FORESTS.
In the Sudan, north of Khartoum, forests are scarce and of little extent. Scattered trees of “Samr” (Acacia tortilis) reach right into the desert, while on the occasionally flooded “Karu” land, between the desert and cultivation, is an open growth of the above with “Selem” (Acacia Ehrenbergii), “Sayal” (Acacia spirocarpa), “Hashab” (Acacia Verek), “Tundub” (Capparis aphylla), “Marakh” (Leptadenia Spartium), etc.
South of Khartoum till about parallel 12° N. the forests consist mostly of belts, usually not of very great width, lining the banks of the rivers and khors. In these belts the most valuable tree is the “Sant” or “Sunt” (Acacia arabica), known not only for the strength of its wood, but for the tanning properties of its bark and seed pod, and also for its excellence as fuel, as well as for its value for boat building.
Inland, there are open woods of “Heglig” (Balanites ægyptiaca), “Talh,” and “Hashab,” or dense thickets of “Kittr” (Acacia mellifera) and “Laot” (Acacia nubica).
It is in this zone that the open woods of “Hashab” (Acacia verek), in Kordofan, are carefully tended and preserved against fire for the sake of their gum which is exported as “Hashab Geneina”; the gum from the unprotected forests fetching a lower price as “Hashab Gezira,” or “Gezira,” while that from other acacias is known as “Talh,” as the Talh tree is the chief producer.
South of 12° N., where the rainfall is more abundant, the forest on the White Nile is, as far as the northern limits of the Sudd, of similar character, only large tracts have been cleared near the river by the Shilluks, and Sant has completely disappeared and is not replaced by trees of equivalent value.
On the Blue Nile the forest changes in character. Not far from the river are numerous gigantic Baobabs (“Tebeldi,” Adansonia digitata) and “Tarfa” (Sterculia cinerea), while the most abundant trees are the graceful “Silag” (Anogeissus leiocarpus) and the Sudan ebony (“Babanus,” Dalbergia melanoxylon).
In these two species, as well as in some others, these forests are like those on the higher lands of the Bahr El Ghazal province and parts of Southern Kordofan. The Bahr El Ghazal forests cover the larger portion of the ironstone deposits in that province, and, as far as quality goes, are probably the finest found in the Sudan, many trees of great height and girth being found there, one of them, the African mahogany (“Homraya,” Khaya senegalensis), having a beautiful timber, already known to commerce. It is in these forests that rubber-producing lianas are most abundant, the best of them being “Ndala” or “Odilo” (Landolphia owariensis), vide [Chapter VII.]
The forests on the Bahr El Jebel and the woodlands of the Bahr El Ghazal province are more like those on the Upper White Nile, but some other trees appear, and the forests are not only in belts, but cover large areas. Near Mongalla the ironstone appears, and the forests partake of the same character as those of the Upper Bahr El Ghazal.
The forests on the Abyssinian and Eritrean frontiers have not yet been explored by an expert.