THE NEW EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue XLIX, 4 January 1916, Page 2

THE NEW EGYPTIAN CAMPAIGN

SCENE UF THE FIGHTING

AN HISTORIC- COUNTRY

The western frontier of Egypt is illdefined. The boundary liiie between Tripoli and Egypt is usually taken to start from a point in. the Gulf of •Solium, and to run south by west- so as to leave the oasis of Siwa to Egypt. South of Siwa, the frontier, according to the Turkish firman of 1841, bends approaching the cultivated Nile-land near Wadi Haifa, the southern, frontier . From the Gulf :of Solium to the beginning of the T ile Delta the coast is rock-bound, but slightly indented, and possesses no good harbourage. The cliffs attain in places a height of 1000 feet. They a're the termination of a stony plateau, on the south side of which 1 are several oases, including' that idf Siwa, and which joins the more arid; and unin- | habitable wastes of .the Libyan' Desert. In the desert west of the Nile lie the t five largest oafees of namely Siwa, liabaria, Faxafra, Dafchla, and Ivraga, c copying depressions iii the plateau. Their fertility is due to a plentiful sup-' ply of water furnished by a sandstone bed 30 to 500 feet below the su'rface of the sand... These oases were known and occupied by the Egyptians as early as 160 8.C., and Kharga rose tot special importance at the time of the Persian ! occupation. . Caravan routes traversing [ the .desert wastes connect these oases -with the Nile Valley, and; also with • other oases in the far interior of the Sahara desel't. From' Cairo a caravan Tdute runs across the desert to Arabs Gulf, south-west :cf Alexandria, and thence skirts the coastline round the Gulf of Bu-Shaifa, through Mersa Matruh to the Gulf of Solium, 140 miles further west, and thence to Derna on the ■ coast of Cyrenacia. Caravan routes also 1 connect Siwa with Mersa Matruh, the , Gulf of Collum, Derna, and Benghasi, j on the north-west coast of Cyrenaica. ! MERSA MATRUH.

Matruh, or Mersa Mat.ruh, lies 170 miles due west of Alexandria, with ' which it is connected by a railway. This line, which runs parallel with the coast, is 200 miles' in length. It was begun in ISO 4 by the Khedive, Abbas 11. It is intended to be continued to Tripoli, and forms the easte'rni end of the great railway system which will eventually extend from Tangier .to Alexandria. A few miles from Matruh, at the head of the., gulf of Bu-Shaifa, are the remains of the ancient Roman town of Paraetonium, and close by are the ruins of Baratun. \ THE OASIS OF SIWA. v i J Siwa is an oasis in the Libyan Desert, j It is also known as the oasis of Amnion or Jupiter Animon. The oasis lies about 350 miles adros& the desert west-south-west ; of -Cairo. It is abcut six miles long by four to five miles wide. Ten miles north-east is the small oasis of Zetun, and westward of Siwa extends for some SO miles a chain' of little oases. The population ■ of Siwa proper in IGO7 was 3884. The inhabitants are of Libyan (Berber) stock. The oasis is- extlemely fertile, and contains many thousands of date palms. The town of Siwa is built on two rocks, and reserrubles a fortress. The houses a ; re frequently built on arches spanning the streets, which are narrow and irregular. The oasis lies close to the Tripolitan frontier, and is largely :doaiinated by the" sect- of the Senussi, whicse headquarters were formerly at. JaTabub, 80 miles to the north-west.' . The Senussi successfidly prevented various explorers penetrating;-westward beyond Siwa. The first European to reach Siw;i since Roman times was. W. G. Browne, who visited the oasis ira 1792. He was followed an. 1798 by F. Hotoiemann. Both these travellers started from Cairo; in : 1820 General- H. Ninutiqli gained, the ; oasis fromi the Gulf of Solluih, which is about 170 miles north of' Siwa . After the occupation, of Egypt by the British, steps were taken to enforce the authority of the Government in Siwa, where 'ordet proved difficult to maintain.' There were serious disturbances in- 1909, and as' a result, iii 1910, a telegraph line was built across the desert from Alexandria to tlie oasis. '■ ' v The oasis of Siwa-is famous as containing the oracle temple of Amnion, which was" already famous an. the., time of Herodotus, and was consulted by Alexandria the Great. The remains of the temple are in the walled village of Aghormi, two males east of the town lof Siwa. It is a small building, .with inscriptions dating- from the 4th century, E.G.. The oracle fell into disrepute during (fche Roman occupation] of Egypt, and was reported dumb'by Pausanias, A.D., 160. '. Siwa was afterwards ' used "as' a.' place of banishment for criminals and political offenders. Aftei- the Mohamjmedan conquest tof Egypt Siwa became independent, and -so remained until conquered by Mehemet Ali dn 1820. Near the Temple of Ammon are the scanty remains of another temple of the same century, Umm Beba, with reliefs depicting the prince of the oasis making 'offers'to Amnion. At J-ebel Muta, one mile north-east of Siwa, are tombs of Ptolemaic and Reman date; 10"miles east of .Aghormi is a. •well-preserved chapel with. Roman graves; at.Easr Rumi is a Doric temple of the Roman period. THE SENUSSITES. The Senussites are the remarkable fraternity or sect recognising; the authority of the Senussi. The founder of the order_ commonly called, the Sheikh es Senussi, was ■b<Jr,n hear Mostaganem, I; Algeriq,, and was -called, es Senussi after ;a much venerated saint. His descent is traced from Fatima, the daughter of.Mohammed. As' a young man he spent several years at Fez studying theology. Later h£ left Morocco, and travelled in the Saharan. regions of Algeria preaching a reform of the faith. He gained- many adhernts ijii Tunisia, and; Tripoli, but at' Cairo he was considered, -unorthodox.: At Mecca, however, Senussi gained, liis moist I flowerFul supporter, Mohammed Sherif, who, in 1838, became Sultan of Wadai, the most powerful Mohammedan kingdom in the Central Soudan. - Senussi quitted Mecca in 1843, and settled in ; Cyrenaica,/where lie built a monaStry. Probably with the desire to be" independent- of pressure from the Tories, Senusisi removed in 1855 to Jarabub. He died in 1859 <?f 1860, his second son, Senussi el Mahdi, succeeding liim. Senussi el Jfahdi became, the most powerful sheikh icf Egypt, acquiring* the authority of a territorial sovereign. The string of oases w©re cultivated, trade with Tti)>cli and Benghazi encouraged and law and order maintained among the savage Bedouin of the desert. In 1894, Senussi-left jarabub, owintr to the "unwelcome attentions of the Turks, and made his headquarters at Jdtf, in the Oasis of Kufra. He tried to induce other chieftains to oppose the advance of the French, but was unsuccessful. He also attempted to prevent the French, f'romi obtaining possession, of Kanem, a country north-easb of Lake Chad and: bordering on." Saharan tevritory. The Senussi were defeated .by a French column at Btir Allaii in January/, 1902, arid the Sheikh Senussi eli Mahdi, much affected byvthe loss of Kanem died in May. He was succeeded, by his nephew, Ahme eJ. Sherif, who removed his headquarters to Kufra. - Like other fraternity, and perhaps more readily, the Senussites may

be speedily .trftDsftirmfed, ifiio » p©w£i'lul fighting orgariisatidn;' Fdr riMiiy ySa-fs they have been ftblfe to import aims? ft-iid ammunition into .tlie eastern SAhafraj iirid the B6douiii <3f th£ region cOuM lul'iiigh a numerous and. well-armed- forte; l*h6 missionary zeal of the Senussites is undoubted. Outside the regions adjacent t-d thfe'ir head-qiiai-tei's 'they app-ear to be most gtrtingij' represented ifi Arabia.- In the eastevn Sahara find Wadai pfaeidcaily all tlie pcfpulfttio'ii are Seilusgiteg,