El Haad.—33 miles from Nakhla (direction uncertain). No well, but good grazing on “Haad” grass.
Sheb.—40 miles W.S.W. of Nakhla. Is the southernmost water in the Sheb district. Well 4 feet deep and same in diameter (October, 1902). Water plentiful, but brackish and aperient. Good grazing and plenty of firewood. This is a watering place on the Arbain road.
Terfaui (I).—About 6 miles north of Sheb, situate in a small oasis in a broad wadi said to lead from the oasis of Selima to the Nile by way of Kurkur. This valley is bounded on the west by precipitous sandstone cliffs. There is a group of trees here 250 by 300 yards. Good grazing for camels. The water is drinkable. Immediately to the west of Terfaui is a pass over which the usual road to the northern oases of Beris, etc., passes. This is usually a watering place on the Arbain road.
Abu Hussein.—About 35 miles north-west of Sheb. Consists of a clump of trees and bush-covered mounds about 30 feet high. There are three more places exactly similar to Abu Hussein, two being to the eastward and one to the west. They are all about 5 miles apart and lie in a general line from east to west. Water may be found at a depth of 1½ feet at any of them, and here and there between them. Good water and plentiful. Grazing also good.
Terfaui (II).—16 miles north-west of Abu Hussein or about 50 miles north-west of Sheb. It consists of small mounds of sand covered with long green grass. Water plentiful at depth of 4 to 5 feet, grazing good, consisting of tufts of long grass, over an area of about 1 mile by ¾ mile. There used to be three dom palms here, but these were burnt down by Captain Ross in 1894 on account of the snakes which infested them.
Kassaba.—The northernmost well in the Sheb district is at Naseib, 15 miles north of Kassaba. At Kassaba the water is not good, but many old wells point to its having been much used in former days. Situated in an open plain about 26 miles N.N.W. of Sheb. A watering place on the Arbain road.
Selima Oasis.—Selima lies on the Arbain road about 78 miles south of Sheb and 55 miles west of the river at Sagiet El Abd. Halfa is about 120 miles to the north-east. It is perhaps the most important oasis in the western desert of the Sudan, as not only must caravans using the Arbain route almost necessarily stop here for water, but its dates and salt are probably of considerable value from a commercial point of view.
Mr. James Currie, who visited this oasis in October, 1901, thus describes it:—
“A most beautiful place. It would be most difficult to find without a guide, as it is really only a large hole in the desert. The descent to it is very steep indeed. There are three wells, a good many date trees, and good grass. One sees the remains of an old Christian convent, moderately well preserved, but the point of interest attaching to it is that it has apparently been built out of the ruins of something much older, to judge from the inscribed stones one notices. There are abundant salt deposits near, and a huge petrified forest, which extends further than I had time or inclination to go.”
