Thus it will be found that in many particulars the detail given in the following pages will not at all bear out the descriptions by Schweinfurth and Junker of 20 years or more ago.
(For an abstract of the descriptions by these celebrated travellers, vide H.B.S. pp. 110-138.)
2. General Description.
Boundaries.The Bahr El Ghazal province is bounded on the south and west by the Congo-Nile watershed, on the north by the Bahr El Arab and Bahr El Ghazal, and on the east by the Bahr El Jebel. Its previous history and that of the occupation of this province in 1900-01 by the Sudan Government is narrated elsewhere (vide Part II, Chaps. [V] and [VII]).
The various areas.The northern boundary of the ferruginous tableland through which the western tributaries of the Nile pass from the watershed through the Bahr El Ghazal country may roughly be said to coincide with a line drawn through Rumbek and Chamamui (Chak Chak). North of this and until the sudd is reached, the country is flat, and the soil is clay, with great plains of long grass and many swamps intervening—“The Steppes” of Schweinfurth. North-west of this the country is dry and covered with bush, cut up by small khors, which are full in the rainy season. The sudd extends from Lake No to Meshra El Rek (where a base post has been established), and stretches westwards towards Chamamui, to receive the contents of the Wau, Bongo, and Bahr El Arab rivers.
The table-land.The tableland rises gradually towards the south and west to the watershed, the undulations of the surface becoming more pronounced in this direction, and the khors more defined and frequent. Granitic outcrops, rising to 400 feet in some cases, are numerous along the higher slopes of the watershed. Everywhere ironstone and crystalline rock appear above the thin layer of soil that covers them. Nevertheless, on the lower slopes and in the basins of the various khors the soil is profitable and fertile, generally of a rich copper colour with a certain amount of sandstone soil. In Telgona district and the country round, especially to the north and west, are several granitic outcrops, the seven-peaked Telgona and the conical hill of Lutu being the most remarkable. Great forests cover the country almost throughout from east to west. In the steppes of the lower level there are many grass plains, which become vast swamps in the rains. In the table-land the open plains are of no great area.
Soil and geological formation.The soil, both in the swamps and in the land liable to annual inundation, is a rich black clayey loam. In the portions further away from the rivers there is often a large mixture of sand washed down from the higher lands. Most of it is, however, very suitable for cultivation. Alluvial plains border one or both banks of all the more important rivers for a considerable distance up their courses. It is only in the upper reaches that the alluvial deposits almost disappear and that the rocky tree-clad slopes descend abruptly to the river. The soil on the higher lands is usually sandy, and clayey in depressions or near streams. It overlies a pitted, ferruginous stone or laterite, which, in its turn, rests on granite, which in places degenerates into gneiss, schists, or quartzite. These granitic rocks are, as a rule, not visible in the lower portion of the highlands, which only show abundance of ironstone, but further inland outcrops of granite become more frequent, and the country becomes more undulating, forming long, low hill ranges, or throwing up solitary granitic hills, usually rounded in outline, but occasionally more rugged in appearance.
3. Rivers and Water Supply.
Rivers.The surface of the Bahr El Ghazal country is intersected by many rivers threading their way from the watershed towards the Nile. Passing through the lower plateaux of the tableland, they are mostly fine broad rivers, with high banks and sandy bottoms, and are generally similar in formation. The Boro, Sopo, Chel, Sueh or Jur, and Rodi vary from 80 to 130 yards in breadth, and should be navigable for small craft, when in flood, for considerable distances. The current in flood is not more than 2 knots per hour. The Jur River is navigable for steamers from its mouth as far as the “Poste des Rapides” at Rafili, and probably above this point by light draught steamers to Khojali, from August till November. In the tableland and higher plateaux of the watershed, these rivers are fed by many streams running down from the slopes and hills. On the other hand, in the lower steppes to the north, the water runs up into many khors and swamps, which break away from the banks. Lower down, the banks disappear altogether, and the waters are discharged into the sudd.
Drainage of the country.The western portion of the Bahr El Ghazal is drained, at least in its more elevated portions, by several rivers running in a more or less northerly direction. These are, beginning from the east: The Rohl (Naam) River, the Jau, the Tonj River, the Jur River, with its more important branch the Wau River, the Bongo River, and the Chel River, which, not far from Deim Zubeir, unites two branches, the Kuru and the Biri Rivers. There are also less important rivers, such as the Mulmul and the Getti, which do not flow during the dry weather. The most important of all, on account of its volume of water, is the River Jur or Sueh, which, flowing from Tembura’s country past Wau, joins the Bahr El Ghazal some 20 miles below Meshra el Rek. The courses of the other rivers, whether ultimately falling into the Bahr El Ghazal itself, or first joining the Bahr Telgona or Bahr El Arab, have not yet been properly explored, and the exploration is rendered difficult by the fact that, owing to the flatness of the country in their lower courses, the water spreads all over the land and forms enormous swamps which stretch to those which join the Bahr El Ghazal itself. The Jur itself, powerful a stream as it is, does not break the rule, and the parties occupied in cutting its sudd had great difficulty in tracing the channel when crossing the swamps. According to its drainage, then, the country can be divided into three zones, viz., (a) the perennial swamps near the mouths of the rivers, (b) the somewhat raised alluvial flats further up, which are liable to inundation during the rains, and (c) the undulating plateaux or hilly country in the upper reaches.