Appendix Il: Phytogeography and Geology. 1091 
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 propably due to the 
gradual choking of the passages; an unsatisfactory and laborious 
method of clearing out wells is in vogue but little trouble is taken 
to prevent the deterioration of the water-supply generally. Practi- 
cally all the available land in this oasis is under cultivation. 
III. Faraira'). This oasis occupiesa 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-Wady, a spring in the north 
part of the depression at 26 metres above sea-level, the underlying 
beds are locally exposed. In the entire area there are 20 springs, 
mostly grouped round the village Qasr, Farafra; the total area of the 
latter, including the few palm-groves, probably does not amount to 
500 acres. Wheat, barley, durra, rice, onions and some fruit are 
erown, and small quantities of dates and olives are exported; for- 
merly the olives of Farafra were celebrated for their quality, but of 
late years trees have deteriorated. 
The water rises as springs from the white chalk and does not 
necessitate the use of lifting appliances, through the out put appears 
to be decreasing through natural causes. 
Owing to the abscence of waste pools and marshy land the 
climate of Farafra is more healthy than that of the other oases. 
IV. Dakhel. This, by far the most important and prosperous 
of the Egyptian oases, lies three day’s march west of Kharge, or 
about 300 kilometres west of Armant in the Nile Valley. The 
cultivable land within the oasis (400 square kilometres) amounts 
to nearly 50000 acres of which one half is under cultivation; in 
addition several extensive areas of alluvium covered ground exist 
outside the oasis proper, not ably on the Gablari road between Dakhel 
and Great Oasis. Owing to the difficulty of drainage, salines, salty 
land, marshes and-pools occupy 7000 acres. 
There are nearly 130000 adult palm trees in Dakhel, a large 
export trade in dates being carried on with the Nile Valley; the 
finest crops of wheat and barley are raised, while the fruits of the 
ousis, Oranges, apricots, mulberries, etc. are abundant and of excellent 
quality. 
The water-supply of the oasis is derived from an underground 
bed of sandstone, 55 metres thick, underlying a dense impervious 
red clay 45 metres in thickness. Below the water-bearing sandstone 
1) H. I. L. Beadnell: The Oases and the Geology of the Nile Valley in 
William Willeocks: The Nile in 1904. — London 1904. 
69* 
