AroisT, 1901.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



175 



banks ai-e flooded half-way up tlieir trunks. These trees 

 ai'e numerous and ot a fair si7,o, but tlicy quiikly 

 decrease in number and height the further tlioy grow 

 from the water, and ;ue soon replaced by tall hushes. 

 The bushes struggle onwards, becoming gradually 

 smaller and getting thinner, until they finally succumb 

 to the want of water. Beyond, as far as the eye can 

 sec, stretches a Hat desert with here and there a thorny 

 leafless bush or a clump of withered grass, while near 

 and far the deceitful mirage sets forth its enticing pools 

 and ponds and lakes — a mock vegetation and a mock 

 water in a merciless fierj- land. This desert is formed 

 for the most part of a grey and gritty cotton-soil, but 

 in a few places it is of a trae yellow sand. 



At several points in our route there were " st.atioiis," 

 where a large amount of wood is cut and collected for 



it '. ' > ^ 



Fig. 1 — Building a Square Brick Hut. Tlie bricks in the foreground 

 are baking in the sun. 



the use of the steamers. Notwithstanding the scarcity 

 of timber near Khartoum, and the fact that no other 

 fuel is available, the gangs of natives employed to chop 

 this wood were not then under sufficient supervision. 

 The consequence was that much wood had been wasted 

 and many fine trees ruthlessly maimed. We often passed 

 a mile or two of stumps four or five feet high left in the 

 ground, " and so many of the best trees had been 

 mercilessly lopped by the careless and ignorant natives, 

 that near these wood stations it was often impossible 

 to find shade for our tents. I was assured, however, 

 at Omdurman. that the method of cutting the timber 

 would shortly be improved. 



The mimosa bushes, which form the dense under- 

 gro%vth, are thickly covered with thorns of three to 

 five inches in length, exceedingly sharp and strong, and 

 of a dazzling white as though they were enamelled. 

 As we ran short of pins we found these thorns exceed- 

 ingly useful in packing our bird skins, but they made 

 the country difficult to '" negotiate." One was driven 

 through my boot into the foot, another .pierced the leg 

 of one of my companions, and a third completely lamed 

 a donkey for a month. The acacia trees, too, are 

 plentifully provided with smaller but no less annoying 

 thorns, and there are but two varieties of bushes with- 

 out them. 



Perhaps I have not drawn a very enchanting pictm-e 

 of the country it was ovu* good fortune to work in, yet, 

 notwithstanding its undoubtedly monotonous character 

 and the lack of the pleasing colours and sun effects of 

 Egypt, there is a peculiar fascination about this country 

 near Khartoum. Its very extent and barrenness are a 

 charm and confer an exalted idea of freedom on the 



traveller, while the scarcity of cover causes the naturalist 

 to search through what little there is with an 

 exaggerated delight and keenness. 



The natives of these parts rarely lived under the trees. 

 Every village of any importance was situated on the 

 bare desert with no protection from the burning sun or 

 scorching wind. In the vicinity of the villages there 

 were always to be found large patches of ground used 

 as cemeteries. The graves were the slightest mounds, 

 having a stone, or a stick with a piece of white cloth tied 

 to it, planted at either end, while a number of broken 

 pitchers were placed bottom upwards here and there 

 amongst the graves. The huts composing the larger 

 villages were usually round in shape with conical straw 

 roofs, the walls being built with bricks, which are burnt, 

 only by the heat of the sun. Some were square with 

 Hat roofs built in the same way as the majority of those 

 in Omduiinan, while a few had a i"ough verandah in 

 front. All along our route, however, there was a great 

 number of people living in veiy small huts which could 

 be " stnick ' and moved about almost as easily as tents. 

 These huts varied in shape and in the material with 

 which they were constructed. Some were round with 

 conical roofs and were entirely made of " dhura " straw, 

 while a few were dome-shaped. The majority, however, 

 were oblong, measuring about 6 feet broad and 

 7 or 8 feet long. These were not more than 5 feet 

 l.igh, and had flat roofs usually made of straw or 

 matting, but sometimes of fo^dder, so that more than 

 I nee a native sold us half his roof as food for our camels, 

 ^traw, cane matting, or cloth was used indiscriminately 

 lor the walls. The rough cloth used for this purpose is 

 made of a mixture of goats' hair and sheep's wool, 

 which is spun by the women on to a rough spindle in 

 the same way that they spin cotton. A primitive loom 

 is made on the ground with poles held in position by 

 pegs driven into the sand, and the women while weaving 

 squ.at down under a temporary sun-shelter. These 

 movable dwellings were sometimes placed under trees, 



FiO. 2. — A Dome-shaped liut witli a " Veranduli." ]lie hut i.s made 

 of matting and i-loth, 



but generally in the open, and there were seldom more 

 than six or eight together. The natives inhabiting 

 them were very shy, and twice when we pitched our 

 tents near an encampment the people were soon busy 



