built of slabs of quartz schist; besides the houses in the wadi itself, there are small towers on the hills. As there are apparently no mines in the hills here, the origin of the ruins is not clear; from the strong situation and the watch towers, and its proximity to fresh water and the sea, it may possibly represent an old slave dealer’s stronghold.