The Land of Midian, Vol. 1

R >> Richard Burton >> The Land of Midian, Vol. 1

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Lieutenant Amir was despatched (January 27th) to seek for basalt,
with a small dromedary-caravan, under the lead of Shaykh Furayj.
After winding for about two hours along the shore, which is cut
by the broad mouths of many a Wady; and whose corallines, grits,
and limestones are weathered into the strangest shapes; he left
to the right (east) the light-coloured Jebel Sukk. On the
southern side of the Wady (Sukk) which drains it to the sea, a
hill of the porous stone which the Arabs call "Hajar el-Harrah"
appeared. The specimens brought home, si vera sunt exposita, if
they be really taken from an outcrop, prove that volcanic
centres, detached, sporadic, and unexpected, like those found
further north, occur even along the shore. As will afterwards
appear, another little "Harrah" was remarked by Burckhardt
("Syria," p. 522), about one hour and a quarter north of Sinaitic
Sherm. He says, "Here for the first and only time, I saw volcanic
rocks," and he considers that their extension towards Ras Abú(?)
Mohammed may have given rise to the name .

Wellsted,[EN#105] who apparently had not read Burckhardt, makes
the same remark. The many eruptive centres in the limestones of
Syria and Palestine were discovered chiefly by my late friend,
the loved and lamented Charles F. Tyrwhitt-Drake. It would be
interesting to ascertain the relation which they bear to tile
great lines of vulcanism in the far interior, the Haura'n and the
Harrah, subtending the coast mountains. And Dr. Beke, another
friend now no more, would have been delighted to know that his
"True Mount Sinai" was not unconnected with a volcanic outbreak.

Beyond the Wady Sukk, a bad rough path leads along the base of
the Tayyih Ism Mountain; then the cliffs fall sheer into the sea,
explaining why caravans never travel that way. Yet there was a
maritime road, for we know that Abú Sufyán, on his way from Syria
to fight the battle of "Bedr" (A.H. 2), passed by a roundabout
path for safety, along the shore of Midian. Thus compelled, the
track bends inland, and enters a Nakb, a gash conspicuous from
the Gulf, an immense cañon or couloir that looks as if ready to
receive a dyke or vein. Curious to say, a precisely similar
formation, prolonged to the south-west, cuts the cliffs south of
Marsá Dahab in the Sinaitic Peninsula. The southern entrance to
the gorge bears signs of human habitation: a parallelogram of
stones, 120 paces by 91, has been partially buried by a land-slip
(?); and there are remnants of a dam measuring about a hundred
metres in length (?). About three hundred yards higher up, water
appears in abundance, and palm clumps grow on both sides of it.
Here, however, all trace of man is wanting; the winter torrents
must be dangerous; and there is no grass for sheep. The crevasse
now becomes very wild; the Pass narrows from fifty to ten paces,
and, in one section, a loaded camel can hardly squeeze through;
whilst the cliff-walls of red and grey granite (?) tower some two
thousand feet above the thread of path.[EN#106] Water which, as
usual, sinks in the sand, is abundant enough in three other
places to supply a large caravan; and two date-clumps were
passed. Hence, if all here told be true, the "Nakhil
(palm-plantation) Tayyib Ism" reported to the first Expedition.

After covering sixteen miles in five hours, the caravan had not
made more than half the distance to the Bir el-Máshi, where a
small Marsá, or anchorage-ground, called El-Suwayhil ("the Little
Shore") nestles in the long sand-slope between the mountain
Tayyib Ism and its huge northern neighbour, the Mazhafah block.
From this "Well of the Walker," a pass leads to the Wady Marsha',
where, according to certain Bedawin, are found extensive ruins
and Bíbán ("doors"), or catacombs. The whole is, however, an
invention; our Sayyid had ridden down the valley during his
journey to El-Hakl.

On the next day another reconnaissance was made. I had been shown
fine specimens of quartz from the Eastern highlands; moreover, a
bottle of "bitter" or sulphur-water from the Wady Mab'úg, the
"oblique" or "crooked" valley, mentioned in "The Gold-Mines of
Midian,"[EN#107] had been brought to us with much ceremony. Those
who tasted it, indeed, were divided as to whether it smacked more
of brimstone or of ammonia. Accordingly, Mr. Clarke and
Lieutenant Yusuf walked up the Wady Makná, and ascended the
Mab'úg, where the mineral spring proved to be a shallow pool of
rain-water, much frequented by animals, camels included. Search
for the "Marú" was more successful: they found a network of veins
in the sandstone grits (?) of the Jebel Umm Lasaf; and they thus
established the fact that the "white stone" abounds to the east
as well as to the south of Makná.

Meanwhile we were working hard at the Jebel el-Fahísát, the great
discovery of the northern journey. I had been struck by the name
of the watercourse to the north of the hauteville, Wady Majrá
Sayl Jebel el-Marú--"the Nullah of the Divide of the Torrent
(that pours) from the Mountain of Quartz." Moreover, a Makna'wi
lad, 'Id bin Mohsin, had brought in fine specimens of the Negro
or iridescent variety, offering to show the place. Lastly, other
Bedawi had contributed fine specimens of Marú, with the grey
copper standing out of it in veins. On the evening of January
27th we walked up the picturesque mouth of the Makná valley.
After passing the conglomerate "Gate," and the dwarf plantations
on both sides above it, we reached in forty-five minutes the spot
where the lower water, 'Ayn el-Fara'í, tumbles over rocks of grit
and granite. On the left bank, denoted by a luxuriant growth of
rushes, is an influent called Sha'b el-Kázi, or "the Judge's
Pass."[EN#108] Ascending it for a few paces, we struck up the
broad and open Fiumara, which I shall call for shortness "Wady
Majrá." The main trunk of many branches, it is a smooth incline,
perfectly practicable to camels; with banks and buttresses of
green-yellow chloritic sands, and longitudinal spines outcropping
from the under surface. It carries off the surplus water from the
north-western slopes of that strange wavelike formation, the
Jebel el-Fahísát, which bounds the right (southern) bank of the
Wady Makná. Presently we sighted the Jebel el-Maru', the
strangest spectacle. The apex of the gloomy porphyritic trap is a
long spine of the tenderest azure-white, filmy as the finials of
Milan Cathedral, and apparently melting into thin air. Its crest
seems abnormally tall and distant; and below it a huge grey vein,
horizontal and wavy, cuts and pierces the peaklet of red rock;
and is cut and pierced, in its turn, by two perpendicular dykes
of porphyritic trap, one flanking the right and the left
shoulders of the low cone. When standing upon the hauteville
during my first visit, I had remarked this "white Lady" of a
vein, without, however, attaching to it any importance.

After a quarter of an hour's walk up the Wady Majrá, we came to
the sandy base of the rocky Fahísát; and climbed up a
torrent-ladder with drops and stiff gradients, which were
presently levelled for the convenience of our quarrymen. A few
minutes' "swarming" placed us upon the narrow knife-like ridge of
snowy quartz, so weathered that it breaks under the hand: this is
the aerial head which from below appears so far. The summit,
distant from our camp about one direct mile and a quarter, gives
355 degrees to the Gypsum-hill, Ras el-Tárah, on the shore; 358
degrees to the palm-clump nearest the sea, and due north (360
degrees, all magnetic) to the tents, which are well in sight. The
altitude is about six hundred feet (aner. 29.40).

The view from this summit of the Fahísát is charming as it is
extensive. Westward and broad stretching to the north-west lies
the fair blue gulf that shows, on its far side, the broken
mountains of the Sinaitic Peninsula. Northwards, at our feet,
stretch the palm-groves of Makná, a torrent of verdure pouring
towards the shore. A little to the left, sheltered from the
boreal wind by the white gypseous ridge, Ras el-Târah ("the Head
that surrounds"), and flanked at both ends by its triangular
reefs, the Sharm Makná, the past and future port of the mines,
supports the miniature gunboat no larger than a "cock," and the
Sambúk dwarfed to a buoy. Beyond the purpling harbour, along the
glaring yellow shore, cut by broad Wady-mouths and dotted here
and there with a date-clump, the corallines, grits, and
sandstones are weathered to the quaintest forms, giant pins and
mushrooms, columns and ruined castles. These maritime lowlands
are bounded on the north by heights in three distinct planes: the
nearest is the Jebel Sukk, low and white; farther rises Tayyib
Ism, a chocolate-coloured mass studded with small peaks; while
the horizon is closed by the grand blue wall, the Jebel
el-Mazhafah. In places their precipices drop bluff to the sea;
but the huge valley-mouths separating the two greater ridges,
have vomited a quantity of sand, forming the tapering tongue and
tip known as the "Little Shore." Turning to the east and the
south-east we have for horizon the Wady el-Kharaj (El-Akhraj?),
backed by its immense right bank of yellow gypsum, which dwarfs
even the Rughámat Makná, and over it we catch sight of the dark
and gloomy Kalb el-Nakhlah, a ridge which, running parallel with
and inland of the Fahísát, will be worked when the latter is
exhausted.

We at once recognized the value of this discovery when, reaching
the tents, we examined the quartz, and found it seamed and pitted
with veins and geodes containing Colorado, earthy and crumbling
metallic dust, chlorure, iodure, and bromure of silver, with
various colours, red, ochre-yellow, and dark chocolate-brown. It
stained the fingers, and was suspiciously light--n'importe. I
must regret that here, as indeed throughout the exploration, all
our specimens were taken from the surface: we had not time to dig
even a couple of feet deep. The lad 'Id almost fainted with joy
and surprise when the silver dollars were dropped into his hand,
one by one, with the reiteration of "Here's another for you! and
here's another!" This lavishness served to stimulate cupidity,
and every day the Bedawin brought in specimens from half a dozen
different places. But the satisfaction was at its height when the
crucible produced, after cupellation, a button of "silver"
weighing some twenty grammes from the hundred grammes of what the
grumbling Californian miners had called, in their wrath, "dashed
black dust;"[EN#109] and when a second experiment yielded
twenty-eight grammes (each fifteen grains and a half) and ten
centigrammes from 111 grammes, or about a quarter of a pound
avoirdupois. In the latter experiment also, the culot came away
without the litharge, which almost always contains traces of
silver and antimony. Hence we concluded that the proportions were
30:110--a magnificent result, considering that 12-1/2:100 is held
to be rich ore in the silver mines of the Pacific States.[EN#110]
The engineer was radieux with pride and joy. The yellow tint of
the "buttons" promised gold--two per cent.? Three per cent.?
Immense wealth lay before us: a ton of silver is worth 250,000
francs. Meanwhile--and now I take blame to myself--no one thought
of testing the find, even by a blow with the hammer.

Alas! THE "SPLENDID BUTTONS" PROVED TO BE IRON, CONTAINING ONLY TWO AND A
HALF GRAMMES OF SILVER TO ONE HUNDRED KILOGRAMMES.[EN#111]

I can afford to make merry on the absurd mistake, which at the
time filled the camp with happiness. The Jebel el-Fahísát played
us an ugly trick; yet it is, not the less, a glorious
metalliferous block, and I am sure of its future.

The rest of our time at Makná was given to the study of this
discovery. The great quartz-wall or vein runs nearly due north
and south, with a dip of 5 degrees west; it has pierced the
syenite, forming a sheet down one peak, spanning a second, and
finally appearing in an apparently isolated knob, that bore from
the apex 215 degrees (mag.) The upper part, like that of the
Jebel el-Abyaz, is apparently sterile: at a lower horizon it
becomes panaché; and at last almost all is iridescent--in fact,
it is the Filon Husayn, still richer in veins and geodes. The
filets and fibrils of dust are exposed to sight in the flanks,
and near the base of the great quartz-vein: we should never have
been able to remove the barren upper capping.

Every day's work brought with it some novelty. The Jebel el-Mará,
the centre or focus of the formation, was found to push out veins
to the north, extending within a few yards of the Wady Makná's
mouth. Here, however, the quartz imbedded in grey granite appears
cupriferous, producing fine grey copper (?); and the same is the
case to the east of the Fahísát block. Other green-tinged veins
were found bearing 205 degrees (mag.) from our camp. There is
also a quartz-hill whose valley-drain, about a mile and a third
long, leads down to the sea, about two minutes' walk south of the
southern clump of "tabernacles" occupied by the Maknáwis. The
dust is richest, as usual, at the walls where the vein is in
immediate contact with the heat-altered granites, whose red
variety, containing very little mica, becomes quasi-syenitic.
Certain of the Expedition thought that the Fahísát showed signs
of having been worked by the ancients: my eyes could see nothing
of the kind. And here, as in other parts of our strange country,
there is a medley, a confusion of different formations.

On February 2nd, the day before we left Makná, the Arabs brought
in heavy masses of purple-black, metalliferous rock, scattered
over the gorges and valleys south of the Jebel el-Fahísát; while
others declared that they could point out a vein in situ. Our
engineer declared it to be argentiferous galena, but it proved to
be magnetic iron. His assays were of the rudest: he broke at
least one crucible per day, lamenting the while that he had been
supplied with English articles, instead of creusets de Bourgogne.
And no wonder! He treated them by a strong blast in a furious
coal-fire without previous warming. His muffle was a wreck, and
such by degrees became the condition of all his apparatus.
However, as we sought, so we found: hardly a Bedawi lad in camp
but unpouched some form of metallic specimens. The Shaykhs
declared that the wealth of "Kárún" must have been dug here; and
I vainly told them that the place of punishment of Korah, Dathan,
and Abiram is still shown by Christians in the Convent of Mount
Sinai.[EN#112]

On January 28th, after a ruddy and cloudy sunset, El-Ayli, the
'Akabah wind, beginning at eleven p.m., gave us a taste of his
quality. These northers are the Tyrants of the Gulf; which,
comparatively unbroken by capes and headlands, allows them all
their own way, carrying a strong swell, and at times huge waves,
to meet the tide inflowing from the Red Sea. The storm began with
a rush and a roar, as if it came from above. The gravel, striking
the canvas, sounded like hail or heavy rain-drops; it then kicked
down at one blow the two large tents: they had been carefully
pitched above the reach of water, when wind only was to be
guarded against. Fortunately most of our goods were packed, in
expectation of embarking on the morrow; but the fall broke all
the breakables that were not under cover, and carried newspapers
and pamphlets, including--again, alas!--the Reseau Pentagonal of
Elie de Beaumont, over the plain southwards till arrested by the
heights of Jebel el-Fahísát. This Bora, as it would be called on
the Adriatic, makes the air exceptionally cold and raw before
dawn: it appears to abate between noon and sunset, and it is most
violent at night: it either sensibly increases or lessens in
turbulence with moonrise; and it usually lasts from three to
seven days. We rigged up one of the native huts with the awning
of a tent, till it looked very like a Gypsy dwelling, and in
patience we possessed our souls, grumbling horridly like Britons.

Poor Captain Mohammed of the Mukhbir, who had already escaped one
shipwreck, was in mortal terror: he at once got up steam, and
kept his weary vigil all night. He was perfectly safe, as the
northern reef, under which the Sambúk Musahhil rode easily as if
in smooth water, and the headland, Ras el-Tárah, formed a
complete defence against the Aylí, while the natural pier to the
south would have protected him from its complement, the Azyab or
"south-easter." But it would have been very different had the
storm veered to the west, and the terrible Gharbi set in. The
port of Makná, which has been described in "The Gold-Mines of
Midian,"[EN#113] can hardly be called safe; on the other hand,
its floor has not been surveyed, and a single brise-lame seawards
would convert it into a dock. I should propose a gallegiante, a
floating breakwater, tree-trunks in bundles strongly bound
together with iron cramps and bands, connected by stout rings and
staples and made fast by anchors to the bottom. And, at any rate,
on the Sinaitic shore opposite, at the distance of thirteen
knots, there is, as will appear, an admirable harbour of refuge.

Next day the cloud-veil lifted; and the mountains of Sinai and
Midian, which before had been hidden as if by a November fog in
London, again stood out in sharp and steely blue. I proposed to
board the gunboat. Afloat we should have been much more
comfortable than ashore in the raw, high, and dusty-laden wind.
The Egyptian officers, however, quoted the unnautical Fellah's
favourite saws, El-barro birr li-Ahlihi--"Earth is a blessing to
those upon her"--Zirtat el-Jimál, wa lá tasbíh el-Samak--"The
roar of the camels and not the prayer[EN#114] of the fish;" and
the sailors' saying, Kalb el-Barr, wa lá Sabá el-Bahr--"Better be
a dog ashore than a lion afloat." The public voice was decidedly
against embarking; so two more days of gale were spent in adding
to our collection of mineralogy. On the other hand, the Sayyid
and the three Shaykhs were anxious for a speedy return to
El-Muwaylah, where the Hajj-caravan was expected on Safar 10 (=
February 11th), and where their presence would be officially
required.

On the last day of January I boated off to the Mukhbir several
tons of the specimens collected during the northern march;
including the iron, the sulphur, and the fine white gypsum,
crystalline and amorphous, which forms the Rughámat Makná
Lieutenant Yusuf and M. Philipin were directed to remain in camp
until they should have collected and placed upon the seashore,
ready for embarkation on our return, one ton of white quartz,
three tons (= one cubic metre) of the iridescent variety, and
four boxes half full of the "silver" (iron) dust whose veins and
pockets seam the Negro. They were also to wash in the cradle two
tons of the pounded Cascalho (conglomerate gravel); one ton of
the green-yellow chloritic or serpentine sand forming the under
surface of the Wady Makná, reduced to four Girbahs or
"water-sacks;" and five tons of the dark metal (not argentiferous
galena). After that they were to visit the northern Sulphur-hill;
estimate its contents, trace, if possible, its connection with
adjoining formations; map the country and prospect for wood,
water, and harbour. Lastly, they were ordered to march with the
whole camp, including our mules, upon El-Muwaylah, and there to
await my return.

The three normal days of El-Aylí had come and gone; still the
Fortuna[EN#115] did not fall. The water, paved with dark slate,
and domed with an awning of milky-white clouds, patched here and
there with rags and shreds of black wintry mist that poured
westward from the Suez Gulf, showed us how ugly the Birkat
'Akabah can look. As in Iceland also, the higher rose the
barometer, the higher rose the norther; the latter being a cold
dry wind is, consequently, a heavy wind. And when the sky was
comparatively clear and blue, the display of cirri was
noticeable. In some places they formed filmy crosses and thready
lozenges; in others the wrack fell into the shape of the letter
Z; and from the western horizon the curl-clouds shot up thin
rays, with a common centre hid behind the mountains of Sinai,
affecting all the airs of the sun.

Before leaving Makná I must give an account of its peculiar
tribe, concerning which "The Gold-Mines of Midian"[EN#116]
contained sundry inaccuracies. These men are not the "pauper
descendants of the wealthy Midianites; they cannot boast of
ancient race or of noble blood; and their speech differs in
nothing from that of the Arabs around them. There can be no
greater mistake than to suppose that they represent in any way
the ancient Nabathæans. In features, complexion, and dress they
resemble the half-settled Bedawin around them; and, like these,
they show a kind of connection with the Sinaitic tribes. The
Magáni,[EN#117] to whom only the southern clump of huts at Makná
belongs, call themselves Fawá'idah, Zubáidah, and Ramázání, after
families of the Juhayni stock; and the Fawá'idah have, by
descent, some title to the name. They are, however, considered to
be Khaddamín ("serviles"), like the Hutaym race, by their
neighbours, who give tile following account of their origin.

An Egyptian silk-seller, who accompanied the Hajj-caravan,
happened to fall asleep at Kubázah, between the stations of
'Aynúnah and Magháir Shu'ayb. His companions went their ways, and
he, like a "bean-eater" as he was, fearing to follow them alone,
made for Makná. Having married and settled there, and seeing in
the fertility of the soil a prospective spec., he sent to his
native country for Fellahín--cultivateurs and peasants--who were
collected from every part of Pharoah-land and its neighbourhood.
The new-comers were compelled to pay one-half of their harvest,
by way of El-Akháwah ("the brother-tax"), in token of
subjugation, to the Beni 'Ukbah, the owners of the soil. They
have gradually acquired Milk ("legal title") to the ground.
According to some, they first settled at Makná in the days of the
Beni 'Amr, whom they subsequently accompanied to the Hismá, when
flying from the victorious Musálimah. After peace was patched up,
they were compelled to make over one-fourth of the date-harvest
as El-Akháwah to the 'Imrán-Huwaytát and to the Ma'ázah; whilst
the Tagaygát-Huwaytát claimed a Bursh, or "mat of fine reeds," as
a poll-tax from every head of man. Under these hard conditions
they are left unmolested; and everything taken from them is
restored by the Shaykhs who receive tribute. They have no chief,
although one Sálim ibn Juwayfili claims the title.

Before 1866 the Magáni numbered about a hundred tents: the Wady
Makná was then, they say, a garden; and its cultivators were
remarkable for their goodness and hospitality to strangers. But
in that year a feud with the Beni 'Ukbah was excited, as often
happens, by the belli teterrima causa; the women quarrelled with
one another, saying,

"Thy husband is a slave to my husband," and so forth. The little
tribe, hoisting two flags of red and white calico with green
palm-fronds for staves, dared the foe to attack it; after a loss
of four killed and sundry wounded, all ran away manfully, leaving
their goods at the mercy of the conqueror. Shaykh Hasan el-'Ukbí
was assisted by the Ma'ázah in looting the Magáni huts, and in
carrying off the camels, while Shaykh Furayj vainly attempted
conciliation. Shortly afterwards the Maknáwis went in a body to
beg aid from Hammád el-Sofi, Shaykh of the Turábín tribe, which
extends from Ghazzah (Gaza) westwards to Egypt. Marching with a
host of armed followers, he took possession of the palm-huts
belonging to the Beni 'Ukbah, when the owners fled in turn,
leaving behind their women and children. Furayj hastened from
'Aynúnah to settle the quarrel; and at last the Sofi said to him,
"Whilst I protect the Magáni, do thou protect the Beni 'Ukbah."
Whereupon the latter returned from their mountain-refuge to
El-Muwaylah. The Magáni at the present time are mostly camped
about 'Aynúnah; and only some fifteen head, old men, women, and
boys, who did not take part in the fight, and who live by
fishing, remain at Makná under the protection of the Beni 'Ukbah.
Hence the waters are waste and the fields are mostly unhoed.

Such is the normal condition of Arabia and the Arabs. What one
does the other undoes; what this creates, that destroys.
Professor Palmer tells us, "Another misconception is that all
Arabs are habitual thieves and murderers."[EN#118] Fear of the
terrible vendetta, the blood feud and the blut-geld, amounting to
about eight hundred dollars, prevents the Bedawin, here as
elsewhere, slaying any but strangers. The traveller's experience,
however, was chiefly of the Towarah or Sinaitic Bedawin, a race
which, bad as bad could be in the early quarter of the present
century, has been thoroughly tamed and cowed by the "fear of
Allah and the Consul." And the curse pronounced by the Jews
against their brother Ishmael, "his hand shall be against every
man," etc., must, as was known even in the days of Gibbon, be
taken with many a grain of salt.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20