The Tribes of Northern and Central Kordofdn. 



By H. A. Mac Michael, Sudan Civil Seiince, late Scholar 

 of Magdalene College. Cambridge. 



Cambridge Archaeological and Ethnological Series. Demy 8vo. pp. xvi + 260. 

 With 19 plates and a map in pocket. Price lay. 6d. net. 



Extract from the Preface 



My aim has been to describe, however imperfect may be 

 the result, the antecedents of the tribes at present inhabiting 

 the province in so far as any information upon the subject can 

 be gleaned from extraneous sources or from current native 

 tradition. At the same time, while as a general rule planning 

 to omit minute descriptions of people and places, and avoiding 

 discussion of current questions, whether political or commercial, 

 I have found it advisable to make occasional exceptions where 

 understanding of the conditions of the past and the links 

 connecting it with the present would have been impaired by 



such unnecessary limitation in the scope of the work Of the 



present condition of affairs it is sufficient to say that the 

 greatest need of Kordofan is an increased agricultural and 

 industrial population. Its revenue is consistently and con- 

 siderably in excess of its expenditure, thanks to the wealth, 

 still largely undeveloped, of its extensive gum forests. At 

 present the less productive or more expensive provinces of 

 the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan swallow the surplus provided by 

 Kordofan ; but when they become self-supporting Kordotan 

 will be able amply to justify a more generous expenditure 

 upon its own necessities of the funds that it supplies. Though 

 irrigated by no river, its natural resources are not inconsider- 

 able. Cattle and sheep in immense numbers can be reared, 

 and the wells can be greatly increased in number and improved: 

 huge areas can be placed under cultivation by corn, sesame, 

 ground nuts, "senat," and similar products: the trade in 

 ostrich-feathers, which is already considerable, would offer no 

 mean .prospects if adequately organised and controlled under 

 expert management ; and the gum forests are capable of 

 almost indefinite development. Hitherto the expense of 

 transport to the river has been a serious drawback but in 

 January 191 2 the railway reached El Obeid, and the effect of 

 the changed conditions is already apparent. 



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