42. Kharga oasis.

—Kharga, the easternmost of the two southern oases, is a north and south lying depression, mostly bounded by steep and lofty escarpments but open to the south and south-west. A great part of its floor, which is composed of the Nubian sandstone, is buried under sand accumulations. There are seven principal villages, besides numerous hamlets and smaller settlements, with a total population of under 8,000. Taxes are levied as in Dakhla and amount to slightly over £E. 1000. The adult palm trees in the oasis number about 60,000 and the cultivated lands have an area of some 4,500 acres, or half an acre and eight palm trees per inhabitant. The crops raised do not appear to be sufficient to support the population, as a certain amount of grain is imported from Dakhla. Dates are exported to the Nile valley, though in less quantities than from Dakhla and Baharia.

The general level of the floor of the oasis lies between 50 and 130 metres above sea level, though near Qasr Zaiyan a limited area appears to lie below sea level. Water is met with in most localities on digging to a moderate depth, but the best supplies are from deep wells; as in Dakhla the majority of the wells are of considerable antiquity, though some have been recently made with modern boring plant. With an increased water-supply cultivation could be very much extended, as there are large areas of unoccupied alluvium covered land within the oasis. The same difficulties exist in Kharga as in the other oases, though here perhaps aggravated by the encroachments and movements of blown sand, namely, the lack of control of the wells and water-supply and the apathy of the inhabitants generally.