Section I.—Kordofan.

1. General Description.

The country between the Nile and the eastern frontier of Darfur consists of vast plains broken in places by clusters of hills, which rarely exceed 600 feet in height above the plain. In the north, these plains are intersected by wadis which run down from the hills and gradually lose themselves in the sand. The country is thinly covered with low scrub, which becomes denser in the wadis. Towards the south the khors gradually become less and less, until about lat. 14° 30′ north they cease. Here the real bush country commences, and the surface of the ground becomes more undulating. There is no visible watershed, the rain sinking in where it falls.

The northern plains, occupied by camel-owning tribes, consist chiefly of reddish sand, which, if the rains are good, supports plenty of coarse grass and crops of dukhn. Should they fail, even the grass in the wadis does not afford grazing, and the wells give out (1902-03).

In the undulating country between El Obeid and the river the grey gum acacia (hashab) is the prevailing tree. The soil here contains more clay than further north. Between Id El Ud and Zereiga on the east, and Hashaba and Jebel Kon on the west, is a waterless district called El Agaba, in which grows little but marakh bush and coarse grass.

Between El Agaba and the river the ground falls, at first abruptly, and then very gently, to the river. The sandy soil gradually disappears, and along the bank is replaced by a strip of black soil, in places, 12 miles wide. This soil is rich and is generally overgrown with thick bush. On the river bank, and as far inland as the floods at high Nile reach, large red sunt trees are found. At high Nile these often stand in 3 or 4 feet of water. During the rains this soil becomes a swamp, impassable for camels in most places, the khors fill with water, and the roads near the river go out of use. As soon as the rains stop and the river falls, this soil dries up and cracks, and until the paths have been used for some time the going is very bad.

Dar Hamid.In Dar Hamid, a large district north-west of Bara, there is a series of basins running from north to south, divided by steep ridges of red sand. At the bottom of each basin, locally called a “khor,” the soil is white, sandy earth, containing much lime. Water is here found at a depth of from 4 to 10 feet. These khors were formerly all cultivated by Danagla, who used shadufs or saglias. The whole district, which extends from Ashaf in the south to Shershar in the north, is known as El Kheiran. Date, dom, and deleib palms, as well as limes grow, and in a few places gardens with onions, shatta (red pepper), rigl, etc., have been made.

Southern portion.Though the change is very gradual, south of lat. 13° 15′ the plains become more level. They are broken by deep khors with steep banks, and are covered with thick bush or tall trees up to the foot of the Nuba hills. Further south the bush becomes larger, until huge forest trees are met with. On the edge of the khors there are immense creepers and tangled undergrowth. The soil appears fertile, but is only cultivated near the hills. The rest of the country is covered with jungle, and becomes a swamp in the rains, but afterwards quickly dries up. The timber found is of little value, being chiefly acacia. Game is abundant. Elephant, giraffe, and antelope abound; monkeys and birds are found in great numbers in the woods. Snakes are also said to be common.

Dar Nuba.Dar Nuba is the only part of Kordofan where the scenery can be said to be pretty, and some of the views of the hills looking over masses of forest are really beautiful, whereas most of the rest of the country is wearisome from its sameness. The hills in the north are nearly bare of vegetation. On all the Nuba hills thorny bushes grow between the rocks, except on a few of the more isolated hills, whose summits consist of piled masses of rock devoid of vegetation. They are terraced for cultivation, by the people, to a height of 300 or 400 feet from their base.

Hills.The most important groups of hills are, in the north, Jebel Haraza and Jebel Kaja Katul, both inhabited by Nuba Arabs, and Jebel Kaja Serrug in the west. In the south, Jebel Daier, Jebel Tagale, Jebel Kadero, Jebel Gedir, Jebel Moro, Jebel Talodi, Jebel Kari, Jebel Eliri-liri, and Jebel El Joghub, are all inhabited by Nubas.

Dar Hamar.Dar Hamar, the country west of Dar Hamid, and extending up to the Darfur frontier, consists of gently undulating steppes covered with bush. In places there are a few low rocky hills, and the horizon is broken by huge tebeldi trees. As there are few wells, almost the whole population depends on the water that is stored in these trees during the rains. Throughout the province, from November until June, the plains have a dried-up appearance, only broken by the few trees, such as the hashab and marakh, that remain green throughout the year, and in the southern districts by the trees in the khors, which can be traced as bands of dark green, winding through the black hills and dull brown plains.

Drainage system.The drainage system of Kordofan is complicated. It is doubtful if any rain that falls there ever reaches the Nile, unless it does so underground. In the north, the hard sand forms wide shallow wadis, which, after wandering for a greater or lesser distance, either lose themselves by spreading over a bare surface, or by striking an outcrop of rock form a “sink,” which enables shallow wells to be dug, and gives an excellent supply of water. In the south, the softer soil and more abundant rainfall, together with, in places, steeper gradients, cause the shallow wadis of the north to be replaced by narrow khors with steep sides. But the water eventually disappears from the surface in the same way as in the northern districts. For example, the wadi from Abu Tabr and those north of Jebel Derish end at Shageig, where a plentiful supply of water is to be found all the year round. Jebel Kajmar also is the natural dam to Wadi El Sigai, which flows from the south. Habisa is another similar place. In the south, the Khor Abu Habl loses itself west of Gedid, and further west, El Sinut, a large lake in the rains, and a swamp afterwards, is believed to have no outlet.

KORDOFAN ARABS WITH CHIEF.

Lakes.The chief lakes are Abu Serai, Sherkeila, El Rahad, and El Birka. In January, 1900, all were dry, but in 1901, El Rahad lasted for the whole year, though El Birka was dry by the end of December. Abu Serai always dries up a few weeks after the rains cease. Sherkeila is said generally to dry up, but was full in December, 1900, and was expected to last until the next rains. Rahad was also full.

These lakes are said to be all connected with the Khor Abu Habl, but native information points to El Rahad being the end of Khor Khashgil, only Sherkeila and Abu Serai joining the Khor Abu Habl. As a proof of this, in 1902, after the rains, Sherkeila was full and El Rahad nearly empty. When dry, wells are dug in the bottom of the lakes.

In Western Kordofan there is a series of swamps—Abu Zabbat, El Sinut, El Seneita, Toto, Kutna, and Burdia—but though in the rains they are generally full of water, they dry up almost at once, and can hardly be dignified with the name of lakes. The Baggara Arabs, who frequent these swamps, dig wells in the middle of them as they dry up and build up the mouths with wood and earth to a height of 4 or 5 feet, to prevent the mud and grass washing in during the rains. In Southern Kordofan there are many such tracts of land under water during the rains; and Butler Bey (in March, 1902) found, about 50 miles north-west of Jebel Eliri, a lake called El Abiad, which although said never to dry up, was dry in January, 1903. It was (in March, 1902) about 6 miles by 4 miles, and contained excellent fish. As far as could be ascertained it had no outlet. The only really permanent lake, as far as is known, is Lake Keilak in the Dar Homr district, which is about 4½ miles by 2 miles.

Wadis, &c.In many districts the difference of level is so slight that it is very difficult, except during or just after the rains, to detect which way the water flows. As soon as the country dries up the wind and sand rapidly obliterates all signs of running water, and many wadis can only be recognised by their more abundant vegetation.

In the centre of the province, that is, south of the Helba-Bara road and parts of Dar Hamar and north of the Gedid-Um Ruaba-El Obeid road, there is no watershed, and hence no khors or wadis properly so called. This country is undulating, but the hills seldom have any general direction; where they have, it is north and south, but the valleys are seldom of any length and never contain streams. The rain sinks in where it falls. However, just as in Dar Hamid, every basin, though without an outlet, is called a khor, so in this part of the country every depression is called a wadi, and takes its name from the adjacent village.

Water supply.The water supply, which is entirely dependent on the local rains, is derived from (1) wells; (2) surface water in pools or fulas and the lakes; (3) tebeldi trees (Adansonia digitata), and melons.

The best watered portions of Kordofan, excluding the Nuba hills, are Dar Hamid, Bara, and El Eddaiya, where the wells can be worked with a shaduf, and there is enough water for irrigation, and the basins of El Obeid, Abu Haraz, and Sherkeila.

Elsewhere water is always liable to give out, and towards the end of the hot weather whole villages are frequently obliged to migrate to more favoured places until the rains once more fill the fulas.

Wells.North of 14° 13′, except actually during the rains, when pools form in the khors, the only water obtainable is from wells or holes in the hills. The former are numerous, but are liable to become choked by drift sand or to fall in when a sudden rush of water comes down the khor. They vary greatly from year to year, being entirely dependent on the local rainfall over a limited area. There are a few places, such as Gabra, Habisa and El Safia, where the water is said never to give out. The wells in the desert country are seldom more than 50 feet, and often only 5 or 6 feet deep, being dug in the bed of a khor, often at its termination, as at Kagmar.

On the Bara-El Dueim road some of the wells are, however, over 200 feet deep, and water is generally plentiful. Further south the wells become less deep, and give less water. In the valley of the Khor Abu Habl and in Dar El Ahamda the wells average 30 feet, but the amount of water they contain depends entirely on the local rains.

The deep wells in Eastern Kordofan are of two kinds: those in hard soil or rock, and those in sandy soil. The former are generally 5 to 8 feet in diameter and unlined, and with care will last for years. The latter are seldom more than 3 or 4 feet in diameter and require constant attention. As they are dug, a lining called “lawai,” has to be put in. This is made of grass rope in lengths of about 40 feet. Near the bottom the lining is made of the roots of trees, that of the “hashab” being considered the best for this purpose. This class of well requires constant repairing and cleaning, and seldom lasts more than two years, when the sand at the bottom “caves in,” and a new well has to be dug. Hence, where many old wells are found it does not imply that more than one or two were open at the same time. In these, as in all desert wells, a dilwa must be used for drawing water, as a bucket damages the sides. Men must not be allowed to go near the mouth of the well with boots on. In a few places stone-lined wells exist.

In the Nuba hills the wells are usually big holes, down the sides of which the women climb to draw water; the art of well-sinking is generally unknown. In some places, however, the wells are lined with trunks of trees. When watering cattle the men and women go down the well standing across it and pass kantushes up and down. This is a very quick way of drawing water, but, as a good deal is spilt, and as both men and women are naked and covered with oil and red clay, the effect on the water is unpleasant. When drawing water in this way the women protect their head-dress, which consists as a rule of a lump of clay on each tuft of hair, by putting half a gourd on their heads.

In the Nuba mountains running streams are occasionally found, notably at Jebel Eliri, Jebel Tira El Akhdar, and Jebel Kindirma, but their water almost immediately disappears into the soil on reaching the plains.

In other mountains water is found in large rock tanks often as much as 500 feet above the plain.

In the greater portion of Dar Hamar there are no wells, and as soon as the surface water dries up, generally about the end of October, the natives are dependent on water-melons and water stored in tebeldi trees.

Fulas.“Fulas,” or artificial ponds, exist near many villages. They are usually made by damming a khor, but the ground is so porous that the water seldom lasts after October. The lakes have already been described.

Tebeldi trees (Adansonia digitata).The tebeldi trees (locally termed “Homr”), which are naturally hollow, and are besides often artificially scooped out, when used for storing water have a hole cut in the trunk, generally just above a big branch, on which a man can stand when drawing water. The hole is about 18 inches square. Round the bottom of the trunk a small pool is formed. This catches the water during a storm and it is then put into the tree by means of leathern buckets (dilwas) or girbas. Some trees, however, in consequence of being open at the top and having branches so formed that they act as gutters, fill themselves; these are called El Lagat, and are naturally very valuable. The trees vary in diameter outside from 10 to 25 feet, and the water-holding portion is often 20 feet high. The bark is frequently much cut about as it is used to make rope and nets. The largest trees are not used for water as the trunks are generally cracked. Water so stored remains sweet to the end of the hot weather, so that good trees are a valuable form of property, and are let or sold, either with or without the adjacent land. Near a town they are a source of many quarrels. On the main routes across Dar Hamar, i.e., from Obeid to Nahud, or Shidera to Nahud, the Hamar make a living by selling water to travellers. During the Dervish rule many of these trees were destroyed by raiding parties cutting holes at the bottom of the trunk.

Melons.The melons, on which whole villages, including horses, cattle, etc., depend, are small, almost tasteless, and full of black seeds. The natives grow them on the same ground as the dukhn, or else separately. When ripe, they are gathered and stored in heaps for future use. They are also found wild all over Dar Hamar. The skins are saved and given to the goats when the grass dries up. These water melons are not the same as the ordinary well-known water melon.

Produce. Dukhn.Dukhn or millet is the food of most of the Arabs. It is grown on the sandy ridges during the rains, and requires little water. It will not grow in the low ground as there is generally too much salt in the soil. It is also given to camels and horses, but is considered heating. It is easily grown. The ground is first cleared of grass. Before the rains, about May, holes are made with a crooked stick (mach-far) a few inches deep and 5 or 6 feet apart, and a few grains are dropped into each hole, which is then closed with the foot. As soon as the rains commence the grain sprouts, and the crop is gathered at the end of October or beginning of November. The heads of corn are piled to dry before threshing. When the young plant is a few inches high it is liable to attacks from a large millipede called surffa. The natives make no efforts to kill this, as they say it only eats at night. This is an error, but even when it is proved to the Arab that they feed by day he is too lazy to destroy it. Later on the dukhn is liable, like other crops, to attacks from locusts and voracious small birds. When required for food, it is ground between two stones, the lower one being fixed, the upper rubbed backwards and forwards. Mixed with water it is baked in flat wafers, called kisra, or boiled into asida. It is also made into a sweet beer called Merissa or Um Bilbil. The dukhn of Kordofan is famous for its good quality.

Dura.Dura is grown south of El Obeid, in the valley of the Khor Abu Habl and Nuba hills. It requires much more water than dukhn. It is cooked in the same way, and is considered much better food, but does not make such strong merissa. As forage, it is supposed to be less heating than dukhn, and being larger, animals are obliged to masticate it more; this is an advantage, especially in the case of camels.

Simsim.Simsim is grown in small quantities everywhere. The seed is crushed in primitive mills, made by hollowing out the stump of a sunt or haraz tree. The pestle has a long arm attached to it, and is turned round by a camel or a bullock. The oil is used for cooking and hair-dressing. The refuse is excellent food for animals out of condition.

Tobacco.Tobacco is grown in small quantities in the Nuba hills. It is wetted and made into hard cakes and smoked in large pipes by the blacks. It has a singularly unpleasant flavour.

Cotton.Cotton is grown in many parts of the Province and must have been formerly extensively cultivated, as the old plants are to be seen in the vicinity of most ruined villages. It is woven on hand looms into damur (coarse cotton cloth) of an inferior quality.

Salt.Salt is made in two ways. One method consists in mixing earth that contains salt with water, allowing the sediment to settle, and then evaporating or boiling away the water. The other method, which is followed at El Ghar, and other places where there are salt-water wells, is simply to boil the water until it has all evaporated. It is generally of a dark colour and somewhat bitter.

Iron.Iron is plentiful, but now seldom worked. Some is smelted at El Nahud and Um Semeina, and spear heads, hoes, and axes are made. The works at Jebel Haraza are not now used. The absence of fuel will always preclude its becoming an extensive industry. A clay full of iron is found some 60 miles to the north-west of El Obeid.

Other minerals.Some old workings of gold and other minerals in the Tagale country have recently been explored, but the result has been unsatisfactory, and the gold appears to have been worked out. There may be other minerals in the country, but no details are known regarding them.

Gum.The best gum comes from the grey acacia, called hashab. This is found between the parallels of 13° and 14°, but is little worked west of El Obeid, on account of the cost of carriage to Khartoum. The chief places where it is collected are El Obeid, Taiara, Bint Joda, Gedid, Um Dam, and Nahud, whence it is either taken by camel straight to Khartoum or to the river at El Dueim or Goz Abu Guma, and there put into boats. The cultivation is simple. In January strips of bark are torn off the trees, dead branches cut away, and, in well managed gardens, the grass is cut as protection from fire. This should always be done, as fires, both accidental and incendiary, are by no means uncommon. As soon as the hot weather comes on, the sap runs up the tree and oozes out of the wound and the tree comes into leaf. This “garden” (geneina) gum is collected every few days and taken into the nearest market. As soon as the rains commence the flow of gum ceases. Wild gum (wadi) is also collected by people who do not own gardens, from the ownerless and, as it were, wild trees, but it is worth comparatively little.

The forests south of the Khor Abu Habl are full of red gum acacias (talh), but the trees are not worked, as the gum is of little value compared with the hashab which abounds. The latter is not yet worked to more than half its capacity, even in Eastern Kordofan.

The following table shows the amount of gum, in hundredweights, exported from the Sudan, most of which comes from Kordofan, but it is impossible to say exactly what proportion:—

Year.Cwts.
1879144,706
1880135,646
1881150,861
189941,963
190060,912
1901170,781
1902220,000
1903191,214[116]

Ostrich feathers.The chief market for ostrich feathers is at El Nahud, where considerable quantities are collected. The best come from Dar El Zeiah in Northern Darfur, but few of these come into the market. The Hamar Arabs keep a few birds in pens. Ostriches have been seen within a few miles of El Obeid. Ostrich farming on a large scale has been proposed, but would be difficult on account of the expense of obtaining food. Feathers from wild birds (Kitala) are longer and more valuable than those plucked from farm birds (Maata), which, though cleaner, are shorter and cheaper.

Ivory.The trade in ivory was never very large, and had in 1901 practically ceased. It is now, however, increasing rapidly, owing to Government restrictions being removed. Over 50,000 lbs. weight passed through Nahud in 1903.

India-rubber.Large quantities of india-rubber might be collected from the country south of El Eddaiya if the cost of transport to Khartoum admitted of a fair price being paid for its collection. At present it does not.

Cattle.There is a large export of cattle, mostly to Omdurman.

Imports.The imports consist chiefly of cotton goods, sugar, salt, soap, tobacco, beads and metal goods, such as axes, hoes, and fasses. Blue and white cottons and muslins, with open-work pattern, are chiefly in demand, but coloured goods are frequently asked for now that the sartorial regulations of the Khalifa are no longer in force. The blacks especially like striking colours, but the dyes must be fast to stand washing with mud and water when no soap is available.

Past and present conditions.It must be borne in mind in comparing the following account with former ones, that the Khalifa laid practically the whole of Kordofan waste at various times, and that when the province was re-occupied in December, 1899, all the large towns and most of the villages had ceased to exist. Thus, on the old road to El Obeid from Tura, viâ Abu Shok and Khursi not a single village or well remained, and the present road from El Dueim to Helba and Bara had to be taken. Bara was found almost deserted, all the old houses and gardens having been destroyed. Khursi, once a large place with a market, had no inhabitants, and has now only a few huts. At El Obeid there was not a single soul, and nothing was left of the old city but a portion of the mudiria buildings. Melbis is quite overgrown, and Abu Haraz is still in ruins. Between El Obeid and Taiara there are now six villages. In January, 1900, there was not one. At Foga, once the headquarters of troops and a telegraph station, the ruins can hardly be traced. At many places in Dar Hamid, hundreds of date palms had been cut down. Everywhere the destruction was wanton and complete.

The only people who successfully resisted the Dervish occupation were the Nubas; living in the hills, they closed the entrances to their villages with defensible walls. They were constantly raided by slave-traders in the old days and so knew how best to defend themselves. But although the Mahdi failed to force these hills, except in the case of a few small and detached ones, the inhabitants all suffered severely, especially from slave-raiding. Mek Geili said in 1900 that he had lost two-thirds of his people, and, judging by the number of deserted houses in his country, this statement is probably not much exaggerated.

Those Arabs who were not taken to Omdurman, and who rebelled against the Khalifa in 1896, fled after Mahmud’s raids to the Nuba hills, the Gezira, or Nahud, a place which, though never mentioned by old travellers, had over 4,000 inhabitants in March, 1900, and a large market with traders from the Bahr El Ghazal, Darfur, and Wadai. Many of these people have now returned to their villages, but they are, of course, greatly impoverished and reduced in numbers.

2. Inhabitants.

General.The inhabitants consist of Arabs in the plains and Nubas (or blacks) in the hills. The Arabs are either villagers or nomads; the latter being divided into camel owners (Siat El Ilbil) and cattle owners (Baggara). There are no camel owners south and no Baggara north of El Obeid; in the south they are horse and cattle owners.

Nearly all the nomads grow a crop of dukhn, and in the west, where there are no wells, melons are grown for the cattle during the dry season. Portions of these nomad tribes have been obliged to become sedentary in consequence of the destruction of their herds.

TAAISHA (BAGGARA) GIRL.

Villagers.The village Arabs own small herds of sheep and goats, a few donkeys, and some cattle, and sometimes a camel or two. Near the river they cultivate the islands and low ground, growing dura, beans, onions, etc. Inland, dukhn, simsim, and melons form the chief crops, with a little cotton in places. Throughout Eastern Kordofan gum is collected largely and exchanged for dura or cotton goods.

Very poor after the defeat of the Khalifa, in consequence of two good years, they are now becoming fairly prosperous. A large area round each hella (village) is under cultivation; in the gum country, the gardens show signs of attention, and both the men and women, instead of wearing the dirty waist-cloth seen when the province was first occupied, now wear Manchester cotton goods very largely. Silver ornaments are becoming common.

They have few firearms, and, as a rule, only carry a spear or small axe, even when travelling.

The most important tribe is the Gowama, living between El Obeid and El Agaba, and owning most of the gum country. The Shankab and Mesellemia live on the river; the Dar Hamid tribes and the Bederia, near El Obeid, are large tribes, but are now poor. There are several villages of Danagla and Jaalin scattered about. Jebel Atshan and Jebel Royan are inhabited by Zaghawa Arabs, relations of the large tribe in Northern Darfur, and at Ushut, north-west of El Obeid, there are a few Nimr from Eastern Darfur. Between Hashaba and Jebel Kon the Baza Arabs have many gardens, and near Yasin, half-way between Jebel Kon and Taiara, the Massadab have a few villages.

Nomads. Baggara.The nomad tribes are far superior to the villagers, both physically and mentally. The various Baggara[117] tribes live chiefly in Southern Kordofan, and only move north during the rains. They occupy the plains between El Obeid and the Bahr El Arab, and, being constantly in touch with the Nubas in the hills, were the chief slave-raiders. Their occupations are hunting for meat and skins, and occasionally for ivory, and herding their cattle. They own a good many horses, but when on the move carry their baggage on their bulls. They always carry arms. These consist of a large stabbing spear and small throwing spears. They own a certain number of Remington rifles, but have little ammunition, and their rifles are generally in bad order, as they cut down the stock and fore-end to lighten them and frequently remove the backsight, as it makes the rifle more convenient to carry.

They also carry a broad-bladed straight sword, which, when mounted, is slung over the high pommel of the saddle, the blade resting against the side of the saddle under the left thigh. The large spear (Kibis) is carried in the hand and the small spears (Tabaiig) are hung on the off side in a kind of quiver (Turkash). Shields are not used. A few of the richer men wear chain armour. They are by far the most warlike people in Kordofan, and are inclined to resent being no longer allowed to raid the blacks. The most important tribes are the Hawazma, between Sungikai and Jebel Eliri; the Messeria, near Sinut; the Kenana, between Lake No and Tendik; the Selim, on the White Nile south of Dar El Ahamda (a branch of the tribe situated in the Gezira and Upper Nile Provinces), the Habbania, now a small tribe at Sherkeila. The Homr, south of El Eddaiya towards the Bahr El Arab, are a large and fairly rich tribe; and the Gimma, near Gedid, the majority of whom, however, have permanent villages.

Camel owners.The camel owners (Siat El Ilbil) are less numerous, and live entirely in Northern Kordofan, only moving as far south as El Obeid when the water and grazing further north is exhausted. This depends, of course, on the rains. In the winter of 1902-03 the Kordofan tribes were all south of the Shageig-Kagmar road by the beginning of December. They are by far the pleasantest-mannered Arabs to meet, being independent, but hospitable and polite, though perhaps no more honest than the rest.

They live chiefly on camel or goats’ milk (the former is excellent) and dukhn; the latter they grow as a rain crop or buy with money earned by carrying goods, or else in exchange for sheep and goats. During the rains they all go north and east towards Dongola and beyond the Wadi Melh. Though most of the tribes still own herds of camels, goats, and sheep, large portions of some tribes live in villages and cultivate.

Of the camel-owning tribes in the province, the Hamar, once a large and prosperous tribe owning thousands of camels, now reduced in numbers, own but a few hundred. They have a good many sheep and goats. Their country (Dar Hamar) lies between Dar Hamid and the Darfur frontier. A large proportion of this tribe have now settled down in their former villages and cultivate near Nahud, Um Bel, and all along the frontier between Foga and Taweisha.

The Kababish still own many camels. They claim the country north of Kaja Katul and eastwards to Gabra.[118] Their great watering-places are Gabra, El Safia, Habisa, and Kagmar. A great part of the tribe under Sheikh Ali Tom suffered very heavily from the Dervish rule, and for having supplied us with camels in 1884-85, they had to face the vengeance of the Mahdi when we abandoned the country. Their cultivation is west of Omdurman.

The Shenabla graze their flocks and herds in Dar Hamid, but keep many goats and sheep near Shat. The Beni Jerar, now a small tribe, generally water their camels at Kagmar, but have cultivation near Shat, Um Deisis, and in the Busata district. Both the Shenabla and Beni Jerar were formerly under the head sheikh of the Kababish, but separated in Dervish times.

The Kawahla live north-west of Shageig, where they water during the dry season. They own many camels and do a good deal of carrying trade.

Blacks.In the northern hills the inhabitants called Nuba Arabs speak Arabic and have copied the habits of the village Arabs. They are black and have woolly hair but their features are more prominent than is the case with the southern tribes: they are not negroes. They live chiefly in straw tukls at the foot of their hills, though at Jebel Haraza some still live on the hillside. At Jebel Um Durrug the ruins of a very large village can be seen on the north side of Jebel Kershungal (the highest peak), near the largest well (a crack in the rock). At Jebel Abu Hadid there is also a large ruined village on the side of Jebel El Hella. At Jebel Atshan and Jebel Maganus, now entirely deserted by the Nubas, the ruins of small circular stone huts can be traced.

In the southern hills, as at Jebel Tagale, Jebel Daier, Jebel El Joghub, etc., the natives are pure, or nearly pure, Nubas, and speak Nuba, though most hills have different dialects. But there are also several hills occupied by escaped slaves. These consist of negroes of mixed origin, and call themselves after the tribe they escaped from. Thus at Jebel Eliri there are Hawazmas and Kawahlas; at Jebel Krondi, Hawazmas; and at Jebel Talodi, Homrs. They speak Arabic, and have little intercourse with the Nubas.

The Nubas are split up into innumerable tribes, each under a mek, who is generally on bad terms with his neighbours. Mek Geili, of Tagale, is one of the most powerful. He is a Jaalin by extraction; it is not uncommon for the mek to be of Arab descent. Each mek is assisted by a “kugur.” who acts as chief rain-maker and adviser to the tribe, his power being dependent chiefly on his astuteness. He is often the only man who can speak any Arabic.

Living in the zone of good rains they raise large crops of dura round the base of their hills. They make, in good years, large quantities of merissa (native beer), and drunkenness is very common. They own a good many cattle. The men, as a rule, wear no clothing, and the young women are usually contented with an elaborately plaited head of hair and a girdle of beads, from which a strip of cotton 3 or 4 inches wide depends, both in front and behind. But in places the latter garment is replaced by a strip of dom palm an inch wide. The married women generally wear either a cotton robe or a goat or sheep-skin. In many places the whole body is covered with a mixture of red clay and oil; and each tuft of hair, which is generally very short, is covered with a lump of red clay to make it stand out at right angles to the head. Cotton clothes, are, however, gradually coming into fashion in the less remote hills.

NUBA WOMAN, DAUGHTER AND BABY.

In most of the hills there are a good many rifles, but ammunition is scarce. The Remington rifle is the most common, but old Italian ones, magazine and single-loaders, are seen. Ammunition is manufactured locally, match-heads being often used as a substitute for caps.

A man who owns a rifle, even if his bandolier be empty, always carries it for appearance sake. In January, 1900, it was estimated that Mek Geili alone had 1,500 rifles. The other arms carried are knob-kerries and spears, but no shields. The blacks chiefly fear being raided by horsemen when they are cutting their crops on the plains at the foot of their hills. To disconcert the Arab horsemen they leave the trunks of the trees about 2 or 3 feet high when they clear the ground, and also make pit-falls with spikes at the bottom. A horse running against one of these stumps hidden in the dura gives his rider a bad fall and enables the fleeing black to turn on his pursuer or escape to the hills. Their houses used to be always built high up on the hill, and any gullies or valleys closed by stone walls high enough and strong enough to be easily defended, but now they are beginning to build in the plains. They also take care, as a rule, to have water inside their defences; they were thus able to hold out successfully against the Dervish expeditions which were sent against them from time to time. It is also probable that having been constantly raided for slaves by the Government troops they had discovered the best means of escape and of defence even before the Mahdia.

It is difficult to say how they will develop now that they no longer live in fear of the Arab. They are lazy, but have had no inducements to work. Easily angered, their quarrels do not seem to last long; in fact, they are primitive children who require constant watching lest they become unmanageable, and constant protection lest other races abuse their ignorance, improvidence, or credulity.

Habitations.In a few places, such as El Dueim and El Obeid, there are mud houses with flat roofs. But the natives mostly live in conical-shaped straw huts (tukls) or in box-shaped shelters called “rakubas.” The house is generally surrounded by a thorn fence, inside which the sheep and goats are kept at night.

Tukls are cylindrical buildings with conical roofs. They are generally built by driving forked stakes (shab) into the ground in a circle from 10 to 20 feet in diameter. A circle (kara) of similar size is then made, apart from the other circle, of strong tough twigs tied together every few inches with strips of bark. To form the roof, four poles are tied together at their small ends and the butts pushed into the kara to form a cone. A small circle of twigs is then lashed on near the top and more poles placed with their butts in the kara and their tops lashed to the upper circle. As many more horizontal bands of twigs as the size of the huts demand are then made, and the whole frame is lifted on to the forks of the uprights. The roof is then thatched with dura, or dukhn stalks, and the walls are built of the same material.

“Rakubas” are box-shaped huts made of poles and covered with grass or straw. They are useless in the rains but excellent at other times, as the walls, while keeping out the sun, let the wind through.

The camel-owning Arabs make tents of woollen blankets. They are exactly the shape of gipsy tents in England. The Baggara tribes make similar tents, but cover them with mats made of grass or reeds and tanned ox-hides called “dilla.” The old frames can frequently be seen on deserted camping grounds.

The Nubas, though they vary very much in skill, generally build better tukls than the Arabs. The walls are made of either stone, mud, or wattle and daub, the latter being sometimes ornamented with a pattern in red clay. The roofs are much better thatched than those of the Arabs and are given a steeper pitch.

The furniture of an Arab tukl consists of a few bedsteads (angarib), very short and narrow, and sometimes a mat. The cooking utensils consist of a grindstone (generally outside the door), a stone to cook kisra on, a few wooden dishes for food, some flat baskets and earthenware pots (kantûsh), spherical in shape, for water. Pillows of wood to support the head are used by the blacks, who go in for extensive head dresses. Small and very light axes are used for cutting wood, they are seldom more than an inch wide and 5 inches long. A dilwa or bucket made of a piece of soft leather suspended from a circle of wood by strings a few inches long, so that it can open out nearly flat at the bottom of the well when water is scarce, is used for drawing water.

Rope.Rope is made from the bark of trees, such as the tebeldi (Adansonia digitata), sayal (Acacia spirocarpa), kittr, and usher, which makes the best.

Fire.Fire is made by twirling a stick of marakh (Leptadenia spartium) on a piece of usher (Calotropis procera), or if no usher is available, two pieces of marakh are used. Two pieces of hard wood are also used at times, sand being put in the hole to increase friction.

3. Towns.

El Obeid.—El Obeid, the capital of Kordofan, is situated in lat. 13° 11′ north and long. 30° 14′ east. Its elevation has been given as between 1,700 and 2,000 feet. It is built on the side of a depression in the centre of which are the wells. These are from 60 to 80 feet deep, and give (except from March to June) a plentiful supply of water for the present population of about 10,000 people, but in former times, when the population was larger, there were frequently water famines.

The old mudiria is still standing and has been repaired. Barracks for a Sudanese battalion and details are being built, and the town laid out in squares. Most of the inhabitants, many of whom only come in for the dry season, live in tukls, but a good many mud-brick houses have been built by merchants. There is a large market, and a considerable trade is done in gum and cattle.

The old fortifications can still be traced in places, but most of the old buildings have disappeared.

The town was held by Mohammed Pasha Said against the Mahdi from 3rd September, 1882, till 17th January, 1883, when it fell (see [p. 247]). It is 158 miles from Dueim on the W. Nile and, therefore, 268 miles from Khartoum. It is 388 miles from El Fasher.

Bara.—Bara is now a small place, but there are excellent gardens there and a small market.

El Dueim.—El Dueim, on the Nile, is the port of Kordofan. Most of the merchandise for the interior is landed there, and gum is shipped to Omdurman. There is a good market. (Vide [p. 56] for description.)

Nahud.—Nahud, situated 165 miles west of El Obeid and 80 miles south of Foga, is a new town of some 7,000 inhabitants. It is not mentioned in any of the old accounts of Kordofan, as before the decline of the Dervish rule it was a small place populated by Hamar and people from the river, such as Jaalin, Danagla, etc., who had originally gone out to trade in slaves. Gradually people collected there, so that the inhabitants consist of every tribe in Kordofan, the Hamar predominating. All the trade with Darfur passes through here, and there is a large market where cotton and trade goods can be purchased. Cattle is the chief trade. Gum is not in any demand, owing to cost of transport. Feathers and ivory are obtainable in fairly large quantities. India-rubber is brought in in small quantities. There is little crime there now; the market has been built, and there are some 40 good mud-brick shops owned by Greeks, Syrians, Jaalin, Danagla, etc. Dukhn is plentiful. When the town was first occupied drunkenness was very common amongst both sexes. Dura, simsim, and cotton are also brought into the market. It is the second town in Kordofan, and is increasing.

Taiara.—Taiara, formerly the centre of the gum trade, was destroyed by the Dervishes, and in December, 1899, consisted of but six huts. It is now the headquarters of a district and has a good market. There are several gum merchants there, besides agents of Omdurman firms. The place is rapidly growing.

4. Animals.

Cattle.The Baggara tribes have large herds of the hump variety, but they are seldom anxious to sell them. They are small, but their meat is of good quality. The bulls are used as pack-transport animals and are extremely docile. Cattle are generally watered every second day, but if grazing is scarce and they have to go far from the wells, it is not uncommon for them to go three or even four days without water. This applies especially to the cattle in Northern Kordofan. There is also a smaller humpless variety.

The Nubas own considerable herds but seldom sell them. Like the Dinkas and other blacks they regard cattle as a form of wealth which enables them to obtain wives.

Camels.These have also decreased to a terrible extent. The Kababish, Kawahla, Shanabla, Hamar, and Beni Jerar, who formerly had the whole of the carrying trade of Kordofan, are now hardly able to cope with it. All over the gum country Hawawir and other northern tribesmen are to be found with caravans of camels. The Hamar have almost ceased to be a camel-owning tribe, and it must be years before the supply of camels is at all large. The villagers own few camels, and the Baggara tribes none, as they cannot live south of lat. 13° 30′. In the Dinka country to the south it is not at all uncommon for people, especially children, to fly in dread at the sight of a camel.

Horses.The Baggara tribes own a good many horses. Some are ugly animals, all head and tail, and not up to much weight, but the larger proportion are small horses, up to weight, good looking and well bred. The Dongalawi horse is prized, but it is now scarce; horses, or rather ponies, are also imported from Abyssinia. These are far inferior, but ridden by Arabs they are more suited to the country, being very hardy. If trained they can do 60 miles without water and do not seem to suffer. Their price is generally £E.3 to £E.5, but a good one runs to £E.18.

Donkeys.There are a good many donkeys, chiefly among the villagers. Like the horses they can go for a couple of days without water. From Zereiga to Bint Joda (50 miles) or from Abu Zabbat to Nahud (65 miles) are quite common marches for donkeys.

Sheep and goats.Large numbers of sheep and goats are owned by all tribes. In the south there is a small and very active breed which seems to carry more meat in proportion to its size than the ordinary Arab breed.

Game.Elephants are found in Dar El Homr, Dar El Ahamda, Dar El Tagale, and Dar Jange. Elephants are very numerous in Dar El Homr from May until June, when they travel to Dar Fertit and towards Lake No.

Rhinoceros (both black and “white”) are found in Dar El Homr and Dar El Rizeigat.

Buffalo are found in Dar El Homr, Dar El Nuba and in Dar El Ahamda.

Lion, leopard, and cheetah are found all over Kordofan from south of Kaja Katul, and are very numerous in the south.

Giraffe are found south of El Eddaiya and are very plentiful all over Southern and South-Western Kordofan.

Roan-antelope are found in Southern Kordofan.

Kudu are found scattered all over Kordofan; most plentiful in Kaja and Talodi districts.

Hartebeeste (Jacksonii) are very plentiful in Southern Kordofan.

Tiang are plentiful in S. and S.E. and in Kaja and Foga districts; there is a different species to that found on the White Nile, etc., which has been identified as the “Damaliscus korrigum” of West Africa, vide [App. C.]

Oryx (white) are found in Dar Hamid and Kaja districts.

Ril or Addra Gazelle are found all over Northern and North-Western Kordofan, but are local. They are not found elsewhere in the Sudan.

Addax are found north of Jebel Fas. Rare.

Ariel are found near Gabra and as far south as Fachi Shoya, but not very far west of White Nile.

White-eared cob (Cobus leucotis) are found on the White Nile and in Dar Jange.

Mrs. Gray’s waterbuck are found in Dar Jange.

Waterbuck (two kinds) are found on the White Nile and in Dar Homr.

Reedbuck are found in Southern Kordofan.

Oribi, duiker, dig-dig, bushbuck, gazelle (four kinds) and warthog are found in most places south and south-west of Keilak.

Gazelle (three kinds), viz., Rufifrons, Dorcas, and Isabella, are plentiful in various part of Kordofan.

The “harnessed antelope” and eland are said to exist in the south.

Small Game.Hares, quail, partridge, jungle-fowl, bustard (four kinds), and guinea-fowl are plentiful in the south up to January.

5. Climate and Health.

The year in Kordofan is divided into three seasons, viz.:—

The Kharif, or rainy season, which commences usually about 15th of June and lasts until the end of September.

The Shita, or cold weather, from the beginning of October to the end of February.

The Seif, or hot weather, from March to the middle of June.

The Rainy Season.[119]—Towards the middle of June the wind changes to the south, and heavy clouds begin to collect in that quarter. These, in a very few days, bring a storm of rain, usually heralded by strong wind, clouds of dust and sand, and thunder and lightning. These storms appear every two or three days. Although a steady rain falls, occasionally for 24 days, it usually comes in the form of stormy showers. As the result of these showers, by the end of July, the ground, even in the villages and around Government buildings, become covered with rank green vegetation, which defies all efforts to destroy it. The rank smell from this grass, the numerous frogs, toads, and other reptiles it harbours, and the general lassitude produced by these surroundings, render life anything but enjoyable during the day, whilst sleep inside one’s house is rendered well nigh impossible at night by the steamy moistures of the air and attacks of sand flies and mosquitos.

The Cold Weather.—Towards the end of September the wind begins to blow from the north and a great change takes place. The fever decreases, until by the end of November there are only a few cases in hospital. The weather is delightfully cool and the breezes bracing and refreshing.

The Hot Weather.—The heat in El Obeid and Western Kordofan is not as great as in other parts of the Sudan; the maximum temperature being rarely above 106° Fahr., whilst the nights remain delightfully cool until the rains appear.

Altitude above the sea level, compiled by Major Prout, 1876:—[120]

Feet.
Helba1,381
Bara1,622Wells20feet deep.
El Obeid1,919„80-130„ „
Faki Don1,743„120„ „
Hamdaui1,734„110„ „
Magenis1,820„80„ „
Um Dobau1,704„15„ „
Gumburra1,853
Tibri2,072
Um Ratali1,994
Shitangul1,998
Aboir Tine1,789
Abu Sinun Hella1,928

Health.Most diseases in Kordofan may be included under one of two heads—malarial and venereal. Were it not for these classes of disease Kordofan might be considered a healthy country.

Malaria.—The fever is, perhaps, more often of the remittent type. Those attacked for the first time almost invariably have remittent fever; the subsequent attacks are either remittent or intermittent. During January and February, which are otherwise healthy months, a particularly sudden and severe type of remittent fever has been noticed. A patient, previously well, will lose consciousness in the course of an hour, and either die in a state of coma or only recover after weeks of convalescence. This apparently is the result of malaria contracted during the rains, as Egyptian and British officers who have spent a wet season here and afterwards left the district, have been attacked in this way whilst on leave in Cairo and England. The good effect of hypodermic injections of hydro-bromide of quinine in fever of this kind is worth recording.

Venereal Diseases of every kind rage, except in Dar Nuba, where the people make great efforts to prevent the spread of these diseases. Travellers should take precautions to prevent their guides and servants drinking out of their water-bottles.

Water-borne Diseases.—Of diseases traceable to an impure water supply there has been a remarkable freedom in El Obeid itself. In this garrison there have been only a few cases of dysentery and diarrhœa during the last three years. Amongst the inhabitants of the country further south, who derive their water supply from rain water collected in hollows during the rainy season or from shallow wells during the dry season, this is not always the case, as many cases of dysentery, tape worm, guinea worm (very prevalent), etc., coming from these parts testify.

Guinea Worm.—With regard to the guinea worm, there is not sufficient evidence to prove that it is contracted by washing or wading in water, as the natives state. It in all probability is taken into the system with drinking water. To avoid this pest all surface water or water that is likely to have been fouled by the natives wading in it (for the ova are introduced into the water in this way) should be boiled before being drunk.

Small-Pox is still common in the southern part of the district, and the faces of many of the inhabitants are scarred in consequence.

Pneumonia is common amongst the blacks during the cold weather, and a great many camels die from this disease.

Section 2.—Darfur.

Historical.[121]Darfur was formerly one of the line of ancient African Kingdoms stretching across the Continent from west to east, of which Wadai and Abyssinia are the only ones still surviving[122] as independent states. Up to the early part of the 18th century the Kings of Darfur had dominion over the country as far east as the Atbara; but the war-like Fungs, who at that time were one of the most powerful tribes of the Sudan, gradually drove the Darfurians back, and established their own authority on the banks of the White Nile. Vide [p. 229.]

In 1770 they wrested the Province of Kordofan from the Darfur kings, but five years later it was retaken by the latter, and remained under their control until conquered in 1822 by Mohammed Bey Dafterdar, the brother-in-law of Ismail Pasha, who was burnt at Shendi.

After the loss of Kordofan the Darfurians retired westwards and the kings then governed only a circumscribed area, of which Jebel Marra was the centre. This is the Darfur that was conquered and annexed to Egypt by Zubeir Pasha in 1874 and which is the Darfur of the present day.

Present boundaries.Modern Darfur in shape is a more or less regular parallelogram, 400 miles by 400 miles, and may be said to lie between N. Lat. 10° and 16° and E. Long. 22° and 27° 30′.

It is bounded on the north by Dar Bedaiat and the desert west of the Wadi Melh; on the east by Kordofan,[123] the frontier running from Kaja Serrug (Darfur) in a south-west direction to Dam Jamad (Kordofan) and thence in a southerly direction to the Bahr El Arab and Dar Fertit; Dar Habbania and Dar Taaisha belonging to Darfur. The western boundary leaves Dar Sula and Borgu or Wadai within the French sphere of influence and Dar Gimr and Dar Tama to Darfur.

Drainage.The watershed of Darfur, which forms part of that separating the basin of Lake Chad from that of the Nile, runs nearly north and south through the centre of the country. The chief features which define it are in the North Jebel Meidob (3,500 feet) connected with Jebel Tagabo further south by a plateau, the greatest altitude of which is about 1,200 feet, and further south Jebel Marra and its offshoots. To the south-west of these mountains, the main peaks of which rise to an altitude of some 6,000 feet, the plain is about 4,000 feet above the sea.

As might be expected the general direction of the drainage is east and west. In the north the country is so arid and the rains so meagre that the water draining eastwards towards the Wadi Melh soon sinks into the sandy soil and disappears. Similarly, further south the Wadis, chief of which is Wadi Ko, draining the east and south-east of the Marra group and which flow generally in a south-easterly direction towards the Bahr El Arab, an affluent of the Bahr El Ghazal, seldom if ever discharge water into that river. The Wadis Bulbul, Gendi, and Ibra, however, which spring from the more southern slopes of the watershed and also trend south-east, are believed to convey a considerable quantity of water into the Bahr El Arab during the rainy season.

To the west of the watershed the general trend of the wadis is south-west, the Wadi Sonot and Kia in the north, with their affluents draining the hills of Dar Tama, and most important of all the Wadi Azum which carries the drainage from the western slopes of Jebel Marra are thought to unite near Dar Sula and to flow, under the name of Bahr El Salamat, towards Lake Iro, though it is doubtful if their waters ever reach this marshy swamp which, in turn, drains into the Shari.

The drainage of the south-west of Darfur flows towards the River Mamun, a perennial stream, also an affluent of the Shari, which, of course, empties into the southern end of Lake Chad.

Water supply.Broadly it may be said that the country to the north and east of the Marra range resembles that of Kordofan in its character and usual dearth of water, whilst to the west, south-west, and south it is much better watered and more fertile. During the rains water is here everywhere plentiful, whilst at this season much of Southern Darfur becomes marshy and difficult to travel over. In the rainy season too the principal wadis, especially those in the south and south-west, are perfect torrents, and, although their beds are dry soon after the cessation of the rains, water is generally to be found in abundance held up by the clayey strata at a few feet below the surface. In Eastern Darfur the wells are of considerable depth and at great distances from each other, especially south of Dara and Taweisha, and the people are dependent to a great extent on water melons (batikh) and to a less extent on Tebeldi trees (Adansonia digitata) which are such a feature of Dar Hamar, the adjoining district of Kordofan.

The deepest wells are at Karnak, where water is only obtained at 250 feet. At Burush on the Fasher-Obeid road and on the road to Taweisha, and at Taweisha itself, the wells, which pass through strata of chalk and marl, average from 100 to 130 feet in depth.

At El Fasher the wells are of no great depth and at the end of the dry season water is obtainable at 35 feet.

The nearer one approaches the central group of mountains the depth at which water is found diminishes. At 3,200 feet above the sea it is found by excavating in the sandy beds of khors, but at 4,000 feet there is running water which becomes more abundant still further to the west of Jebel Marra.

Geology.The geological formation is very varied; in the west the mountains show a volcanic origin; in the north and south granite and sandstone are the prevailing rocks; in the east the soil is sandy and contains a quantity of iron, which is worked to a small extent.

In the east and north-east, granite predominates, with the exception of a strip between Foga and El Fasher, where red and white sandstone crops out.

In the north, Wadi Melit and the hills in its neighbourhood are of gneiss. To the north-east of this, granite again predominates at Saya, whilst still further north, Jebel Tagabo is of sandstone.

Jebel Meidob contains both sandstone and granite; this group has been much distorted by volcanic agency, and beds of lava are to be seen in all directions. To its south-west lies Bir El Melh,[124] an extinct crater, which to outward appearance is an insignificant hill, but has a depth of about 150 feet. Here is a small lake strongly impregnated with alkaline matter, while sweet water springs issue from the sandstone and granite declivities.

The Jebel Marra group is also of volcanic origin; lava and granite are to be found everywhere, but there is no sandstone; small peaks of pink granite crop up here and there between these mountains and El Fasher.

Stretching from the main group in a westerly direction for a distance of 30 or 40 miles is a huge dyke of white quartz with a sandstone plateau raised some 300 feet above the plain which is itself about 3,200 feet above sea level.

The inhabitants report a large lake of brackish water, from which salt can be obtained, on the north-eastern part of the mountain; while, at a day’s journey to the west, salt is also found at Karunga, and the Wadi Burka is strongly impregnated with soda.

In all the depressions sand rich in iron is met with.

In a southerly direction from Jebel Marra, there stretches a broad alluvial plain which is dotted all over with peaks of granite, giving the impression of a range of mountains, buried all but its highest points.

Inhabitants.The original tribes of the country are the Fors and the Dago; the latter ruled for centuries over the entire district from their inaccessible strongholds in Jebel Marra. Tradition relates[125] that about the 14th century the Tungur Arabs, emigrating south from Tunis, scattered throughout Bornu and Wadai, and eventually readied Darfur, the first arrivals being two brothers, Ali and Ahmed, who settled with their flocks on the western slopes of Jebel Marra. Of these brothers, Ahmed, nicknamed El Makur, was destined to become the founder of a new dynasty in Darfur. He became very popular with the then king Kor who not only gave him his favourite daughter as wife, but nominated him as his successor to the throne. Accordingly on Kor’s death Ahmed succeeded to the throne of Darfur, and on the news spreading to the Tungur of Wadai and Bornu, they flocked into the country in such numbers as to partially displace the Teigo. The only small settlements now left of the former rulers are near Dara, where there is a Dago sheikh, and also at Dar Sula, a long way to the west, where there is a semi-independent ruler called “Sultan Bekhit El Dagawi.”

A regular male succession was now established and a great grandson of Ahmed’s was the celebrated Sultan Dali, who wrote the Kitab-Dali or Penal Code. Another noted Sultan was Suleiman who took the name of Solon, who being the son of an Arab mother and himself married to an Arab woman, introduced Arab blood into the Royal Family. It was through him, some 400 years ago, that the country became Moslemised, and his descendants now proudly boast of their Arab descent and quite ignore the black element which is undoubtedly there, and which may account for the bitter enmity which exists between the ruling Darfur family and the Nomad Arabs of the country. At the end of the 18th century Sultan Abdel Rahman married a Beigo girl and her son, Mohammed El Fadl, became Sultan about the beginning of the next century. The Beigo tribe, originally slaves, were from that time declared free.

DARFUR GIRL.

To turn to more recent times, Darfur has during the last 20 years been so devastated and depopulated that many formerly important tribes such as the Maharia, Nawaiba, Mahamid, Ereigat, Beni, Hussein, etc., have become so disintegrated and scattered that they now practically cease to exist as tribes and are seldom heard of.

The population of Darfur, prior to the Mahdi’s revolt, was estimated at 1,500,000. It is now probably less than half that number.

Furs.The Masabat and Kunjara, the ruling class of Fors, have their centre at El Fasher.

The Fors are clean and industrious. They may be found assembled under trees spinning, weaving cotton or plaiting mats, whilst the children will be herding the cattle. The men wear a jibba and drawers of coarse cotton stuff, whilst the women wear a piece of the same stuff made fast round the hips with the end thrown over the shoulder.

They live in tukls or conical huts, five or six of which arranged in a circle form a habitation.

Compared to other tribes, they are exceedingly clean feeders and very particular as to the manner in which their food is served, though corn and merissa are the main articles of consumption.

They are religious and fanatical, and study the Koran assiduously.

The mountainous stronghold of Jebel Marra is inhabited by the Jebelawin, the aboriginal inhabitants of Darfur.

OLD WOMAN OF DARFUR.

Arabs, etc.Other important tribes are in the north the Zaghawa and Zeiadia, in the east the Berti and Kaja, in the south-east the Maalia and Rizeigat, and in the south the Beni Helba, Habbania and Taaisha. The four last-named tribes are Baggara.[126] In the west are the Masabat and Tama.

In addition to these Darfur has a large sedentary population amongst whom are found the following tribes: Mima, Birged, Beigo, and Gimr, etc.

The present ruler of Darfur is Sultan Ali Dinar, a grandson of Sultan Mohammed Fadl; he was kept a prisoner at Omdurman during the Mahdia. In September, 1898, immediately after the defeat of the Khalifa at Kereri, he escaped to his native country. He now pays an annual tribute to the Sudan Government by which he has been officially recognised as its Agent in Darfur.

By kind permission of M. Venieris, Khartoum.

THE DARFUR MAHMAL PASSING THROUGH OMDURMAN, 1904.

Administration.The management of the internal affairs of the country is left almost entirely to the sultan, though the Sudan Government sends him instructions and advice on certain matters from time to time as occasion arises. His judgments on all administrative questions are based on a combination of the Sharia Mohammedia and common law.

Army.The sultan maintains an army, organised on Dervish lines, of some 6,000 rifles, mostly of a more or less antiquated description. In case of need he could probably mobilise upwards of 2,000 horsemen. His chief commanders are Mohammed Ali Dedingawi, Adam Rijal, and Kamar El Din. The greater part of the army is quartered at El Fasher: the principal outlying garrison (about 500 men) is at Jebel El Hella on the Fasher-Obeid road.

Communications.Though in 1874 it took Colonel Mason, with a large caravan, from 100 to 150 days to reach Fasher from Cairo, nowadays a letter from Cairo could reach Fasher in 30 days without any difficulty.

In the old days the telegraph extended to Foga, now the furthest point to which it is proposed at present to extend it is Nahud, which is on the western frontier of Kordofan, and about 10 days’ camel ride from El Fasher.

(1) With Omdurman.There are two routes from Omdurman to El Fasher. That most generally used is viâ El Obeid, Nahud, and Jebel El Hella. The other, which has hitherto been avoided by merchants owing to the number of robbers in the neighbourhood of Kaja Katul, and Serrug, lies to the north of El Obeid, and, after passing the two above-mentioned places, joins the El Obeid-Nahud route at Jebel El Hella. Both are described in the route reports in [ Vol. II.]

(2) With Wadai.There are three routes from Fasher to Abesher, the capital of Wadai. The direct road known as Sikkat El Masalat passes viâ Kebkebia (Darfur) and Bir Tawil to Abesher. This is not much used, in fact Ali Dinar has forbidden merchants or pilgrims to use either this or the northern route, as at Kebkebia there is a Fiki named Senin who has defied all the sultan’s efforts to induce him to tender his submission, and this road is consequently unsafe.

The northern route runs through Kutum, Dar Zaghawa, Dar Gimr, and Dar Tama; this is known as Sikkat Zaghawa. Owing to recent disturbances in Dar Zaghawa, this road is temporarily closed.

The southern route leads viâ Keibe and the Wadi Azum to Dar Sula and thence northwards to Abesher; this is known as Sikkat Dar Sula, and is the longest of the three, but it is comparatively safe.

Trade.Trade between Darfur and other parts of the Sudan has increased a good deal of late. The principal imports from the Nile are cotton goods (gomash), sugar, and tea; the exports are feathers, ivory, pepper, rhinoceros horns, and tobacco. The ivory, as a rule, comes from Dar Jange and Dar Fertit in the south. Owing to the recent disturbances in Wadai, ivory that formerly was exported through that country has been finding its way viâ El Fasher to Omdurman. A good many camels and cattle are imported from Wadai and are exported again viâ Nahud to the Nile.

Customs.A royalty of about 20 per cent. is taken on all ivory and feathers leaving Fasher, where the price of ivory is from £15 to £16 per 100 lbs.

Every laden camel entering Darfur pays PT.150 to PT.180, and each laden donkey PT.30 to PT.60.

Taxes.The taxes are three in number, Oshur, Zika, and Fitra. Oshur tax is assessed at the rate of ⅒th of the harvest, whilst Zika is 2 per cent. on all property animals, goods, or money.

Currency.The sultan has ordered that the present Egyptian coinage shall be current in Darfur, but merchants, finding they lose by it, are not anxious to introduce it. At present the principal coins in use are “Girsh Kabashi,” 20 of which equal one rial Mejidi, the equivalent of PT.16.

There are also a few “Girsh Garagandi” in use, these are of the same value as the “Kabashi.”

Transport animals.Camels are the best transport animals, except in the mountainous and southern regions, where mules, donkeys, or bullocks would be preferable.

Climate.The climate, of course, varies considerably. Fasher is healthy. In the south, where the rains are heavier, there must be the usual malaria at certain seasons. The climate of Jebel Marra is said to be cool and healthy.

Religion.The people of Darfur, as a whole, are followers of Islam, but the negroes in Jebel Marra, the Jebelawin, and those in the south and south-west have no religion. The late Sheikh Senussi wrote three times to Sultan Ali Dinar asking him to prepare Zawias for him, and to otherwise further his doctrine. Ali Dinar, however, considered it best to politely hold aloof from him, and there are now no Senussiites in El Fasher.

Produce.

The country may be divided into three sections with reference to the vegetation, i.e., the eastern zone of sandy steppes, the central mountains, and the western zone.

Corn.In the eastern zone, the cultivation of corn, in the shape of dukhn and a little dura, is the chief industry. A small quantity of simsim, cucumbers, pumpkins, and water melons are also grown. In certain depressions of the ground, where the presence of clay gives a stronger soil, cotton is produced, but in no great quantity.

The northern part of the country is almost uncultivated; and in the west, agriculture is pretty much the same as described for the eastern portion, except that owing to the greater quantity of water, more vegetables are grown.

The central mountainous district is the best watered and richest, and accordingly the most thickly populated. Small terraces, upon which gardens are laid out, are constructed all over the slopes of the hills. Here barley, wheat, dukhn,[127] dura, simsim, pumpkins, and melons are grown. In the small water-courses, onions are planted during the dry season. Honey of very good quality is collected in Jebel Marra.

Cotton.The cotton grown formerly was excellent. Now very little is grown. Arabs manufacture from wool a coarse material, but the Fors are ignorant of the process of its manufacture.

Salt.The production of salt is carried on in many parts of Darfur.

Camels.Camel breeding is the principal pursuit of the Arabs in the north and east of Darfur. North of 14° lat. camels used to be very numerous; they are now comparatively scarce. The Zeiadia, Maharia, and Bedaiat are the principal breeders.

The Arabs who breed camels occupy themselves with no other industry, and have even to buy the corn used in their households, which, with camel’s milk, satisfies all their wants.

Cattle.In the south, among the sedentary inhabitants, cattle and sheep are to be found in abundance.

The cattle are of two kinds: the humped species and the so-called African species, with long horns. The former are compact, well-made animals, and become very fat; the others are not worth much.

Sheep.The sheep have but little wool, but their flesh is good; among the Zaghawa there is a species with long curly hair. Zaghawa is leased to the present sultan’s sister, Miriam Tajer.

Goats.Goats abound everywhere.

Horses.The Baggara Arabs confine themselves chiefly to breeding cattle and horses. The Messeria are large horse-owners.

Horse breeding is largely carried on by the Mahamid tribe. The horses are small in size but very strong, and are said to be able on an emergency to travel for 60 hours without water. They are chiefly of a local breed (Tama).

The sultan has a stud farm in the Zeiadia country, with the object of improving and reviving the breed of horses.

Towns.

El Fasher.The old capital was Kobe, but at the end of the 17th century it was moved to El Fasher which is now the chief town. Colonel Gordon in 1877 described it as a most miserable place, though once a populous and thriving town under the sultans. It is 388 miles by road from El Obeid, or about 650 miles from Khartoum, and about 300 miles nearly due east from Abesher.

El Fasher or Tendelti stands mostly on the western bank of the Wadi Tendelti or Dindil in an angle formed by the junction of the latter with the Wadi El Ko.

The Tendelti has no current of its own, but is filled during the rains by the overflow from the Ko, and a dam, constructed near the junction, retains the water for some time. The wells supplying the town are all sunk in its bed.

The town now consists almost entirely of tukls and box-shaped straw sheds. There are about five or six mud houses, and the sultan intends to build himself a palace, the plans and material for which have been already sent to him from Khartoum.

On the town side, opposite the old palace, the old Government constructed a square fort with ditch and parapet. This is now demolished.

The population of the town was, in 1875, about 2,650. Of these—1,700 were natives, 300 Zeiadia Arabs, 250 Sâbah Arabs, 400 Melha Arabs. The population is now estimated at about 10,000.

Dara.There are now no other towns of importance. Dara, which used to be second in importance to Fasher, and the headquarters of a mudiria, is merely a small tukl village.

Melit.Melit is the name of rather a populous district in the north. Here there is a plentiful water supply from wells 9 to 12 feet deep in a khor, which also contains many date trees.

Tura.The ancient burial place of the sultans is at Tura in Jebel Marra.

ROUGH GENEALOGICAL TABLE TO SHOW THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE MORE RECENT SULTANS OF DARFUR.

SultanMohammed El Fadl (died 1839).
Sul. Hussein (died 1875).Hasaballa[128] (died in Cairo).Sul. Bosh (died1878).Abu Bakr.Zakaria.Seif El Din.Nuerein.Imam, &c.
Sultan Ibrahim.Abdel Rahman.Dud Banga (surrendered1898. Now lives at Gedaref, 1904.)Ali Dinar (presentSultan).Sul. Harun (died1880).
Sul. Yusef (died1888).Sagha (died 1889).Abu El Kheirat (died1890).Abdel Hamid (now inCairo).Hussein (executed byAli Dinar, 1903.)Osman Abdel Rahman,late O. C. J. Hella (executed by Ali Dinar, 1903).Hamza (Heir Apparent).Ibrahim.Seif El Din, &c.
At present attached to the Staffs ofthe principal Commanders in Sultan Ali Dinar’s Army.

SHILLUK.

Section 3.—The Shilluks and their Country.[129]

The Shilluk nation, the only people in the Sudan who acknowledge one head as immediate ruler or mek, extends along the west bank of the Nile from Kaka in the north to Lake No in the south. There is also a colony along the banks of the Sobat, near its mouth, extending 35 miles up this river to Nagdyeb, and chiefly living on the north bank.

The country is almost entirely a grass country, and as a result its wealth consists almost entirely of cattle.

A large and increasing amount of dura and other vegetables is grown, but it is often barely enough for the needs of the population, and with bad harvests famines are constantly occurring.

Description of the people. Appearance.Physically, the Shilluks, Shulla, or Ojallo (native names) are a fine race. In colour they are glossy blue-black. The average height of the men is quite 5 feet 10 inches, and that of the women is in proportion. According to European ideas they are narrow in the shoulders and thin in the calves in proportion to their height, but they are capable of sustaining considerable fatigue on short rations, and are courageous and moral in their sexual relations.

Every man carries and cherishes a long spear, with a laurel-leaf-shaped blade and a tuft of ostrich feathers near the butt; when prepared for war he carries also a knob-kerry, an extra throwing spear or two, and a light oblong shield of wickerwork or hide. The hair is twisted by means of a mixture of gum, mud, and cow-dung, into a series of extraordinary shapes, e.g., cockscombs, “tam o’shanter”-like halos, plumes a foot high, knobs, etc., etc. Few clothes are worn, occasionally a twist of cloth or a leopard’s skin, but as a rule the men go stark naked. The women are more clothed. A large proportion of the Sudanese battalions are drawn from Shilluks, though no conscription is enforced.

History and religion.The legendary history and the religion of the Shilluks are related on [page 197.]

Character.In character they are haughty and independent, and hate foreigners, according to the lessons instilled by the older men who suffered under the “Turks,” the Danagla slave-dealers, and the Dervishes. Under the present regime it is hoped that this feeling will die out. They are also crafty, quarrelsome, and untrustworthy as a rule; at the same time they are thick-headed and obstinate; but, as aforesaid, their morals in relation to women are very good; they have a fine sense of discipline, and become very much attached to their leaders, whether black or white; they are exceedingly plucky, and they are the finest warriors in the Sudan.

Population.The country is thickly populated for its size. Right away from Kaka to Lake No is a continuous string of villages lying about a mile from the river. There are only two points in the whole of this distance at which the interval between villages exceeds two miles, and these are at the points where grazing is bad (between Akurwa and Nun, and between Nielwag and Nyagwado). There are, in addition, eight groups of villages which lie 12 to 22 miles inland, away from the river.

Villages.A careful census of the river villages in 1903 gave a result of 1,010 villages, 8,693 domiciles, and 39,312 souls.

Shilluk villages are invariably built in a circle, the open space in the centre containing nothing but a meeting-house for men only, and almost invariably a temple erected to a grandfather or great-grandfather of the reigning chief. Each domicile consists usually of three or four tukls, enclosed by a dura stalk fence. The houses are kept scrupulously clean by the women. A family occupies two or three huts; one is reserved for the householder with his wife, another as a cook-house, where merissa is also made, and the third is occupied by the retainers and children of the house. Dr. Schweinfurth records the existence of Shilluk villages of 200 huts. The largest village is Atwadoi, consisting of 120 domiciles, in a district of the same name north of Kodok. The constitutional laziness of the tribe does not prevent their erecting very well-built tukls, and many men are most proficient in thatching the roofs. The crest or peak of the tukl being completed, the workman descends, and a sheep is at once killed by the future occupant and eaten by the workmen, whose reward is completed by a further donation of two sheep.

Domestic life.A wife can be had for a milch cow and four to five oxen, but this is a high price to pay at present. This purchase money cannot be collected by many all their lives. The Shilluks keep one, two, or three wives; a very few exceed this number.

The Shilluk woman is fruitful; there are some with eight or nine children; three, four and five children seem to be the average issue. In former times, it is said, the number of children was much larger.

Having cost the man much money and trouble the woman is well looked after and treated. Aided by the girls she has she does her house work. She helps her husband honestly in the field. She is permitted to remain for weeks on a visit to her relatives. If disobedient the man gives her a thrashing on the back with a rope end, but this occurs very seldom.

The education of the children consists practically of the phrase, “Do just the same as you see me doing.”

The native at home knows of no science or profession, hence schools and house tasks are out of the question. Girls learn from their mothers house, field and plaiting work. The boys are all cattle-tenders. At the age of 13 to 15 years they start the cultivation of a small field, and grow up to manhood by degrees, acquiring the means for a house and a wife.

As long as they are young, children are obedient, but they take no notice of what the parents say as soon as they are able to carry out any work by themselves.

Cultivation.The cultivation carried on during the rainy season requires hard work, which the Shilluk is not inclined to give except for short periods at a time. The soil is, along the river, very rich and black, about 12 feet thick, and is named “do do”; inland it is poorer. Owing to the richness, weeds grow apace, and the land has to be weeded two or three times to avoid the young dura being choked. When gathered, thieves, mice, and elephants reduce the stock considerably, and even when he has produced, by dint of hard work, a fair pile of dura the native does not use it economically, for he eats a great deal at a time, gives generously to his poorer friends, and sells it badly.

Maize, beans, melons, ful (ground nuts), sesame, and cotton are also grown, but in only sufficient quantities for local wants. The cotton cultivation could probably be extended.

Cattle breeding.The chief occupation of the Shilluk is, however, cattle breeding. To him it represents property and wives. The amount of cattle in the country is unfortunately smaller than formerly, for it has been reduced largely by the depredations of the Danagla, the Dervishes, and even their own kings. In comparison with the Dinkas they are poor indeed, for a Dinka will willingly part with 20 or more oxen and cows for a wife, whereas the Shilluk can only pay one cow and three or four oxen with difficulty.

The cattle census of 1903 amounted to only 12,173 head of cattle and 63,473 sheep and goats in the whole country, but they are increasing. The cattle are large and of a good stamp, and breed well, but the sheep and goats (the former of whom have hair, not wool) are small and stunted. Many cattle die every year of disease, in spite of every care being taken. One-sixth part of the sheep and goats, it is said, die during the rains, and these animals are especially exposed, not only to crocodiles, but to glanders and a sort of guinea worm which burrows between the hoofs.

During the dry season herds migrate to different parts of the country, the majority of those owned by the central district crossing over to the east bank of the Nile, to return when the new grass springs up. Similarly the cattle of the Sobat Shilluks descend to the lagoons south of the Sobat and graze with the herds of Obai and Fennikang. All the youths and boys over 10 years old accompany them, leaving their homes for several weeks.

The grass of Shilluk land generally gives little nourishment. Milk is therefore scanty. If one possesses even herds of cows the result in milk is small; curiously enough three or four out of every 10 are barren. A cow is never slaughtered; like man, it ought to expire by itself. Oxen are only killed on festal occasions, such as funeral dinners, etc. Mutton and goats’ meat are usually only eaten at festival dinners and ceremonies, or when the animal expires; or in cases of human sickness.

It is therefore very difficult to buy cattle from the Shilluks, for they cannot obtain wives for cash. It is simply impossible to buy a milch cow.

Old soldiers who have returned home to their native land, where they never get a piece of meat to eat, hanker after the flesh pots of Egypt, where they had meat nearly every day.

Crafts.The Shilluks have their own blacksmiths, potters, thatchers, pipemakers, surgeons, boat-builders, and basket and hair plaiters.

The blacksmiths are very skilful; they prepare spears, spades for building, small axes, fishing rods, big harpoons, picks, arm rings, bells and chains, etc. Their handicraft is a travelling one; they take their tools and go about from one place to another. The pay of a blacksmith is good. The employer has to support the man working for him, and makes him a present of sheep besides.

Pottery is the handicraft of the women. They make pots, pitchers, heads for smoking pipes in any form, and make them well. They are paid in food for their work.

The thatchers make not only watertight but also very neat roofs; a skilful European cannot make one better.

Snake stings and damage from blows or spear wounds are numerous. For the treatment of these evils the surgeons are called in. In their work they chop and cut most unmercifully, but although they inflict much pain they often save lives.

To make canoes out of crooked pieces of wood is the work of the ship-builders, and, with the poor tools they have, they make fairly satisfactory boats.

The plaiting of baskets and straw mats is done by both sexes. The species of grass here being not well adapted for plaiting, the production is not grand; however, the result meets the demand.

The nimbus-like and other head-dresses of hair worn by the Shilluks are masterly work.

Families carry on these respective trades for generations, and the father and mother impart their skill to their children and next relatives.

Building houses, carving and polishing clubs and spear sticks and other common work is understood by every Shilluk.

There are villages which are especially distinguished; some in fishing or hunting, some in cattle-breeding, others in cultivating dura, etc.

Occupation.During the rainy season, old and young, men and women, are busy; anyone who visits the country at this time of the year would believe them to be a hardworking people. At this time work is very fatiguing; no European could do it on such a meagre fare as that of the Shilluks. Diseases, fever, dysentery, colds, coughs, and pulmonary ailments are also rife at this season, both among the natives and their cattle.

During the dry season, however, there is not much to do; at most there are houses to be built and repaired, and this is done by young men. The old ones, viz., from 35 years onwards, do nothing but lie about or pay visits.

At this time of the year Shilluks begin to travel. Relatives pay mutual visits, and marriageable young men go to the Nuers and Dinkas with spears, wire, stuffs and dura, which they exchange for sheep and calves.

Industries. Fishing.Fishing is precariously carried out in shallow waters, either by spearing (horizontally, with bow-shaped fishing spears) or by pouncing on the fish with hemispherical wicker traps somewhat like lobster pots. Neither nets nor fishing lines appear to be used. Hippo hunting.Hippopotamus hunting is done by combined parties in canoes or dug-outs, harpooning the hippopotamus and despatching him with spears when he comes to the surface to breathe. These animals, it may be remarked in passing, are very savage, doing much harm on the land and gratuitously attacking canoes, etc., in the water.

Climate.From January to April the climate is not bad, though April is the warmest month of the year. June to September constitutes the rainy season,[130] and from October to December the country is flooded with water: but the marshes and khors all dry up by April. From November to April the climate, though certainly not perfect, has little effect on a healthy constitution, provided good food, water, clothing, and a house are available. October is perhaps the worst month of the year.

SHILLUK WARRIORS.

Relations with the Dinkas.The Shilluks do not, as a rule, agree well with the Dinkas, and there are big contrasts between the two races. The Dinka possesses many cattle and prepares his food with milk, whilst the Shilluk has only a few cattle and sprinkles his food with the dust obtained from drying and grinding dura stalks; for this he is despised by the Dinka.

Taken on the whole, the Dinkas are much more intelligent than the Shilluks. When Shilluk boys are unable to find a reply to the pointed remarks of a Dinka boy, they raise their sticks threateningly and say “The Dinka boy has a sharp tongue and must be flogged till he is quiet,” which generally stops the rather vulgar expressions used by Dinka boys.

The Dinkas are said to have formerly lived on the right bank of the lower Sobat, but were driven inland by the Shilluks.

Incited by a few Arabs, the Shilluks in former times used to raid the Dinkas and carry away their women and cattle. They however live peaceably now, thanks to the fear they have of the new Government. The two races now and then pay mutual visits, and also intermarry occasionally; a certain amount of trade is carried on between them.

Arab and other immigrants.There are a few Selim Baggara in the neighbourhood of Kaka, but these people appear to visit the district only after the harvest to purchase dura from the Shilluks, which they are too indolent to cultivate themselves.

The Kenana Arabs, under Sheikh Faki Hamed, occupy, though they are not allowed to monopolise, the wells at Atara. They are disliked by the Shilluks on account of their dirty habits.

Another branch of the Kenana Arabs occupy a village close to Fadiang. This branch of the tribe dwells in 60 domiciles. Fama (Sheikh Yogagieb Wad Awell), a sub-district of Nyagir, contains a mixed population of Nubawis and Shilluks; the former cultivate dura largely. They were originally driven into this district by the Khalifa’s people when the latter were at Fungor, and under the Sheikh Nail they inhabit five villages, consisting of 104 domiciles, and are subject to the Shilluk Sheikh Yogagieb Wad Awel. In Fama there is also a Gowama Arab village of 40 dwellings, under Sheikh Abu El Gasim, who collected these people at Taiara on the approach of the Khalifa, and permanently settled them in his present village. The list of immigrants to Fama district is completed by the mention of the Hawazma Arabs, under Sheikh Abu El Wahab Walad Handigai. From their own account they are fearless hunters of the elephant.

A sprinkling of Kenana Arabs is to be found temporarily living in villages as far south as Dusim, and a family or two of Felata hail from Jebel Eliri, but these are not permanent residents.

Administration.Since time immemorial the Shilluk nation has been governed by a Mek or King, and the list of reigning monarchs since the beginning is known to every well-educated Shilluk (vide [p. 199]). For administrative purposes the country has been divided for a long time into two provinces, that of Gerr (sub-divided into Kaka, or Moama, and Kodok). which extends to Bol (inclusive), and that of Loak, which extends from Fadiet (south of Bol) to Tonga and Lake No. Each of the three districts is under a head sheikh, residing in Oriang, Debalo, and Nyabanjo respectively, and the whole is subject to a mek or king, elected in a ceremonious manner by all the headmen of the sub-districts.

Up till the last representative, Kur Wad Nedok, the meks had supreme power, which appears to have been wielded in a somewhat arbitrary manner. Wad Nedok was deposed in the spring of 1903 for numerous malpractices, and his successor, Fadiet Wad Kwad Keir, is now limited in power, and is subservient in most things to the Governor of the Upper Nile Province, a British officer resident in the town of Kodok. (Vide Chap. I, [p. 2]).

For administration the country is still further divided into two provinces, the northern and southern, containing 29 districts altogether; the principal ones are:—

Northern Province.
Name of District.Name of Head Sheikh.
AshargoKudyit Wad Edor.
GoloDeng Wad Aiwol.
Southern Province.
Name of District.Name of Head Sheikh.
AwarajokLual Wad Agok.
DusimAmailek Wad Amosh.
FennikangAkurwat.
TongaYang Jok.

Roads.A good track exists on either bank from Delal, south of Kaka, to Fennikang, south of Taufikia. South of this again many villages can be reached only by crossing deep khors which are filled with water all the year round. The Lolle river, nearly 200 yards wide throughout, flows past the villages of the districts Tonga and Fennikang. South of the Sobat mouth, a branch of the White Nile flows close to the villages of Dusim, Tuara, Oashi, Awarajok, and Fannidwai, and emerges into the main stream at a village named Warajok, where the telegraph cable crosses the river. This stream is about 13 feet deep throughout. It is known to old native navigators as the Bahr El Harami; sailing boats with contraband used to take this course in preference to passing the Government station of Taufikia.

Game.There is little game in the thickly inhabited Shilluk country itself. A little way inland, however, elephant, lion, antelope, etc., are plentiful, and more especially is this the case near the river towards Lake No. The neighbourhood of Kaka and north of it is also a grand game country.

APPENDIX.

History and Religion of the Shilluks.

In the beginning was Jo-uk, the Great Creator, and he created a great white cow, who came up out of the Nile and was called Deung Adok. The white cow gave birth to a man-child whom she nursed and named Kola (Kollo); Kola begat Umak Ra or Omaro, who begat Makwa or Wad Maul, who begat Ukwa. These people lived in a far off country, nobody knows where. (Bahr El Ghazal (?), Jur tribe (?) according to linguistic links).

Ukwa was one day sitting near the river when he saw two lovely maidens with long hair rise out of the river and play about in the shallows. He saw them many times after that, but they would have nothing to do with him and merely laughed at him. It should be mentioned that their lower extremities were like those of a crocodile.

One day Ukwa found them sitting on the banks, so he came up behind and seized them. Their screams brought their father, Ud Diljil, out of the river, to see what was the matter. Ud Diljil, whose right side was green in colour and in form like a crocodile, whilst his left side was that of a man, protested mildly, but allowed Ukwa to take away his daughters and wed them, merely giving vent to a series of incorrect prophecies regarding them.

Nik-kieya, the elder sister, gave birth to two sons and three daughters, and Ung-wad, the younger, to one son only, named Ju, or Bworo. The eldest son of Nik-kieya was named Nyakang (Nik-kang or Nyakam) and inherited the pleasing crocodilian attributes of his mother and grandfather. Meanwhile Ukwa married a third wife, whose eldest child, a son, was named Duwat.

On Ukwa’s death there was a furious quarrel between Nyakang and Duwat as to who should succeed Ukwa. It ended by Nyakang, with his sisters Ad Dui, Ari Umker, and Bun Yung, his brother Umoi and his half-brother Ju, acquiring wings and flying away to the south of the Sobat. Here they found the Shilluk country inhabited by wicked Arabs, so they drove them out and founded a most successful kingdom. According to their genealogy this would have been about 1200 A.D., or later.

Nyakang had a creative power which he used greatly to the advantage of the kingdom. In order to people the vast territory more quickly, he proceeded to create a people from the animal life he found in the forests and rivers. From crocodiles and hippopotami, and from wild beasts and cattle, he created men and women. When these had brought forth many children, the parent stock was removed by death, so that the children might not know of their origin.

The new creation and their offspring form the Shulla race or common people, in distinction from the direct descendants of Nyakang’s family. The latter continue to bear authority and fill the priestly function to this day. All outside the royal and priestly line are accounted Shullas.

Nik-kieya still exists. She never died and never will. The western part of the Sobat and part of the White Nile near there is her favourite abode. She often appears, usually in the form of a crocodile, but at times in different forms and always in the river or on its banks. No sacrifices are ever offered to her. When she wishes, she takes what is required from among men and beasts; and when it is so, the people must not complain; indeed, it is an honour when Nik-kieya is pleased to take her sacrifice of man or beast from a family.

Nik-kieya becomes judge also in certain difficult cases, it is said, particularly in cases of illegitimate children. When the man accused denies fatherhood, the case is turned over to Nik-kieya. The disputants are taken to the river bank, and along with them a goat. They are then put into the river, and the one that Nik-kieya carries off is judged guilty, and he or she is left in the hands of Nik-kieya, to be punished. The beauty of this method is that a consciousness of guilt, added to a belief in and fear of Nik-kieya often causes confession, and thus the case is ended. It is not quite clear why the goat is taken to the river. It may be to give Nik-kieya a chance for a sacrifice without taking a human being, or it may be because a goat tied close to the river will attract crocodile from quite a distance. To Nik-kieya are ascribed many wonderful miracles, and it is feared also that in actual practice she becomes a cloak for sin.

Around this mythical being and her demi-god son are wrapped many superstitions, not the least of which is that sacrifices to and the worship of, the great deity Jo-uk, are carried out by the intermediary of Nyakang, the demi-god.

EX-MEK KUR WAD NEDOK—DEPOSED 1903.

SHILLUKS ON A VISIT.

Jo-uk is recognised as the father and source of all life, of evil as well as good. He is treated rather as a deity to be feared and propitiated, but he enters into the small relations of life all the same, and most incidents, such as death, sickness, going on a journey, etc., are referred to his action. The Shilluks believe that Jo-uk is everywhere, and that man when he dies goes to Jo-uk; but whether anything happens to him in consequence seems doubtful.

To Jo-uk sacrifices are made at least once a year, at the beginning of the rainy season, and much of good and evil are attributed to him. This sacrifice consists in the slaying of an animal by the priest of each village for the people of his village, assembled at the house of the “Nyakang.” The animal is slain with a holy spear, and the flesh divided among the people, cooked and eaten. Then follows a dance, with much drinking of merissa to make their hearts merry. For this sacrifice and dance, which is apparently the sum of their worship, there are especial houses. But in each village there is a small temple, similar in structure to the larger one. In this, or more correctly, around this, the elders of the people assemble for the transaction of all serious business, and call their gods to witness in all covenants. No village is without this small temple, and it is the only building on which any ornamentation is attempted. It is called the house of Nyakang, not the house of Jo-uk.

In cases of illness sacrifices are made to Nyakang. The Shilluks bury their dead inside the confines of their villages close to the house where the deceased had lived, killing a bullock at the wake, the horns of which are set up to mark the place of interment.

History.After Nyakang there have been, including the present one, 26 kings. The following is the list[131]:—

1.Nyakang.15.Nyadok.
2.Dag (Dok).16.Akwot.
3.Odage.17.Ababdo.
4.Kudit.18.Awin.
5.Dokodo (Dakkode).19.Akoj.
6.Boj (Boiwj).20.Nedok (Nyadok).
7.Tugo (Tuka).21.Kwad Keir (Kwat Ki).
8.Nya Dwai (Nya dwi).22.Ajang (Ajung).
9.Nya Ababdo.23.Gwin Kun (Kwoe Kon).
10.Muko (Mu Kao).24.Yor Adodit (Yur).
11.Nya To (Nya Ta).25.Akol.
12.Nyakong (Nik Kang).26.Kur Wad Nedok.
13.Okun (Ukon).27.Fadiet Wad Kwad Keir.
14.Nya Gwatse (Nkwaji).

Kur Wad Nedok was appointed king by the Dervishes as a reward, it is said, for betraying Mek Yor Adodit to them. During Kur’s absence in Omdurman, Akol was appointed mek by the Shilluks. Ak Kwo Kwan, son of Akol, is a pretender to the throne, but has few adherents.

It is related that all kings from Dag to Nyadok were killed by the Shilluks. Kwad Keir, Ajang, and Gwin Kun fell by the hand of the “Turks.” Yor fell in fight with the Dervishes. Kur abdicated. Akol is dead; he is said to have been shot by the Dervishes. The descendants of the kings are called “Gwared,” in contrast with the ordinary Shilluks, who are called “Ororo.” The royal descendants form the upper class, while the Oroko are at the beck and call of the kings.

The idea of kingship is implanted wherever the Gwared exist, and the latter are numerous. It is, therefore, not easy to exterminate the idea of royalty.

Royalty in this country is royalty, both by selection and inheritance at the same time. It is so by selection because the leading men of the country select the king from a variety of claimants, and by right of inheritance, inasmuch as only sons of kings are entitled to ascend the throne.

The right of accession to the throne is acknowledged as belonging primarily to the sons of the late king.

SHILLUK VILLAGE SCENE.

[116]In 1904 the amount of gum exported from Kordofan is expected to be 219,300 kantars. One kantar = 100 lbs.

[117]See table of Baggara Genealogies on [p. 334.]

[118]Gabra, north-west of Omdurman, must not be confused with Gabra El Sheikh, near Kagmar.

[119]The rainfall at El Obeid from March to October, 1904, amounted to 12·16 inches; the maximum temperatures registered in 1904 were 108° in April and 107° in May, the lowest being 45° in February.

[120]Some of these names are not now recognisable.

[121]Chiefly from “Fire and Sword in the Sudan.”

[122]It was rumoured at Omdurman (May, 1904) that Abesher, the capital of Wadai, was occupied by the French on the 20th December, 1903. This rumour, however, appears to be unfounded.

[123]For detail of frontier, vide App. G, [p. 337.]

[124]Not to be confused with Bir El Melha on the Arbain road west of Debba.

[125]Taken from “Fire and Sword in the Sudan.”

[126]For description of the Baggara Arabs, vide [p. 179,] also their Genealogical Table on [p. 334.]

[127]The dukhn is ready for harvesting 90 days after sowing.

[128]Mother was not real wife of Sultan.

[129]Compiled chiefly from Reports from Major Matthews, the Rev. Father Banholzer (R.C. Mission, Lul), and the Rev. J. K. Giffen (American Protestant Mission, Sobat). The Editor is under much obligation to Father Banholzer for his kindness in writing him a special description, and to Rev. J. K. Giffen for allowing him to make use of his MS. for part of the Appendix.

[130]Total rainfall at Kodok, January-October, 1904, was 19·4 inches.

[131]From Father Banholzer’s memo. The Rev. J. K. Giffen gives an almost identical list, and includes an extra king.

CHAPTER IX.

NORTH-WESTERN SUDAN.

COUNTRY WEST OF THE NILE, SOUTH OF LAT. 22° AND NORTH OF KORDOFAN.

This district readily lends itself to division for description into three sections, viz.:—

1.—Desert west of the Nile, north and west of Wadi El Gab, including Arbain road (for detailed report of which vide [ Appendix,] Part III, Vol. II.).

2.—Wadi El Gab.

3.—Bayuda Desert.

Section 1.—Desert West of Nile, North and West of Wadi El Gab.

The country west of the Nile from Halfa to Kerma merits little description. Desert of the most arid description comes down close to the banks of the river, west of which all is uninhabited and waterless, with the exception of the few oases, for as far as is known upwards of 300 to 400 miles. The desert itself varies from hard, often stony sand or gravel-covered plains, to undulating moving sand dunes and rocky hills of lime, granite, or basalt. Remains of petrified forests are occasionally met. The amount of mineral wealth discovered in this inhospitable region is not yet definitely known.

Here and there a very limited amount of vegetation is met, at some spot where the water of one of the rare rainstorms that pass over this district has chanced to collect, but more often one may travel for miles and miles over country devoid of any vestige of animal or vegetable life.

The whole of this desert region, including the wells and oases, is uninhabited. It is, however, visited occasionally by roving bands of Hawawir and Kababish in search of natron or wild dates, as also by raiding parties of the Bedaiat, a tribe living to the north of Darfur, who only recently drove off camels grazing within 80 miles of Dongola.

The following is an extract from a report by Captain H. Hodgson, February, 1903, descriptive of the country west of the Wadi El Gab.

“Beyond the limits of the Wadi El Gab, on the western side, there seems to be a belt of country in which water is easily found, but is undrinkable. Of the two water pans I have tried, namely Murrat and Butta, the one is very bitter and the other has a distinct smell of sulphuretted hydrogen—Arabs use these waters medicinally as purgatives.

Jebel Abiad.“I reached and ascended the plateau of Jebel Abiad at what I reckon, roughly, to be 100 miles west from the river at Khandak. In 1901 I found the northern extremity of this range to be 98 miles from the river at Dongola. It is, on the eastern side, a high steep bluff, exposing the white rock (gypsum) from which it gets its name. It extends continuously from where I stood, both north and south, as far as the horizon.

“The surface of the plateau is shingle and sand; it slopes gently down on the western side.

Wadi Natrun.“I reached the Natrun valley on the 31st January. It is not literally a valley, but an undulating plain stretching south and south-west as far as the horizon. From south-east to north-east it is bounded by a high range of steep hills of black rock; from north-east to north-west by high broken rocky ground with isolated conical hills; to the west, by low gravel hills. On the distant horizon, north-west, is a high range of hills. Close under the bluff on the eastern side of the plain are two thickets of selem bushes, growing luxuriantly and suffering in places from over supply of water. This is very plentiful and near the surface, the sand being brown and damp, but it is not the best water in the valley. The southern of these two thickets is called Melani. An isolated peak in the northern centre of the plain, called Jebel Kashaf, lies at a bearing of 315° mag. from Melani. The best water, called Bir Sultan, lies 3 miles from Melani at a bearing of 278° mag. and due south of Jebel Kashaf. On the ground called Bir Sultan (which includes an area of about ¼ square mile, covered with tussocks of Halfa grass, etc.), I found three or four pans of good water, the soil below the sand being white clay. There is a small clump of date seedlings near the biggest spring.

There is plenty of evidence of natron in the valley, but the place, where most of the digging is done and where the thickest seam of natron is reported to be, is 2,400 yards from Jebel Kashaf and to the west of it, at a bearing of 310° (mag.). The diggings are in what looks like a dry salt pan left by the sea, except that the sand is very red. The method of collecting it is as follows: About 2 to 4 inches depth of sand is cleared away until the natron, a substance resembling a yellowish rock salt, is reached; the top part is usually bad, being half sand. Then there is a seam ½ to 2 inches thick, of good natron, and again below a little bad natron, and then below all sand again. Sometimes all the natron is spoilt by being mixed with sand. Near the natron diggings is a large thicket of selem bushes, and besides this and at Melani, there is a clump of date trees and selem north-east of Jebel Kashaf and another thicket of “littel” scrub, besides plenty of halfa, tamam, taklis, and halaf grass etc. A party of 400 or 500 camels could live some months in the valley on the grazing only. Good shelter can be obtained from the wind, and there are plenty of garids etc. to make tukls. Gazelle plentiful.

Arbain road.“The Arbain road lies along very high land, and anyone traversing the road during the winter months should, if possible, march with the wind, i.e., from north to south. The cold was intense, and the shelter from north wind nil, as all hills are steep on the north side and slope gradually away to the south.

“At Sultan, Lagia, and Selima this is reversed, and the hills are steep on the south side. This change in formation accounts probably for the presence of water.”

Game.This desert region is the haunt of the Addax, the rarest of Sudan antelopes. Specimens have been killed near Tundubi.

Wells and Oases.

Sheb-Nakhla district.[132]Nakhla.—Situated about 80 miles north-west of Halfa. Named after the single date palm overhanging the wells. Surrounding the hill on which this date palm stands is a narrow valley about 80 yards wide. Throughout this depression water can be obtained at a depth of 3½ to 5 feet. The water is of better quality than that of any of the neighbouring wells and is abundant. There is practically no grazing or fuel here; the latter can be obtained, however, at a distance of 2 to 3 miles.

Hassab El Gabu.—About 10 miles west (?) of Nakhla. This well is situated on the top of a circular sandhill 30 yards in diameter. Good water is found at a depth of 2 feet, as it may be almost anywhere between Nakhla and Sheb. Good grass for camels.

Bir Suleimat.—11 miles (?) from Nakhla. Good grazing. Water bitter, but plentiful.

Bir Sederi.—28 miles from Nakhla. Water bitter. Little grazing. Dom palm covered sandhills 100 yards from well.

El Haad.—33 miles from Nakhla (direction uncertain). No well, but good grazing on “Haad” grass.

Sheb.—40 miles W.S.W. of Nakhla. Is the southernmost water in the Sheb district. Well 4 feet deep and same in diameter (October, 1902). Water plentiful, but brackish and aperient. Good grazing and plenty of firewood. This is a watering place on the Arbain road.

Terfaui (I).—About 6 miles north of Sheb, situate in a small oasis in a broad wadi said to lead from the oasis of Selima to the Nile by way of Kurkur. This valley is bounded on the west by precipitous sandstone cliffs. There is a group of trees here 250 by 300 yards. Good grazing for camels. The water is drinkable. Immediately to the west of Terfaui is a pass over which the usual road to the northern oases of Beris, etc., passes. This is usually a watering place on the Arbain road.

Abu Hussein.—About 35 miles north-west of Sheb. Consists of a clump of trees and bush-covered mounds about 30 feet high. There are three more places exactly similar to Abu Hussein, two being to the eastward and one to the west. They are all about 5 miles apart and lie in a general line from east to west. Water may be found at a depth of 1½ feet at any of them, and here and there between them. Good water and plentiful. Grazing also good.

Terfaui (II).—16 miles north-west of Abu Hussein or about 50 miles north-west of Sheb. It consists of small mounds of sand covered with long green grass. Water plentiful at depth of 4 to 5 feet, grazing good, consisting of tufts of long grass, over an area of about 1 mile by ¾ mile. There used to be three dom palms here, but these were burnt down by Captain Ross in 1894 on account of the snakes which infested them.

Kassaba.—The northernmost well in the Sheb district is at Naseib, 15 miles north of Kassaba. At Kassaba the water is not good, but many old wells point to its having been much used in former days. Situated in an open plain about 26 miles N.N.W. of Sheb. A watering place on the Arbain road.

Selima Oasis.—Selima lies on the Arbain road about 78 miles south of Sheb and 55 miles west of the river at Sagiet El Abd. Halfa is about 120 miles to the north-east. It is perhaps the most important oasis in the western desert of the Sudan, as not only must caravans using the Arbain route almost necessarily stop here for water, but its dates and salt are probably of considerable value from a commercial point of view.

Mr. James Currie, who visited this oasis in October, 1901, thus describes it:—

“A most beautiful place. It would be most difficult to find without a guide, as it is really only a large hole in the desert. The descent to it is very steep indeed. There are three wells, a good many date trees, and good grass. One sees the remains of an old Christian convent, moderately well preserved, but the point of interest attaching to it is that it has apparently been built out of the ruins of something much older, to judge from the inscribed stones one notices. There are abundant salt deposits near, and a huge petrified forest, which extends further than I had time or inclination to go.”

DONGOLAWI MERCHANT.

Captain H. Hodgson (February, 1903) writes with reference to this oasis:—

“Besides the old salt workings, which are capable of considerable development, there are some 2,000 fruit-bearing date trees. My estimate may not be very near, but I spent two hours with two other men counting in order to get this idea, and in this time counted 685 female trees, and covered only about one third of the ground. The trees are uncleaned with very thick undergrowth, and are being ruthlessly hacked in order to enable the Arabs (Hassanab from Kosha) to get at the fruit. Dates of the following species were collected: Kulma, Agwa, Barakawi, and Gawa. The first and second are both of considerable commercial value: the Agwa trees seem the most numerous.”

Tundubi.—For description of this oasis vide Route Report [ Dongola to Bir Sultan,] Vol. 2. The addax is found near here.

Lagia.—Vide Route Report [ Dongola to Lagia,] Vol. 2.

Bir Sultan.—Vide Route Report [ Dongola to Bir Sultan,] Vol. 2.

Tura.—An oasis said to lie about 150 miles south-west of Lagia, which is approximately 160 miles north-west by west from Dongola. Here there is said to be a sulphurous lake about ½ mile long, known as Tura El Bedai. Water, if obtained from holes dug on the margin of the lake, is said to be tolerably sweet and drinkable. There are many wild date trees here, for the fruit of which the Kababish and Bedaiat have been long accustomed to fight.

Section 2.—Wadi el Gab (Kab).

The Northern Branch of the Wadi El Gab.

(By Major A. E. Turner, R.A., December, 1884.)

The northern branch of the Wadi El Gab extends from Hannek to the village of Sawāni, 20 miles due west of El Ordi, or Kasr Dongola.

It is a flat tract mostly sandy, but there are many stony plains and occasional rocky hills, as well as plains where salt and lime crop to the surface. The natives collect the salt, and carry it to the villages on the Nile, where they barter it for grain, etc. There are many wells, and round these wells the straw-built huts are congregated, forming villages; there are numerous, and some very fine, palms, both dom and date, near the wells, and these in some places mark the site of deserted villages, where the wells have dried up.

The people at the present time (1884) have very few camels,[133] except milch and young. They have sold a great many, and a good many are employed by contract between Dongola and Sarras on the west bank.

The villages are all built near the wells, and in deep reddish sand.

There is no ground for cultivation whatever, and hardly any grass (halfa or other); the trees are palms, acacias (the latter very fine and old).

Leaving Hafir and the Nile, the road leads S.S.W., crossing a plain covered with stones and shingle, with scanty mimosa shrubs; at 9 miles a low ridge is mounted, and the Wadi El Gab is visible with the village of Lagia.Lagia and its palms 5 miles distant. At 13½ miles, the ruins of three old buildings are met, one on the west, two on the south side of the road; one of the latter is a ruined convent or monastery, and its cells are visible. Many of the palms are burnt, having been destroyed by their owners who went to join the Mahdia. 4 miles S.S.W. is the village of Abu Naama.Abu Naama. Seven miles south-west the village of El Mungur.El Mungur, which has two good wells.

Two miles south-west of El Mungur is the well and village of Abu Baguga.Abu Baguga, and 1 mile south-west of it that of Abu Halfa.Abu Halfa.

After going 2 miles S.S.W., the road goes W.S.W., and a ¾ mile further lies, on the east of the road, the village of Sarari, Dukur, deserted.Sarari, now deserted, and that of Dukur on the west, also deserted. At 3 miles further, the deserted village of Ain El Bir, deserted.Ain El Bir, a mile from the road on our left (east), and just beyond it a solitary rocky hill called Mount El Kwais.El Kwais.

At 9 miles the road mounts a ridge, and then descends into a sort of circular basin about 1 mile in diameter, surrounded by low hills. On leaving this at 10 miles, I saw the village of Goz El Fugar.Goz El Fugar 1 mile to the left (east), and ¾ mile further I arrived at the village of Bayuda.Bayuda, on a sandy hill, with numerous palms; a considerable village.

After leaving Bayuda, the road goes south by east; at 1 mile on the right (west) lies the village of El Gumra.El Gumra, and 2 miles further, also on the west side, that of Zalia.Zalia; at 7½ miles a large expanse, covered with palms and acacias, with two good wells, is reached, called El Kurmotai.El Kurmotai. From this the road goes south-east for 1½ miles to the village of Sawāni, the sheikh’s own village and chief village of the Wadi Gab. Some of the huts are built of mud, but mostly of straw.

Sawāni.Sawāni is a very picturesque village with a large open space on the south side, bounded on three sides by trees, and on the fourth side lies the village.

The road to Dongola is due east; after 2 miles a low range of hills is crossed, at the east foot of which lies the small village of Um Hellal (1).Um Hellal, at ½ mile further, a flat plain with much lime; at 4½ miles (2 miles further), another village, called also Um Hellal (2).Um Hellal, on the north side, and 1 mile from the road is passed; a mile further, rocky ground is reached, which gradually rises, and 1 mile further the Wadi Gab ceases, and the road goes over bare, rocky, and broken ground to Dongola. The latter is 26 miles from Sawāni.

Wells.The wells are very good, the water is, as a rule, near the surface, and the wells are lined with stone; the depth of water did not appear to be more than a few feet.

The sheikh told me that there is no settlement of his branch of the Kababish tribe south of Khandak, and that all is desert between that end of his valley (wadi) near Khandak to within a day’s march of Debba.

Names of places.Distance in miles.Description.
Intermediate.
HafirOn the Nile.
Lagia14The road is in a S.S.W. direction, and isover a plain mostly covered with shingle and a few mimosa shrubs.At 9 miles, a ridge is mounted, whence the Wadi El Gab is visible.At 12 miles, the valley is reached; and at 14, the village ofLagia.
El Mungur7The road is S.E. for 7 miles to ElMungur.
Bayuda10¾The road goes S.S.W. for 2 miles; therest of the way W.S.W.
Sawāni9The road goes 7½ miles S. by E., thenS.E.
Dongola26The road due E into Dongola.
Total66¾

Wadi El Gab.

(By Col. Colvile, Grenadier Guards, October, 1884.)

The Wadi El Gab is a sandy khor about 63 miles in length, running through the trough of a broader and rocky valley. Its general direction is north-west and south-west. It is inhabited by the Omatto section of the Kababish tribe, of which Sheikh Fadl Mula Wad Rekha is the chief. Its most southerly well is Marghum, 30 miles to the west of Khandak, and its most northerly is said to be 20 miles west of Hafir. Its only productions are wood and dates, both of which are plentiful. Its inhabitants do not appear to own any great number of camels; those to be seen at the various settlements being mostly milch nagas and their foals. Goats, which feed on the mimosa, are plentiful.

On leaving the Nile at Bakri the road at first crosses a flat sandy desert, destitute of vegetation; but after 7 miles a district is reached, thickly studded with low mimosa bushes. In the district are several Arab encampments, some of them as much as 4 hours’ journey from the nearest water. Fifteen miles from Bakri the country becomes more undulating, and the surface covered with firm gravel; and 10 miles further on, a range of hills running north and south is reached. Passing through a break in this range, the road follows for 3 miles a valley running nearly at right angles to the main one, and then strikes the track running down the Gab to the Abu Gussi-Kordofan road. Passing down a sandy valley, dotted with sand dunes, and sparsely studded with low mimosa scrub, the most southerly well, Bir Marghum, is reached, 7 miles north of the point where the valley first entered. The well is stone-lined, and the water is 20 feet below the surface and 4 feet deep. It is said that the well never runs dry; the water is good. For the next 6 miles the country continues to be scantily covered with low mimosa scrub; Bir El Ain is then reached, and the valley becomes more thickly and heavily wooded, and continues to be studded with fine acacia timber to El Sawani. Between El Ain and El Sawani are the following six wells:—

Abu Haweid.El Hudden.
El Bab.Bayuda.
El Harma.El Huffera.

They are all lined with stone, and about 4 feet of good water is found in each of them at from 3 to 4 feet below the surface. Nine miles beyond El Huffera, El Sawani, the chief settlement of this section of the Kababish, is reached. It contains many native huts and four mud dwellings. This well, like all the others (with the exception of El Marghum) is marked by a clump of palms.

The road to El Ordi, after skirting the valley for a few miles in a north-east direction, turns to the east and crosses 10 miles of broken rocky ground and low ridges. A tract of undulating ground is then reached, which extends to El Ordi. With the exception of small patches of acacia in some of the valleys, this district is wholly devoid of vegetation; it is uninhabited.

Wadi El Gab.

(By Colonel A. Hunter, C.B., D.S.O., November, 1896.)

The Gab does not realise expectation, nor fulfil the descriptions given of it. The hand and sand of destruction is everywhere visible. The wind, blowing prevalently north or north-west, rolls the sand along, the sand catches in the tamarisk bushes, in the roots and undergrowth of the palms, date and dom, till it piles over the bushes, and reaches towards the top of the palms or smothers them. The whole place has the appearance of a forest after a heavy storm: trees lying prone in all directions, but no effort is made at replanting or replacing. A few seedlings struggle into existence now and then. The sand moves on, leaving the palms crippled or dead. I have heard so much of the vegetation and grazing, and date trees, verdure, luxuriance, etc., of the Wadi El Gab—it never existed. Ruthless, and judging by events, not altogether unavoidable, neglect, has diminished the little there ever was. We know it carried a large head of camels, goats, and sheep, at least so it was supposed; but, barring goats and a few donkeys, the herds of the Kababish had to roam “for forty days in the wilderness” towards Darfur and Kordofan, and northwards to abreast Mahass and Sukkot, for their food. Water is found at from 12 to 20 feet below the surface; the Gab averages about 5 miles in breadth, patches of grass and thorn bush crop up at intervals, separated by rolling hills of rock and sand. Round the wells there are the miserable straw huts and mud houses of the tribesmen, with here and there groves of palms; no game to speak of. Gazelle exist in small numbers, and are very afraid of mankind. This is accounted for by the fact that the Arabs trap them, and hunt them with dogs, a breed of yellow greyhound. The trap is a round hoop, with thin strips of wood tied to the circumference, and the points of the strips meet at the centre, laid so that the strips make a slight cone, like the top of a basket. The gazelle browse on the thorn bushes; close to the bush the Arab puts the trap in a little hollow in the sand, cone downwards, places on the rim of the trap a running noose, to the other end of which is fastened a billet of wood. The whole is covered over with sand. The gazelle comes to feed off the sprouts of the bush; puts his foot into the noose; his foot slides through the apex of the spines of split wood; he kicks to free his foot, and so the noose tightens on his leg, and there he is, with a rope tied to his leg; he cannot kick off the rope, for the billet of wood drags the knot tight, and the trap prevents it slipping down, and the Arab then appears with his dogs, and chases the animal down.

Twelve miles west of Shemsi is Wadi El Butta, very much like the Gab in appearance. Addax and wild sheep are said occasionally to come here in summer. Water is near the surface, and is got by the animals by scraping. A curious feature is the occurrence over the whole face of the desert of patches of succulent plants and grasses which serve as food for camels and for goats.

Sawani to Bayuda, 9 miles. El Bab to Haweiya, 9½ miles.

At Haweiya, or Haweid, a number of wells, also at El Bab. They are part and parcel of one place.

Rode to El Marghum, the post occupied by the old Sheb post. I asked about these wells in the Gab, and got always the same answer. Those existing were dug by their ancestors, so long ago no one remembers, and ever since no one has been to the trouble to dig or explore for anything fresh. Well here deep, 18 or 20 feet, and stone faced.

The Wadi El Gab.

(Sir W. Garstin G.C.M.G., April, 1897.)

No account of the Dongola province would be complete without some mention of this great depression which extends through the Western Desert from Hafir to Debba, a distance of some 125 miles. It is chiefly inhabited by the Kababish tribe of Arabs, who use it for grazing their flocks; and it contains numerous wells.

It has been thought that this depression might possibly be utilised as a storage reservoir or as a means for escaping the surplus water in an excessive flood. It is very doubtful whether it could thus be made use of. The wadi appears really to come to an end a few miles north of Hafir, and the nearest point to the river to be at a distance of some 10 miles.

The lowest portions of the Wadi El Gab must be considerably lower than the level of the river in flood, but by how much it is impossible, without levels, to say.

On leaving the Nile, in the direction of this valley, the country rises rapidly for some 4 miles. It then begins to fall away from the river, in a succession of terraces, until a total of about 10 miles have been traversed. The real edge of the wadi then commences. Its width at the northern end appears to be about 5 miles. The western edge is filled up with drift sand, which is gradually covering the palm trees. A well, measured at the Oasis of Lagia, showed the water level to be some 9 feet below the ground surface. The water was sweet and of good quality.

It would be useful to have the whole of this depression carefully levelled and surveyed. The area covered by it is very large, and supposing it were possible to fill it with water, the loss from evaporation would certainly be very great.

Section 3.—“Bayuda Desert.”

General.The tract of country north of Kordofan, i.e., north of N. lat. 16° (approximately), bounded on the north and east by the Nile and on the west by the Wadi Melh has been called the Bayuda Desert, though this name is not applied to it by the Arabs.

Inhabitants.It is inhabited by nomad Arabs, viz., on the east by the Kababish, chiefly the Omatto section under Sheikh Fadl Mula Wad Rekha; in the centre by the Hawawir, of which the Sauarab is the most important sub-tribe, under Sheikh Hassan Khalifa; and on the east by the Hassania, whose headquarters are at Jebel Gilif and Jakdul. In the extreme north, in the angle formed by the bend of the Nile, are the Monasir, who are, however, a sedentary tribe. These above-mentioned nomads wander a great deal according to the grazing, on the existence or absence of which, in many cases, depends the fact of wells being open or not.

BAYUDA DESERT ARABS.

Cultivation.The Arabs cultivate their dura in certain well-known wadis, mostly in the more southern districts, according to the rainfall, which is, as a rule, not heavy, and very local, and varies considerably from year to year.

Wadi Melh.The W. El Melh is a broad shallow depression, frequently a mile or more in width, having its origin near Um Badr. It is inhabited here and there by the Kababish. It reaches the Nile at Debba, though it has long since ceased, if ever, to discharge water into that river. For further description of this wadi, vide Route Report [Dongola to El Fasher,] Part III. This route is now seldom, if ever, used. Vide also report on El Ein, [p. 210.]

Wadi Mogaddam.The next wadi of importance in this district is the Wadi Mogaddam which has its origin near Bagbag, about 60 miles south-west of Omdurman, and joins the Nile near Korti after a course of about 200 miles in length. For description of this wadi and the wells, etc., in it, vide Route Report [ Gabra to Korti,] Part III.

Gabra.The wells of Gabra in the Wadi Mogaddam, nearly 60 miles north-west of Omdurman, are an important Arab centre, there being many wells and a good deal of cultivation in the neighbourhood. The Arabs are principally Kababish, but Geriat and Hassania also come here. Gabra is under the Governor of Khartoum, but the boundaries of Dongola, Berber, and Kordofan Provinces are all within a few miles of it.

Communications.Communications throughout this district are bad owing to scarcity of water. The principal trade routes are:—

(1) Debba-Fasher viâ the Wadi Melh (little used).

(2) Debba-El Obeid viâ Amri, Hobagi, and Haraza (used a little during rainy season).

(3) Debba-El Obeid viâ Amri, Elai, and Habisa (longer than (2) but more water).

(4) Debba to Omdurman[134] viâ Inderab, Gumr and Gabra (a good deal used).

(5) Debba to Omdurman viâ Elai and Gabra (little used).

(6) Ambugol and Merowe to Shendi (Metemma) (little used).

(7) Merowe to Berber viâ Sani (a good deal used).

(8) Merowe to Omdurman[134] viâ Hamboti and Wadi Bishara.

(9) Gabra to Korti (little used).

All the above routes except No. 8 are described in the route reports in Vol. II, and from them some idea of the country may be obtained. The traffic along No. (7) will presumably increase considerably on the completion of the Nile-Red Sea Railway.

(From the Reports of the Surveying Parties employed by Mr. G. Kilgour and Mr. Fowler, C.E., 1871-72, and other Sources.)

Northern Bayuda Desert.The track across the Bayuda Desert, from Ambugol to Shendi, is comparatively easy going, and is fairly well supplied with water; but not being a main trade route, it is little used by caravans.

There are no difficult defiles or passes.

The tract of country traversed consists of extensive plains divided by ranges of low hills. It is very unlike the sterile and rocky deserts further north, and in many places shows abundant signs of vegetation. Wadis, pastures of long coarse grass, and many clusters of trees are met with, whilst, during the rainy season, the ground is susceptible of profitable cultivation in some parts.

This route is just within the limits of the tropical rains. The wet season lasts from May to August, but rain never falls for more than 15 days in any year. Sometimes there is no rain for two consecutive years.

There are no streams, the water sinking into the sand and disappearing within 24 hours after rain has fallen.

During exceptionally hot days small whirlwinds pass in great numbers, and carry across the desert sand and fine debris in columns upwards of 150 feet in height. They have a formidable appearance, but are really almost harmless. A very large one might upset a tent, but this performance represents their maximum effect.

The Bayuda Desert is inhabited merely by wandering Arab tribes, of whom the principal are the Hawawir, Hassania, the Sauarab, the Fadnia, and the Aonia.

They subsist almost entirely by keeping flocks of sheep and goats, and by breeding camels, wandering from spot to spot to the best herbage, at such distance from the wells as enables them to water their animals. They also trap the gazelle—so plentiful in this desert; and after the rains a certain amount of ground is usually cultivated by them, and small crops are obtained.

About 4 miles above Ambugol the wadi (valley or stream course) Abu Gir debouches into the Nile; this wadi takes its rise in the Jebel Gilif about 70 miles from the Nile; water is obtainable from shallow wells along its entire course in its bed; like most of the lower portions of the Bayuda Desert, it is thickly covered with vegetation.

Vegetation.This consists principally of low “samr” bushes (spreading thorny acacia), occasional “sunt” trees (acacia arabica, 20 to 25 feet high), the milk plant (asclepia gigantea), the “marakh” (a green shrub), the “tundub” (a bush, some 15 feet high,), and “heglig” trees (20 to 25 feet high, and often with a diameter of trunk at 5 feet from the ground of 12 to 15 inches), the “mokert” (salvadora persica), and even occasionally the “dom” palm (hyphæne thebaica), of which the “dom” palm, the “usher,” and “marakh” are indicative of water close to the surface.

Firewood.Best suited for firewood are the “sunt,” the “samr,” the “tundub,” and the “heglig,” the wood of the latter, I may mention, being used as the base on which the natives twirl a dry piece of “samr” root with the object of producing fire.

Food for camels.Camels devour eagerly the younger branches of the “samr,” the succulent leaves of the marakh (camel thorn) and el gau (camel grass), both of the last-mentioned being plentiful in the Bayuda; indeed, this is a favourite district for breeding and rearing hagins (the lighter and faster class of camels).

Sheep.Sheep, of which large flocks are owned by the Hassania, Aonia, and other wandering Bedawi tribes of the Bayuda, find, during the dry season even, ample food in the grasses of the plains near Jebel Gilif; whilst the fresher shoots of the marakh and tundub, with the juicy leaves of the usher, provide sustenance for the goats.

Route from Ambugol.The readiest route from Ambugol is to strike for the desert close to the town, whence an easy slope, some 2 miles in length, rises to the desert plateau, here some 50 feet above the Nile bank. A shingly level plain is then traversed for about 3 miles, when the Wadi Abu Gir is struck, leading right up to Jebel Gilif, with an ascent of about 10 feet per mile.

The route now skirts the hill Jebel Abu Shenkawi, near to the salt diggings, and passing another clump of hills, Debba El Kebir, joins another camel route from the Nile at a point some 300 miles from Ambugol, where the Wadi Mofokakart debouches into the Wadi Abu Gir.

This other camel track, after leaving Ambugol, follows the Nile to near Korti, a distance of some 4 miles, then, turning sharply to the right, passes by the Wadi Um Marra, and crossing the ridge of Nasaib El Ruchan, at a point some 300 feet above Ambugol, descends over rather broken ground to the Wadi Abu Gir, and from this point there is but one route. At about 37 miles from Ambugol the First wells.first wells are met; these are merely holes scooped in the sand, deepened as the subterranean waters fall, until either the sides fall in, or the whole of the excavations are obliterated by the rush of water down the wadi during the rainy season.

The water is drawn from these, and all similar wells in the Bayuda, by means of a rude skin bag; it is then poured into earth cisterns, on the surface, at which the camels, sheep etc., drink. It is so pure that a small quantity of salt, fairly plentiful in this desert, is mixed with it.

The wadi at this point, about 38 miles from Ambugol, which has hitherto been flat and sandy, with gently sloping sides, becomes much broken. Small metamorphic ridges, hills, and lava-like mounds close in, and petrified wood is strewn in all directions, showing that the belt of metamorphic rock that intervenes between the lower Nubian sandstone and the extensive granite rocks is being traversed.

El Haweiyat wells.About 55 miles from Ambugol are the wells of El Haweiyat, of similar character to those described above; the plain of El Rechewa is left on the right, and quitting the Wadi Abu Gir, which turns abruptly to the left, the route crosses a curious plain, about 3 to 4 miles wide, called El Mesalima.El Mesalima. This plain is surrounded by low hills, and without vegetation; it is intersected by veins of mountain limestone, much resembling marble, and I here found fossil remains of the Saurian type.

Leaving El Mesalima, the route now crosses the plain at the southern foot of the Jebel Gilif, passing across watercourses which, in the rainy season, carry off the drainage from the mountains. These streams issue from wild gorges, and are said to drain extensive plains, 20 or 30 miles distant; a statement corroborated by the fact that they bring with them much brushwood and small timber.

After issuing from the gorges these streams wander at will, cutting constant new channels over an irregular talus of boulders and debris they bring with them; at the foot of this talus, they collect and run down defined sandy channels from 1 to 3 miles long, whose permanent character is proved by their tree-covered banks; these large channels then break up into a number of smaller diverging channels, which lose themselves in a grass-covered plain to the south, fairly covered with trees and brushwood, and about 8 miles across; this plain is said to be covered with water during the rains to a depth of 3 or 4 feet.

Abu Halfa wells.Water may be procured in any of these sandy channels by digging holes as described above; and at Abu Halfa, about 90 miles from Ambugol, are large wells of this description, at which large numbers of camels and flocks are daily watered.

After passing numerous pools of water still standing in basins worn out of the granite bed, the gorge, at a distance of some 7 or 8 miles from the entrance, widened out into a valley about ½ mile across; here there was a small lake, the edges fringed with bulrushes and dom palms, whilst the native huts, flocks, and even birds and conies showed the permanent character of the lake. I heard that many similar lakes exist in the recess of the Jebel Gilif, but the Arabs are extremely reticent on this point.

Jebel Gilif range.At about 79 miles from Ambugol the Jebel Gilif range, with its uniform precipitous face, breaks up into outlying spurs with intermediate plains. In one of these spurs, about 2 miles to the north of the route and 100 miles from Ambugol, are situate the Jakdul wells.wells of Jakdul; these consist of water-worn basins in the bottom of a granite gorge of similar character to those mentioned above. The largest of the pools is some 60 yards long and 10 yards broad, and it is stated never to have run dry.

The water is sweet, but the lower pools are much contaminated by the flocks constantly using them, and the sight of thousands of beetles issuing from the water at dusk is not inviting.

The upper pools, however, are much cleaner, and with care an ample supply of excellent water might be ensured.

No doubt there are many other reservoirs up this gorge as at Abu Halfa.

El Faar wells.To the eastward of the wells of Jakdul, and about 8 miles from the camel track, are the wells of El Faar, consisting of holes dug in a sandy water-channel similar to those of the Wadi Abu Gir.

With Jebel Gilif the granite rocks are left, and the route traverses the upper Nubian sandstone, simple and metamorphic, to the river at Shendi, or rather Metemma.

115th to 125th mile.Between the 115th and 125th mile the route crosses a belt of drift-sand hills travelling from east to west, these are of the usual type, i.e., a crescent presenting its convex side and gentle slope to the wind; up this slope the sand is driven to the apex, whence, falling over and remaining at its natural angle of repose on the concave side, the hill gradually but surely advances, the highest of the sand hills in this locality are about 13 feet high, their rate of progress depending entirely on the strength of the wind; to a camel they are no obstacle as it winds amongst them at will.

Abu Klea or Tleh wells.At 150 miles from Ambugol are the wells of Abu Klea, or strictly speaking Abu Tleh (Tleh equals a particular kind of grass), artificial pits of similar character to those already described; the water is good and rarely fails; they require of course frequent cleaning out.

Shebakat wells.At Shebakat, near the 168th mile, is a large well about 12 feet in diameter, sunk to a depth of 50 feet through the sandstone to a bed of water-bearing gravel; the water is brackish but the supply perennial.

Metemma.At 175 miles from Ambugol, Metemma is reached; the town is about 1 mile from the Nile, but the plain between is occasionally flooded. The water supply is from wells kept up by percolation from the river, and is therefore excellent.

Hence to Khartoum, as stated above, the river is navigable for nearly the entire year, vide [Chap. X.]

Rainy season.The rainy season in the Bayuda Desert is uncertain, as this is the extreme northern range of the tropical monsoon; there may be showers in May, but the true rains fall in June, July, or August. Some years may pass without any at all, and then a perfect deluge floods the country and refills the pools and wells.

Water.The conformation of the Jebel Gilif is such, that notwithstanding the large amount of water running off during the rains, a considerable quantity is stored at high levels, gradually finding its way into the sand-filled wadis, through permeable granite augites and diorites, of which Jebel Gilif is composed.

These wadis are crossed at intervals by spurs of trap rock, that serve the double purpose of keeping up the level of the wadi, which would otherwise rapidly degrade, and of affording, so to speak, “artesian” vents, up which the water, confined between the beds of the “Nubian” sandstone below, finds its way into the loose sand above. In Sinking wells.sinking wells, spots should be selected where the vegetation in the wadis is of a brighter hue, and where heglig and the dom palm exist. In December, 1871, water was found in many such places, never more than 15 feet below the surface. The trap dyke in the vicinity will provide any quantity of fairly bedded stone with which to line the sandy sides of the well; the way I should suggest, would be, in the first place, to dig through the sand until water be reached, and then to excavate the ground in a circle of say, 24 feet diameter, lining it with a dry stone wall 3 feet in thickness, in this should be built, at intervals, pieces of hard wood, of which there is a large quantity, in order to form a rude ladder; as soon as the water is reached, a Norton’s tube pump should be driven some 6 feet or more; this will prevent the accumulation of insect life, to be found in any open pools in the vicinity, and prevent other pollution; then, when this runs dry, the excavation should be again carried down to the lowering water level, and a well of internal diameter of 14 feet be built with a dry stone wall of say, 2 feet thick (the word in India for this form of well is “butcha”), the Norton tube driven down, and the process repeated as the waters lower. Were it possible to procure lime readily, the well might be sunk from the top, as is so habitually done in India, but the only limestone found in the Bayuda is at the plain of El Mesalima, as mentioned above.

The stone near these wells, and of which as described above, the supply will be practically unlimited, may be used in constructing defensive works, whilst there will be in their neighbourhood large quantities of fuel, and a considerable amount of bush that will serve as fodder for the camels.

A considerable quantity of sheep, milk, etc., may be procured from the neighbouring tribes.

Jebel Gilif.The Jebel Gilif presents a certain source of danger (during the expedition, 1884): this consists of, in places, an almost precipitous face of some hundreds of feet in height, at the foot is an irregular talus formed by the degradation of the face, and by the stones and boulders brought down the “khors” (ravines) with which it is intersected. These “khors” are, in many places, near their debouchure from the mountains, very narrow (in places only one camel can pass at a time), with steeply precipitous sides, the bottom being of granite rock, polished by the materials carried down in the torrents of the rainy season, and in many places half blocked up with boulders and débris. As these “khors” rise to the level of the range they widen out into valleys, well supplied with wood, water, forage, etc., where large numbers of men could be kept concealed for a considerable period.

Report on El Ein.

Situation.El Ein is situated about 130 miles from Debba up the Wadi El Melh. The general trend up the wadi is S.S.W. At El Ein on the western bank, for some 60 miles northwards and a short distance southwards, is a precipitous escarpment of rugged outline, but extremely uniform in height, known as Jebel Makakush. El Ein is a gorge in this, the northern promontory of which is surmounted by a rock of curious shape and is called El Serg.

There are two places where water is obtainable along the route from Debba to El Ein, one called Mahtul about 30 miles from Debba has two wells, and the other is Soteir another 30 miles further on. The latter is the better water, but the quantity is small. On the arrival of the writer the well had been emptied by watering a troop of camels, and his men stated there was not enough water to fill waterskins for from two to three hours. At El Ein there is good and abundant water, while grazing may be found almost anywhere along the Wadi El Melh, but from about 30 miles south of Soteir it lies only along the western side, and is much less abundant than further north.

Geology.The formation at El Ein is a series of undisturbed sedimentary beds lying horizontally, most of which are sandstones or grits. This overlies unconformably a much older series of gneisses and schists which are exposed in the lower parts of the Wadi El Melh along the foot of the Makakush escarpment a few miles north of El Ein.

The sandstone series is continuous all the way to Debba, and extends over very large tracts of the Sudan.

Mineral deposits.There are no indications of any mineral deposits of value at El Ein in any of the beds exposed.

Old workings.At several points, especially along the sides and just above the stream-bed, there are natural caves in the sandstone. For some little distance a very soft underlying bed has been weathered away undermining a harder upper one, the unsupported portions of which have broken off and fallen, or cracked and bent over, leaving open gashes. The general appearance of all this very much resembles that of an ancient shaft nearly filled up with débris, though a careful examination leaves no doubt that the phenomena are natural.

Ancient buildings.On either side of the gorge about opposite the well is a cluster of ancient houses, while on a hill some way up the gorge and on the south side are some five more.

The houses are all of similar design approximately round, and are well built, without mortar, of unhewn stone laid in courses; the walls are about 2 feet thick, and many of the stones are of great size. The doorways of most of them face down the valley, but a few are on the opposite side. Many have additional rooms built forming segments of circles.

These buildings are more substantial, and differ in other respects from those usually seen round ancient mines in the Sudan. The only implements noted were two crushing stones; these, however, have not been used for crushing quartz (the matrix in which gold usually lies), being of ordinary millstone and not hard enough for that purpose. They were in all probability only the usual stones for crushing grain.

Across the entrance to the gorge is a wall probably originally 6 to 8 feet high, but now in ruins. It is built of unhewn stones, fairly well coursed, without mortar. The sides are vertical. This runs across the flat space at the entrance to the gorge and a little way up the northern slope. The stream bed lies in a creek some 15 feet below the level of the ground on which the wall stands, and there is no evidence of this waterway ever having been blocked.

In view of this as well as of the general construction of the wall, it is impossible that the structure was a dam, but I should imagine it was probably built for defence, and the gorge was used as a place of refuge against marauding bands by a people whose flocks usually grazed in the valley below.

[132]This district is not actually in the Sudan, but owing to its proximity to Halfa, some description of the wells in it is given here.

[133]This remark applies equally now (1903).

[134]Cost of camel transport by this route varies from 55 P.T. to 75 P.T. per kantar.

CHAPTER X.

COMMUNICATIONS.

Communications in the Sudan are carried on by:—

A.—Railway.D.—Riding and Transport animals
B.—River.E.—Post and telegraph.
C.—Roads.

There is no wheeled transport, except a few carts in the larger towns drawn by camels, mules, or oxen, and an experimental system of wheeled transport, rough carts drawn by oxen, in the Bahr El Ghazal.

Motor transport is in an experimental stage, and has only proved a partial success up till now, chiefly owing to the generally sandy nature of the ground and the present lack of roads.

There is a light railway at Khartoum which it is intended to run in conjunction with a tramway at Omdurman.

[For practical details and hints regarding Communications in the Sudan, see “Notes for Travellers and Sportsmen in the Sudan”[135] (price PT.5), “Sudan Almanac”[135] (price PT.5), and “Notes on Outfit for the Sudan” (price PT.2), all obtainable from the chief booksellers in Cairo or the Agent-General, Sudan Government, War Office, Cairo.

These are recommended as being indispensable for intending travellers.]

Section 1.—Railways.

Historical.To Said Pasha (1860) is due the first idea of connecting the Sudan by railway with Lower Egypt. Mougel Bey reported on the subject, but, owing to the expense involved, the project was abandoned.

The first attempt at actually laying a railway in the Sudan dates from the time of the Khedive Ismail Pasha.

After a preliminary study in 1865-66, by Messrs. Walker and Bray, the Khedive sent up, in 1871, Mr. J. Fowler, C.E., to settle on the best routes for putting the Sudan into railway communication with civilisation. After some time spent in preliminary surveys, Mr. Fowler decided on a line which, starting from Halfa, would run up the eastern Nile bank, cross the river about Amara, and roughly follow the left bank to Ambugol. From here it would strike across the Bayuda desert, viâ Jakdul, to Metemma, cross the river again here, and continue along the right bank to Khartoum North.

From Debba a line was to be laid direct to El Fasher, capital of Darfur.

In the Eastern Sudan, meanwhile, a line was to be laid from Suakin, viâ Sinkat, to cross the Atbara and strike the Nile opposite to Khartoum.

These routes were accurately surveyed, and the railway from Halfa was actually begun and carried along the right bank to about Sarras. It was then abandoned, partly for financial reasons and partly at the desire of General Gordon, who considered that the country was not yet ripe for works involving such a considerable outlay.

During the 1884-85 expedition the railway was continued for some 40 miles, but in consequence of the evacuation of the Sudan it was dropped, and the portion beyond Sarras was destroyed by the Dervishes.

In 1896, when operations became imminent, the Sirdar began laying a line from Korosko southwards, but this was soon abandoned, and the original railway was continued in April, 1896, in the direction of Dongola. This line was completed after considerable difficulties, as far as its present terminus, Kerma, on 4th April, 1897.

The main line, striking from Halfa across the desert to Abu Hamed, was commenced on 1st January, 1897, and, after a stoppage of 22 days for want of material, reached Abu Hamed, 230 miles, on 31st October, 1897. It was laid at the great rate of about a mile a day, the maximum speed for one day being 5,200 yards. The record for 1 month was 48 miles; this was during October, 1897.

It eventually reached Khartoum North (Halfaya) on the last day of 1899.

The Suakin-Berber railway was boldly taken in hand during the Suakin expedition in the spring of 1885, but only a few miles were laid, and it was then abandoned.

The route for the future Nile-Red Sea railway has now been decided on and surveyed (1902-03), and the laying has been commenced from both ends.

The present lines from Halfa to Khartoum North and Dongola (Kerma) were laid primarily to supply an army in the field; the route, method of laying, and materials, were all chosen with this object in view.

Partly as a consequence of this, nearly 50 per cent. of the line is in the desert.

The main line is 575 miles, and the Kerma line is 203 miles long.

The gauge of the lines is 3 feet 6 inches, the same as the Cape railways. Single line throughout (except at the crossing-places).

Goods trains on the Khartoum line have to carry 7,000 gallons of water to enable them to cross the waterless desert sections; this considerably reduces the useful carrying power of the line.

The Kerma line runs through very rocky country, and has sharp curves and steep gradients. It is liable to washouts, and, as its cost is prohibitive in proportion to the traffic receipts, it will be abandoned in December, 1904, and the Dongola Province will be later connected to the main line by a branch line to Abu Hamed.

Khartoum line, steepest gradient 1 in 125; sharpest curve 960 feet radius.

Kerma line, steepest gradient, 1 in 50; sharpest curve 500 feet radius.

The Nile-Red Sea line will leave the main line about the mouth of the Atbara, will run up this river to about Khor Hudi (15 miles), and then branch off north-eastwards over the desert to Suakin, viâ Sinkat Pass. It is now in course of construction, and should be finished by the summer of 1906. Besides this and the Abu Hamed-Merowe branch, which is to be shortly commenced, other projected railway extension is from Omdurman to El Obeid, Suakin to Kassala, and Khartoum (N.) to opposite Wad Medani.

KHARTOUM LINE.

List of Stations.Miles from Halfa.Remarks.
Halfa[136]1See pp. [23] and [85] for description.
Halfa (Camp)[137]0 „ [p. 23] „ „
Nos. 1 to 9 In desert—these are only loops for crossing trains; wells at miles 77 (No. 4) and 126 (No. 6); telegraph station at latter, besides small shops and engine pit.
Abu Hamed[137]230Battlefield is 1½ miles south of Station. Bath rooms in Station for use of passengers.
Dagash248Country between here and Berber little inhabited or cultivated.
Abu Dis267
Shereik291
Abu Sillem318In desert.
Abidia[137]343
Berber North[136]361Starting point for desert roads to Suakin and Kassala.
Berber South363
Suakin Junction384Line from Suakin will join in here.
Atbara385Girder bridge over the Atbara, 1,050 feet long.
El Damer[137]392Many villages from here onwards; much cultivation and cattle. Thick scrub in parts; fertile soil. Chief town of Berber Province.
Zeidab404
Aliab416
Mutmir429
Kabushia448Pyramids of Merowe about 3 miles north of Kabushia, about 2½ miles east of railway.
Taragma460
Shendi[137]471Headquarters of Cavalry. District Headquarters of railway—Southern Section—and office of District traffic manager.
El Goz483
Wad Ban Naga496Nagaa temples 23 miles to the S.E. (vide [Appendix D]).
El Meiga511
Jebel Gerri524
Royan538
Wad Ramla547Zubeir Pasha’s residence (Geili) close by.
Kubalab560
Khartoum North[137]575Terminus—on right bank of Blue Nile, opposite Khartoum.

From about 1st April to 15th December there are two expresses each way weekly between Halfa and Khartoum North; one of them has sleeping and dining cars attached with a restaurateur, but the other has only ordinary first, second, and third class carriages.

Passengers travelling by the latter must make their own arrangements for meals; the first and second class carriages have small kitchens in them for the use of passengers’ servants.

From about 15th December to 1st April there are two expresses weekly, each having sleeping and dining cars and restaurateur. There are also two local passenger trains each way weekly between Abidia and Khartoum North all the year round.

For fares and freights apply to Agent-General, Sudan Government, Cairo, or Traffic Manager, Halfa.

Time occupied on journey, Halfa to Khartoum, by passenger trains, 28 hours; by goods trains, 47 hours.

KERMA LINE.[138]

List of Stations.Miles from Halfa.Remarks.
Halfa[139]1
Halfa (Camp)[139]0
Sarras33On river.
Ambugol64In desert; wells.
Akasha86On river.
Kosha[139]105On river; small shed and workshop; railway strikes south across desert.
Kuror137In desert.
Dalgo164Railway rejoins river.
Kerma[139]203On river; shed and workshops.

Kerma is about 30 miles north of Dongola. Transport between these two either by steamer, donkey, or camel, according to state of river.

Passenger accommodation on the Kerma line is of a rough description. Rates according to class of vehicles.

General.Gross receipts of Sudan Government Railways during 1902, £E.194,000, of which £E.103,000 on Government account; in 1903 the receipts were £E.137,000.

Goods trains on both branches run according to the requirements of the traffic, usually one train each way daily. For rates, etc., apply Traffic Manager, Halfa.

Stations are open for receipt of goods from 7.0 A.M. to 4.30 P.M., and for delivery of goods from 7.0 A.M. to 5.0 P.M.

Light railways.There is a miniature railway in Khartoum used for passengers, etc., but beyond this no light railways have yet been constructed in the country. There seem to be openings for these towards Kassala, Gedaref, and El Obeid, but the time has not yet come.

Section 2.—River Communications.

The Sudan freight, passenger, and postal communications are carried out by river from Shellal to Halfa, Kerma to Merowe on the Dongola reach, and to stations south of Khartoum by steamers and sailing boats.

Shellal-Halfa (226 Miles).

On the Shellal-Halfa reach for this purpose are five stern-wheel steamers, 2 screw tugs, 11 troop barges, 8 sailing barges (including one of 500 tons carrying capacity), and 44 sailing gayassas belonging to the Sudan Government; there are also about 110 gayassas on hire for carriage of supplies, stores, etc.

A fast steamer service twice a week for through mails and passengers runs in connection with the Egyptian and Sudan railway services. This service is carried out by two steamers.

A slow service for local mails and passengers and freight also runs twice weekly.

The steamer passenger service carries private passengers, but no private freight is taken either by Government steamers or sailing boats. This is taken by private companies, Messrs. Thos. Cook, etc.

Arrangements are made to load both ordinary passengers and cargo at North End, Aswan, and for steamers and boats to pass through the dam locks. The fast mail steamers start from above (i.e., south of) the dam.

“Dongola Reach” (222 Miles between 3rd and 4th Cataracts).

On the Dongola reach there are two stern-wheel steamers, two troop barges, and 15 sailing gayassas belonging to the Government; some small nuggars are also being built for the use of districts.

One steamer is for the use of the Mudir, and the other runs a fortnightly service between Dongola and Merowe during low Nile, and from Kerma to Merowe when the river permits.

The river between Kerma and Dongola is always navigable for lightly-loaded steamers, but when the river is low there are one or two dangerous rocky places, and it is not considered advisable to run a regular service. This portion is therefore principally navigated by sailing boats during this period.

Steamers and sailing boats are available for the carriage of private passengers and goods.

The river is only navigable a short distance upstream of Merowe at certain times of the year.

Khartoum and South.

There are three screw and seven stern-wheel armed gun-boats; the latter being frequently used for transport work. The screw boats are kept as station “guard ships” at the southernmost Blue and White Nile posts and at Khartoum. In addition to the gunboats there are five stern-wheel steamers and one new paddle steamer of about 100 to 120 feet long for post, passenger and freight service. For local work or special duty there are four very old paddle steamers of Gordon’s time, two screw tugs, and four launches, as well as 20 barges capable of carrying troops, animals, and freight.

Regular services.[140]A monthly service, 13 days, runs to Gondokoro, the most northerly Nile post of Uganda, leaving Khartoum on the 15th, and returning from Gondokoro for the north about the 29th of each month, arriving at Khartoum about the 10th.

This steamer calls at all intermediate stations south of Goz Abu Guma.

A monthly service (9 days) runs up the Bahr El Ghazal to Wau and Meshra El Rek, or as near as the state of the river will allow, leaving Khartoum on the 1st of each month; starting on the return journey on the 12th, and arriving at Khartoum about the 19th. These steamers also call at all intermediate stations south of Goz Abu Guma.

The weekly service from Khartoum every Tuesday to Goz Abu Guma and intermediate stations, returning on Sundays, is now carried out by the private company below-mentioned.

A steamer runs occasionally up the Sobat, as required, between the middle of May and end of December.

A steamer runs twice a day between Omdurman, Khartoum, and Khartoum North. A chain-steam-ferry also connects Khartoum and Khartoum North.

The Blue Nile is open for navigation by steamer only for about six months of the year (beginning of June to beginning of December), and a fortnightly service leaving Khartoum every alternate Wednesday then runs to Wad Medani and back. From there to Roseires a monthly service is maintained.

The stern-wheel post steamers have each 8 to 10 cabins, and are capable of towing two double-decked troop barges each. They can then take 300 or 400 troops each, or about 80 tons of freight.

A large proportion of the transport of supplies, stores, building materials, etc., is carried in sailing boats (nuggars and gayassas), of which the Government owns 125. They are generally of from 10 to 50 tons carrying capacity each.

Private passengers and freight are carried by the steamers; boats and occasionally steamers can be hired when available.

Non-Government steamers.Two steamers (stern-wheel) and seven steel barges have been put on the river at and south of Khartoum by a private company (The Sudan Development and Exploration Company), and carry passengers and freight.

Native boats.The native sailing boat, called nuggar, is found all along the Nile in considerable numbers. It varies in size, from a capacity of a few ardebs to that of about 200 ardebs (25 tons). These boats are very strongly built of thick hard timber, occasionally half-decked, and fitted with one mast and lateen sails, and very long oars, mostly crooked. They are not so high in the bows nor as graceful as the Lower Nile boats (gayassas). They are mostly employed in carrying grain or gum. The chief native boat-building yards are at Omdurman, Dueim, and Goz Abu Guma, and on the Blue Nile at Senga.

Small and cumbrous rafts, rowed by one or two men, are sometimes seen; these are mostly used for carrying timber.

The ambach canoe, composed of a thick bundle of that pith-like cane tied together, turned up at the bows, and propelled by a paddle, is seen up the White Nile, and in the higher reaches, dug-out canoes, holding from one to six men, are used, both for transport and for hunting purposes.

A still more primitive method of water transport is that of inflated skins, or empty jars with the mouth closed by a skin.

Red Sea.

The Sudan Government owns a steamer of 420 tons, the “Mukhbir,” which plies between Suez and Suakin at irregular intervals as occasion requires.

Section 3.—Roads.

The Sudan is almost entirely flat, except along its eastern frontier and in parts of Southern Kordofan, S. Bahr El Ghazal, and Darfur. Theoretically it should be possible to traverse it from end to end without difficulty, for it is almost everywhere good “going” for animals, though not for wheeled transport; but practically communication is everywhere limited by questions of wells and water supply, in many parts by the presence of thick and thorny bush, and in some parts by swamps.

The main cross-country roads (including some leading outside the Sudan) are:—

1.The Darb El Arbain (40 days’ road),between El Fasher (Darfur) and Assiut (Egypt). (Vide[Appendix,] Part III., Vol. 2.) Little used except by occasionalsmugglers.
2.Korosko-Abu Hamed. Little used since therailway was built.
3.Debba-Khartoum. Date caravans, Dongola toOmdurman.
4.Korti-Metemma. Date caravans, Dongola toShendi, etc.
5.Berber-Suakin. Will be superseded byrailway.
6.Suakin-Tokar-Kassala.
7.Berber-Kassala.
8.Khartoum-Abu Haraz-Gedaref-Kassala.
9.Omdurman-El Obeid.
10.El Dueim-El Obeid. Gum caravans.
11.El Obeid-El Fasher. Road to Darfur.
12.Renk-Jebel Gule-Roseires. Latelyopened.
13.Shambe-Rumbek-Tonj-Wau-Deim Zubeir. BahrEl Ghazal supply caravans’ road.
14.El Fasher-Shakka. In Darfur.
15.El Fasher-Abesher. Darfur-Wadai road.(Vide [p. 189.])
16.Kassala-Massawa
17.Gedaref-Gallabat-Lake Tsana. Trade routefrom Northern Abyssinia.
18.Kirin to Melut. Trade route from EasternAbyssinia (not yet opened).
19.Gore to Abwong. Ditto.
See Vol. II fordetailed descriptions of roads throughout the Sudan.

Section 4.—Riding and Transport Animals.

The animal which is the most suitable for each district of the Sudan naturally varies according to the locality. Roughly, it may be said that north of the 12th parallel the camel is the most useful animal. On the hilly slopes of the Abyssinian plateau the mule and donkey are indispensable, and these are also employed in the Bahr El Ghazal (vide [Chap. VII]). In Southern Kordofan bulls are used for riding, and a certain amount of stuff is carried on pack-oxen; whilst in the low-lying, as well as in the hilly, districts of the Upper Nile human porterage is employed.

Horses.The horse is bred and used for riding purposes in Southern Kordofan, in parts of the Dongola province, and in the northern part of the Gezira between the White and Blue Niles, but, probably owing to his inability to travel long distances without water, is not thickly distributed any where, and a really good one is rarely to be purchased. Some Abyssinian ponies and country-breds are to be had near that border, price £E.4 to £E.5. The principal horse-owning tribes in the Sudan at present are the Homr and Messeria Baggara in south-west Kordofan.

Camels.The great breeding-grounds of the camel are to be found in the desert between the Nile (north of Berber) and the Red Sea; and in the Kababish and other country in Southern Dongola, in the Hadendoa country, and in Northern Kordofan. In these districts a very fine stamp of camel is produced, much lighter, faster, and better-bred-looking than the slow, heavy transport camel of Lower Egypt.

Thousands of camels are bred in these parts and owned by the various nomadic tribes; but it is not easy to obtain them in large numbers, for the owners are, as a rule, disinclined to sell.

The camels of the Kababish and neighbouring tribes are fully engaged in the transport of gum and dates, and in other parts constitute the sole wealth of their owners, who will not part except at comparatively high prices.

The price varies from £E.9 in the Kassala and Suakin districts to £E.15 in the Dongola province, and fancy prices are sometimes paid for particularly good riding camels.

Average cost of camel hire PT.8 to PT.12 per diem, including baggage saddle, head rope, forage, and attendant.

Price of native riding saddle (maglufa) £E.2 to £E.5.

Sudan camels easily carry 350 lbs., and occasionally carry up to 500 lbs.

Mules.Mules are only obtainable from the Abyssinian borderland, chiefly at Gedaref, Gallabat, Roseires, and Itang, though, unless plenty of notice is given, not many are obtainable even at these markets. These mules are small, but good and hardy, suited to pack transport, though not suitable, owing to their small size and weight, to draught work. Price, £E.5 to £E.1O. Can carry 150 to 180 lbs.

Donkeys.Donkeys make excellent transport animals; they can go longer without water than mules. They are obtainable in most parts of the Sudan, price £E.3 to £E.10, or, to hire, PT.5 per diem. The Sudan donkey does for both riding or baggage work. The Abyssinian donkey is smaller and cheaper, £E.1½ to £E.3, and better for transport work, especially in hilly country, being less liable to sore backs, but he generally permits no one to ride him. Large quantities are to be had in Gedaref and Gallabat. Can carry 100 to 150 lbs.

Oxen.Pack oxen, occasionally used in Southern Kordofan and the Bahr El Ghazal, can only carry light weights up to 150 lbs., and are very slow movers. For draught work they have been so far successfully tried in the Bahr El Ghazal.

Carriers.Human carriers are only obtainable with difficulty on the Upper Nile and in the Bahr El Ghazal. They carry 50-lb. loads besides their rations.

Elephants are still a dream of the future as regards pack and transport work.

Section 5.—Posts and Telegraphs.

Posts.In March, 1897, a Sudan postal service was commenced. The first office opened was at Halfa camp, and following in the wake of the Army, offices were opened in the same year at Kerma, Dongola, Korti, and Merowe, and a regular bi-weekly mail was established.

In 1898 offices were opened at various places between Berber and Khartoum, and the postal service was rapidly further extended over a great part of the Sudan. In February, 1901, the postal and telegraph services were combined, and the head office was transferred from Cairo to Khartoum North, and subsequently in 1902 to Khartoum.

There are now 26 post offices in the Sudan open to the money order service, and a travelling postmaster issues and pays money orders at stations on the Halfa-Kerma Railway.

There are various other offices open dealing with correspondence, sale of stamps, and ordinary parcel service (vide below).

An increasing amount of money passes through the post in the shape of money orders. In 1902, a total of £E.355,000 was paid in at Sudan offices by the public for transmission, and a total of £E.145,000 was paid out. The figures in 1901 were £E.267,500 and £E.107,700 respectively.

Mails in the Sudan are carried by railway, steamers, camels, donkeys, or runners, according to the locality.

Mail services now extend to Gallabat, Roseires, Gondokoro, Meshra El Rek, and Nahud.

Mails are exchanged weekly with Eritrea at Sabderat.

(For details of post offices, vide Egyptian Postal Guide, 1904, p. 175.)

Telegraphs.The telegraph now, besides connecting with Suakin and Kassala, reaches to Gallabat, Taufikia (W. Nile), Roseires, and El Obeid. A line from Khartoum through Geteina and Kawa to Goz Abu Guma is now in course of construction, and when the Nile-Red Sea Railway is commenced, a telegraph line will be built along it.

At the beginning of 1905 a telegraph line will be laid from Meshra El Rek to Wau, and thence probably viâ Rumbek to the Bahr El Jebel. Communication between Meshra and Taufikia is to be maintained by oil launches.

Till 1902 white ants were a great source of annoyance, but since steel bases have been used for telegraph poles this has, to a great extent, ceased. Creosoted poles also do not appear to be attacked by them.

Elephant and giraffe in the more southern districts are, however, likely to continue a somewhat frequent course of interruption of communication.

A reconnaissance was made in April, 1904, south of Taufikia and another from El Obeid to Nahud and Foga with a view to further extensions of the wire. In the winter of 1904-05 the line will be laid from Meshra Rek to Wau, but there is a great difficulty in connecting with Taufikia.

There are now 3,074 miles of telegraph line (3,469 miles of wire), and 35 telegraph offices, in the Sudan (vide below).

Wireless telegraphy has not been lost sight of, but will not be adopted, at any rate, for the present.

79,500 private telegrams were forwarded from Sudan offices in 1903, as against 57,700 in 1901 and 66,000 in 1902.

Telephones.A telephone system was established between Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North, with an exchange in the Government buildings, Khartoum, in February, 1903. There are at present 45 offices connected to the exchange.

Instruments and stores have been ordered to extend the system to enable private subscribers in the towns to be connected. A sub-exchange at Khartoum North was installed in January, 1904, and another has been ordered for Omdurman.

LIST OF SUDAN POST AND TELEGRAPH OFFICES.

Abidia —t.Kawa 6—
Abu Hamed 2t.Kerma 2t.
Baraaaa6—Khartoum 1t.
Berber 1t.Kodok 2t.
Debba 2t.Korti 6—
Dalgo 5—Kosha 2t.
Dongola 2t.Melut 6t.
Dueim 2t.Merowe 2t.
El Damer 2t.Nahudaaa6—
El Obeidaaa2t.No. 6 Station —t.
Erkowit 6t.Omdurman 1t.
Gallabataaa2t.Renk 4t.
Gedarefaaa2t.Roseires 4t.
Geteina 6—Sarras 5—
Goz Abu Guma 4t.Sennar 4t.
Goz Regebaaa6—Shendi 1t.
Halfa 1t.Senga[141] 2t.
Halfa (Camp) 1t.Suakin 1t.
Khartoum North 1t.Taufikia (W. Nile) 2t.
Kamlin 2t.Tokaraaa2t.
Kassalaaaa2t.Wad Medani 2t.

Explanation of the Above Numbers.

1Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, ordinary and insured parcels, inland ordinary and telegraphic money orders, and foreign ordinary money orders.
2Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, ordinary parcels, inland ordinary and telegraphic money orders, and foreign ordinary money orders.
3Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, and ordinary parcels.
4Office admitted to ordinary and registered correspondence, and ordinary parcels in arrival.
5Office served by travelling post for ordinary and registered correspondence, ordinary parcels, and inland and foreign ordinary money orders.
6Rural service for delivery of ordinary and registered correspondence, and ordinary parcels.
aaaOffice admitted to the exchange of parcels not exceeding 3 kilogrammes.
t.Telegraph office.

MailsMails.

Weekly between Halfa, Dongola, and Merowe.

Twice a week between Halfa, Berber, and Khartoum.

Weekly between Berber and Suakin.

Weekly between Berber, Kassala, and Gedaref.

Weekly between Suakin and Tokar.

Weekly between Gedaref and Gallabat.

Weekly between Khartoum, Dueim, Goz Abu Guma, and El Obeid.

Fortnightly between Khartoum, Kodok, Taufikia, Kanisa and Meshra El Rek.

Letters, etc., are taken at their owner’s or addressee’s risk by an occasional steamer to Gondokoro (Uganda).

Weekly between Khartoum and Wad Medani.

Weekly between Wad Medani and Gedaref, Sennar, Senga, and Roseires.

Weekly between El Obeid and Nahud.

Fortnightly in Suakin and Kassala.

All the above mails call at the intermediate postal stations and post offices.

Fortnightly between Suez and Suakin.

Fortnightly between Suakin and Aden.

Weekly between Kassala and Keren for Massaua.

Closed mails are now exchanged between London and the Sudan.

Mails for the Sudan are sorted on the mail steamers between Shellal and Halfa.

N.B.—No mails can be delivered at any other stations than those mentioned as postal stations or post offices above.

[135]Brought yearly up to date.

[136]Telegraph office in town.

[137] „ „ station.

[138]This line is to be abolished altogether in December, 1904.

[139]Telegraph office.

[140]Liable to alteration.

[141]For Karkoj.

Part II.
HISTORICAL.[142]

CHAPTER I.

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE ARAB INVASION (A.D. 640).

The name of Ethiopia,[143] or Kush, was applied in ancient times vaguely to the East African interior south of Egypt, from about lat. 24° to about lat. 9°. (The name of Nubia, as representing the more northern portion of “Ethiopia,” say between the 3rd and the 1st Cataracts, does not appear till Roman times, but for convenience sake that portion will be so termed in the following account. It was termed Kenset by the Ancient Egyptians.)

The whole tract was, as we know, for the most part sandy or rocky desert, rich in minerals, interspersed with oases, but contained along the course of the Nile a valuable strip of territory; while, south and south-east of the point where the Nile receives the Atbara, it spreads out into a broad and fertile region, watered by many streams, diversified by hills and woodlands, and of considerable fertility; of this but little now remains. This ancient Ethiopia did not, in all probability, include the present Abyssinia.

At no time did the whole of this vast tract—1,000 miles long by 800 or 900 broad—form a single state or monarchy. Rather, for the most part, was it divided up among an indefinite number of states, or rather of tribes, some of them herdsmen, others hunters or fishermen, very jealous of their independence, and frequently at war one with another. Among the various tribes there was a certain community of race, a resemblance of physical type, and a similarity of language. Their neighbours, the Egyptians, included them all under a single ethnic name, speaking of their land as Ta Kes, Kesh, or Kush, and of the inhabitants as Kashi or Kushi—a term manifestly identical with the Kush of the Hebrews. They were a race cognate with the Egyptians, but darker in complexion, and coarser in feature, not by any means negroes, but still more clearly allied to the negro than the Egyptians were. Their best representatives in modern times are believed to be the Gallas and the like, who are probably their descendants.[144]

From the earliest times there appears to have been a constant infiltration from South Arabia into Abyssinia[144] and the Eastern Sudan; indeed, the dynastic Egyptians themselves are believed by some high authorities to have been a Semitic tribe which came over from Arabia, landed somewhere about Massaua (?), and proceeded northwards along the coast, leaving colonies as it went, till it struck the valley of the Nile viâ Kosseir, the Wadi Hammamat, and Kena (or Koptos). Here they found the Neolithic “New Race,” and exterminated or expelled them (?); but it is doubtful how far this New Race extended up the Nile valley.

B.C. 4000 (?).The earliest mention that we have of the land south of Egypt dates from the time of Snefru (? 3rd or 4th Dynasty), who conquered the land of the Negroes, and took captive 7,200 men and women, and 200,000 cattle.

B.C. 3400 (?).An inscription of the Fifth Dynasty informs us that King Assa sent one Ba Ur Tettu to the “Land of Ghosts, which is south of the land of the Negroes,” to fetch him some Pygmies. The quest was successful, and is confirmed (?) by some dwarfish skeletons found in the tombs of that period.

This would seem to show that there were communications, and possibly even a brisk commerce, between the countries at an even earlier date.

B.C. 3230.In the time of the Sixth Dynasty Una, a high official under Pepi I, raised Sudanese levies, natives and negroes, to fight in Eastern Egypt and Sinai. He also cleared a canal in the 1st Cataract (of which there are now no traces), and Nubian chiefs, whom he had fought and conquered five times, brought wood for him. B.C. 3200.Mer-en-Ra (of Sixth Dynasty) sent one Her-Khuf three times to Nubia on trading expeditions, and he returned with ivory, ebony, etc., which would seem to show that he had penetrated some distance. He reached Amani, Arerthet, Meskher, Terres, etc., but the locality of these places is unknown. At this period the Nehes—negroids of the Sudan—occupied the country as far north as Aswan; some of their tribes were termed the Aam, Wauat, etc., the latter living probably near Korosko.

By the end of the Early Empire, B.C. 2530 (First to Tenth Dynasties), Egyptian armies had certainly advanced into the Eastern Sudan.

In the Eleventh Dynasty there was regular communication between Egypt and the debateable land of Punt, and B.C. 2500.we are told that one Hennu, in the reign of Seankhka, made a trading expedition thither by sea, viâ Kosseir, for unguents. This is not the place in which to discuss the position of the land of Punt, but it seems probable that it lay somewhere in the “horn” of Africa, and was not as far south as the Pungwe or Rhodesia, as some have recently tried to prove.

B.C. 2460.The next we hear of Nubia is that Amenemhat I (Twelfth Dynasty) conquered the Wauat and Machaiu Nubians, and then raided the Libyans to the west; B.C. 2430.and 30 years later his son, Usertsen I, sent an armed caravan under Ameni into Ethiopia and “enlarged the borders of Egypt between the 1st and 3rd Cataracts.”

B.C. 2366.The Nubians attacked the quarries at Aswan in the following reign (Usertsen II), but were repelled, and in the next generation B.C. 2325.a serious expedition on a large scale was undertaken by the great Usertsen III. This monarch worked through the canal in the 1st Cataract, conquered the “abominable Kash,” and at the 2nd Cataract he set a boundary stone. B.C. 2317.Eight years later he beat the Kash again, and built the great temples and forts of Semna and Kumna, 40 miles south of Halfa, to guard the defile of the Nile. He also issued edicts for the prevention of any natives from descending the Nile in boats or otherwise, except for the purpose of trade.

B.C. 2300.A few years later Amenemhat III cut a Nile gauge in the rock near Semna, and this is visible to this day. The height of the Nile flood is curiously enough, marked as being 26 feet higher than it is now. (This was the monarch who also built the Labyrinth in the Fayum.)

The statues of Sebek Hetep III on Argo Island probably prove that the kings of the Thirteenth Dynasty occupied and garrisoned the present province of Dongola; but for the following 600 years no further records are available (Hyksos period).

During the Eighteenth Dynasty (B.C. 1700 to 1400), Ethiopia was a good deal en évidence. B.C. 1700.Amâsis I invaded Nubia, slaughtered the “Anti of Kenset” somewhere south-east of Halfa, and returned; B.C. 1660.Amenophis I sent punitive expeditions to the Eastern Sudan and took many prisoners; B.C. 1630.Thothmes I had a river fight with the Nubians, killed their king, and fastened his “vile dead body” to the bows of his boat; he proceeded as far as Kerma (Tombos) and probably beyond, and set up a Viceroy as Prince of Kush; B.C. 1628.and two years later he proceeded again thither viâ the canal above-mentioned, clearing it out on his way. B.C. 1610.A few years afterwards, Thothmes II raided Nubia severely, killing all males except “one of the damned sons of the Chief of Kesh,” whom he used as a footstool. B.C. 1600.Under Queen Hatshepset[145] the Nubians paid tribute to Egypt, but revolted against her successor, the great Thothmes III. This monarch, however, seems to have crushed them in an expedition through the 1st Cataract, and to have consolidated the Egyptian conquests in Ethiopia.

B.C. 1590. B.C. 1560. B.C. 1500.Amenhotep II, son of Thothmes III, again overran Nubia on a large scale, and his successor, Amenhotep III, extended the Egyptian frontier to the 4th Cataract and possibly to the Atbara, building a large temple to Ammon at Napata, which lay close to Jebel Barkal (the present Merowe) near the foot of the 4th Cataract.

About this date there was formed a priestly colony at Napata,[146] in close touch with the Egyptian religion, and forming a strong link between the two countries. Civilization appears to have greatly increased in the Napata region, but the Nubians to the north seem to have remained in a barbaric condition, for we find B.C. 1400.Rameses I making an expedition against them, B.C. 1333.and the great Rameses II forcing them to pay tribute. B.C. 1360.The father of the latter, however, Seti I, as well as his son, devoted his chief energies in Nubia to erecting temples and works,[147] and more particularly to digging for gold, minerals, and precious stones in the Eastern Desert. Starting from Kubban, opposite Dakka, Rameses II dug wells in the Wadi Alagi and other regions and worked gold mines with considerable result. The warlike operations in these regions of himself and his successors, B.C. 1300. B.C. 1200.Manephtha and Rameses III, seem to have been chiefly confined to beating the Libyans in the Western Desert.

Meanwhile the hierarchy of Napata was growing in power. The Ethiopians of this region, a plastic race, adopted to a considerable extent the Egyptian civilization, worshipped Egyptian gods in Egyptian shrines, and set up inscriptions in the hieroglyphic character and in the Egyptian, as well as the Nubian, tongue. Napata and the Nile valley both below it and above it, was already half Egyptianised when, on the establishment of the Sheshonk Libyan (Twenty-second) Dynasty in Egypt (B.C. 966), B.C. 966.the descendants of Herhor of Thebes resolved to quit their native country and remove themselves into Ethiopia, where they had reason to expect a welcome. They were probably already connected by marriage with some of the leading chiefs of Napata, and their sacerdotal character gave them a great hold on a peculiarly superstitious people. Retaining their priestly office, they became at once Ethiopian monarchs, and High Priests of the Temple of Ammon, which Amenhotep III had erected at Napata. Napata, under their government, flourished greatly, and acquired a considerable architectural magnificence. Fresh temples were built, in which the worship of Egyptian was combined with that of Ethiopian deities; avenues of sphinxes adorned the approaches to these new shrines; the practice of burying the members of the royal houses in pyramids was reverted to, and the necropolis of Napata recalled the glories of the old necropolis of Memphis.

COLOSSAL RAM OF AMENHOTEP III. FROM JEBEL BARKAL, ORIGINALLY AT AMENHOTEP’S TEMPLE AT SOLIB—Berlin Museum.

Napata was also a place of much wealth. The kingdom whereof it was capital reached southward as far as the modern Khartoum, and south-eastwards stretched up to the Abyssinian highlands, including the valleys of the Atbara and its tributaries, together with most of the tract between the Atbara and the Blue Nile. This was a region of reputed great natural wealth, containing many mines of gold, iron, copper, and salt, abundant woods of date palm, almond trees, and ilex, some excellent pasture ground, and much rich meadow land suitable for the growth of dura and other sorts of grain. Fish of many kinds and excellent turtle abounded in the Atbara and the other streams, while the geographical position was favourable for commerce with the tribes of the interior, who were able to furnish an almost inexhaustible supply of ivory, skins, and ostrich feathers.

B.C 966-800.In course of time the Napata kingdom extended its sway to Aswan, and even to Thebes. The kings of the Twenty-second (Libyan) Dynasty did not attempt to make Egyptian authority felt south of Aswan, and at last the Nubian opportunity came. B.C. 760-733.In about 734 B.C., Piankhi, King of Napata, seeing the weakened and divided sway of the Twenty-third Dynasty, chose a favourable moment in the revolt of Taf Nekht, Prince of Sais and Memphis, swooped down on Egypt, assaulted and occupied Memphis, and became master of the country. Bak-en-Renf, sole representative of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty, was killed; the whole of Egypt, with the exception of a portion of the Delta, became a province of Ethiopia, B.C. 730-667.and the Twenty-fifth Dynasty was composed of Ethiopian princes.

These Kings were named Shabaka (Sabaco), Shabataka, and Taharka (Tirhakah), the latter of which trio delivered B.C. 700.Hezekiah from Sennacherib. He was, however, heavily defeated by Esarheddon, son of the latter, somewhere near Tel-el-Kebir, B.C. 672.and Egypt was overrun by the Assyrians.

Fierce fighting continued for the next 20 years between Ethiopia and Assyria over the prostrate body of Egypt, and the latter was reduced to utter ruin. B.C. 652.Finally Mi-Ammon-Nut, Prince of Napata, and son (?) of Taharka, partly relieved the country from the Assyrians, but he had no successors, and died soon afterwards.

B.C. 650 (?).Psammetichus I (Twenty-sixth Dynasty), of Libyan descent, finally shook off the Assyrian yoke a few years later. His connection with Ethiopia is chiefly confined to the fact that a large number of his troops (200,000 to 240,000, according to ancient authorities—but this number must be grossly over-stated) quitted him as a protest against the favouritism shewn to his foreign (Greek and Lydian) mercenaries, and took service with Ethiopia. B.C. 648 (?).Several versions of this story exist, but no serious disturbance of the balance of power would seem to have resulted. Herodotus states that they[148] were given land to the south of Meroe, in the land of the Macrobii (Sennar?). B.C. 590 (?).His descendant Psammetichus II appears to have attacked Ethiopia, and it is stated that Nebuchadnezzar II, after beating Necho, the previous king, made a fruitless expedition into Nubia.

ETHIOPIAN KING FROM MEROË (BAGARAWIYA)—Berlin Museum.

B.C. 566.As far as can be gathered the following kings of Ethiopia succeeded Piankhi between about 730 and 525 B.C.; little is known about them except what is given below:—

Ra Usr Maat.

Mer-Ka-Ra.

Wach-Ka-Ra.

Aspelta, 625 B.C. Killed a colony of raw-meat-eaters at Barkal.

Pankhaluru, before 560 B.C.

Heru-Sa-Atef, Amen Sa Meri. A great warrior. 560-525 B.C.

Nastasenen, 525-517 B.C. Ruled over Kenset and the kingdom of Alut (Napata and Soba?); conquered many people.

Between the years 625 and 560 the capital seems to have been shifted from Napata to Meroe. The kingdom ruled by these monarchs included Alwa, a place identified with the later Soba on the Blue Nile. The connection with Egypt was weakened; Heru-Sa-Atef found the royal palace at Napata in ruins and restored it; his successor Nastasenen re-visited it and went on a journey of inspection as far north probably as the 3rd Cataract, but Meroe was the principal seat of his kingdom. Nastasenen mentions on his inscription five campaigns, apparently against the rich pastoral peoples of the Eastern Desert, from whom he captured in all nearly 2,000,000 head of cattle, sheep, goats, etc. At Meroe, about 40 miles to the south of the Atbara, at a place now termed Bagarawiya, were built temples and pyramids copied from Napata.

It was in his reign that, according to Herodotus, Cambyses, first king of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty (Persian), sent an Embassy into Ethiopia, and on this being received by the natives with jeers, collected a large army and sent it south against them. B.C. 527He detached 50,000 men from the army when it arrived at Thebes against Siwa, or more probably Kharga, Oasis, but these were all overwhelmed by a sandstorm and were never heard of again. The remainder, ill-supplied with food or transport, marched into a desert on the way south, ate their transport animals, and finally began on each other; the greater part undoubtedly perished of hunger and thirst. It is impossible to trace where the disaster happened (Arbain road?), but it appears not to have been very far south, perhaps no further than the latitude of Aswan. The latest critic (Heinrich Schäfer) argues from Nastasenen’s inscription that Cambyses sent, in concert with the desert expedition, another one by river. This latter expedition seems to have reached the 3rd Cataract, where it was met and defeated by Nastasenen; this is, however, not yet universally accepted. Cambyses is reported to have himself reached the “Island” of Meroe, to have built a town there, and to have named it after his sister Meroe, who died there; but this is certainly a fable.

Between B.C. 525 and 260 came 11 more kings, but their chronology is more than doubtful, and little is known of them beyond their names, which are as follows:—

These names are here given for reference in case of future discoveries.

B.C. 300.About 300 B.C. (?), or perhaps earlier, the frontier of Egypt was then fixed at a point about 80 miles south of Aswan.

B.C. 260.Ark Amen, better known as Ergamenes, who was brought up at the court of Ptolemy II, was a man of some character, for besides building a temple at Dakka he set a new fashion in Priest-Kings by refusing to commit suicide at the request of the priests and by executing those who demanded it.

B.C. 210.In the days of Ptolemy V, Nubia caused trouble to Egypt, and the Egyptian king added the country between Aswan and Napata (?) to his possessions, dividing it into 13 districts.

In later Ptolemaic times the kings of Ethiopia evidently became more negroid, and owned barbaric names; and as time went on, the Kingdom of Meroe seems to have been governed by a series of queens or queen-mothers, bearing the title of Candace. Little is known of this period.

B.C. 30.When Egypt became a Roman province, an embassy from Ethiopia arrived at Philæ, and the king of the country near Khartoum was taken under Roman protection.

B.C. 22.Eight years after, a Queen Candace attacked Aswan and routed the Roman garrison there. She was, however, heavily defeated by the Prefect Petronius, who pursued her as far as Napata (?) and destroyed that town, leaving Roman garrisons there and near to Dongola.

A.D. 200.In the time of Strabo, who visited Egypt during the government of Ælius Gallus, Petronius’s successor, Aswan was again the frontier, the Romans having, as he observes, “confined the province of Egypt within its former limits.” Philæ then belonged “in common to the Egyptians and Ethiopians.” This did not, however, prevent the Cæsars from considering Lower Ethiopia as belonging to them or from adding to the temples already erected there.

The descendants of the priest-kings of Ethiopia seem to have died out about A.D. 200.

Strabo says the Ethiopians above Aswan consisted of the Troglodytæ, Blemmyes, Nubæ, and Megabari. The Megabari and Blemmyes inhabited the Eastern Desert north of Meroe, towards the frontiers of Egypt, and were under the dominion of the Ethiopians.[149] The Ichthyophagi[150] lived on the shore of the Red Sea; the Troglodytæ, from Berenikê southwards, between it and the Nile; and the Nubæ, an “African” nation, were on the left bank, and independent of Ethiopia, which country, he states, did not extend north of Halfa.

A.D. 296.From Procopius we learn that in A.D. 296, in the reign of Diocletian, these Nubæ, or Nobatæ, were brought from the Oasis of El Kharga, and given the country above Aswan, on condition of their protecting Egypt against the incursion of the Blemmyes. This treaty was annually ratified by a religious sacrifice, according to the rites of the ancient Egyptian religion, on the Island of Philæ, in which the Roman garrison took part. There are still the remains of the wall which Diocletian built across the valley near here; and, according to some authorities, not venturing to trust entirely to the Nubians to defend the Egyptian frontier, he agreed to pay a yearly tribute both to the Nubians and the Blemmyes.

A.D. 330.A few years afterwards two young Christians of Tyre, Edesius and Frumentius, were, on their return journey by sea from India (?), kidnapped on the coast of Abyssinia. According to their story they became advisers to the widow of the king who had captured them, and used all their influence to promote Christianity in the land. They succeeded so well that Frumentius, on his return to Alexandria, was consecrated by Bishop Athanasius and returned to Abyssinia, where he spent the rest of his life in proselytizing, with excellent results.

Little or nothing is known of the history of internal or Upper Nubia during these centuries, but the Blemmyes continued to give trouble to the Roman rulers of Egypt. They gradually succeeded in occupying the five towns of the Commilitium Romanum, making Talmis or Kalabsha their capital, and even penetrated into the Thebaïd, A.D. 451.where in A.D. 451 Maximinus, the general of Marcian, was forced to make a treaty with them for 100 years. But it was soon broken by the barbarians.

A.D. 400-500.In the fifth century the Nubians, whose religion at that time was chiefly limited to star-worship, were gradually converted by monks and others of the Alexandrian Church. The first important convert was one Bahriya (?), nephew of the king, and he built many churches and monasteries.

A.D. 545.During the sixth century the entire nation adopted Christianity. In A.D. 545 their King Silko defeated the Blemmyes and took the already well-known town of (old) Dongola for his capital.

The Egypto-Roman-Christian remains at Nagaa[151], and those of the kingdom of Alwa, or Soba, then under the King of Nubia, may belong to this or even to an earlier period, for there are legends of Christianity having penetrated to the Blue Nile in the third century, and St. Mark is reported to have preached in the Sudan, or at all events, in “Ethiopia,” in the first century, A.D. 1.

A.D. 560.In the days of Justinian there seems to be no doubt that Christianity was the established religion of the whole of Ethiopia and Nubia.

ONE OF THE ANIMALS AT NAGAA.

[142]Authorities:—Acknowledgments to the works of Dr. Budge, Prof. Rawlinson, Mrs. Butcher, etc., as mentioned in [Appendix H,] and to some notes of Mr. Crowfoot, for history up to a.d. 1493.

A.D.1493 to 1837.—Col. Stewart, “Report on the Sudan, 1883,” and various other writers.
„1837 to 1882.—From “Report on the Egyptian Provinces of the Sudan.” I.D., 1884.
„1882 to date.—Compiled from various authorities, mainly Col. Wingate’s works, Intelligence Reports and Publications, &c.

[143]Ethiopia is nowadays considered to mean Abyssinia, and is the word employed by the ruler of that country to denominate his dominions.

[144]Vide also [Appendix E.]

[145]This lady sent a large (five-ship) trading expedition to Punt, and did much business in gold, incense, and gum, in consequence.

[146]Vide Appendix D, [p. 311.]

[147]e.g., Abu Simbl, Gerf Husên, Derr, Wadi Sebûa, etc.

[148]Referred to by Herodotus (430 B.C.) as Automoloi; their descendants were later known as Sebridæ or Sembritæ, see [p. 319] for an explanation of the story.

[149]Query—the ancestors of the present Bisharin and Ababda?

[150]The inhabitants of Elephantine Island, Aswan, were also thus termed in the 6th century B.C.

[151]Vide [p. 315.]

CHAPTER II.

FROM THE ARAB INVASION TO THE TIME OF MOHAMMED ALI.

A.D. 640. A.D. 643.After the Arab invasion and conquest of Egypt, Abdalla ibn Said was sent by ’Amr, at the command of Omar, with 20,000 men (?) into Nubia. The natives, however, offered a most stubborn defence and fought to the death. Their bowmen showed particular skill, and although the Moslems were eventually victorious, they judged it expedient to retreat across the frontier. The Nubians now exhausted themselves in objectless raids northwards, and irritated the Arabs to such a pitch, A.D. 653.that ten years afterwards, the same general marched again into the country with the resolute purpose of subduing it.

The result was that Abdalla penetrated as far as (old) Dongola, bombarded the great church there and laid it in ruins. King Kalidurat thereupon concluded a friendly treaty with him, the chief clauses of which were that he should supply 400 slaves a year, and allow the Mohammedans to build a mosque at Dongola.

A.D. 700.As regards the rest of the Sudan, it is said that between the first and second century after the Mohammedan Era the Arabs of the tribe of Beni Ommia, being hard pressed by the Beni Abbas tribe, began to emigrate from Arabia in small numbers to the opposite shores of the Red Sea, and to settle in the districts about Sennar, on the Blue Nile. Whether the Beni Ommia led the van of the great Arab invasion it is impossible to say, nor is it known whether all the tribes chose the Red Sea road. Some authorities appear to think that several came into the Sudan from Egypt and Marocco.

Be this as it may, the fact remains that the Beni Ommia settled gradually in the districts round Sennar, the inhabitants of which were negroes belonging to the tribes of Fung, Hameg, etc.

The Beni Ommia, becoming gradually stronger, by degrees succeeded in becoming the masters of the whole of the Sennar districts, and converted the negroes to Islamism.

During the next two centuries the ever-increasing demands of the Arabs for slaves began to press on the country, and the Christian kingdoms, which had meanwhile been increasing in population, refused to pay tribute in this commodity.

Many Arabs began now to settle in the Sudan, and purchased lands from the inhabitants. In order to put a stop to this, Zacharias, King of Nubia, despatched his son, George, through Egypt to Baghdad, to see how the land lay. A.D. 831.He was graciously received by the Khalif Mutassim, who loaded him with presents, and gave him a house in Cairo. Eventually he returned after most successful negotiations, and all idea of open rebellion was dropped by the Nubians.

Nearly 50 years later Nubia was the scene of a filibustering expedition on a large scale. A.D. 878.One Abu Abdelrahman “el Omari,” hearing of the ancient gold mines in the Eastern Desert, equipped a party to work them. He found a great deal of gold, but being obstructed by the local Arabs, he gradually pushed his way to Shankir, south of Dongola, and with his increased following attacked the Nubians under King George and beat them. His subsequent adventures read like a romance, A.D. 880.but he was eventually driven out and murdered.

A.D. 950.In the following century the Christian kingdoms gradually became strong enough to resist the Arabs, and on occasions they even invaded Upper Egypt. A.D. 956.In A.D. 956 the Nubians seized Aswan, but were cut off by a flanking movement instituted from the Red Sea, by the Moslem General Kafur, and lost Deir Ibrahim, a stronghold 136 miles south of Aswan.

A.D. 967.Eleven years later, however, they again invaded Egypt and recovered their country as far as Akhmim.

A.D. 969.Two years afterwards Johar, a Greek renegade general of the Khalif Moiz, seeing the necessity of guarding his southern frontier, sent an embassy to the then King of Nubia (another George), inviting him to embrace Islam and pay his tribute as of old. The chief ambassador was one Ahmed ibn Solaim, and the account he writes of the Sudan in those days is exceedingly interesting.

He describes the province which extended from 6 miles south of Aswan to Halfa as well-watered, carefully cultivated and abounding in vineyards. Beyond this no Moslems were allowed inside Nubia on pain of death. Between the 2nd and 3rd Cataract was a terrible desert, from which, however, precious jewel-polishing stones were obtained (?). Beyond this lay the kingdom of Makorra, with capital at Dongola, and south of this was the Kingdom of Alwa, which was stronger and more fertile, but did not produce so many vines and palms as Makorra. Both kingdoms he describes as being amazingly fertile in herds and crops, far more so than Egypt (!).

He arrived at Suia (Soba), capital of Alwa, which was situated at the confluence of the Blue and White Niles, and, besides noting the excellence of their camels, horses, meat and beer, states that the town was “adorned with magnificent buildings, great houses, churches enriched with gold, and gardens. The King also wears a crown of gold, for this metal is very abundant in his dominions.” Amongst other things he remarks that the Christians belonged to the Jacobite Church of Egypt, and that their books, originally written in Greek, had been translated into their own language. He also refers to a road leading from Shankir to Suakin.

THE LAMB IN THE PALACE GARDEN AT KHARTOUM. (Brought from Soba.)

Ibn Solaim’s mission met with every courtesy but no success, and his report convinced Johar that he would act wisely in leaving Nubia severely alone.

A.D. 1092.In A.D. 1092 the Kings of Ethiopia and Nubia were so powerful that the Moslems of Egypt feared to persecute the Christians; A.D. 1172.but 80 years later the Nubians were conquered by the brother of Saladin and forcibly converted to Mohammedanism.

A.D. 1227.Fifty years afterwards the Nubians were again defeated and gave up to Egypt the Northern part of their Kingdom.

A.D. 1271.In A.D. 1271 King David of Nubia attacked Aswan, but was repulsed by the Khalif Bibars. The Mohammedans overran Nubia as far as Dongola, seized the northern province and imposed onerous conditions, one of which was the revival of the slave tribute.

A.D. 1287.Sixteen years later the Khalif Kalaun sent another expedition to Dongola, beat King Shemamun, left a garrison and retired. The Nubians promptly expelled the garrison, and the expedition was repeated, only to end in the same result. Thenceforward Shemamun was left in peace.

From this time onwards the Sudan apparently became the hunting ground of rival Arab slave-dealing tribes. The Christian kingdoms at last took to fighting among themselves, and their downfall became a mere question of time.

A.D. 1317.Thirty years later the great mosque was built at (old) Dongola, and kept up by the Christian inhabitants.

A.D. 1325.In A.D. 1325 the Moslems persecuted the Christians in Egypt to such an extent that the King of Abyssinia threatened to divert the Blue Nile unless they ceased.

A.D. 1375.Fifty years later we find civil wars and slave trade rife in the Sudan, whilst in the region of Aswan the Kenz, royal descendants of Ethiopia, pursued the trade of brigands, much to the detriment of all communications.

A.D. 1493.The rise of the kingdom of Sennar now commenced. By degrees the distinction between Arab and negro on the Blue Nile had diminished, whilst in 1493 the name of Beni Ommia is no longer heard of, and the old tribal names of Fung, Hameg, and others reappear.

In that year Amara Dunkas, the Sheikh of a sub-section of the Fung, either through the fortune of war or his superior capacity, succeeded in getting himself declared king of all the Fung tribes. He then allied himself with Abdulla Gemda el Kerinani, the powerful chief of the Keri district (east of the Blue Nile), and conquered all the country on both sides of the river between Fazogli and Khartoum.

These districts were inhabited by negroes belonging to the Nuba tribes, some of whom after the conquest remained in the country, while others emigrated into the mountains of Fazogli and Kordofan. Those who remained embraced Islamism, intermarried with their conquerors, and, losing their language and nationality, were soon lost in the tribes known collectively under the name of Fung.

Of these tribes some settled in towns, while others retained their nomad habits, such as the (1) Khamir, (2) Rebia, (3) Kakhtan, (4) Kenana, (5) Kawahla, (6) Geheina, (7) Beni Shaker, (8) Beni Ziban, (9) Beni Abbas. From this last have descended the Kababish, Ferara, Beni Selim, and Ahamda. The latter two tribes are Baggara, or owners of cattle and horses. (Vide [p. 179] and [Appendix F.])

Some of these tribes are now to be found along the banks of the White and Blue Niles.

A.D. 1523.In 1523 Amara Dunkas was succeeded by his son Abdul Kader.

A.D. 1539.In 1539 Abdul Kader was succeeded by his son Nule.

A.D. 1545.In 1545 Nule was succeeded by his son Amara.

Amara was surnamed Abu Sakakin; during his reign Sheikh Abdalla Gemáa died, leaving the Province of Keri to his son.

A.D. 1553.In 1553 Amara died. Between that date and 1596 four kings, all of the family of Dunkas, succeeded each other.

A.D. 1596.In 1596, in the reign of Adlan, Sheikh Agib, a descendant of Gemáa and Governor of Keri, rebelled. Adlan defeated him near Alati. His children fled to Dongola, whither Adlan sent Sheikh Idris to offer them a free pardon and invite them to Sennar. They came, and Adlan invested the eldest with the Government of Keri.

This emissary of Adlan’s, Sheikh Idris, was celebrated for his ability. He is also said to have lived to the great age of 147. During this reign many learned men came from Cairo and Baghdad.

A.D. 1603.In 1603 Adlan was succeeded by his son Baadi.

A.D. 1606.In 1606 Baadi was succeeded by his son Rubat.

A.D. 1635.In 1635 Rubat was succeeded by his son Baadi Abu Dign (Father of the Beard).

This King attacked the Shilluk negroes and took a large number of slaves. The Shilluk inhabited the country on both sides of the White Nile south of Kawa. Thence he invaded the mountains of Tagale and destroyed Kordofan, where he again took a large number of slaves. On his return to Sennar he built a number of villages in that district for his prisoners.

The prisoners named these villages after those they had left, hence the number of villages now near Sennar with names similar to those in the Jebel Nuba, Tagale, and other districts about Kordofan.

In time these slaves supplied the Kings of Fung with recruits for their armies.

Besides his warlike enterprise, Baadi built the mosque now at Sennar, and furnished it with copper window bars.

A.D. 1671.In 1671 he died, and was succeeded by his son Ansu. During this reign there was a great famine and an outbreak of small-pox.

A.D. 1683.In 1683 Ansu was succeeded by his son Baadi el Ahmar. In this reign a number of the Fung tribes and the people of Keri under their prince, rebelled, but they were defeated with great slaughter, and the Prince of Keri was killed. Sheikh Hamed Walad el Terabi, a celebrated Sheikh, lived during this reign. His tomb is now at Sennar.

In 1699 Dr. Poncet, a French physician, on his way to Abyssinia visited Sennar, and found it a powerful kingdom in a flourishing condition.

A.D. 1710.In 1710 Baadi was succeeded by his son Ansu II. This monarch caused such great dissatisfaction by his extravagance and debauchery that the Southern Fungs revolted, deposed the King, and placed a noble called Nur on the throne. This happened in 1714.

A.D. 1719.In 1719 Nur was succeeded by his son Gaadi Abu Shilluk. In this reign the Abyssinian King Kedem Yasu invaded Sennar with a large army. He was, however, defeated with great slaughter by Sheikh Amin, near the village of Tekiya on the Dinder River. It is said that the reason for this invasion was that some presents sent by the King of France to Abyssinia had been seized by King Baadi.

After this great victory the renown of Sennar spread in all directions, and eventually reached Constantinople. Crowds of learned and celebrated men flocked into the country from Arabia, Egypt, and India. Notwithstanding this, in 1758 Baadi, owing to his bad administration was deposed and exiled. He was succeeded by his son Nasser.

A.D. 1758.1758.—Under his rule the Hameg tribe became very powerful, and the Fung lost a great deal of their influence and prestige. In 1765 Nasser was killed by a rebellious vassal, and was succeeded by his son Ismail.

A.D. 1774.In 1774 Ismail was deposed, exiled to Suakin, and succeeded by his son Adlan. During this reign many intertribal wars went on both in Sennar and Kordofan,[152] and the power and influence of the Hameg grew so great that they eventually became the masters of the King.

A.D. 1786.In 1786 Adlan was deposed by the Hameg, and the kingdom of the Fung totally disappeared. Anarchy prevailed throughout the country, and the kings succeeded each other in such rapid succession that in the year 1788 four kings successively reigned. During the succeeding 33 years of anarchy the Hameg continued supreme, and under Sheikh Nasser they devastated the northern and eastern part of the Sudan with fire and sword.

[152]Vide [p. 184] (Darfur).

CHAPTER III.

FROM MOHAMMED ALI’S CONQUEST TO THE END OF 1882.

1819. Invasion by Mohammed Ali.In 1819 Mohammed Ali, hearing of the anarchy prevailing in the Sudan, and wishing to introduce the benefits of a regular government of civilisation, and at the same time to occupy his troops, ordered his son Ismail, with a numerous army of regulars and irregulars, with many learned men and artisans, to invade the country.

Ismail reached Khartoum without meeting with any resistance, and thence marched on to Sennar. Here he found that of the two rivals to the throne of Baadi, Adlan had been murdered by Regab, and the latter had fled, leaving the kingdom to the Fung claimant, Baadi. The latter, however, had resigned his claims to Ismail.

At Sennar Ismail was joined by his brother, Ibrahim Pasha, and they together advanced to Fazogli. Shortly after, Ibrahim returned to Egypt, and the report spread that Ibrahim had been killed in the Fazogli Mountains. The Arab nomads immediately rose, but Ismail returned, defeated the rebels, and appointed new Sheikhs. He then went on to Shendi, on the Nile. The Mek (ruler) Nimr (tiger) of that place, wishing to be revenged of all the cruelties and barbarities Ismail had been guilty of, invited him and his followers to a great banquet at Shendi. Ismail burnt at Shendi. 1822.During the banquet and while the guests were all more or less intoxicated, forage was piled round the tent and set on fire, and Ismail and all his followers perished (1822).

When the news of this catastrophe reached Kordofan, Ahmed Bey, the Defterdar, who had wrested that province from the Darfur Sultan, put himself at the head of a large army and marched on Shendi. When he reached Metemma, opposite Shendi, the inhabitants sent to ask for pardon. This was granted. One of the people, however, happening to throw a lance at the Defterdar, the pardon was at once rescinded, and a general massacre took place. The Mek el Nimr, however, escaped, and fled towards Abyssinia.

After this the Defterdar marched to Tuti Island, opposite Khartoum, where he again defeated the rebels with great slaughter. He then marched to Wad Medani, near Mesellemia, and then returned to Kordofan.

It is said that when Kordofan was conquered it was found that the Governor of the Province had the title of Magdum, which is a title only given to Palace eunuchs. It would appear that it was the custom of the Darfur Sultans to send eunuchs to govern provinces and districts.

1822.In 1822 Osman Bey was named Governor of the Sudan, and the Defterdar, Ahmed Bey, returned to Egypt. This was a year of rebellions and famines.

1826.In 1826 Maho Bey was appointed Governor. Immediately afterwards Khurshid Pasha became Governor. He was renowned for his rectitude and honesty. He led several expeditions up the White Nile against the Dinka negro tribe, opposite Kodok, and also into the mountains of Tagale. 1834.In 1834 he went to Egypt for a few months. Towards the end of that year he marched to the Abyssinian frontier to repel the attack of the Abyssinians who were coming to the assistance of the Sennar rebels. The Abyssinians were defeated, and Adlan, their leader, was taken and impaled. During this year cholera and other diseases ravaged the country. In 1836 the Abyssinians, after attacking the Gallabat provinces, retreated into their mountains.

Khurshid Pasha was the first Governor who taught the people of Khartoum to build with bricks, and to give up their huts made of skins and reeds. 1839.In 1839 he was recalled to Egypt, and was succeeded by Ahmed Pasha Abu Udn (Father of Large Ears).[153]

The annexation of the Sudan provinces thus took place more than three-quarters of a century ago. Mohammed Ali having dispersed the Mamelukes, and made himself master of Nubia, turned his attention towards the districts bordering the White and the Blue branches of the Nile. Gold was doubtless his main object, for he had heard rumours of mines of vast wealth; but we must also give him credit for an honest intention to introduce commerce and civilisation into the midst of the Negro tribes.

Expedition by Mohammed Ali, 1838.In the autumn of 1838 Mohammed Ali himself, at the age of 69, started to visit Fazogli, and in 1840 and following years three large expeditions were organised. Although gold was not found in any important quantities, the provinces were reduced under Egyptian sway, the navigation of the White Nile was declared free, military stations were established on both rivers, and many slaves were brought back to swell the ranks of Mohammed’s army. Whatever may have been his dreams of civilisation, the result of Mohammed’s expedition and consequent government was to establish at Khartoum, not only the capital of the Sudan provinces, but also a central mart for a huge slave trade.

The provinces thus annexed were Kordofan, Sennar, and Taka (Kassala).

Abbas Pasha, 1848-1854.Abbas Pasha, grandson of Mohammed, who ruled Egypt from 1848 to 1854, kept up his authority in the Sudan provinces by means of a large force, which was necessary for the purpose of collecting taxes from a discontented population. In 1853 the most southern Egyptian settlement was about 120 miles south of Khartoum, but in that year the first trading voyage to the Upper Nile was started by Mr. Petherick, the English Consul for the Sudan. He was soon followed by other traders, who established posts far up country, and organised armed bands under the command of Arabs. It was soon found that slave hunting paid even better than ivory, and raids were made on the surrounding tribes.

1854-1868.Said Pasha, the successor of Abbas, found the country in a deplorable condition; exhorbitant taxes, a depressed agriculture, and a disordered administration openly encouraging an open slave trade.

Said Pasha reorganises Government at Khartoum, 1857.With the resolution of organising a better state of things, Said, in the year 1857, made a rapid tour through the provinces in question. At Berber he proclaimed the abolition of slavery, and at Khartoum he organised a new government for the five provinces then comprised in the Sudan, i.e., Kordofan, Sennar, Taka, Berber and Dongola. He ordered that the excessive taxes on the lands and waterwheels of the people should be discontinued, and postal services on fast camels organised across the desert. About the year 1860 the European traders sold their stations to their Arab agents who paid rental to the Egyptian Government, and the misery and ruin were increased tenfold.

To Said Pasha is due the first idea for making a railway to unite the Sudan with Lower Egypt; Mougel Bey was ordered to report on the subject, but the probable expense caused the project to be abandoned.

Source of the Nile discovered.The sources of the Nile had long been the object of much speculation, but comparatively little had been done to solve the question. Towards the latter end of the eighteenth century, Bruce had tracked the Blue Nile to its origin in the Abyssinian mountains, but the White Nile remained unexplored till Speke and Grant, carrying out in 1860-62 an expedition organised by the English Government, proved that the Victoria Nyanza, discovered by Speke[154] in July, 1858.1858, was the source of the Nile.

Sir S. Baker’s expedition in 1861.In 1861 Sir Samuel Baker started on an expedition from Cairo viâ Khartoum, with hopes of meeting the travellers in question, and of making independent investigations on his own account. He was successful in both ways, and his explorations resulted in the discovery, in 1864, of Albert Nyanza Lake. State of the Sudan in 1864.His description of the Sudan at this period under the governorship of a certain Musa Pasha gives a melancholy picture of the results of Egyptian rule. He describes the provinces as utterly ruined and only governed by military force, the revenue unequal to the expenditure, and the country paralysed by excessive taxation; shut in by deserts, all communication with the outer world was most difficult; and the existing conditions rendered these countries so worthless to the State, that their annexation could only be accounted for by the fruits of the slave trade.

Ismail Pasha, 1863.On Ismail Pasha coming to the throne in 1863, orders for the suppression of the slave trade were issued, and on Baker’s return journey in 1865, he found an Egyptian camp of 1,000 men established at Kodok in the Shilluk country for the purpose.

Scheme for railway again brought forward, 1865-66.In 1865-6 the Khedive again brought forward the scheme for a Sudan Railway, and a study of the country from Aswan to Khartoum was made by Mr. Walker and Mr. Bray, but nothing came of it. About the same time Mr. Hawkshaw recommended the canalisation of the 1st Cataract, but this was strongly opposed by Mr. Fowler, who proposed as an alternative to construct a ship incline over land, using the mechanical force supplied by the descending water.

Ismail Pasha not only determined to extend his territories, but seemed in earnest to put down the slave trade.

The traders were chiefly Arab subjects of the Khedive, and the traffic was being carried out under the cloak of legitimate commerce. Khartoum was the headquarters for the trading companies, who leased from the Governor-General of the Sudan certain districts nominally for carrying on the ivory trade, for which they bought the monopoly. In these transactions the Government did not hesitate to lease territories over which they had not a vestige of right; in fact, any portion of Central Africa south of Khartoum was considered open to them for selling the monopoly. The result was that certain traders established themselves in, and claimed a sort of proprietary right to large districts, especially in that part which lies to the South of Darfur and Kordofan, and borders the course of the White Nile, now known as the Bahr El Ghazal. Traffic in slaves was the real business carried on, and for this purpose the traders organised armies of brigands, and formed chains of stations, of about 300 men each, throughout their districts. Raids were made on native tribes, who were obliged to submit, fly the country, or ally themselves to the slave hunters, to be used against other tribes; and anarchy prevailed throughout the country.

In order to carry out the reforms it was necessary to annex the Nile Basin, to establish a sound government and commerce, and to open the Equatorial Lakes to steam navigation. The Khedive accordingly issued a firman to Sir S. Baker on 1st April, 1869.1869, whereby he gave him absolute and supreme power over all the country south of Gondokoro.

Baker left Suez for Suakin in December, 1869, and proceeded to Khartoum, where the expedition was fitted out.

He experienced much opposition from officials, who were all more or less implicated in the slave trade. He also made the discovery that the very provinces he was about to annex were already leased by the Governor-General of the Sudan to a notorious slave-trader, named Ahmed Sheikh Aga, whose son in-law and partner, Abu Saud, was a still more notorious character.

SUDANESE WOMEN.

Another expedition was being fitted out, at the same time, to the Bahr el Ghazal, for the purpose of establishing a settlement at some copper mines on the frontier of Darfur.

Annexation of Gondokoro, May 26th, 1871.In February 1870 Baker left Khartoum, and after several abortive attempts, with great difficulty succeeded in dragging his boats over the sudd in the Bahr El Zeraf and arrived at Gondokoro, and formally annexed this station, as “Ismailia,” on May 26th, 1871. In January, 1872, he left Gondokoro for the south, and on the 14th May of the same year, at Masindi, Unyoro annexed, 14th May, 1872.proclaimed Unyoro an Egyptian province. He organised military posts such at Masindi, Foweira, Fatiko, etc., and entered into friendly relations with M’tesa, the King of Uganda, thus establishing the Khedive’s rule to within 2° of the Equator. He dealt the slave trade a heavy blow by putting a stop to it in the annexed territory, as well as on the Nile, so that all exit for the traffic in the direction of Khartoum would have been closed if the officials could have been trusted.

Baker returns to Cairo, August, 1873.In August, 1873, Baker returned to Cairo, and the Khedive put the Government of the Sudan on a fresh footing, by dividing it into provinces under responsible governors, more or less independent of the Governor of Khartoum. Thus Yusef Effendi was made Governor of Kodok, Ismail Yagub Pasha of Khartoum, and Hussein Khalifa of Berber.

1871. Railway scheme again taken up.In 1871 the railway scheme was again taken up; Mr. Fowler was employed by the Khedive to make careful surveys, and the result was an elaborately prepared project for making a line from Wadi Halfa, viâ Shendi, to Khartoum, with a plan for the passage of the 1st Cataract. Such a line would have been of vast importance in opening up the trade of Central Africa.

1874. Colonel Gordon appointed Governor of Equatorial Provinces.At the close of Sir Samuel Baker’s expedition, the Khedive, still anxious to consolidate his Empire, appointed Colonel Gordon, R.E., to carry on the work. Gordon arrived in Cairo early in 1874, and left for the scenes of his future operations on 21st February. His appointed task was to continue the reconnaissance of the Upper Nile, to establish a Government, and to destroy the slave trade. Accompanying him were Lieut.-Colonel Long, an American officer in the service of the Khedive, Lieut. Hassan Wassif, and a number of European civil employés. It was arranged that the territory over which the Governor-General of the Sudan now ruled was to be limited to the south by Kodok; Gordon to be Governor-General of the Equatorial provinces of the Nile, and the respective headquarters to be at Khartoum and Gondokoro.

Gordon left Khartoum in March, 1874, and reached Gondokoro the 15th of the following month, where he was cordially received by the Commandant, Rauf Bey. He found that the provinces in question were merely nominally under Egyptian control, there being but two garrisons, one at Gondokoro consisting of 450 men, 150 of whom were Egyptian soldiers, and a second at Fatiko of 200 Sudan soldiers. His first steps were to occupy Bor, an important position north of Gondokoro, and to send Colonel Long on an expedition to M’tesa, King of Uganda. Slave stations broken up, 1874.He then in June, 1874, proceeded to break up three large slave-trading stations on the Bahr el Zeraf, and established a strong post at the Sobat junction, so situated as to be able to arrest all illegal traffic on the river. The liberated slaves he, in accordance with their own option, planted at Sobat, and encouraged them to turn their attention to agriculture, it being one of his ideas that most of the wars between the tribes were caused by the great deficiency of food.

During the summer of 1874, Rauf Bey returned to Cairo, and was given the command of the Harrar country. Gordon sent Gessi about the same time to make an inspection along the Bahr el Ghazal.

Abu Saud, notorious in Baker’s time, had accompanied Gordon from Cairo. The latter, though aware of his character, knew him to be a man of great influence among the slave-dealing communities, and determined to turn him to account. On first taking over the government at Gondokoro, he made Abu Saud his lieutenant, and employed many of the other slave dealers under him. This, however, was of short duration; Abu Saud soon got beyond himself, and, showing his true character, was speedily dismissed by Gordon; while, towards the end of the year, a clean sweep was made of all the other slave-dealing Dongolese, whose intrigues had seriously hampered Long’s expedition.

September, 1874. Submission of chiefs round Gondokoro.On 11th September, 1874, 25 chiefs of the tribes round Gondokoro came in to pay homage to Gordon, a remarkable proof of the success of his rule, as up to this they had been at open enmity with the garrisons.

In October Yusef Bey, Governor of Kodok, intercepted a convoy of 1,600 slaves and 190 head of cattle from the stations of Ratatz and Kuchuk Ali on the Bahr El Zeraf.

About this time Gordon was making preparations for his expedition to the lakes. The sections of the steamers, which had been left at Gondokoro by Baker, were sent forward by carriers, to be put together at the Falls of Dufile, beyond which point there is a free passage to the lake Albert Nyanza.

It was decided to establish fortified posts at the following stations:—Labore, Dufile, Fatiko, and Foweira; this step was rendered necessary by the hostile attitude shown towards Colonel Long’s expedition by the King of Unyoro backed up by slave-traders.

1874. Representative sent to M’tesa.In consequence of the report of Colonel Long, who returned in October, Gordon arranged to send a trustworthy representative[155] to M’tesa, King of Uganda, who had shown himself to be friendly.

On the 21st November Gondokoro was abandoned as the headquarters in favour of Lado, a more healthy spot a few miles down the river, while another post was established at Rejaf, a short distance up the river.

At the close of the year 1874 Gordon reported the organisation of governmental districts along the whole line of his provinces, the chief stations being the following:—

1. Sobat, at the junction of the Sobat River with the Nile; garrison, 50 Sudan regulars.

2. Nasser, on the Sobat; garrison, 100 Dongolese irregulars.

3. Ghabatshambe (Shambe), 30 Sudan regulars, 150 Dongolese irregulars.

4. Makaraka, 20 Sudan regulars, 150 Dongolese irregulars.

5. Bor, 10 Sudan regulars, 150 Dongolese irregulars.

6. Latuka, 10 Sudan regulars, 100 Dongolese irregulars.

7. Lado. Headquarters, 180 Sudan regulars, 50 Egyptian regulars.

8. Rejaf, 80 Sudan regulars.

9. Dufile (Ibrahimieh), 10 Sudan regulars.

10. Fatiko, 250 Sudan regulars, 100 Egyptian regulars.

11. Foweira, 100 Sudan regulars, 100 Egyptian regulars.

The results of the nine months’ work are summed up by the Egyptian General Staff[156] as follows:—

1st. The White Nile had been mapped with very considerable accuracy from Khartoum to Rejaf by Lieutenants C. M. Watson and Chippendall, R.E.

2nd. The slave trade on the White Nile had received a deadly blow.

3rd. Confidence and peace had been restored among the tribes round Gondokoro, who now freely brought in for sale their beef, corn, and ivory.

4th. The work of opening a water communication between Gondokoro and the lakes had been seriously commenced.

5th. Communications had been established with M’tesa, and the connection of Lake Victoria with Lake Albert, by the way of the Victoria Nile, demonstrated.

6th. Government districts had been formed and secure posts with intercommunication established.

7th. New expeditions were organised and ready to commence.