north-south must arrest, like dykes, the flow of water
underground. One of these reefs is laboriously scraped with
Bedawi Wusum, and with Moslem inscriptions comparatively modern.
The material is heavy, but shows no quartz; whereas the smaller
valleys which debouch upon the northern or right bank of the main
line, display a curious conformation of the "white stone,"
contorted like oyster shells, and embedded in the trap.

Of the six wells, revetted with masonry and resembling in all
points those of Ziba, four, including El-Tawilah, the deepest,
supply brackish water; and the same is the case with a fifth
inside the fort, close to the chapel of his Holiness, Shaykh
Abubakr. The water, however, appeared potable; and perhaps
cleaning out and deepening might increase the quantity. The sweet
element drunk by the richards of El-Wijh comes from the Bir
el-Za'faraniyyah ("of Saffron"), and from its north-eastern
neighbour, El-'Ajwah ("the Date-paste"). The latter measures four
or five fathoms; and the water appears under a boulder in situ
that projects from the southern side. The reader will now agree
with me that El-Wijh is not too drouthy for a quarantine-ground.

The plots of green meat lie about the water, sheltered from the
burning sun by a luxuriant growth of date-trees. The Egyptian is
the best man in the world for dabbling in mud; and here, by
scraping away the surface-sand, he has come upon a clayey soil
sufficiently fertile to satisfy his wants. The growth is confined
to tobacco, potatoes, and cabbages, purslain (Portulaca,
pourpier), radishes, the edible Hibiscus, and tomatoes, which are
small and green. Lettuces do not thrive; cucumbers and
water-melons have been tried here and up country; and--man wants