=Wadi Abraq= is a rather ill-defined drainage line which originates on the north side of Gebel Abraq, and after skirting the high sandstone scarp, from which it receives small feeders, for about thirteen kilometres, turns eastward to join Wadi Naam, about nine kilometres above its junction with Hodein. Wadi Abraq is sandy and barren, and would be scarcely worthy of mention but for the fact that it contains some of the most important water sources of the entire Eastern Desert, the =Abraq Springs=. There are no less than five springs within a length of as many kilometres of the wadi, yielding perennial supplies of excellent water. The first spring from the north, called =Bir el Sunta=, is a pool about two metres in diameter at the entrance to a little gully in the face of the high sandstone scarp; it is very easily accessible to camels, being practically on the plain, and fills as rapidly as it is emptied. The second and third springs, called together =Bir Abu Dibesat=, are about 1,500 metres south-east of Bir el Sunta, near the tomb of Sheikh Hamid; they form smaller pools at the foot of the scarp. The fourth spring, =Bir Abraq=, is situated a short distance up a stony gully which emerges from the scarp a little further south; the water lies in large pools under dipping sandstone beds on the south side of the gully. The fifth spring, =Bir Gumbit=, is said to be some three kilometres further south-east, and, like the others, at the foot of the sandstone scarp; it has not, however, been visited by the survey party. [Illustration: Fig. 2.—Map of Abraq Springs. Scale: 5 centimetres to a kilometre.] The water at all the Abraq Springs is of excellent quality; it contains masses of green algæ, but these are easily avoided in baling out, and the water can be obtained quite clear. Of the four springs visited, the one called Bir Abraq is the chief; but Bir el Sunta is rather easier of access for camels. The springs are practically all at the same level, _viz._, 330 metres above sea, and all derive their water from the same sandstone beds. No camel food grows near the wells, and there are very few trees in the vicinity; consequently, the Arabs of the neighbourhood do not camp near the springs, but in Wadi Hodein and its tributaries, drawing water from Abraq or Abu Saafa at intervals. There are, however, ruins of a large ancient fort on a low hill east of Bir Abraq, and some Arab graves a little further north; among these latter is a large tomb said to be that of Sheikh Hamid.