The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-06-02
YABAH DISTRICT OF SINAI.
SUBJECT OF DISPUTE BETWEEN
ENGLAND AND TURKEY.
Unattractive village of Akabah-
Country Seldom Visited by the Tour
ist--How the Traveller is Fleeced In
Matters Of Transportation and Get
ting Supplies.


The village of Akabah, which has re-
Gently emerged into notice, is occasion
ally visited by travellers who, having
proceeded through the peninsula of
Sinai as far as the Monastery Of st.
Catherine, wish to pursue their jour
ney to visit the wonderful remains Of
Petra, that rose red city, half as old
as time" The route from Sinai to Pc
ira passes through Akabah, where a
new set of camels and Bedouins must
be hired, and where the traveller must
enter into negotiations with the Tur-
kish officials and the Arab skeikhs 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. Akabh has
none of the busy life, the busting traf-
fic or the procession of great liners
white and gold that give interest to
! the scene at SueZ. II is in cul de sac.
You may walk for a day along the
shores of its barren gulf and never see
a sail. Brilliant and sparkling as are its
waves, yet as far as traffic Is concern
the gulf is almost as dead as the Dead
Sea, says correspondent Of the Lon
don Globe and at the head of the gulf
the waters die away into dismal salt
| fiat, as if from mere dulness.
On the land side, too, Akabah is
equally cut off from the world by lea
CUES of f1inty desert, sklrted by Jagged
and PERCEPTIONS mountains, REGION
bare, stony, waterless and inhospitable
OF course, If the new Mecca railway
! has a branch to AlSabah the issolation
of the place will be remedied but hith-
erto 1t has touched civilization no
nearer than GAIA, which is weeks
camel ride distant Save at times of
exceptional excitement, such as the
| Hltotntf VI WITCH llif caravan VI lnb
Hal, or Pilgrimage to. Mecca, passes
through, life at Akabah must be ex-
tremely 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 Nu-
weba, where there is an Egyptian out
/ post in an oasis of palms on the sea-
shore. Some thirty miles further on
| up the coast the traveller passes
through Tabah, which through some
times lately alluded to as town" is
merely a wadi, or valley where a few
palm trees and a spring make a pos
sible camping place. Another two hours
brings him to Akabah itself
In order to understand the game Of
traveller fleeing as played at Akabah,
it is necessary to describe the situation
there in normal times First, there is
the Turkish garrison, usually under
command of a kaimakam (ColoneD,
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 fashioned castle,
whose massive curtain walls and
frowning gateway are flanked by i'm
posing 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 counten-
ances at the sight of the travellers
camp arriving. Here at least comes
some one who can be made to hand