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TO THE READER.

THE present publication should be considered a sequel and a continuation of my "Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Meccah," from which the adventure forming its subject may be said to date. I have, therefore, dwelt at some length upon the mighty changes, the growths, and the developments of the last quarter century, which has produced the "Greater Egypt" of the present day contenting myself, however, with contrasting the actual Alexandria, Cairo, and Suez with my descriptions of the same places in 1853-54.

The tale of the Mining-Cities of Midian reads, they say, like a leaf from the "Arabian Nights." Yet it is sober truth. My object has been to avoid, as much as possible, all play of fancy and the exaggerations of an explorer's enthusiasm. It is hardly necessary to state that my assertions are borne out

by the Report of the Mineralogists officially appointed by H.M. the Viceroy of Egypt: and the labours of H.E. Gastinel-Bey and of M. George Marie have been carefully consulted before sending this volume to print.

How little is known of the country may be learned from the words of my friend Professor Aloys Sprenger, the most scientific topographer of Arabia: "Es (die Station in oder bei Aynûnâ) ist reich an Palmen, trieb einst Feldbau, und es gibt Stellen, wo man (in Rinnen?) Gold fand." The mineral wealth of the land is equally ignored by the savant Herr Albrecht Zehme,† the most modern geographical and historical "Sketcher" of the Peninsula. Finally, the heart of Ancient Midian was traversed by Dr. Edward Rüppell in 1826, and by Dr. George Aug. Wallin in 1847;§ not to mention such names as Burckhardt, Wellsted, || and Lieutenant (I.N.) Carless, who also surveyed the coast under Captain Moresby (I.N.), and my old

*Page 22, Die alte Geographie Arabiens. Bern. Huber, 1875. + Arabien und die Araber seit hundert Jahren. Halle, 1875. Reisen in Nubien Kerdofan, etc. I vol. Wilmans, Frankfurt, A.M. 1829.

§ "Notes taken during a Journey through part of Northern Arabia:" Journal R.G.S., vol. xx. of 1850.

Lieutenant J. R., "Travels in Arabia." 2 vols. London : Murray, 1838.

and lamented friend Dr. Beke, whose last writings are quoted in a note to chap. xii. Yet, apparently, none of them ever fanned a pound of sand, broke a stone, or noticed an atom of metal.

It is not easy to explain how a naturalist like Rüppell could overlook the structure of the rocks, and pass through the old Ophir without suspecting the existence of the masses of metal around and below him. But at that time he was a fresh arrival, and the completely novel aspects of oriental scenery and life possibly bewildered him. Those who remember their sensations during their first month in India will understand what I mean. As regards the Ruined Cities, he was evidently not allowed to visit them by his escort, the Huwaytát-in those days a somewhat turbulent and dangerous tribe, fond of domineering over strange visitors. With respect to the gold in quartz and porphyry, Sprenger suggests, with much probability, that Rüppell, like the men of his day, some twenty years before the discoveries in California and Australia awoke the attention of the world, never dreamt of such treasures and paid no attention to the geological features which denote the presence of the precious metal. The other travellers seem to have been wholly innocent of natural history.

Gold has been connected with our earliest ideas of the Arabian peninsula, since William, the biographer of Thomas Becket, said, "Araby sends us gold." All have read in youth of the plenas Arabum domos, and Icci beatis nunc Arabum invides gazis. We, the members of the Khedivial Expedition, feel not a little proud of our new work in an old land ; and we may rejoice in having added a name to the long list of mines and places given by the exhaustive Professor Sprenger.

The Reconnaissance, to call it by its true title, was hurriedly organized, while the advancing hot season left us little time for making collections. The choicest samples of metals were submitted, after return, to H.H. the Khediv; and the rest of the samples were sent for analysis to the Laboratory in the Cairene Citadel. My bottle full of reptiles and insects was forwarded to Dr. Smith of the British Museum; the land-shells of Wady Aynúnah to Mr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys of Ware Priory, Herts, who has so often lent me his valuable assistance; and a few sheets of dried plants, after being inspected by my friend and fellow-traveller, Dr. Carlo de Marchesetti of Trieste, were transmitted to Professor Balfour of Edinburgh. The photographed inscription found on the march to the "White Mountain" was sub

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