PHYSICAL FEATURES. xxxiii 
(] Gazella leptoceros, F. Cuv.) and even those of ostriches were frequently seen. The 
correctness of this observation regarding the presence of the ostrich in the northern 
portion of the Libyan desert in the end of last century is verified by Geoffroy 
St.-Hilaire l , who says, " elle est commune dans les montagnes situees au sud-ouest 
d'Alexandrie " 2 . At the same period Ovis tragelaphus existed on the hills to the east 
of Cairo. 
MarsaMatru, which lies on the coast to the west of where Browne turned southwards 
to the oasis of Siwah, has as yet yielded only four species of Reptiles, viz. Tarentola 
mauritanica, Eumeces schneideri, Cliamoeleon vulgaris, and Zamenis rogersi ; but, when 
properly investigated, the fauna of the coast-line from Alexandria to Marsa Matru will 
be found to be, in all likelihood, as far as Reptiles are concerned, a repetition of the 
littoral fauna of the Delta. 
After a series of marches along the coast, extending to 75 hours, during which 
Browne remarks that hardly a day passed without his being incommoded by showers 
and by cold winds from the north-east or north-west, he came to a copious well, 
where he watered his camels and proceeded south-west towards Siwah, and, in about 
three days, reached the oasis of Garah with its fresh water and date-palms, which, 
a few years later, was visited by Hornemann. The country beyond was a perfect desert, 
consisting of ' : mountains of sand and barren rock," succeeded by an extensive sandy 
plain followed by other low hills and rocks. Between the oasis of Garah and Siwah 
the soil was completely encrusted with salt 3 . 
The oasis of Siwah, which has frequently been described, and quite recently by 
Robeccln-Bricchetti 4 , lies in a depression 25 to 30 metres below the level of the 
Mediterranean, surrounded more or less by fantastically shaped cliffs, whilst a number 
of isolated rocky masses stand up from its centre. The dwellings of the inhabitants are 
built on these eminences, and are so constructed that they assume the appearance of 
feudal fortresses. These heights once formed part of the surrounding plateau, to the 
level of which their summits nearly reach. Numerous lakelets and many running fresh- 
water, mostly thermal, streams are seen on the floor of the oasis, some containing fish, 
possibly among them the two species, Cyprinodon dispar and C. calcaritanus ; other 
waters are generally brackish, while some springs contain sulphur. Besides groves 
of date-palms — apricots, figs, olives, peaches, plums, pomegranates, vines, &c. are 
cultivated, also some cereals. Although Browne complained of the cold of the journey 
along the coast, he suffered much from the heat of the oasis. As it lies, however, within 
the influence of the climatic conditions of the Mediterranean, rain is not uncommon in 
the months of January and February. 
1 Mem. sur l'Egypte, i. (1799-1800), p. 79. 
" Also once present in Tunisia : Johnston, P.Z. S. 189S, p. 353. 
3 The salt of Siwah was formerly reserved for certain religious ceremonies and was exported to Persia to 
be used by the Eoyal household. 4 All' Oasi di Giove immune, 1890. 
