;66 



NATURE 



[May 19, 1921 



numerary bows, a secondary bow, and the lighter 

 space inside the primary bow requires a photo- 

 graphic technique of a high order. It is with 

 regret that we miss a chapter on cloud photo- 

 graphy from the hand of such a master. Every- 

 one has a slightly different technique, but Mr. 

 Clarke unfortunately gives no hint of his own 

 methods. The series of plates ends with some 

 fine photographs taken by Capt. C. K, M. 

 Douglas from an aeroplane. 



There are also several coloured plates and draw- 

 ings ; the frontispiece is a delightful coloured 

 sketch of a beam of a searchlight revealing two 

 layers of fine condensation before striking the 

 main cloud sheet ; it vividly recalls a phenomenon 

 which must have been noticed by many meteor- 

 ologists during the war. Another very beautiful 

 plate shows a halo, sun pillar, mock sun ring, 



and two arcs of contact. The four sketches show- 

 ing stages in the history of a line squall cloud 

 are interesting as diagrams, but as pictures they 

 make the clouds look too solid. 



If more notice has been taken of the plates than 

 of the text, it is because they form the most 

 striking part of the book; but the text contains 

 much interesting matter. Cloud forms are de- 

 scribed, and use is made of recent researches into 

 upper-air temperatures in explaining cloud pheno- 

 mena. There are chapters on cloud distribution, 

 and the association of cloud forms with weather 

 types. Mr. Clarke has produced a standard book 

 on cloud forms, not only for the meteorologist, 

 but also for the general reader, who .will surely 

 find it an incentive to a further study of the 

 weather. Author and publishers are to be con- 

 gratulated on the excellence of the work. 



Unveiling the Senussi Shrines. 

 By Arthur Silva White. 



THE story of Mrs. Rosita Forbes 's journey to 

 the oasis of Kufra, situated in the heart 

 of the Libyan Desert, constitutes the "something 

 new out of Africa " of which few vestiges remain 

 to be revealed. The three instalments recently 

 published by the Times, under the title of " Secrets 

 of the Sahara," contained the latest, and in some 

 respects the only, information from a locality in 

 the Libyan Desert unexplored since the visit of 

 Gerhard Rohlfs in 1879. 



Rohlfs made two attempts to reach Kufra. On 

 the first he was turned back (although travelling 

 under the protection of a firman ali of the Sultan 

 of Turkey) from Aujila and Jalo because the 

 Mojabra (slave traders) refused to give him a 

 guide without Senussi 's consent; and on the 

 second attempt, when he succeeded in reaching 

 Kufra, he was made captive and barely escaped 

 with his life. Where Gerhard Rohlfs failed, and 

 found no European successor for forty years, 

 Mrs. Forbes has succeeded; but, it is to be noted, 

 the reason for this remarkable achievement is to 

 some extent explained by the total change of 

 circumstances. In the interval between the two 

 adventures, the Great War has resulted in the 

 military conquests of France and Britain in that 

 region of Africa and in the overthrow of the 

 Senussi domination. Moreover, Mrs. Forbes had 

 the supreme advantage of entering Libya at 

 the psychological moment of complete accord (the 

 ratification of a treaty) between Italy and the 

 Grand Master of the Senussi Confraternity, whose 

 personal support she obtained, and of travelling, 

 not as a European, but as a Moslem in the in- 

 terests of Islam — that is to say, practically as a 

 Moslem convert or Senussi propagandist, since 

 the Senussi commonly employ women in that 

 capacity. That Mrs. Forbes could have kept up 

 :. NO. 2690, VOL. 107] 



this disguise through all the vicissitudes of 

 travel and the dangers encountered is in itself 

 one of the stories out of Africa which deserve to 

 be remembered. 



Mrs. Forbes, accompanied by Ahmed Bey 

 Hassanein, an Egyptian (son of Sheikh Mahamed 

 Hassanein el Bulaki, a professor at El Azhar 

 University), started from Benghazi, the maritime 

 terminus of the ancient trans-Saharan caravan 

 route, and rode eighty miles south to Jedabia, 

 where the desert journey began. Here she was 

 hospitably received by Sidi Rida (brother of Sidi 

 Idriss, the Sheikh es-Senussi or Grand Master), 

 who made himself responsible for her caravan. 

 But the usual delays, leading to divided counsels 

 among the Senussi brethren (Khuan), necessitated 

 a midnight flight in Bedwin disguise without a 

 guide. After wandering round Jedabia for three 

 hours, the fugitives found themselves only one 

 mile away in the open desert when day dawned. 

 Riding south for two days, accompanied by two 

 trusted Senussi, they were joined by two black 

 soldiers unprovided with rations. The party, 

 numbering six, were saved from starvation by 

 meeting with a Mojabra caravan, and together 

 they travelled by short stages to the oasis of 

 Aujila. Here they were caught up by the caravan 

 prepared by Sidi Rida, who sent also a letter of 

 introduction to the Kaimakam at Jalo, near by, 

 the gate of the Libyan Desert. 



The caravan, now fully organised, comprised 

 eighteen camels, nine black servants, two slave- 

 girls, a guide (AbduUa el Zawia), three Bedwin, 

 Ahmed Bey Hassanein, and Sitt Khadija — "a 

 Moslem of half English, half Egyptian blood "— 

 otherwise Mrs. Rosita Forbes. For so large a 

 party eighteen camels were far from adequate, 

 especially as these were in bad condition, for a 



