Mysteries of the Libyan Desert

by W. J. Harding King

Having solved the problem of the grass, as our water supply was getting low, we turned off in a north-easterly direction, making for Dakhla. The plateau surface changed for the worse, and a considerable amount of sofut had to be crossed; but fortunately the camels held out. We crossed two old roads running up north, apparently to Bu Mungar and Iddaila. Here and there along these old disused roads we saw circles, four or five feet in diameter, sparsely covered with stones about the size of a hen’s egg, scattered on the sandy surface, that obviously had been placed there by human agency. Qway explained that these were the places where the old slave traders, who used these roads, had been in the habit of laying their water-skins. A gurba, raised slightly off the ground in this way, so that the air can circulate round it, keeps the water much cooler than when laid with a large part of its surface in contact with the ground.

Other evidence of the old users of these roads were to be seen in an occasional specimen of an oval, slightly dished stone about two feet long, known as a markaka, on which they used to grind, or rather crush, their grain with the help of a smaller hand stone, and also in the quantities of broken ostrich shells that were frequently seen. These shells can be found in many parts of the desert, and are said to be the remains of fresh eggs brought by old travellers from the Sudan to act as food on the journey. It has been argued, from their existence, that ostriches ran wild in these deserts. But it is difficult to see upon what food such a large bird could have subsisted.

On the second day after leaving the redir, we got on to another old road, and continued to follow it all day. This road eventually took us to a clump of four or five green terfa bushes, and a second one of about the same size was reached soon afterwards. These little clusters of bushes proved afterwards to be of the greatest assistance to us, as they not only afforded the camels a bite of green food, but were the source from which came most of the firewood that we used in the desert. Evidently others had found them useful too in the past, for no less than four old roads converged on to them—a striking instance of the value of green food and firewood in the desert. Some broken red pottery was found amongst these bushes.

Shortly after leaving them we found the track of a single camel going to the west—obviously to Kufara. But beyond this single track, and that of the five camels we had seen on our first journey from Mut, we never saw any modern traces of human beings on the plateau.

The weather, which had been very hot, fortunately grew suddenly cool, and once or twice a few drops of rain fell. This change in the temperature was most welcome, as the camels were becoming exhausted with their long journey away from water, and showing unmistakable signs of distress. The change to colder weather, however, revived them wonderfully.

The road, unluckily, became much worse, and we got on to a part of the plateau thickly covered by loose slabs of purplish-black sandstone, many of which tinkled like a bell when kicked.

On the day before we reached Dakhla there was a slight shower in the morning just after we started, and the weather remained cool, with a cold north wind and overcast sky all day. We were consequently able to make good progress, and by the evening had reached the north-east corner of the plateau and were within a day’s journey of Mut.

Just before camping there was a sharp shower accompanied by thunder and lightning, enough rain falling during the few minutes it lasted to make my clothing feel thoroughly damp.

The tent was pitched on a sandy patch, and had hardly been erected before the rain, for about a quarter of an hour, came down in torrents, with repeated flashes of vivid lightning, which had a very grand effect over the darkened desert.

I was just going to turn in about an hour afterwards when my attention was attracted by a queer droning sound occurring at intervals. At first I thought little of it, attributing it to the wind blowing in the tent ropes, which the heavy rain had shrunk till they were as taut as harp strings. The sound died away, and for a few minutes I did not hear it.