The Journey through Arabia. (From an Occasional Correspondent.)

Progress, Volume IV, Issue 9, 1 July 1909, Page 297

The Journey through Arabia. (From an Occasional Correspondent.)

We take the account of the Times correspondent, lively and graphic. It is interesting to note that the Turkish authorities have already outlined a project for a mail service by motor for Alexandrett.i to Baghdad. Arabia has for the first time been traversed by a motor-car. Starting from Alexandretta on November 14. Mr. David Forbes drove to Baghdad in nine days, of which only 60 hours were spent in actual travelling. One day had to be devoted r> business in Aleppo, and two days were lost in the construction of an improvised ferry at Anah. where the Euphrates was crossed. The ordinary traveller, be it noted, drives from Alexandretta to Aleppo in three days, and to Baghdad in 21 days, with luck - making a journey of 24 days in all. Faster than the caravan he cannot go with any reasonable hope of completing the journey alive. The Arab tribes, however, appear to be interested in the progress of science, for this is the second occasion within one month on which they have permitted unescorted and unarmed foreigners to pass scathless through their midst. Only the week before a \oung officer of the British Royal Artillery followed more or less the same route on a bicycle, covering the portion between Aleppo and Baghdad in the astonishingly short space of seven days. His haste, however, is explainable in that on more than one occasion he had to ride for his life. Mr. Forbes party consisted of himself, his English driver, an Assyrian mechanic, a Baghdad i cook, and an Arab quide — total, five. The car was a new 40-h.p. Argyll, fitted with Dunlop pneumatic tyres, and carrying, in addition to her passengers, an allowance of bedding for each. 50 gallons of petrol in specially built tanks, "spares" for practically everything imaginable, picks, shovels, sledge-hammers, and tinned foods, so that the load was no light one. Before starting reserve supplies of petrol were established at Deir and at Anah. and to the former place spare wheels with solid tires were also sent. The latter, however, as things turned out, were not required. In all 136 gallons of petrol were used. In her trials in Scotland the car burnt one gallon in every 12 miles, at which rates the journey would amount to 1632 miles; even if w r e halve this the feat remains a great one. The party possessed no maps — none worth possessing exists — ■ and were entirely at the mercy of the Arab guide, whose previous knowledge of the capacities of wheeled vehicles of any type was nil.

Difficulties Encountered. Mr Forbes tells me that the principal obstacles en route were the "wadis." or small ravines, met with in the most unexpected places; the irrigation channels along the banks of the Euphrates, occasional spells of soft sand, the roads, and. of course, the Euphrates itself. To anyone who has travelled in Turkey the inclusion of the roads in this list will cause no surprise. Once well away from the valley of the river and the road, the going, as a rule, was splendid, and the baked crust of the actual desert itself can only be compared to the Brooklands racing track. The river was crossed by forming a raft of two of the local box-shaped boats known as shal-

toors, and by running the car on to it from an earthen ramp — not an easy engineering feat for amateurs, and complicated by the fact that half-way across the river — here about 250 yards wide — one of the shaktoors inconsiderately began to sink. From Anah, where the Euphrates was crossed, the valley was left and a bee-line taken straight across the desert to Baghdad. It would probably have been better to have steered a straighter course through the desert between Aleppo and Anah, or even to have made the original plunge from Damascus instead of attempting to follow, more or less, the ordinary Euphrates valley trade route. In desert countries the selection of a route for ordinary traffic depends almost entirely upon the water supply, and it is only natural that a river line is followed whenever possible rather than the alternative, a series of wells, on which one can never rely. For a motor-car, however, the choice is less restricted, for the car itself does not require water, nor is sitting in it .such thirsty work as driving camels — or even riding them, when they trot. The camel, it is true, has a world-wide reputation for being able to subsist for many days without a drink, and in Somaliland they sometimes really do. But in Arabia the breed appears to have deteriorated, for here they will thirst perhaps for three days, after which they die, protesting — as they do in Hindustan.

Attitude of the Arabs. To the Arabs the spectacle was unique. Of the comments of the Beduin unfortunately no record remains — the car was always out of range before they had time to recover from their surprise. In the very rare villages where halts were made for the night the usual greeting was, "Mash-all Shemeen de ferl"— "Good God! The (Baghdad) Railway!" All were invariably friendly, and in their childish delight ready to render every possible assistance to the crew. Their intense curiosity, however, or desire, perhaps, to convince both themselves and their friends that the car was a reality and not a dream, led to petty thefts of anything detachable, such as nuts or screws — a point which future motorists in Arabia would be wise to bear in mind. Local government authorities are much impressed with Mr. Forbes journey, and .1 scheme is already being mooted for a motor postal service between Baghdad and Damascus or Aleppo. Under existing conditions the posts are distinctly erratic, and quite a large proportion fail to get through at all — ne\us arrived, for instance, only two dfi.xs ago that the last to leave Baghdad had been looted on the way. It would, at any rate, be interesting to see how long the defensive value of surprise endured, and v>hat system the Beduin would adopt for laying motor traps.

A big English theatrical company, following an excellent French example, is doing all its travelling by motor-car during a long provincial tour. There is no rush or confusion, no treble-handling of personal baggage, no missing of trains. From the theatre m one town to the theatre in another, the players do not tave to walk a step. The necessity of getting up at unearthly hours on freezing mornings to catch trains is removed. There is no contact with disagreeable or merely curious passengers.