892 



NOETH-EAST APEICA. 



marshes. The inhabitants, of somewhat darker complexion than the Egyptians, 

 due probably to a mixture of Negro blood, for the most part present a cadaverous 

 look. They are also very poor, being often obliged to pay the taxes in kind with 

 palm-leaf baskets and suchlike articles. 



Within the Kasr of Khargeh the buildings are crowded one on the other, and 

 the network of narrow lanes runs imderground through vaulted galleries. At rare 

 intervals an aperture like that of a well gives access to a dazzling ray of light, 

 relieving the gloom of these dark passages. Such is the style of building preva- 

 lent throughout all the towns of Siwah, as well as in many other towns in the 

 oases, and the same arrangement occurs even in Nubia. 



The Wah-el-Gharbieh, or " Western Oasis," better known as that of Dakhel, 

 or Dakhleh, that is, the " Interior," is by far the most densely peopled, although 

 scarcely mentioned by the ancient writers. Like Khargeh, it has its temple of 



Fig. 119. — Oases of Khargeh and Dakhel. 



Scale 1 : 2,200,000. 



SB' 



/C/ta/veAaf 







qAS/S O^ OyfM-//S£. 



I EI Kharge^l .^ 



26' 





^* DJènnah ^ 



«y/ J 



KaspSedJan 



29° 



L > of" breenwich 



3 h 



Cultivated Tracts. 

 —^^-~— 30 Miles. 



Jupiter Ammon, which is situated in the neighbourhood of the capital known by 

 the name of El-Kasr, or " The Castle." This is probably the sanctuary that 

 Cambyses intended to visit during the expedition to the south which ended so 

 disastrously. The population consists of fellahîn with the same usages and 

 engaged in the same pursuits as those of the Nile Valley, but far more crowded 

 together. Every foot of available land is carefully cultivated, and the date groves, 

 tended with almost filial devotion, yield abundant supplies of delicious fruit. 



Although described as a " detached fragment of Egypt," the Dakhel oasis 

 nevertheless differs from it in its vegetation. Here are found plantations of olives, 

 lemons, and oranges interspersed among the palm groves, and producing the finest 

 fruits of the oases. The inhabitants of Dakhel have a few horses, but they have 

 failed to breed camels, in consequence of a poisonous fly that infests the district 

 during the summer, and whose bite is fatal to this animal. To the want of camels 



