tya like a girdle, is
an elevation covered with fragments of tiles, between which grow
numerous plants of _Sedum_, some of which are very thick-leaved. Near an
old tamarisk stands a very peculiar ruin of turret-like appearance,
called by the Arabs Burj--"castle." It is built of tiles and stones,
horizontally and vertically placed, and has a spiral staircase inside.
Not far off is a Koubba, containing a tomb, a defaced marble inscription
in Arabian, and two ancient columns, from one of which a garland hangs.
The palm-leaf stalks stuck in the ground outside indicate the sites of
various graves. Scattered about are several enclosures formed with
stalks of palm leaves, for the storage of ripe dates. The ground on
which the ruin stands is picturesquely surrounded with palms, of which
there are four principal groups, the total number of trees being perhaps
1500, for which the resident Bedouins have to pay the Government 1600
piastres a year.

In the first group of palms near the Koubba is the telegraph station, or
little house of the Arab watchmen who see to the maintenance of the
telegraph posts and wires. Behind a small hillock south of this house
there is another Koubba called Sheik el Mzeyen (see illustration), with
a doorstep of apparently old marble stone and an ornamental cupola. It
is surrounded by a great number of aloes, and contains a simple tomb.
Here, too, is a burial-place, with the graves indicated either by two
stones, a piece of palm stem, or a leaf stalk, and, in some cases, by a
fragment of camel bone. From this Koubba, the palm plantations extend
southward and form a kind of festoon with the Keteya group, which is
protected on the south-west by a hill of white sand.

[Illustration: SHEIK EL MZEYEN, IN KATYA.]

In the course of our ramble we met several Bedouins, who hailed us from
a distance with a friendly Marhaba--"Welcome!" With one or two of
them I exchanged a few words. Vives meanwhile shot a beautiful tufted
cuckoo (_Cuculus glandarius_), a splendid bird, which habitually flies
from the crown of one palm to that of another, and also a brace of
shrikes, or butcher birds (_Lanius minor_), and some black and white
chats (_Saxicola_).

After resting awhile under the shady palms, we resumed our journey
towards noon, passing on the way the large well of Katya. This well is
the great feature of the beautiful oasis. It is of large dimensions,
lined with tiles, and provided with a gutter or trench to cond