.i8 



NATURE 



[July 25, 1901 



register of the rainfall only dates from a very recent period, and 

 consequently no comparison can be made with the fall of previous 

 years. Again, the available knowledge of the many factors, 

 which together combine to produce the annual rise of the White 

 Nile, is at present extremely scanty. 



" Lastly, as has been already stated, the Albert Nyanza Lake 

 must exercise a most important influence upon the volume of the 

 river, but no attempt has as yet been made to collect information 

 regarding it. It is most desirable that a regular register of its 

 levels and its rainfall should be commenced and maintained as 

 soon as possible." 



The Sudd in the Bahr-d-Gebel. — Major Peake's sudd-cutting 

 party removed, in all, fourteen blocks of sudd during 1900. 

 Some of these blocks were, in places, a mile in length and from 

 15 to 20 feet in thickness. The surface of the river channel 

 was completely closed, and the stream passed underneath the 

 sudd with a high velocity. Sir William Garstin remarks that a 

 visit to the work changed many preconceived ideas as the nature 

 of the obstruction. Instead of the sudd being, as had been 

 supposed, a tangle of weed floating on the water and descending 

 a few feet below the surface, it proved, in most cases, to be a mass 

 of decayed vegetation, papyrus roots and earth, much resembling 

 peat in its consistency, and compressed into such solidity by the 

 force of the current that men could walk over it everywhere, 

 and even elephants could, in places, cross it without danger. 

 The most eft'ectual method of removing it was found to be by 

 cutting deep trenches on the surface, thus dividing it into 

 rectangular blocks of some to feet square. These were hauled 

 out, block by block, .by means of chains and wire hawsers 

 attached to the gun-boats. 



Two portions of the Bahr-el-Gebel still remain uncleared. 

 The one commences at 140 miles south of Lake No, and is some 

 25 miles in length. The other is some 52 miles further south and 

 about three miles long. In both instances the true channel of 

 the river is blocked by sudd, and it now follows a false channel ; 

 in the former instance it passes through a series of broad, shallow 

 lakes. 



Survey of the Cataract Region. — Lord Cromer states that the 

 construction of the Nile Reservoirs is now so far advanced that the 

 time has arrived when further studies of the river may usefully be 

 made.sothat, should it eventually be found necessary to still further 

 augment the water supply of Egypt, the requisite information 

 for the preparation of the project, or projects, shall be at the 

 disposal of the Ministry of Public Works. One of the first 

 steps necessary to attain this end is to make an accurate survey 

 of the Nile Valley where it passes through the cataract region 

 south of Wady Haifa. It may eventually be decided that a 

 second reservoir is not the best means of supplementing the 

 summer volume of the river, but that it will be more advisable 

 to obtain it by regulating the outlets of the Equatorial and 

 Abyssinian Lakes, by opening up the Bahr-el-Gebel, or some 

 other large scheme. Until, however, a thorough knowledge of 

 the river, as a whole, has been obtained, it would be premature 

 and unadvisable to take any decision whatsoever. The present 

 work is a commencement in this direction, and even should 

 the results obtained, as regards the construction of another 

 dam, prove to be negative, the information thus acquired 

 will be invaluable to those charged with the control of the 

 river. 



It is proposed, therefore, to survey the cataract region, at the 

 same time running lines of levels up the river valley. A 

 geological surveyor will accompany the party. It is calculated 

 that three years' work will be required to complete it as far 

 south as the head of the third cataract. 



RIeteorological Department. — The Observatory, situated in the 

 Abbassieh quarter of Cairo, was greatly improved during the 

 course of last year. The equipment of a first-class meteoro- 

 logical observatory is now working there regularly. The time- 

 ball at Port Said is dropped daily at noon by a current, working 

 automatically, which is sent from the Observatory. Those at 

 Cairo and Alexandria were to commence working early this 

 year. The time of the 30° meridian east of Greenwich has been 

 made civil time for the whole of Egypt, repLicing the various 

 local times previously in use. 



Eight stations between Alexandria and Omdurman now take 

 regular meteorological observations and send telegraphic 

 weather reports to Cairo daily at S a.m. These are printed and 

 published. Arrangements have recently been made by which 

 similaf telegraphic reports are daily exchanged at S a.m. 



NO. 1656, VOL. 64] 



between Alexandria, Malta, Brindisi, Trieste and Athens. 

 These telegrams are posted for general information at the ports 

 of Alexandria and Port Said. 



The observations of all meteorological stations are printed and 

 published monthly. The complete results of the work at the 

 Central OUservatory will be published shortly. The observa- 

 tions registered in 1899, together with the mean values of the 

 preceding thirty years, are already printed and ready for publi- 

 cation. 



Besides Omdurman, where there is a complete set of instru- 

 ments, the stations of Rosaires, Fashoda, Wad Medani and 

 Kassala now record rainy days and approximate fall. They 

 have not yet been furnished with proper rain gauges. It is 

 hoped that before long observing meteorological stations may 

 be instituted at difi'erent points on the Blue and White Niles. 



Funds have been granted for transferring the Central Obser- 

 vatory to Helouan, fifteen miles south of Cairo. The new 

 building will be commenced this year. A set of thermometers 

 has been sent to the base camp at Meshra-er-Rek, in the 

 Bahr-el-Ghazal Province, to be registered and observed there 

 daily. 



Geological Survey. — The staff of the Geological Survey has 

 been employed in compiling the results of the previous three 

 years' field work. Reports on the oases of Kharga, Dakhleh 

 and Farafra are on the point of being published ; five other 

 reports are ready for printing. Good progress has been made 

 with the preparation of the maps, some of which will shortly 

 be ready for publication. A geological museum is in course of 

 construction, and will probably be completed before the end of 

 the year. The expenditure on this building up to the end of last 

 year was about ;^E. 2700. 



The Presei-oation of Game. — Captain Stanley Flower, director 

 of the Gizeh Zoological Gardens, is frequently asked questions 

 as to the regulations existing for the preservation of game in 

 the Soudan. The following statement from the report supplies 

 information upon these matters. 



A system of licenses for non-native sportsmen has been intro- 

 duced. The licences are of two kinds : one is issued at £ E. 25 

 and known as licence "A," authorising the shooting of every 

 kind of game except a small class which is absolutely protected, 

 the other issued at £Y..^ and known as licence " B," from 

 which the rarer kinds of game are excluded. In addition to the 

 licence fee oi £ E. 25, the holder of a licence "A" is required 

 to pay a fee for each animal included in Class 2 which he may 

 kill. A higher charge is made for female animals, but no 

 female animal of the kind included in Class 2 may be knowingly 

 shot. In the case of elephants the royalty upon ivory is also 

 payable. 



The Wild Animals Preservation Ordinance, 1900, also provided 

 that natives might be requested to take out licences, but this 

 provision only applies in districts where it is specially brought 

 into force by a notice issued by the Governor-General. The 

 terms of the licences are arranged by the licensing officer. 

 This part of the Act has been brought into force as regards 

 Kassala, and licences have been granted to the Sheikhs of two 

 or three tribes to kill or capture a limited number of the bigger 

 kinds of game. They pay nothing for their licence, but are re- 

 quired to inform the ^Iudir if they kill or capture any elephant, 

 giraffe, buffalo or certain other kinds of game and to pay a fee 

 varying from ^^ E. I to /' E. 8 ; as there is usually a demand 

 at Kassala for specimens of wild animals, it is thought that the 

 natives will readily pay the fees. 



Several specimens of wild animals have been exported 

 during the year, and there is also a certain traffic in skins and 

 trophies. There was reason to fear that, unless the trade was 

 controlled, it would lead to unnecessary destruction of the rarer 

 sorts of animals. The Wild Animals Preservation Ordinance, 

 1901, which has been recently promulgated, places the export 

 of wild animals and birds under Government control. 



Section 2 prohibits the export of wild animals and birds, or of 

 their skins, feathers, horns and trophies in an unmanufactured 

 condition other than elephants' tusks, rhinoceros horn and 

 ostrich feathers, except under Government permit. The pro- 

 vision does not apply to animals or birds which are killed under 

 a game licence. 



The Governor-General is empovyered to permit the export of 

 animals and birds of which there is no reason to fear the de- 

 struction and to impose a tax upon the same. .-Vrrangements 

 have been made to establish a special department of the Govern- 



