NO. 6 STATION were a cheery, kindly party, and allowed me to take a "snapshot " at them and their beloved dog, which is here reproduced. The figure on the extreme right is that of my friend the Engineer.

At the present day the Egypt and Siidan Mining Syndicate, who are engaged in developing the Umm Nabadi Mine, have an office at No. 6, and when I passed through in February, 1905, a few miles of their 2 ft. gauge railway to their mine, which lies about forty miles to the east, had been laid.

Soon after we resumed our journey another lengthy stoppage NO. 6 STATION IN THE ABU-HAMED DESERT.

took place, for a bolt of the engine broke, and the replacing of it occupied five hours. None of these things is to be wondered at ; on the contrary, the wonder is that the railway worked as well as it did, for, owing to want of funds, the officials had to overwork their engines, as well as themselves. The same engine hauled a heavy train from Haifa to Abu Hamed, i.e., over 230 miles of one of the sandiest deserts in the world, and if it broke down anywhere on the road it had to be patched up somehow, and wait until it reached the shops at Haifa for systematic repair. Frequently the exigencies of the service made it necessary for the same engine to haul the train on to Berber, another 130 miles. At Abu Hamed 247