THE LOST OASES
HASSANEIN BEY
The Egyptian explorer, in Bedouin clothes starting on his trek oftwenty-two hundred miles across the desert
THE LOST OASES
BY
A. M. HASSANEIN BEY, F.R.G.S.
BEING A NARRATIVE ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR’SEXPLORATIONS INTO THE MORE REMOTE PARTS OF THE LIBYAN DESERT ANDHIS REDISCOVERY OF TWO LOST OASES
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY THE RIGHT HONORABLESIR JAMES RENNELL RODD, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O. ILLUSTRATED WITHAN ORIGINAL MAP, AND FROM MANY PHOTOGRAPHS MADE BY THE AUTHOR
PUBLISHED BY THE CENTURY CO.
NEW YORK AND LONDON
Copyright, 1925, by
The Century Co.
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.
IN HOMAGE AND GRATITUDE
TO
HIS MAJESTY KING FOUAD I
WHO
BY HIS HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT MADE
THIS JOURNEY POSSIBLE
INTRODUCTION
My friend Ahmed Hassanein has asked me to write a few words ofintroduction to his record of a remarkable voyage of exploration.It was the more remarkable because the expedition, the results ofwhich have enabled him to fill up an important gap in our knowledgeof Africa and to determine with precision positions onlyapproximately ascertained by that great pioneer in Africanresearch, Gerhardt Rohlfs, was conceived and led by himsingle-handed without other assistance or companionship than thatof his guides and personal attendants.
A traveler whose work has been recognized by the award of theFounder’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society should need nointroduction to the British public. But I welcome the opportunityof drawing attention to his achievement in another field, in theproduction of a book which will, I feel sure, be acknowledged byall who read it to have exceptional interest, written in a languageof which he has made himself a master, although it is not hisown.
But first, disregarding any protests from his characteristicmodesty, I have to present the author himself, who is only known tothe majority of my countrymen as an intrepid traveler. I have hadthe pleasure of his acquaintance for a number of years, since hewas the contemporary and friend of my son at Balliol. Afterconsiderable experience I have come to the conclusion that theexperiment of sending students from the East to reside at a Westernuniversity is one which should only be tried in exceptional casesand with young men of exceptional character. In the case of AhmedHassanein I think all who know him will agree that it has been anunqualified success. He has retained all that is best of his ownnational and spiritual inheritance, while he has acquired asympathetic understanding and appreciation of the mentality andfeelings of men with ve