8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 59 
literature is given in the bibliography. A few data of especial interest 
are as follows : 
Browne, who passed through the Oasis in I793, 1 mentions the 
acquiring by the inhabitants of Nubian negro slaves (p. 261) : 
" When we came to Beiris we were met by a Cashef, who welcomed 
the lelabs with an exhibition of fireworks ; on this occasion .he treats 
the chief merchants with coffee, and presents to each a benish of 
coarse cloth, worth about a guinea, expecting, however, in return a 
slave from each, worth at least ten guineas." 
Quatremere, 2 in 1811, mentions a new devastation of the Great 
Oasis by the Blemmyes. 
In 1835, tne Kharga Oasis was visited by Hoskins, and in the. 
description of his journey, published in 1837," the author says (p. 
81) : "The inhabitants of this town (Khargeh), and indeed of all 
the Oasis, have (with some exceptions), not such strongly marked 
features as the Arab of the Nile, and their complexion is lighter 
than that of the peasants of Egypt in the same latitude. But they 
are chiefly remarkable for the pallid and unhealthily hue of their 
countenances., just such a tint, or rather expression, allowing for 
the difference of color, as distinguishes the inhabitants of the Pon- 
tine marshes ; a languid and sickly appearance ; a listlessness in their 
manner ; a sluggishness in their movements ; a total want of energy 
and vivacity all proofs of the insalubrity of the climate, and the 
wretched effects of a baneful malaria. This pallid hue is most remark- 
able in their children and women ; the men, exposed to the influence 
of a tropical sun, have an appearance somewhat less unhealthy." 
On pp. 82-83 Hoskins mentions the presence at the Oasis of malaria 
and ophthalmia ; on pp. 86-88 he says " the women are not obliged 
to cover their faces or live in the seclusion of harem " conditions 
now quite changed. The women, he thinks (p. 87), with their 
" pale complexion " are better looking than those of the Valley and 
have more regular features. Finally, on page 89, he estimates the 
population of the whole Oasis at 4,300, of Kharga alone at 3,000. 
Caillaud, Schweinfurth, Brugsch, Golenischeff, and Ball give 
valuable data on the archeology of the Kharga Oasis, and the last 
1 Browne, W. G. : Travels in Africa, Egypt and Syria. 4. 2d ed., London, 
1806. 
8 Quatremere, E. : Memoires geographiques et historiques sur 1'Egypt, etc., 
2 Vols., 8, Paris, 1811. 
8 Hoskins, G. A. : Visit to the Great Oasis of the Libyan Desert. 8, Lon- 
don, 1837. 
