NO. I NATIVES OF KHARGA OASIS HRDLICKA II 
Kharga may be called a great Egyptian village, modified in a 
peculiar manner by local requirements. It is constructed with special 
regard to protection from the sun, heat, and winds, and also for 
easier defense against invaders, an important precaution in the 
past. It is built of mud and sun-dried bricks ; the posts of the 
dwellings are of palmwood, the ceilings of palm leaf ribs and mud. 
The main part of the village is a maze of narrow, sinuous, intri- 
cate streets. Futhermore, in the case of most of the narrower pas- 
sages the upper stories of the houses have been built completely 
across to the opposite side, converting the street into a tortuous, very 
dark, tunnel or gallery, five to seven feet high, which is always cool, 
quiet and free from blowing sand, and in which defense would be 
easy. A visitor can not find his way through these passages without 
a guide. 
The houses are one to two stories high, in style like those of the 
poorer classes in the Valley. They are mostly small, irregular and 
piled together, as everywhere in Egypt. In many instances there 
is an open air living room on the top of the dwelling, fenced in by 
a hedge of dry palm leaves or ribs ; this room is made use of mainly 
by the women and children (plate 2) . 
The dwellings as well as the streets are now kept, due to govern- 
ment regulations, in a neat condition, but formerly are said to have 
been filthy. There is, of course, no system of sewers and the dis- 
posal of sewage is primitive. Water is carried to the dwellings 
principally from a small open reservoir located within the town and 
fed by a surging well. It is distributed in goat-skins, and curiously, 
by blind men who, notwithstanding their defect, are said to be mas- 
ters of all the intricacies of the streets and tunnel-like passages. 
The apartments, so far as seen, are of very moderate dimensions 
and often lacking in light. There are also only poor provisions for 
the escape of smoke ; but the inside rooms are quite fireproof and 
afford good protection against heat as well as cold, and against the 
winds and sands. 
The people are in general poor. In occupation, the large majority 
are agriculturists, and they gain only enough for the bare necessi- 
ties. They dress cheaply and lightly, in the main much like the 
fellaheen (agricultural workers) of the Nile Valley. The ordinary 
external robe or garment does not differ much in the two sexes; 
vests and inner garments, however (where worn), and also the 
outer garments of better quality, as well as decorations, are dis- 
tinctive. Some of the women wear a metal ring which pierces one 
