138 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[Jl-NE, 1901. 



It is remarkable how regular a stride and how even 

 a pace the baggage camel will keep up hour after hour. 

 Two aud a half miles an hour is his pace, and twenty 

 miles is for him a good day's journey. As the camels 

 carried our food, tents, beds, and indeed all our baggage, 

 we had to arrange our day's march according to theirs, 

 our procedure being generally as follows: — Rising just 

 before the sun (about 5 o'clock) we breakfasted, struck 

 tents, packed up and got away about seven, marched for 

 five hours, then rested during the heat of the day. and 

 mai-clied again for some two or three hours in the after- 

 noon, getting into camp as the sun was going down, 

 about 6.30. We travelled thus to a point some ten 

 miles south of a town named Kawa, on the east bank 

 of the White Nile, about l.jO miles south of Khartoum, 

 and there we stopped and made our first collecting 

 camp. 



A reference to the accompanying sketch map will give 

 an idea of our route. We marched as a rule close along 

 the river, which was in many ways more convenient 

 and pleasant than the desert track. At high Nile the 

 route by the river is impossible, as much of the laud is 

 then flooded, and long detours here aud there are neces- 

 sary to avoid the " Khors " (equivalent to the Scuth 

 African " dongas ' ). some of which during the rains 

 are often impassable torrents, whereas in the hot season 

 they are merely dry watercourses. Often we rode for 

 miles along the narrow strip of short grass which iu 

 places grows by the river, but now and again this 

 pleasant going gave way to soft sand which was trying 

 for the donkeys, and, if a heavy wind was blowing, dis- 

 agreeable for us. But more annoying still, and more 

 frequent, were the wide stretches of mud covered by 

 the river during its flood, but now hard, caked and 

 Clacked in every direction by the powerful sun. So 

 large and deep were these cracks, and so numeroiis, that 

 our donkeys continually got their legs into them, the 

 result often being a sudden collapse of the beast and the 

 discomfiture of the rider, while sometimes a donkey's 

 legs became so firmly fixed in a crack that it required 

 our united efforts to lift him out again. After due 

 experience of this method of travelling we avoided the 

 wider stretches of mud by turning off into the desert 

 track, which although hot and dusty, was at all events 

 firm. 



One does not need to travel far up the White Nile 

 ill the dry season to be impressed by the glaring fact 

 that the life of every man, beast and bird in the country 

 is entirely dependent upon the river. Beasts such as 

 camels and even goats can be gradually trained to exist 

 without water for as long as two or three days, but man 

 cannot live long in this burning country without the life- 

 giving water, as many a poor wretch has proved, while 

 birds are even niore dependent upon it. There is no 

 dew, and save for a small well here and there at kng 

 intervals, water can only be had at the river. Man. or 

 rather woman for him. has to come there to get his 

 water, and thither he has to drive his camels, cattle 

 and goats, often from long distances, to drink. 



To the river every morning and evening, as 

 regular as clockwork, flock after flock of sand- 

 grouse and pigeons come down to drink. All 

 day long small birds are passing to and fiom 

 the trees and bushes to the river's edge, while at 

 dawn or in the evening, wild beasts of many kinds come 

 from their haunts on the same errand. But man is 

 dependent upon the river not only for the water he 

 drinks, but largely also for his food. It is true tiuit 



much " dhura," the corn of the country, is grown 

 during the rainy season out of reach of the Nile even at 

 its greatest height, but by far the larger part and the 

 richer part of the culti- 

 \atable land is the mud 

 which so troubled oni' 

 donkeys, and this mud 

 is entirely dependent 

 u|)on the flooding of the 

 river to render it fit for 

 agriculture. The same 

 may be said of the 

 islands in the river, 

 which are covei'ed at 

 high Nile, aud after- 

 wards prove of the 

 utmost value for culti-' 

 vatiou. So rich is the 

 land on these islands 

 that even the lazy 

 Soudanese find it worl h 

 their while further to 

 utilize the river liy 

 raising the water with 

 the " shadoof," and so 

 continue cultivation 

 during the dry season. 

 At the time of our 

 journey these islands 

 were almost the only 

 green spots iu a wilder- 

 ness of brown and sun- 

 scorched land. At long 

 intervals only, did one 

 or two "shadoofs" keep 

 green some small 

 patches of onions, water 

 melons or beans on the 

 mainland. 



As a highway, the 

 river is extremely valu- 

 able. Sailing boats of 

 vai'iouskinds — gyassas, 

 feluccas, nuggars aud 

 even dahabiehs — are 

 continually travelling 

 up and down laden with 

 corn and other produce, 

 while rafts of all sizes are numerous 



Skftcli Mail, sliowing route and 

 cullecting camps. 



The timber forming a 

 raft is generally of the *^sont" tree, a species of acacia, aud 

 is cut by a few natives who join together for the pur- 

 pose. When tlic wood is cut and floated, and the raft 

 completed, they thrust it out into the river, and are then 

 entirely at the mercy of the current, which flows some 

 one or two miles an hour in the dry season. These men 

 make their home on the raft, protecting themselves from 

 the sun by iinjirovising awnings of the cloths which they 

 wrap round their bodies at night. Eventually the 

 current carries them to Omdurman, where they get a~ 

 good price for the wood as fuel, which is exceedingly 

 scarce near the town. 



Besides the sailing boats and rafts, steamers ply up 

 and down the White Nile at least three times a month, 

 to carry passengers, and to take rations and other things 

 to the troops stationed at various points. Now that a 

 channel has been cut through the Sudd on the upper 

 White Nile the river is navigable for 1000 miles south 

 of Kliai'touni. Prom Cairo to Khartoum is some 1500 

 miles by river. Some day when channels have been cut 

 flirougli the cataracts, by no means a very icniote pro- 



