22 Bird Hunting on the White Nile. 



Nile almost opposite Khartoum. Here we were greeted 

 by a dust storm, which is no unusual thing at Halfaya, 

 a fact which has given the place a nickname of much the 

 same sound but of a deeper significance. After con- 

 siderable delay we embarked on a steamer — a dahabeah 

 — which was to take us over to Omdurman, and upon 

 which we were to live during our brief sojourn there. 

 Steaming down the Blue Nile towards Omdurman we 

 had a good view of Khartoum, which is built along the 

 southern bank of the river amidst a grove of palm trees. 

 It will be remembered that Khartoum was deserted, and 

 converted into little less than a heap of ruins by the 

 Mahdi, who set up his capital at Omdurman, a mere 

 village at the time of the fall of Khartoum. 



We are now reverting to the old order of things, and 

 although at present nearly all the business both official 

 and private is transacted at Omdurman, yet Khartoum 

 will soon become again the chief town and centre of the 

 Soudan. At the time of our visit few buildings in 

 Khartoum were completed, but along the bank of the 

 river houses and government offices were springing up, 

 to say nothing of a fair-sized hotel. But the buildings 

 to which most interest attaches are the Sirdar's palace 

 and the Gordon Memorial College. The palace, which 

 had been completed and occupied for some time, is a 



