ACROSS ARABIA IN A MOTOR CAR.

Evening Star, Issue 14119, 23 July 1909, Page 4

ACROSS ARABIA IN A MOTOR CAR.

Arabia Tias for the first time been traversed by a motor car. Starting from Alexandretta on November 14, Mr David FoTbes drove to Baghdad in nine days, of which only sixty hours were spent in actual travelling. One day had to be devoted to 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 from Aleppo rides with the caravan to Baghdad in twenty-one days, with luck, making a journey of twenty-four 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 foreigncis to pass scathless through their midst. Only the week before a young officer of the British Royal Artillery followed more or less the sam<s 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. —The Party and the Car.— >lr Forbes's partv consisted of himself, his English driver, an Assyrian mechanic, a Bagiidaili cook, and an Arab guide—total, five. Thf, car was a new 40-h.p. Argy'l fitted with Dtmlop pneumatic tyres, "and carrying, in addition to her passengers, an allowance of bedding for each, 50ga! of petrol ii' 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 wera established at Deir and at Anah, and to the former place spare wheels with solid tyres were also sent. The latter, however', as thincrs turned out, wore not required. In all 136 gal of petrol were used. In her trials in Scotland the car burnt one gallon in every twelve miles, at which rate the journey would amount to 1,632 miles. Even if we halve this the feat remains a great one. The party possessed no maps—none worth possessing exists —and wer< entirely at tlie mercy of the Arab guide, whose previous knowledge of the capabilities 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 plares, the irrigation channels along the banks of the Euphrates, occasional spells of soft sand, the roads, and, of course, the Kuphrate-s itself. To anyone who has travelled hi Turkey, the inclusion of the roado in this list will cause no surprise. Once well away from the valley of the river and the load, the going, as a rule, was splendid, and the baked crust of tho actual desert itself can only be- compared to the Brooklands racing track. The river was crossed by forming a raft of two of the loeid box-shaped boats known as shaktcors, and by running the car oil to it from an earthen ramp —not an easy engineering feat for amateurs, and complicated by the fact that halfway across the river—here about 250 yds 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 eeleetion of a route for ordinary traffic depends almost ontirely 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, lias a world-wide reputation for being able to subsist for many days without a drink, and in Somali land they sometimes really do. But in Arabia the breed appears to have deteriorated, for hero they will thirst perhaps for three days, after which they die, proteisting, as they "do in Hindustan. —Attitude of tho Aral*.—

To the Arabs the spectacle iras unique. Of the comments of the ' Beduin unfortunately no record remains. The car ".v;:s always out of range before they hud time to recover from their surprise. In the very rare villages where halts weie made for the night the usual greeting was: "Mash-alla! Shemoen do fer!"—"Good God ! the (Baghdad) railway !" AU 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 oar 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. lio-cal government authorities are much impressed with Mr Forbes'e journey, and a 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. News arrived, for instance, only two days 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 what system the Beduin adopt for laying motor traps.—'Times.'