ACROSS THE DESERT

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11452, 28 February 1931, Page 5

ACROSS THE DESERT

CAMEL JOURNEY OF 900 MILES

’BERTRAM' THOMAS’ DARING ; EXPEDITION TRACES OF pENTUIUES-OLD ; TRACKS OVER BURIED ATLANTIS WONDERFUL SINGING SANDS CU.P.Av by Elec. ’Tel. CoDirtght) LONDON, Feb, 26'. A despatch from Bertram Thoma.s describes a, camel journey of. GOO miles across Rubalkhali. It- took 58 days, of which 45 were spent, in travelling.

He wor e Arab kit, but, - otherwise journeyed as an undisguised Christian. Ho left Dhufar witl) an e.scort of; 30 Arabs and 30 camels, and arrived at Dohah with 13 Arabs and 18 camels, the numbers haying been progressively reduced as the menace of Hadhramant raiders was left behind.

From Shisur they plunged westwards into the unknown for 100 waterless miles, skirted the southern edge of the .mighty bulwark qf red sands fringed with dunes which are the habitat, of; the ostrich' and antelope, the former being .almost, extinct and the latter plentiful. Detailing his 900 miles desert journey, Bertram Thomas says numerous verf ejeep. caravan tracks were found evidencing centuries of-usage in bygone times. The Bedouins call it the road to Übar, their legendary city, in prehistoric days the sands encroached southwards, according to local tribesmen, and buried beneath them is the Atlantis of Rubalkhali. Though 100 miles from the sea and at 1000 ft. altitude, tho sand is covered with sea shells and fossils.

Proceeding to tho north-west the party encountered singing sands, a deep booming sound being eafised by the action of the wind among the sandcliffs, and resembling a ship’s siren.

North of the twenty-third parallel, the altitude falls to sea level, and even below it, where he discovered a lake of salt water seven miles long. On the rest of the line of march, water was plentiful, but brackish and undrinkable. The whole region appears to have been under the sea in late geological times. The inhabitants are nomad sections of the Alkathir and Almurra tribes, and subsist entirely on camel’s milk, ravens, and bustards,' which taro widespread. Foxes, hares, and lizards are common, and also wolves, wild cats and rats. All mammals are of the light sand color of their environment.

Commenting on tho dispatch, >Sir Arnold Wilson states that-the caravan tracks, almost in the centrq of the sands, seem to prove that the Arab legends of abandoned cities are well founded. No rumor of an existent salt lake was previously known, hut singing sands have been recorded in the Gobi Desert, Afghanistan and Sinai Peninsula. Mr Thomas’ achievement deserved to rank with those of Stanley, Shaekleton and Scott.