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42. Kharga oasis.

—Kharga, the easternmost of the two southern oases, is a north and south lying depression, mostly bounded by steep and lofty escarpments but open to the south and south-west. A great part of its floor, which is composed of the Nubian sandstone, is buried under sand accumulations. There are seven principal villages, besides numerous hamlets and smaller settlements, with a total population of under 8,000. Taxes are levied as in Dakhla and amount to slightly over £E. 1000. The adult palm trees in the oasis number about 60,000 and the cultivated lands have an area of some 4,500 acres, or half an acre and eight palm trees per inhabitant. The crops raised do not appear to be sufficient to support the population, as a certain amount of grain is imported from Dakhla. Dates are exported to the Nile valley, though in less quantities than from Dakhla and Baharia.

The general level of the floor of the oasis lies between 50 and 130 metres above sea level, though near Qasr Zaiyan a limited area appears to lie below sea level. Water is met with in most localities on digging to a moderate depth, but the best supplies are from deep wells; as in Dakhla the majority of the wells are of considerable antiquity, though some have been recently made with modern boring plant. With an increased water-supply cultivation could be very much extended, as there are large areas of unoccupied alluvium covered land within the oasis. The same difficulties exist in Kharga as in the other oases, though here perhaps aggravated by the encroachments and movements of blown sand, namely, the lack of control of the wells and water-supply and the apathy of the inhabitants generally.

43. Baharia oasis

, lying 180 kilometres west of Minia, is a large natural excavation 150 metres deep and entirely surrounded by escarpments. The cultivated lands bear a very small proportion to the total oasis-area; their general level is 110-115 metres above sea level, rising to 155 metres at Ain-el-Haiss in the southern part of the depression. There are four chief villages with a population, inclusive of outlying settlements, of just over 6,000. The standard of public health in this oasis is low, mainly owing to febrile disorders. The total area of cultivated land is about 2,500 acres (barely 1⁄2 an acre per inhabitant), largely made up of palmgroves; rice, wheat and barley are grown, but the area sown with cereals has of late years being decreasing in extent owing to a diminished output from the springs. Baharia is par excellence the date-producing oasis of Egypt and very large quantities are annually exported to the Nile valley; besides date-palms the gardens contain numbers of olive, apricot and other fruit trees. Taxation is on palm trees and land.

The water-supply is derived from the Cretaceous sandstones forming the floor of the depression, the water rising naturally to the surface of the lowest areas. In numerous cases long adits have been driven into the rock to obtain an increased supply; these tunnels communicate with the surface of the ground by a series of air shafts; they mostly date from early times. No deep wells appear to exist in the oasis and certainly no borings have been made in modern times. The fall of the water-level is probably due to the gradual choking of the passages; an unsatisfactory and laborious method of cleaning out wells is in vogue but little trouble is taken to prevent the deterioration of the water-supply generally. Practically all the available land in this oasis is under cultivation, although with the reduced output of the springs the supply is barely sufficient for efficient irrigation.

44. Farafra oasis

occupies a large semicircular depression 300 kilometres west of Assiut. The floor is formed of the white chalk at the top of the Cretaceous, but at Ain-el-Wadi, a spring in the north part of the depression at 26 metres above sea level, the underlying beds are locally exposed. The solitary village of Qasr Farafra is situated on the western side at 76 metres above sea level, and contained 542 inhabitants at the last census. In the entire area there are some 20 springs, mostly grouped round the village, each irrigating a small patch of cultivated ground; the total area of the latter, including the few palmgroves, probably does not amount to 500 acres. Wheat, barley, durra, rice, onions and some fruit are grown, and small quantities of dates and olives are exported; formerly the olives of Farafra were celebrated for their quality, but of late years the trees have deteriorated.

The water rises as springs from the white chalk and does not necessitate the use of lifting appliances, though the output appears to be decreasing through natural causes. There are a few examples of horizontal conducting channels of ancient date and two or three of the springs appear to have deep vertical shafts as in the ancient wells of Dakhla. Sweet and brackish water-holes occur in several outlying localities within the depression, as well as in the neighbouring little known oasis of Iddaila to the west. Owing to the absence of waste pools and marshy land the climate of Farafra is more healthy than that of the other oases.