VII 



KHARTOUM AND OMDURMAN 



IT will be less difficult for me to describe 

 these two towns if I take them together and 

 flit backwards and forwards across the river 

 as occasion demands ; and, indeed, Khar- 

 toum and Omdurman are one so far as trade and 

 administration go, and are known to the outside 

 world as one — the capital of the Sudan. 



Before I go any further, however, it will be 

 just as well to mention that the description which 

 follows records my first impression of the place 

 when I saw it as a complete stranger at the 

 Christmas of 1907. 



Certain inaccuracies must therefore be forgiven 

 me. I know the place better now, but still would 

 like to describe it as I then saw it, as it would be 

 hopeless to confound to-day with two years ago. 



I had long wished to visit Khartoum, and from 

 the south — by the same route that I actually did. 

 The fine old temples and tombs, magnificent 

 monuments of a dead and gone civilization, would, 

 I knew, appeal to me tremendously ; but I wished 

 to approach the historic place from the south — by 

 the toilsome route I did actually take — and not 



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