697 
captured from the Italians. These people move offshoots 
in the late summer, setting them out at once. Their time 
to take them off is February, if they have to go a long 
distance. By agreement with the governors of Dongola and 
Haifa, aided by the old Shiek, a supply of all these vari- 
eties will be secured then and Brown has a very well 
trained man who will go down there for them. I can learn 
of no date called "Succotah." It must be one of these 
four varieties, taking the name from having come from the 
Succote country. Mr. Brown does not know its true 
characters . 
This "Bentamouda" or "Bintamoda" may be the "Barta- 
moda" which Aaronsohn found a few of at Assouan. Gondala 
has been brought down there from the Succote country. 
Prom the fact that the name Barakawa does not appear in 
any list and is the great export date, first of Succote, 
then of Dongola, I am „of the opinion that the date of 
Aaronsohn' s list, S.P.I, number 32713, may prove to be 
this variety. The twenty offshoots secured, 10 Bentamouda 
and 10 others, will be planted by Brown till spring, when 
we will send them on with the lot to be cut in February. 
They came in fine condition. I am debating whether to go 
into Dakhla Oasis where Mr. Brown thinks the true Sultanl 
comes from. It will take a five days' camel journey from 
Khargeh, the end of the branch railway. Birket el Haggi 
is only a district, the variety is Hayany, which with Zag- 
lool and Samani are dates adapted to a much cooler climate 
and are grown along the shore dunes near Rami eh, Edkou and 
Rosetta without irrigation. They should be best suited to 
Phoenix and Tempe, and perhaps succeed at Santa Barbara 
and San Diego, California. 
Egypt. Dakhla Oasis. Prof. Mason also writes, Oc- 
tober 15; "This is about as far into the real desert as 
I expect to address a letter from. I find that the long 
arm of the Egyptian-English Government reaches here in a 
mild form, but one which affords a weekly camel past, so 
can start this word toward the Nile in the morning. This 
is the Capital of the oasis and the seat of a court, has a 
Government doctor here and so on. 
We left the hotel in Kharga Saturday at 6 A. M. , mule 
trolley over the narrow gauge to Kharga whence we took the 
camels. I have a very good English speaking Egyptian in 
charge who lived here for two or three year6 in the employ 
of the "Company" and knows nearly every one. We reached 
the first water yesterday about 2 P. M. and spent the 
night there, came in here with the guide and one baggage 
camel at 1:30 to-day. Not much poetry of motion about a 
camel on the "trot" but I have stood up to the punishment 
