_Ummesogeir, and further Journey to Siwah._
Ummesogeir is situated on a sandy plain stretching into the recess
between two diverging branches of the mountain. In the valley thus
formed, appear vast isolated masses of rock, on the largest of which
the village is built; it is small, and contains few inhabitants,
furnishing only thirty men capable of bearing arms. The houses are
low, constructed of stones cemented with a calcareous earth, and
thatched with the boughs of date trees. I was informed, that some of
these buildings covered caves or chambers cut in the rock; probably
ancient catacombs. Our camp was pitched at the foot of the rock,
among date trees, through which the way leads up to the town. Its
inhabitants, poor as they appeared, received us with hospitality;
they came down, almost to a man, from their houses, and assisted us
in watering our camels, or whatever service was required. Towards
evening I walked up to the village by a path of very difficult
access. Coming to a kind of market-place, in its centre I observed
bargains making with such eagerness, noise, and altercation, that
one should suppose the dealings to be of the first moment; but I
soon perceived the sellers to be only a few poor pilgrims of our
caravan, and their articles of trade to be merely _henna hoechel_,
rings of lead or glass, and such like ornaments for women; which,
with a little shot and gunpowder, they were bartering for dates:
the merchandise on either side was not altogether worth a crown.
The people of Ummesogeir are indeed in every respect poor, depending
wholly for subsistence on their dates, which they in part sell
to the Arabs of the Desert, and in part carry to Alexandria, and
exchange for corn, oil, or fat. Their manners are rude and simple,
as might be expected, from a society so small, and separated from
every other, by vast tracts of desert in every direction. Thus
sequestered from the world, too weak in numbers for attack, and too
poor to be attacked, these people derive, from their situation and
habits of life, a simple and peaceful disposition. An old man told
me, that the Bedouins once attempted to deprive them of their rock,
and pittance which the date trees around furnished; and would have
succeeded, had not a _marabut_ (or holy man) who lies buried in the
village, so dazzled the eyes of the invaders, that they could not
find the place, though constantly roving round it. A like miracle
was hoped for, and (in vain certainly) expected in favour of Cairo,
when the French invaded Egypt. The idea of miraculous interposition
of this kind appears to have been common to the Oriental nations.
During our stay at this place, the effects of a _Twater_, who died
on the journey were sold by auction. Another man, during our route,
was killed by a fall from his camel, pitching with his head on a
pointed stone, and which caused his instant death. Two others, poor
pilgrims from Mecca, fell victims to the fatigue and difficulties of
so long a journey, and for which their scanty means were ill suited,
either as to food or rest; and this completes our bill of mortality.
After some days of repose, we proceeded on our journey towards Siwah,
distant from Ummesogeir a journey of twenty hours. We soon passed
the skirts of the broad sandy plain, and reascended the mountains
connected with, and stretching from, those which cover the vale of
Ummesogeir to the west. A long and tedious passage over these hills
led us finally to a green and fertile valley, towards which, as we
descended from the mountain, we perceived people gathering provender
for their cattle. Our train of heavy laden camels readily denoted that
we were no troop of hostile Arabs; and the people leaving their work,
ran to meet and congratulate us on our arrival. They told us that the
whole neighbourhood was at peace, and that we might encamp safely
and without apprehension. They mounted their asses and conducted
us to a plain west of Siwah, and not far distant from that town,
where we pitched our tents.