THE DESERTS 23 



as an old friend the constant companion of the salmon- 

 fisher in Iceland, or in subarctic Norway ; yet equally 

 at home here in scorching- tropic. No "creations" of 

 costumier could conceivably fit in with each and every 

 pre-requisite of an environment so widely varied. The 

 white wagtail recognises that fact, and has selected a 

 single modest dress which -serves equally for all parts and 

 purposes. 



Beyond Atbara lies another 200 miles of flat and 

 featureless desert ; but during that afternoon we cross 

 Blue Nile and steam into Khartoum twenty-two hours' 

 run from the Red Sea. Such is the Eastern Gateway. 

 There exists no other access to the Sudan, save, as it were, 

 by a "back-door" through British East, the Victoria 

 Nyanza, Uganda, and the Nile sources. 



(n) THE INTERIOR DESERTS 



The average traveller who, from saloon-window, has 

 surveyed those hundreds of miles of desert which cut off 

 Khartoum from the outer world, devoutly prays that 

 never again may his sight be shocked by scenes of the 

 like desolation. Deliberately to undertake an expedition 

 beyond the fringe, he would regard as madness. Different 

 impulses actuate the field-naturalist. These spring from 

 no mere idle curiosity but from an instinct to ascertain 

 something of what may lie in the unknown beyond, even 

 though the external aspect be abhorrent. Our own modest 

 expeditions alike in the Red Sea hills and here on the 

 eastern verge of Sahara revealed unsuspected charms 

 and leave nothing but pleasant memories. 



After all, there are deserts and deserts. Those of the 

 north (Nubia), as already indicated, lie wholly beyond 

 the area of rainfall, and for their unredeemed hideousness 

 I offer no apology. Further south, however, the deserts 

 that I here desire to picture do share in some degree 

 the seasonal rainfalls that refresh the regions around 



