Between the Atbara and Shendi (86 miles) there is little variety in the river scenery.[28] The average height of the banks over the river is from 25-28 feet; the channel is broad and interspersed with many sandbanks and islands. The eastern bank is flat, and covered with a thick growth of scrub and thorn bushes; the soil is good, but the halfa grass, owing to years of neglect, has got such a hold that very considerable labour is necessary in order to remove it and render the land fit for cultivation. The western bank is lower, and the strip of cultivable land much narrower than on the eastern shore. In places, ravines or “khors” run back from the river, and these in flood must be full of water. The whole tract has a most desolate appearance; villages are few and poor; inhabitants and cattle are wanting, although a few small flocks of sheep and goats are occasionally met with; here and there a sagia is at work; but the cultivation is confined chiefly to the foreshore of the river and to the islands. At certain points low ranges of hills, such as Jebel Egerdan and Jebel Umali approach the river on either side. Fuel is fairly plentiful, and everywhere the thorn jungle has encroached and swallowed up the areas which were once under cultivation. The depopulation of this district must date from a period anterior to the Dervish rule. Sir Samuel Baker, on visiting the country in 1869, noted the deterioration and desolation which had ensued since his visit of a few years previous. He attributed this ruin to the misgovernment of the Turkish Governor-General.
The “Pyramids of Meroe” are passed about the 17th parallel; they lie close to villages named Maruga and Sur. The district here between the Atbara and the Nile was in ancient times termed the “Island” of Meroe. (See [Chap. IV] and [Appendix D.])
Shendi.Shendi, 86 miles from Atbara mouth, situated on the right bank of the river and on rocky ground, which extends for half a mile above and below the town, was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Meroe, and is said to have been the residence of the famous Queen of Sheba. Ismail Pasha, son of Mohammed Ali, was here burnt in his hut by the Jaalin in 1822, in revenge for his barbarities. The town and inhabitants were destroyed in 1823 by Mohammed Ali. It is now reviving considerably, and is the headquarters of the Cavalry in the Sudan; it owes its selection chiefly to the fine grazing, the gravel soil, and the level country around it.
Metemma.Four miles beyond Shendi, on the left bank, lies Metemma, the terminus of the trans-Bayuda route from Korti (vide [ Vol. II]), used by the Desert Column in 1885. The town was not assaulted or taken by our troops on that occasion, but was the object of a reconnaissance in force, 21st January, 1885; it lay dormant until 1897, when it became the headquarters of a projected rising against the Dervishes by the Jaalin tribe. Mahmud, however, was warned in time, and exterminated the conspirators and all their belongings. Over 2,000 Jaalin were killed and the town was destroyed. It is still a deserted ruin, lying over a mile from the river, but is easily recognisable by the solitary grove of date palms which stands out as a landmark in the flat and treeless plain. Here the western desert approaches the water’s edge, but a little cultivation is carried on upon the foreshore and the large island in front of the town. The remains of five Dervish earthworks still exist upon the bank up-stream of the town, and another (masked) upon the island. One-and a half miles up-stream lies the former village of Gubat, the furthest point reached by the Desert Column in 1885.
Between Metemma and Wad Habashi the whole country appears to be deserted, and there is a complete absence of life. At one point a series of honey-combed cliffs approaches the river, and runs parallel with it for some 5 miles.
Wad Habashi.Wad Habashi (left bank), 42 miles from Shendi, was the starting point of the 1898 Omdurman Expedition. The soil here is excellent, and the land must once have been cultivated, as traces of the old water-courses are still visible. It is now covered with a dense growth of acacia jungle and halfa grass, which stretches in a thick belt for some 2 miles from the Nile.
JAALIN SHEPHERD SCENE.
CORN GRINDING STONES, OMDURMAN.