CHAPTER XIII.

RETURN TO CAIRO, ETC. THE "PROCÈS-VERBAL "

ADDRESSED TO HIS HIGHNESS.

THE violent "'Illi "-wind of April 18th, which made us pass the night zigzagging under easy steam, and the broken tumbling sea, fell calm and smooth shortly after we had threaded the dangerous part of ElAkabah. Sailing under a cloudless sky, with a flowing sheet and a following breeze, we spent the time on board in writing our reports, in pounding our specimens, and in treating the powder with mercury which was borrowed from our obliging Captain's artificial horizon. On Saturday, April 21st, exactly three weeks after our departure, we took leave of all our friends of the S.S. Sinnár, including the Mullá Effendi (chaplain), and the good old Hakimbáshi (surgeon) who had been most attentive to the small maladies of our men. I may truly say that we shall be rejoiced to see them again.

We landed at Suez in the best of health and spirits, and we were received by the port-officials

with all their former courtesy, and by our friends with their natural hospitality. A telegram was at once despatched to the Viceroy announcing succès complet, and applying for a special train, which was supplied to us by the kindness of H.E. Barrot Bey. Nothing now remained but to pay the wages and the bakhshish of the two Europeans, Marius Isnard, the cook, and the marmiton, Antonin.

We set out without delay. At Zagázig, Haji Wali, despite a drenching shower of rain, rushed off to his home, after taking the shortest of leaves. Having arrived there he was so bullied and badgered by his friends for having confided such a secret to Franks, and so laughed at for allowing us to monopolise all the profits (!), that he presently rushed up to Cairo, more mad than sane, and caused an infinity of trouble. At Zagázig he also distributed amongst his cronies, as presents of price, valueless bits of quartz.

The train was slow, and we did not reach our destination before a dozen or so of hours. The tidings, too, were none of the best. War was expected, troops were getting ready for the voyage, and there was a general confusion of excitement. Mr. F. Smart, unable to wait any longer, had left for Alexandria, en route for Naples. I waited, however, upon H.H. Prince Husayn Kamil Pasha, the young Minister of Finance, who asked me the

most sensible and pertinent of questions; showing himself a master of detail like his father, and by no means satisfied without a corresponding reply. Through the kindness of H.E. Ibrahim Bey Taufik, I had a short audience with His Highness, despite the general turmoil and the urgency of ConsulsGeneral.

Next morning the Khediv, after receiving my hearty acknowledgments of the princely way in which he had ordered the excursion, thanked me for the service which I had rendered to Egypt, and accepted my assurance that the Nile-Valley has ever been the land of my predilection. His Highness inspected with curiosity the charts, maps, and plans of his staff-officers; and at once understood the advantage of working, with modern appliances, the ancient Mines of Midian. He also took no little interest in the measures which I briefly outlined. The first step would be to regiment the convicts, who now do little beyond dying at the local Botany Bay, Fayzoghlú. These men could be divided into companies, officered from the Engineer-branch of the service, and form a body like that which, in the more economical and less sentimental days of English colonial history, distinguished themselves on the Gold Coast and in West Africa.

In Midian they would find a healthy climate; the sea would prevent their escape on one side,

the Desert on the other; and, lastly, they might look forward to pardon and freedom, the convict's best incentive to good conduct. Indeed, hands would never be wanting; the Bedawin are always ready, as they showed themselves upon the Suez Canal, to work for regular pay. I also suggested that the richer ores should be treated at a great central usine established at Suez, whither transport would be cheap, and where fuel, so rare and expensive in Arabia, would cost comparatively little. My ideas were approved, but political matters delayed their development-I hope only for a time.

I also took the opportunity of presenting to His Highness the following appeal on behalf of those who had served in the "Khedivial Expedition."

MONSEIGNEUR,

J'ai l'honneur de vous annoncer que le Jeudi, 29 Mars, 1877, je suis arrivé à Suez, accompagné de M. Charles Clarke, Directeur des Télégraphes à Zagázig, et par mon ancien ami, le Haji Wali Effendi.

Le matin suivant, je reçus la visite de Monsieur George Marie, Ingénieur des Mines attaché à l'État-Major, qui me remit une lettre de S. A. le Prince Husayn Kamil Pasha, Ministre des Finances, et me présenta les officiers suivants de l'État-Major Egyptien :

Amir Effendi Rushdi,
Hassan Effendi Haris,

Abd el-Karím Effendi Izzat.

Ces officiers emmenaient avec eux le Sergent Ali et vingt hommes du génie. Je fis ensuite visite au Gouverneur de Suez, S. E. Said-Bey, pour prendre avec lui les mesures nécessaires à notre embarquement.

Le jour suivant (Samedi, 21 Mars), à six heures du soir,

nous fûmes à bord de la corvette Sinnár, Capitaine Ali-Bey Shukri, où nous trouvâmes le capitaine du port Ra'úf-Bey qui se met entièrement à notre disposition. À 10 heures du soir la corvette se mettait en marche, et nous etions partis.

Le Lundi (2 Avril), à 11 heures 30', nous arrivions à ElMuwayláh dans le Tihámat de Madyan, où nous reçûmes la visite de l'officier commandant la garnison, Yuzbashi Abd el-Wahid, et de l'écrivain du fort, Sayyid Abd el-Rahím. Ces messieurs s'empressèrent de requérir les 50 chameaux nécessaires à l'excursion projetée, et en attendant, la corvette Sinnár se retira dans le Sherm Yáhár, ou l'ancrage offre beaucoup de securité.

Le 3 Avril, accompagné de M. Marie et des Lieutenants Hassan et Abd el-Karím, et de 10 soldats je partis pour le port appellé La Khurábeh, à la bouche du Ouadi Eynúneh. En attendant, M. Clarke, avec le Lieutenant Amir resta sur la corvette pour activer nos préparatifs.

Le 4 Avril, nous fîmes une reconnaissance du pays, où nous découvrîmes un ancien établissement metallurgique; un aqueduc d'une lieue et demie avec deux reservoirs, en apparence de construction romaine, et enfin une ancienne ville appellée Dár elHamrá, ou devaient habiter les travailleurs sur la rive gauche du Ouadi. Nous fûmes nous convaincre en même temps qu'à la porte la plus étroite du Ouadi il avait existé autrefois un barrage en pierre et toutes les constructions nécessaires à une exploitation.

Le 5 Avril, conduits par le Scheik Abd el-Nebi de la tribu des Houetát, nous visitâmes les fours, où nous trouvâmes des briques vetrifiées et d'anciennes scories, toutes choses qui nous confirmèrent dans la conviction où nous étions qu'il y avait en la autrefois un établissement très important. Une route pratiquée dans le rocher menait evidemment de la ville à l'usine.

Le 6 Avril, pendant que les officiers s'occupaient de relever les environs, nous visitâmes la partie droite du Ouadi Eynúneh, où nous trouvâmes que le terrain était primitif, et traversé par d'énormes filons de porphyre, coupant des masses de granit rouge, contenant beaucoup de feldspath. Nous y trouvâmes également des quartz, qui avaient été evidemment emmenés par les eaux et en cassant quelques uns nous fûmes nous convaincre qu'ils étaient aurifères et argentifères, ce que expliquait immediatement la présence dans le pays de l'établissement metallurgique.