American Geographical Society

Seven Across the Sahara: From Ash to Accra by Harold Ingrams; The Sanusi of Cyrenaica byE. E. Evans-Pritchard; The Kingdom of Melchior: Adventure in South West Arabia by TheMaster of Belhaven (A. Hamilton); Egyptian Service, 1902-1946 by Thomas Russell PashaGeographical Review, Vol. 40, No. 3 (Jul., 1950), pp. 505-508Published by: American Geographical SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/211234 .

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

(made from pandanus and coconut leaves) outranked copra as a source of income in 1947,

probably because the copra industry had not yet recovered from the depressing influence of the war.

The economic aspects take up only a small part of the monograph, however; the main

emphasis is on such anthropological matters as class structure, the household, lineage and clan, and the kinship system. Land tenure is discussed in connection with lineage, since "the

lineage is first and foremost a land-holding group." This relationship is one reason why the Pacific islands have presented such excellent opportunities for the practical application of

anthropology. One respect in which Majuro is unusual among Marshallese villages is the dichotomy

of its native hierarchy. There are two paramount chiefs, each with his own followers. The two groups are rivals in a number of ways, yet they are able to live together amicably. This dichotomy may well die out in time, just as the whole class structure is tending to dis-

appear and be replaced by one in which special ability rather than birth is the basis for prestige. In addition to being well written, the book is amply illustrated with sketches, charts,

maps (constructed by the author with plane table and alidade), and photographs. It is un-

likely that the CIMA investigations will give rise to a more charming product.- RAYMOND E. MURPHY

SEVEN ACROSS THE SAHARA: From Ash to Accra. By HAROLD INGRAMS. xii and 228

pp.; map, ills., index. John Murray, London, I949. i8s. 8 x 5 inches.

THE SANUSI OF CYRENAICA. By E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD. viii and 240 pp.; maps, ills., bibliogr., index. At the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1949. 25s. 9 x 52 inches.

THE KINGDOM OF MELCHIOR: Adventure in South West Arabia. By THE MASTER OF BELHAVEN (A. HAMILTON). x and 212 pp.; maps, ills., index. John Murray, London, 1949. I6s. 9 x 54 inches.

EGYPTIAN SERVICE, 1902-1946. By SIR THOMAS RUSSELL PASHA. x and 294 pp. maps, ills., index. John Murray, London, 1949. I8s. 8 x 5 inches.

These books have in common a concern with the Arab world, and they illuminate various

aspects of the mode of life and thought which make that world a reality. Mr. Ingrams, after many years of service in the Arab world and a brief interlude with

the Allied Control Commission in Berlin, was on his way to the Gold Coast, where he had been appointed Chief Commissioner of the Northern Territories. His narrative deals with "brown" Saharan Africa and its "black" Sudanese fringe. Admittedly he took this "back door" approach to be once again in a land of Arab speech. With his wife, who had shared the 10 years in the Hadhramaut that made their name known throughout the Arab world, and their menage he traveled the Hoggar route by Ford V-8. Starting from Algiers, the route took him south through the M'Zab oases, El Golea, In Salah, Tamanrasset, Agades, and Zinder, then west to the Niger. As one who came from the "Arab Island," Mr. Ingrams was welcome everywhere, even in the M'Zab, for instance, where the people are by faith Ibadhis, followers of Abdullah bin Ibadh, whose principal stronghold was in Oman. All but a fraction of the journey of nearly 3000 miles from Algiers to Tamale was in French territory, and Mr. Ingrams took full advantage of the opportunity to confer with French administrators. He found that, however far apart French and British theories of colonialism

(made from pandanus and coconut leaves) outranked copra as a source of income in 1947,

probably because the copra industry had not yet recovered from the depressing influence of the war.

The economic aspects take up only a small part of the monograph, however; the main

emphasis is on such anthropological matters as class structure, the household, lineage and clan, and the kinship system. Land tenure is discussed in connection with lineage, since "the

lineage is first and foremost a land-holding group." This relationship is one reason why the Pacific islands have presented such excellent opportunities for the practical application of

anthropology. One respect in which Majuro is unusual among Marshallese villages is the dichotomy

of its native hierarchy. There are two paramount chiefs, each with his own followers. The two groups are rivals in a number of ways, yet they are able to live together amicably. This dichotomy may well die out in time, just as the whole class structure is tending to dis-

appear and be replaced by one in which special ability rather than birth is the basis for prestige. In addition to being well written, the book is amply illustrated with sketches, charts,

maps (constructed by the author with plane table and alidade), and photographs. It is un-

likely that the CIMA investigations will give rise to a more charming product.- RAYMOND E. MURPHY

SEVEN ACROSS THE SAHARA: From Ash to Accra. By HAROLD INGRAMS. xii and 228

pp.; map, ills., index. John Murray, London, I949. i8s. 8 x 5 inches.

THE SANUSI OF CYRENAICA. By E. E. EVANS-PRITCHARD. viii and 240 pp.; maps, ills., bibliogr., index. At the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1949. 25s. 9 x 52 inches.

THE KINGDOM OF MELCHIOR: Adventure in South West Arabia. By THE MASTER OF BELHAVEN (A. HAMILTON). x and 212 pp.; maps, ills., index. John Murray, London, 1949. I6s. 9 x 54 inches.

EGYPTIAN SERVICE, 1902-1946. By SIR THOMAS RUSSELL PASHA. x and 294 pp. maps, ills., index. John Murray, London, 1949. I8s. 8 x 5 inches.

These books have in common a concern with the Arab world, and they illuminate various

aspects of the mode of life and thought which make that world a reality. Mr. Ingrams, after many years of service in the Arab world and a brief interlude with

the Allied Control Commission in Berlin, was on his way to the Gold Coast, where he had been appointed Chief Commissioner of the Northern Territories. His narrative deals with "brown" Saharan Africa and its "black" Sudanese fringe. Admittedly he took this "back door" approach to be once again in a land of Arab speech. With his wife, who had shared the 10 years in the Hadhramaut that made their name known throughout the Arab world, and their menage he traveled the Hoggar route by Ford V-8. Starting from Algiers, the route took him south through the M'Zab oases, El Golea, In Salah, Tamanrasset, Agades, and Zinder, then west to the Niger. As one who came from the "Arab Island," Mr. Ingrams was welcome everywhere, even in the M'Zab, for instance, where the people are by faith Ibadhis, followers of Abdullah bin Ibadh, whose principal stronghold was in Oman. All but a fraction of the journey of nearly 3000 miles from Algiers to Tamale was in French territory, and Mr. Ingrams took full advantage of the opportunity to confer with French administrators. He found that, however far apart French and British theories of colonialism

505 505

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

may be, in practice they are in considerable agreement. He emphasizes the need for West African officials to get together: "If we studied common problems together on the spot, the men in the field, common results might more hopefully be expected at the top on the London-Paris level." It is a plea that has frequently been made by scientists (see, for example, E. F. Gautier in his review of Francis Rennell Rodd's "People of the Veil," Geogr. Rev., Vol. I8, 1928, p. 484), and on the scientific level a most hopeful sign for Africa is the First African Regional Scientific Conference held in Johannesburg last October (Geogr. Rev., Vol. 40, I950, pp. 309-3II). One point worth mention is the use French officials made of Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom": the Chef de Poste at In Salah found in it "the answer to every question of how to treat with Arabs."

Crossing the Sahara by car is still "something of an adventure," more so now, indeed, because of the deterioration of prewar facilities and the concentration on air travel. On the

Hoggar route is one stretch of 378 miles with only a single well, at In Gezzam, with its

lovely shade-giving casuarinas. Mr. Ingrams' narrative enables even those who "don't know deserts" to appreciate "the feeling of travellers who arrive in sight of an oasis." Among travelers met on the way were parties of English trekkers en route to South Africa. Exact

figures on the new migration do not seem to be available; French authorities' estimates

range from 3000 to o0,000. El Golea reported 30 lorries a month passing through. Many of the trekkers were ill-equipped and ill-advised; it would be interesting to have their stories and know how many of them reached their goal.

The conclusion of the journey found Mr. Ingrams deeply convinced of the pressing nature of the problems of the dependent territories. The economic need is foremost, but social and political progress must keep pace: there is no time for the slow building up of native institutions that is the essence of indirect rule. "Seven Across the Sahara" is not con- cerned with the subsequent experiences in the Gold Coast, but Mr. Ingrams discusses one

aspect of the general problem in an article "Communism and the African" in Corona ([the journal of His Majesty's Colonial Service], Vol. i, No. 6, 1949, pp. 3-6, and No. 7, pp. 11I-I3).

"The character of the Arabs and of Islam," says Mr. Ingrams, "are both due to the desert, but whereas the latter arises from the solitude and the simplicity, the former comes from the

separation of man from man and the struggle for existence." An admirable illustration is afforded by "The Sanusi of Cyrenaica." Professor Evans-Pritchard, a social anthropologist, spent two years in Cyrenaica, mostly among the Bedouin, with the British Military Ad- ministration. His book is a sober history condensed from a mass of detailed data (see, for

example, his analysis of "Topographical Terms in Common Use among the Bedouin of

Cyrenaica," journ. Royal Anthropol. Inst., Vol. 66, 1946, pp. 177-I88). But his liking for,

and sympathy with, its subjects are patent. Few countries are more isolated- Despois said that the Greater Syrtis between Cyrenaica and Tripolitania is without dispute one of the most decided frontiers, natural and human, to be found anywhere-or lend themselves better to a segmented tribal system. Three-quarters of the population are Bedouin. Here the Senussi fraternity established itself a century ago under the Grand Senussi, one of Islam's

great itinerant teachers. After wandering from Morocco to the Yemen, he settled on the

Cyrenaican plateau; in I856 the mother lodge (zaiviya) was moved to Jaghbub oasis, and in I895 into the heart of the desert at Kufra, which became the center of a vast theocratic

empire (see map of the distribution of Senussi lodges, p. 24). The Order constituted an

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GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEWS

authority binding together the segmented tribes. Under external pressure its sacred head became a secular leader, and the religious organization a government for the loose tribal federation. Senussism was a force to be reckoned with, as the Italians discovered when they took over Cyrenaica from the Turks, and still more so after the rise of Fascism and a tougher colonial policy. It was clear that the power of the Senussi, and with it the tribal institutions, would have to be broken. The Bedouin population was greatly reduced by death and migra- tion to Egypt, where the head of the Order retreated in 1922, not to return to Cyrenaica until I943. Professor Evans-Pritchard's history ends here; but under the U.N. disposition the Senussi problem is not ended. Can Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and the Fezzan merge their differences in an independent united Libya? The U.N. commissioner will need the wisdom of Solomon.

In contrast with the warm friendliness of "Seven across the Sahara," "The Kingdom of Melchior" has a bitter myrrh quality implicit in its title. Its author was seconded to the Aden Protectorate Levies in I93I and later served as Political Officer in the Western Aden Pro- tectorate. His narrative tells mainly of punitive expeditions against feuding tribesmen. In this region the "dark oppression of the feud" is endemic. "The desire was not for seed for the sowing, nor for the help in medicines and learning. The desire of the heart in all this land was for accurate rifles, for the most modern European cartridges." "In a country dominated by blood feuds, new and age-old, no situation, no journey, no camp is a simple affair; . . . there is the seed of envy and malice in every friendship, in every gift." Besides internal troubles, the Protectorate was not immune from trouble with the Yemen, even after the signing of the Anglo-Yemen treaty in I934. In I938 an expedition was undertaken to the legendary Shabwa, the Hidden City, to anticipate occupation by the Iman's forces. There was an opportunity for some investigation, and the conclusion is offered that the city is older than had been believed, a holy place, a city of tombs.

The Master of Belhaven compares conditions in the Western and Eastern divisions of the Protectorate. The success of "Ingrams' Peace" in the latter he attributes to system, speedy movement against the arms merchants, and to the way in which Ingrams and his wife, "two great people," lived in their work, firing and directing the ready energies of the tribesmen. Postwar problems in the Western Aden Protectorate show little change. "During I947 the Western Aden Protectorate continued to suffer from a shortage of experienced Political Officers. This position was aggravated by the murder in April of Mr. P. C. Davey, an officer of exceptional ability and experience" (Colonial Office Annual Report on Aden for the Year 1947, Colonial Ann. Repts., London, 1949, p. 60).

Mr. Ingrams has much to say on the spell of the desert, though, like other devotees, he can find no adequate explanation for it. The Master of Belhaven calls it "a sickness of the imagination," but he admits that this "country of south-west Arabia had magic in it. .... Not a day will pass in all your life but you will remember some facet of that opal-land."

"Russell Pasha's" earlier years in service with the Egyptian government were spent as subinspector and inspector in the provinces, during which time he traveled in all parts of the country and became acquainted with both fellahin and Bedouin. He tells of the individualism of the fellah; his low and in some respects deteriorating standard of health-for instance, the spread of that debilitating disease bilharziasis with the expansion of perennial irrigation-the high incidence of murder, mainly due to the blood feud; the ambition of the young men of the villages to possess modern rifles. Bedouin justice he found good, though there were likely

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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

to be difficulties on the desert's edge, where the two modes of life came in contact. Sir Thomas speaks of his liking for the desert, especially the Eastern Desert, with its opportunities for sport and adventure, though things are not the way they used to be; wild life, for example, has suffered from the cutting down of the acacia thickets, stimulated by the demand for charcoal during the First World War.

Experience in the country districts proved a valuable prelude to service in Alexandria and in Cairo, where in 1918 Sir Thomas was promoted to the important post of Com- mandant of Police. The activities of a policeman in so cosmopolitan a city perforce are highly varied. One of the most interesting features of his metropolitan career, and one with many geographical implications, was the fight against the drug traffic, a fight made more difficult in the earlier stage by the "nightmare" of capitulations (abolished in I937). The story of the

smuggling of hashish from Greece into Cyrenaican ports and its conveyance by Arab caravan across the Western Desert is fascinating; so too is the account of the "tricks of the trade," in which the camel, externally and internally, played a star role.

WEATHER FORECASTING IN TROPICAL REGIONS. By A. G. FORSDYKE. 47 pp.;

maps, diagrs., bibliogr. Gt. Brit.Meteorol. Offce Geophys. Memoirs No. 82, I949. 2s. 6d. 11 x 8 inches.

This memoir consists mainly of a general commentary on some problems of weather fore-

casting in tropical regions as they appeared to the author before May, 1946. Unfortunately, it is based almost solely on the author's experience with the meteorology of East Africa and the western Indian Ocean, where conditions are not typical of tropical regions, and where little progress has been made in map analysis and forecasting.

The discussion is divided into five parts. Part I, "Tropical Forecasting in General," outlines the use made of weather forecasts in the tropics by aviation, shipping, and agri- cultural interests and the general public. Part II, "Relation between Wind and Pressure Distribution," reviews the well-known equations of motion, the modification of the geo- strophic wind equation in low latitudes, and other pressure-wind relationships in these latitudes. The results are of no practical value for forecasting in tropical regions, since the

assumptions are not generally applicable. The importance of the field of horizontal divergence is discussed in relation to precipitation and cloudiness. A mapping technique is suggested for calculation of the field of horizontal divergence from the observed winds aloft, but no comments are made as to how such maps can be used in forecasting, i.e. movement and

changes of the field of divergence. Part III, "Upper Air and Convectional Phenomena," consists of a few brief notes on

upper-air temperature, pressure, and moisture conditions and convectional phenomena in Africa, India, and the western Indian Ocean. Many forecasters who had wartime experience in Africa will not agree with the author regarding the usefulness of the tephigram for local forecasting; most found the tephigram an extremely unreliable tool. Though considerable more information is available regarding upper-air conditions and convectional phenomena than is contained in these three pages, the meager notes emphasize our lack of knowledge of

upper-air conditions in the tropics and the need for greater use of upper-air data for map analysis and forecasting in low latitudes.

Part IV is a cursory discussion of some of the observed and theoretical features of "Frontal Zones and Discontinuities [and] Tropical Storms" and the map analysis and forecasting

to be difficulties on the desert's edge, where the two modes of life came in contact. Sir Thomas speaks of his liking for the desert, especially the Eastern Desert, with its opportunities for sport and adventure, though things are not the way they used to be; wild life, for example, has suffered from the cutting down of the acacia thickets, stimulated by the demand for charcoal during the First World War.

Experience in the country districts proved a valuable prelude to service in Alexandria and in Cairo, where in 1918 Sir Thomas was promoted to the important post of Com- mandant of Police. The activities of a policeman in so cosmopolitan a city perforce are highly varied. One of the most interesting features of his metropolitan career, and one with many geographical implications, was the fight against the drug traffic, a fight made more difficult in the earlier stage by the "nightmare" of capitulations (abolished in I937). The story of the

smuggling of hashish from Greece into Cyrenaican ports and its conveyance by Arab caravan across the Western Desert is fascinating; so too is the account of the "tricks of the trade," in which the camel, externally and internally, played a star role.

WEATHER FORECASTING IN TROPICAL REGIONS. By A. G. FORSDYKE. 47 pp.;

maps, diagrs., bibliogr. Gt. Brit.Meteorol. Offce Geophys. Memoirs No. 82, I949. 2s. 6d. 11 x 8 inches.

This memoir consists mainly of a general commentary on some problems of weather fore-

casting in tropical regions as they appeared to the author before May, 1946. Unfortunately, it is based almost solely on the author's experience with the meteorology of East Africa and the western Indian Ocean, where conditions are not typical of tropical regions, and where little progress has been made in map analysis and forecasting.

The discussion is divided into five parts. Part I, "Tropical Forecasting in General," outlines the use made of weather forecasts in the tropics by aviation, shipping, and agri- cultural interests and the general public. Part II, "Relation between Wind and Pressure Distribution," reviews the well-known equations of motion, the modification of the geo- strophic wind equation in low latitudes, and other pressure-wind relationships in these latitudes. The results are of no practical value for forecasting in tropical regions, since the

assumptions are not generally applicable. The importance of the field of horizontal divergence is discussed in relation to precipitation and cloudiness. A mapping technique is suggested for calculation of the field of horizontal divergence from the observed winds aloft, but no comments are made as to how such maps can be used in forecasting, i.e. movement and

changes of the field of divergence. Part III, "Upper Air and Convectional Phenomena," consists of a few brief notes on

upper-air temperature, pressure, and moisture conditions and convectional phenomena in Africa, India, and the western Indian Ocean. Many forecasters who had wartime experience in Africa will not agree with the author regarding the usefulness of the tephigram for local forecasting; most found the tephigram an extremely unreliable tool. Though considerable more information is available regarding upper-air conditions and convectional phenomena than is contained in these three pages, the meager notes emphasize our lack of knowledge of

upper-air conditions in the tropics and the need for greater use of upper-air data for map analysis and forecasting in low latitudes.

Part IV is a cursory discussion of some of the observed and theoretical features of "Frontal Zones and Discontinuities [and] Tropical Storms" and the map analysis and forecasting

508 508

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