CHAPTER XXIII
ON leaving the hill we took a road that led us towards the north. We first rounded the western end of the scarp of the detached plateau parallel to which we had marched on coming from Bu Gerara, and, about two hours after our start, ascended a steepish bank on to the top of the plateau, which here was only about fifty feet high.
From the summit of a small hill close by, a huge cliff stretching to the north and south, as far as it was possible to see, was visible, far off in the east; this was evidently the eastern boundary of the Farafra depression, and, as I afterwards discovered, the continuation of the cliff to the north of Bu Gerara.
The scarp was too far for me to be able to see any details of its surface, with the light behind it, and as the top of it showed as only a straight line, there were no points on it to which I could take a bearing.
In these circumstances it was impossible either to fix its position or to estimate the direction in which it ran. I several times met with this difficulty, but found that, when a cliff faced towards the south, it was only necessary for me to wait till the sun came round far enough to begin to light up its surface, and then a rough estimate of the direction in which it ran could be obtained by taking a bearing on to the sun itself. This dodge was especially useful when it was necessary to map the continuation of a cliff, part of which had already been surveyed and the remainder of it could only be seen from one point, such as the top of a high hill.
The part of the Farafra depression in which we found ourselves was an absolutely featureless plain, of hard level sand, that sloped slightly towards the foot of the scarp on our east. Here and there we came across patches of greenish clay, with white lines running through it, showing above the surface of the sand.
The Persian King, Cambyses, during his occupation of Egypt, sent a great army across the desert to destroy the oracle of Jupiter Ammon in Siwa Oasis. The army never reached Siwa; but was lost in the desert. Its last resting-place is unknown, but, according to native reports, the whole host perished of thirst in this huge depression in which the oasis of Farafra lies.
I happened to mention to Qwaytin the subject of singing sands, and asked him if he had ever heard any. He told me that somewhere in the north of the Farafra depression there was a rock that was supposed to be the “church” of the spirits of the lost Persian army. It was called the “infidel rock,” because it “sang on Sunday.” It appeared to be some form of musical sands.
It was not until the third day after our start from the treasure hill that we sighted in the west the field of dunes that occupies the centre of the Farafra wady. They appeared to be almost white in colour, and lay a long way off.
Qwaytin told me that we should reach the Kairowin hattia on our third day after leaving his hill. It will give some idea of his utter incompetence as a guide when I say that we did not actually get there until two days later.