Everything connected with the village is of the most primitive description, and until a very short time ago few of the inhabitants had been beyond the limits of their own fields. The advent of the railway caused no little commotion and stir in the oasis, and awakened trading instincts which had lain dormant since Roman times. Many of the villagers now travel to and fro between Kharga and the Nile Valley, and the Omda took an early opportunity of obtaining leave of absence from his onerous duties, and proceeded to Alexandria for a course of sea-baths! Outside the village, with the exception of the antiquities, to which we shall call attention in a separate chapter, there is little of general interest beyond the wells and gardens, among which there are many picturesque spots. At Bir Ain el Gôs, a few kilometres to the north, a primitive form of corn-mill may be seen working, the grinding-stones being driven by the water of the well by means of an undershot wheel. It may be mentioned here that with very few, if any, exceptions the different streams which collectively make up the water-supply of the oasis find their way to the surface through artificially constructed passages. The great majority of these are bores of ancient construction, though a few have been sunk with modern plant during the last fifty years. The ancient wells are known as Aiyûn (sing. Ain), the modern as Abiyâr (sing. Bir); for example, Ain el Ghazâl, Bir Mansûra. In cases where a modern bore has been specially sunk to replace an ancient well, the two words are used in conjunction; for instance, Bir Ain el Gôs. The position of each well is nearly always conspicuously marked by a thick clump of acacias, from which (more especially in the isolated settlements in the northern part of the depression) the main irrigating channel generally runs in a southerly direction, the cultivated lands being of triangular form, with the apex at or near the source of the water, and raised little, if at all, above the general level of the surrounding plain. By this disposition the fields present the least possible front to the north, from which side comes the bulk of the sand which is such a curse to these outlying settlements.