PHYSICAL EEATUEES. xxi 
amocg the masses of granite. Here Burckhardt observed some pigeons flying about 
in the neighbourhood of these mgheta. Leaving these mountains, the route lies over a 
sandy plateau very subject to mirage, and cut up from east to west by numerous wadis 
in some of which water collects, and in which vegetation is consequently present in 
the form of shrubs, with good pasturage here and there. One wadi is distinguished by 
the number of tamarisks (Tamaris nilotica) found in it, and thus, according to Arab 
fashion, it bears the name of that plant (tarfa), and is known as Wadi Tarfaeh. In 
the same way, some of the wadis, as has been seen, bear the names of mammals, and, it 
may be added, that others are named after birds. The vegetation of the Wadi Tarfaeh 
is not confined, however, to the tamarisk, as the senna-plant and dhum-palm are also 
present, and, this being so, it is one of the most pleasant wadis met with on the route 
between Berber and Darawi. Passing over a plain studded with many granite rocks, 
and crossing other wadis, in some of which dhum-palms afford grateful shade, a 
mountainous country is passed and more wadis, one of which, the Wadi el Berd, in 
Burckhardt's time, was overgrown with trees, and here in the month of March he 
observed flocks of white birds of the size of geese flying northwards. As this valley is 
more or less open to the Nile, it gets a cool breeze ; hence the term " cold " applied 
to it by the Arabs. In other valleys beyond, with their beds marked by acacias, 
gazelles are present. The route continues over coarse uneven ground of sand and 
stones to the broad Wadi el Tanashi, after which a mountain-ridge is crossed to 
enter the sandy Wadi Ongat, thickly overgrown with acacias and Cucumis colocynthis. 
The route then crosses the main western branch of the Wadi Allaki, about 150 metres 
in breadth, with excellent pasturage and many trees, according to Burckhardt. This 
wadi is held in high veneration by the Arabs, who, in entering it, salute it with great 
solemnity, and throw a handful of dhurra on the ground as an offering to the good 
spirit whom they suppose presides over it. Beyond this branch of the Wadi Allaki, 
another line of .drainage, the Wadi el Murra, is traversed, possessing a well forty feet 
deep, but the water is bitter (murra) compared with the sweet water of the Nile. 
Stony hills are crossed and rocky passages are next met with before the Wadi Nedir 
is entered, with its numerous acacia- trees, and with its large natural basin, in which 
rain-water occasionally accumulates. After crossing a sandy plain with isolated granite 
rocks, ascending and descending a rocky ridge and passing over a wild stony tract of 
desert, difficult for camels, the wells of Haima.r, slightly to the south-west of Korosko, 
are reached. They are situated on a small sandy plain surrounded by craggy hills. 
Leaving these wells behind, the route passes through a rocky mountainous country 
thickly covered with loose stones, across wadis with the usual sparse vegetation of 
acacia-trees, over sandy or granite-strewn plains and low mountains, one of the latter 
with luxuriant pasturage and abundant and excellent food for camels at its base, over 
more extensive sandstone plains, past high mountains and low hills, through more 
wadis, some of which are shut in by grotesque granite cliffs of smooth shining rocks of 
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