The Caravan Route between Egypt and Syria

Packing tents, checking water casks and ferrying animals across the Suez Canal give this travel account a practical beginning. Archduke of Austria Ludwig Salvator sets out from El Kantara in March 1878 to examine the old caravan road between Egypt and southern Syria. He records the expedition in notes written each evening in camp, following a route whose traffic has declined as steamers carry goods and travellers by sea.

His observations combine the demands of desert travel with descriptions of the communities along the way. At El Harish, fishing by moonlight, date cultivation, local clothing and a weekly mail carried by dromedary show how people work and maintain connections. The contents carry the route onward to Gaza. Salvator also considers whether a coastal railway could withstand moving sand. Readers interested in transport and historical travel will find a record of everyday livelihoods alongside an investigation of changing trade routes.