Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-06-08
TABAH DISTRICT OF SINAI.
Subject of Dispute Between England
and Turkey.


sionally visited by travellers who. hav-
ing proceeded through the peninsula
of Sinai as far as the Monastery Of
st. Catherine, wish to pursue their
Journey to visit the wonderful remains
of Petra, that rose red city, half as
old as time" The route from Sinai to
Petra passes through Akabah, where a
new set of camels and Bedouins must
be hired, and where the traveller must
enter into negotiations with the Turk
ish officials and the Arab sheikhs for
permission and an escort to proceed.
| These negotiations are always tire
some and protracted, and probably
most tourists who have found them
selves at Akabah are heartily glad
when they get away again. There Is
nothing attractive about the place ex-
cept its site. 1t lies amid a pleasant
grove Of palms at the head Of the
Eastern Gulf of the Red Sea, CORES
ponding to Suez at the head Of the
Western Gulf.
There the similarity ends. Akabah
has none of the busy life, the bustling
traffic or the procession of great lin
ers white and gold" that give interest
to the scene at SueZ. 1t Is In a cul
de sac. You may walk for a day along
| the shores of it's barren gulf and never
see a sail. Brilliant and sparkling as
are its waves, yet as far as traffic Is
a1 tlA iu oil OF 1nn1 n
as the Dead Sea, says a correspond
ent of the London Globe, and at the
head of the gulf the waters die away
into a dismal salt fiat as if from mere
dulness.
On the land side, too, Akabah is
equally cut off from the world by
leagues Of flinty desert, skirted by
| jagged and precipitous mountains, a
region bare, stony, waterless and in
hospitable. OF course, If the new
Mecca railway has a branch to Aka
bah the isolation of the place will be
remedied, but hitherto 1t has touched
is a weeks camel ride distant. Save
at times of exceptional excitement,
such as the present, or when the cara
van Of the Hal, or Pilgrimage to Nee
ca, passes through, life at Akabah
must be extremely dull.
No wonder then that the rare ad-
vent of a European traveller with his
camp Is an occasion of which the most
is made in the way Of getting as much
out of him as possible. The route
from the Monastery of Sinai to Aka
bah strikes the shores Of the gulf at
Nuweba where there is an Egyptian
outpost in an oasis Of palms on the
seashore. Some thirty miles further
on up the coast the traveller passes
through Tabah, which though some
times lately alluded to as a town" Is
merely a wadi or valley where few
palm trees and a spring make pos
sible camping place. Another two
hours journey round the top Of the
gulf brings him to Akabah itself.
In order to understand the game Of
traveller fleeing as played at Akabah,
1t is necessary to describe the situa-
ton there in normal times. First
there is the Turkish garrison, usually
under command of a kaimakam (Col-
oneD, who acts as governor of the
place. This garrison is located in the
fort, the only substantial building in
the place, a great square, old fash
ioned castle, whose massive curtain
walls-and frowning gateway are
fianked by imposing towers. The rest
of Akabah. consisting of mud built
novels, clusters modestly among the
palms around the fortress.
Pay day comes rarely in the Turkish
army, and at Akabah it hardly ever
comes at all, to judge from the ragged
and miserable appearance of the SOL
diers. A CLEAN of satisfaction, how
ever, probably crosses their counte-
nances at the sight Of the travellers
camp arriving. Here at least comes
some one who can be made to hand
over money even if the sultan cannot
Allah be praised! The tourist cannot
proceed on his way without the permit
of the Kaimakam, who will see to 1t
that he does not start too easily.
Next in Importance to the Turkish
governor, and in many ways even more
| influential is the sheikh Of the local
Bedouins. He owns all the camels in
the district, and as camels are the sole
means of transport, he can make his
own terms. He is the ally of the gov
ernor in making the traveller pay out
| literally, though these two worthless
are evidently suspicious of each other
as to dividing the spoil. Lastly, there
are the villagers who have eggs, scraggy
| chickens and goatlike lambs to sell.
and who are anxious that the stranger
should not depart from their coasts
too soon. Judging from the rapacity
Of all these people, you conclude that
some Of the sharks, of which the Red
Sea is so full, finding the water come
to an end at Akabah, must have got
out here on to the shore.
The traveller who rashly intrudes in
to this home Of harpies does not do so
without fair warning Of what he may
expect. The admonitions of guide
books and the records of previous
Journeys warn him that every care
should be taken by inquiry at Cairo
and Suez to ascertain whether the route
to Petra is open or whether the law
lessness of the Bedouins makes the
journey on from Akabah in that di-
rection impossible, that letters of COM
mendation should be carried to the
military authorities at Akabah, and
that, as a final precaution, messenger
should be sent on about a week ahead
| from Sinai to Akabah on a swift camel
to bring back an assurance that the
traveller really can be sent on to Petra.
| What avail all these precautions
Your messenger, of course, brings
back glowing promises from the Aka
bah authorities. who naturally want
you to walk into their clutches, your
letters of commentator are received
with every mark of consideration, but
when you are a weeks journey from
| everywhere, and there is no tele-