Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-06-18
TABAH DISTRICT OF SINAI

far as the Monastery of st. Catherine
wish TO pursue their Journey TO visit the
wonderful remains OF Petra. that "rosc
red city, half as old as time The route
from Sinai 20 Petra pasaes through Akaha
where new set of can-is and Bedouins
must bc hired and wnerc the Traveller /
must enter into negotiations with the |
Turkish officials and the Arab sheikhs ior /
permission and an escort Co proceed
These negotiations are always tircsome /
and protracted and probably most tourists /
who have found themselves at Akabah |
are heartily glad when they get away |
again There is nothing attractive about /
the place except It's site. 10 lies amid % /
pleasant grove of palms at the head of |
the Ecastem Gulf of the Rcd Sea cor
responding TO Suoz at the head OF the
Western Gulf.
There the similarity ends Akahah has
none of the busy life, the busthng tmihc
or the procession of great liners white
and gold that give interest to the scene
at Sucz. Ii is m "a cul Do 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 iar
as traffic Is concerned The gulf Is almost
as dead as the Dead Sea. says "a CORE
spondeni OF the London Globe and at the
head OF the gulf the waters die AWAY into
d dismal salt Hat. as II from mere dulness.
On the land side. too. Akahah is equally
cut oil from the world hy leagues of
linty desert skiried by Jagged and pre-
I cipiiuus mountains. a region bare, stony
wulOrless and inhospiable OF course
/ II the new Mecca railway has branch
/ TO Akabah the isolation of the place viii
be remedied but hitherto 1t has touched
/ civilization no nearer than GAIA, which
| is a week E camel ride distant save no
| times of exceptional excitement such
as the present, or when the caravan OF the
I Haj. or Pilgrimage TO Mecca, passes
! through life at Akabah must he extremely
| dull.
No wonder then that the rare advent 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 Akabah strikes the shores of
| the gulf at NuWeba where there is an
| Egyptian outpost in an oasis OF palms on
| the seashorc. Some 30 miles further on
up the coast the traveller passes through
! Iabah. which though sometimes lately
alluded 20 as a town Is merely wadi
or valley, where few palms trees and
spring make a possible camping place.
Another two hours journey round the
| TOP OF the gulf brings him AlAbah Itself.
In order to understand the game of
| traveller fleeing as played at Akahah, It
| is necessary 70 describe the situation
there in normal times. First. there is
the Turkish garrison usually under COM
mand OF a kaimakam Colonel who acts
as governor of the place. This garrison
fort is located in the the only substan-
tal building in the place, a great square
old fashioned castle, whose massive
curtain walls and irowning gateway are
fanked 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 soldiers.
A gleam Of satisfaction, however, prob
ably crosses their countenances at the
sight of the travellers camp arriving.
Here at least comes some one who can be
mnde TO hand over money even If the
sultan cannot. Allah be praisedl The
tourist cannot proceed on his way with
out the permit OF the kaimakam. who
will see TO IL that he does not start too
easily.
Next in Importance to the Turkish
governor and in many ways even more
influential. is the shoikh of the local Be
douins. 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 governor
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 chicken and goat
ike lambs TO sell. and who are anxious
that the stranger should not depart from
their coasts too soon Judging from the
mpacity of all these people, you con-
clude that some OF the sharks of which
the Red Sea r. so full. finding the water
come TO an end al Azahah, must have
got out horc ou 20 the shore
The tnvelor who mshly intrudes into
this homead harpies does not do SO with
ont lfair warming 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 in
quiry at Cairo and Suez TO ascertain
whether the route TO Petra is open oi
whether the lawlcssncss of the Bedoun.
makes the journey ON from Akabah in that
direction impossible, that Letters Of COM
mendation should be carried 90 the mill
tary authorities az Akabah, and that, as
a final prccaution. messenger should be
sent ON about a week ahead from Sinai "a
/ Akahah on d swift camel TO bring back an
assurance that the traveller really can be
sent on to Petra.
What avail all these precautions NouI
. messenger. of course, brings back glow
ing promises frbm the Akabah authon-
ties who naturally want you TO walk into
their clutches, your letters Of commenda-
tion are received with every mark of con-
sideration, but when you are a week s
journey from everywhere. and there is no
telegraph. such things avail but little
The main point is, Behold. this traveller
cometh; come let MS bleed him" The
traveller is presumably accompanied by
/. an honest dragoman. who has contracted
TO carry out the journey az so much a day
inclusive, and who naturally does not care
to submit 60 cxactions, though otherwise
he has no objection 10 the journey being
heightened by a few days delay.
The process Of traveller bleeding az
= practised by Turkish officials is simple anc
efiicacious. First comes a great over
hauling Of all your baggage and stores fol
contraband or suspicious articles, and al
the customs laws in the remoter parts o
tho Ottoman dominions are, 20 say thu
q least OF it, vague there is much back
!, sheesh necessary before the matter
. settled. Then the examination OF pass
ports however, carefully procured, alway
disclosos some mysterious and alarming
irregularity, which, however, is capabl
n Of equally mysterious removal by din
/. Of cash payment.
s Next YOU arc informed that the kama