The Nile in 1904

by Sir William Willcocks

The Albert Nile takes 22 days in flood and 25 days in low supply to traverse the distance from Lake Albert to the Sobat mouth. The White Nile takes 21 days in flood and 28 days in low supply to reach Khartoum. Consequently from Lake Albert to Khartoum we have 43 days in flood and 53 days in low supply.

From Khartoum to Assuân the Nile takes 11 days in flood and 22 days in low supply, and consequently from Lake Albert to Assuân we have 54 days in flood and 75 days in low supply.

From Assuân to Cairo we have 6 days in flood and 12 days in low supply.

[Table III] is very interesting and well worth study. Through the Sudd region we have a velocity of ·6 metres per second, but only of ·35 metres per second in the White Nile. In Egypt the Nile in flood has a velocity of 1·75 metres per second, and in low supply of ·85 metres per second.

5. Catchment basins of the Nile and its tributaries.

—[Table I], of [Appendix A] gives the areas of the catchment basins of the Nile. The total area according to the table is 3,007,000 square kilometres. The limits of the basin are depicted on [Plate I], and, with rare exceptions, they are now fairly well known everywhere. North of the 20th parallel of latitude the watershed on the west of the Nile is not far removed from the edge of the plateau skirting the Nile valley. The plateau falls away to the west, and occasional ravines find their way to the Nile down the reverse slope. On the east of the Nile the crest of the hills skirting the Red sea is the watershed. South of the 20th parallel of latitude the eastern watershed follows the crest of the hills on the west of the Red sea as far as Suakin. South of Suakin the watershed leaves the Red sea, to allow the Khor Barraka to flow into this sea. From the south east of Kassala, round by Addis Ababa, the watershed follows the crest of the high hills forming the eastern backbone of Abyssinia, and dividing the waters of the Nile from those flowing into the Indian Ocean. South west of Abyssinia the watershed travels in a south-westerly direction to the east of Gondokoro, and divides the Sobat from the rivers draining into Lake Rudolf. The watershed then moves due south to the western escarpment east of Lake Victoria. Mounts Kenia and Kilmanjaro are not within the basin of the Nile. Sweeping in a rough curve round Lake Victoria and nearly touching Lake Tangangyika in 4° south latitude, the watershed keeps close to the western shores of Lakes Edward and Albert to nearly opposite Wadelai. All the slopes of the Ruenzori mountains drain into the Nile.

From near Wadelai the watershed moves in a north-westerly direction along the hills dividing the waters of the tributaries of the Gazelle river from the Welle. Due west of the Sudd region the watershed has reached its most westerly position and from there turns northwards along the Marrah hills in Darfur, dividing the scanty waters of the Bahr-el-Arab and its tributaries from the rivers draining into Lake Chad. From the Marrah hills the watershed travels in a north-easterly direction to a point close to the Nile on the 20th parallel of latitude near Hannek.

Of the lands enclosed within this watershed, all that are drained directly into the Main Nile are desert. There are occasional showers, and some of the valleys and ravines carry water for a few hours every year, others every second, third or fourth year, but they contribute practically nothing to the volume of the Nile. The rains generally come in the winter when the Nile is falling every day, and the steady fall of the Nile is never arrested by the waters of any or all of these watercourses. The country west of the White Nile past Kordofan and Darfur to the Marrah hills is steppe land producing scanty grasses and forests of low accacias in the south, and rising to a general height of about 600 metres at the Marrah hills. The lands drained by the Gazelle river and the Albert Nile north of Gondokoro are flat plains or swamps in the north and east, and wooded and broken ground in the west and south-west, where the tributaries of the Gazelle river rise in the Blue mountains at a general height of 1500 metres. The upper waters of the Sobat and its tributaries drain the well wooded and cultivated mountain masses of Gallaland and then traverse the marshes and flat lands which lie east of the Sudd region. The Blue Nile and its upper tributaries drain the choicest portions of the high Abyssinian mountain plateau lying over 2000 metres above sea level, and rising in places to 2500 metres and upwards. The lower courses of the Blue Nile, the Rahad and the Dinder are through the black cotton soil plains of the eastern Sudan, which are either wooded or covered with dense grass in the south. The Atbara and its tributaries in their upper courses drain the northern slopes of the Abyssinian plateau, and traverse the level plains of the eastern Sudan in a direction parallel to the Blue Nile.

The Albert Nile and its tributaries between Gondokoro and Lake Albert traverse the broken and hilly country which is cut through by the Albert Nile at the Fola and succeeding rapids. The catchment basins of Lakes Victoria and Albert are the undulating hills, the flat marshy valleys, the great lakes and, in parts, high hills which constitute the highlands of Central Africa. The general level of the area may be taken as 1400 metres above sea level.

The area draining into Lake Victoria is 240,000 square kilometres. At the outlet of Lake Albert this has increased to 380,000, and at Gondokoro to 470,000. The Gazelle river drains 470,000 square kilometres, and the Sobat 160,000. The White Nile drains altogether 1,690,000 square kilometres, or more than half the total area of the catchment basin of the Nile. The Blue Nile drains 300,000 square kilometres and the Atbara 240,000. The Nile below the Atbara junction is draining 2,290,000 square kilometres. Between the Atbara mouth and the sea, the Nile drains whatever falls on a desert area of 720,000 square kilometres.