| Bahr El Jebel— | ||
| At Wadelai | 127000 | dry season. |
| At Bor | 112100 | flood season. |
| At 830 kilometres from Lake Albert | 122500 | flood season. |
| At Hellet-el-Nuer | 140000 | flood season. |
| At „ „ | 116500 | dry season. |
| At Lake No | 187500 | flood season. |
| At „ | 154000 | dry season. |
| White Nile— | ||
| Above Sobat | 120000 | dry season. |
| At Dueim | 1100000 | when Blue Nile has fallen and the While Nileis at its maximum. |
| At Dueim | 150000 | dry season. |
| Blue Nile | ||
| At Khartoum | 111200 | flood season. |
| (See also footnote on [p. 111,] giving a short table of comparativedischarges.) | ||
(iv.)—NAVIGABILITY (UP STREAM).
Between Halfa and Khartoum (880 miles) the river may be said to be navigable throughout at high Nile.
Details are given below as to the various cataracts to be encountered, but it may be broadly said that, although difficult, it is not impossible to get boats and steamers through in the time of the flood. At low Nile most, if not all, of the cataracts are unnavigable.
Before the Nile Expedition of 1884-85 steamers and boats were taken over the 2nd cataract. During the expedition both were taken over the 3rd cataract and intervening rapids, and boats (whalers) successfully surmounted the 4th cataract. In 1897 gunboats and other steamers were hauled over the latter place, and the rocks of the 5th and 6th cataracts have never, when there was enough water, offered serious resistance to the passage of boats or steamers.
From Khartoum to Gondokoro, practically 1,100 miles, the only obstacles to navigation at any time of the year are:—
- 1. The Abu Zeid Ford (occasionally only), and the Azalet or Dankul Rocks near Jebelein, vide [p. 59.]
- 2. Scarcity of fuel.
- 3. The sudd.
- 4. Sand-banks.
2. Fuel.—One of the great economic questions of the Sudan which would give rise to anxiety were not the Nile-Red Sea Railway already in course of construction is the future supply of fuel. Imported coal now costs £E.4 to £E.6 per ton, and petroleum £6 to £E.11·500 per ton at Khartoum. Though a bed of lignitic coal has been discovered at Dongola, no other coal, nor even lignite, has so far been located within our boundaries. Wood therefore, is and will for some time remain the chief source of fuel supply. The large demand which arose with the development of Khartoum has caused the destruction of forest belts along the White and Blue Niles to a considerable distance from Khartoum, and although the Forest Department has now control of the fellings, the enormous demand is making inroads into the forests from which subsequent fires preclude recovery.
Wood stations for steamers are established at different points along the banks, at distances usually sufficiently near to obviate steamers taking too heavy a load, but there is a long gap between Khor Attar wood station and Kanisa (about 380 miles), which necessitates steamers carrying a large amount of firewood to enable them to cross the sudd region. As there is a heavy tax on the forests at these wood stations, the fellings are getting farther and farther away from the bank, and tramways are necessary to work the more remote portions of the forest.
3. The Sudd.—A full description of the formation of and methods of dealing with the sudd are given in [Appendix B.] The Nile was blocked by the sudd from 1870-4, 1878-81, in 1884, and from 1895 to 1900.