12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 59 
of the alae of the nose and hangs down to the lips. The head in 
men, closely cropped or even partly shaved, is covered with a closely 
fitting cap, or is lightly turbaned, that of the women at home bare, 
in public covered with an outer garment. The neck as a rule is 
uncovered. A large majority of individuals of both sexes go bare- 
footed, except on special occasions. 
The family life appears to be the same as that of the poor Egyptian 
of the Valley. Except the few who are better to do, the people 
sleep on the floor, on thin palm-strip mats, and, according to the 
village authorities, often without covers ; not because they do not need 
the latter (though the rooms are probably never very cold), but 
because they have none. 
The meals are generally only two a day, morning and evening; 
and among the majority of the population there is but little variety 
in the food. The predominant and often exclusive articles of diet 
are rice, in rice time ; barley, in barley time ; and dates, in date time. 
There is scarcely any milk and no butter. There are small tough 
chickens and their small eggs, but these go in a large part to the 
better conditioned and now in a measure also to the Valley. Meat 
among the ordinary people is not eaten more than perhaps, on the 
average, once a month, and then it is usually not of the best quality. 
They eat cats and probably dogs, though the latter are scarce, there 
being now only about a score in the whole village. The Kharga 
natives used to eat household animals of all kinds. They even ate 
camels that were diseased, butchering them just before they died, 
but this practice is now prohibited by the government. 
Domestic animals consist of donkeys, a few cows, goats, and sheep. 
Donkeys are the most common. All these animals are diminutive in 
size and often poorly nourished. The few families who are better 
off financially own one or more camels, which alone of the domesti- 
cated Oasis animals are usually in a fairly good condition. 
The occupation of the natives, as already mentioned, is almost 
exclusively agricultural work. 1 Industry and manufactures are lim- 
x ln census of 1907, the occupations of the Kharga people are given as 
follows : Ma ] e Female 
Agriculture 2,170 .... 
Cotton industry 5 
Straw industry 42 3 
Silk industry 2 
Basket making 96 
Miscellaneous 48 n 
Transport and trade 55 
Police and other parts of Civil Service 66 
Religious 69 .... 
Midwives 8 
Housework or no occupation 1,899 3.9 I 
