250 NOETH-EAST APRICA. 



bulwark of Egypt against the Abyssinians, Kassala, when evacuated by its Mussulman 

 garrison, appears destined to serve as the Abyssinian outpost against the Mabom- 

 medan lowlanders. Situated at a beigbt of 1,900 feet at the western base of a 

 " seven peaked " mass of granite rocks rising over 4,000 feet above the plain, and 

 its forests of dum palms, Kassala presents one of the most attractive prospects in 

 Africa. It appears to bave succeeded a still larger town, that of Faki Endoa, 

 which stretched along the torrent at a distance of nearly 3 miles. Commanded by 

 a strong castle, the remains of which are still to be seen on one of the " heads " of 

 the neighbouring rock, this town was the capital of the Hallenga nation, then 

 powerful, but now reduced to a few wretched communities of pastors and agricul- 

 turists. The moimtain is pierced with grottoes which are said to hold the waters 

 of a subterranean lake, and whose labyrinths appear to have been formerly 

 inhabited by man ; a few troglodytes are reported even still to live in the galleries 

 of the rocks. 



By its position on the lower course of the Gash or Mareb, Kassala commands 

 the distribution of the waters along the riverain lands. A Pasha even desired to 

 become the absolute master over the fortunes of the tribes by damming up the 

 river before Kassala, so as to deflect it westwards towards the Atbara, and thus 

 force the Hadendoas to come and beg permission to purchase a little rivulet to 

 irrigate their fields. Under the direction of the European Werne, who lent 

 himself to this iniquitous work, a dyke 5,430 feet long effectually dammed up the 

 current of the Gash and caused it to overflow into the western steppes ; but the 

 Hadendoas, who felt it was a matter of vital importance to them, attacked the 

 dam with such fury, that in spite of the soldiers who defended it, they soon 

 made a breach through which the water flowed back to its natural bed. 



Before the rising of the tribes who favour the Mahdi, Kassala had acquired 

 great importance as a point of transition for forwarding cotton, and vast cotton 

 gins are still to be seen where himdreds of workmen were assisted by steam-engines. 

 Kassala also prepared leather and manufactured mats and soap. The first attempt 

 of the Egyptian government in 1865 to open telegraphic communications between 

 Kassala, Berber, Suakin, and Massawah, did not succeed ; over eight thousand 

 camels were lost in this enterprise. But a second attempt, in 1871, was more 

 fortunate, and a network of telegraphs was finally constructed, the stations serving 

 also in the capacity of caravanserais for travellers. From Kassala to Massawah 

 the journey occupies sixteen days by the route followed by the telegraph, through 

 the country of the Bogos. "Wells have been dug by the side of each station, 

 between Kassala and Abu-Ahraz. 



In the vicinity of Kassala are a few villages occupied by settled Hallenga, 

 Hadendoa or Bazen populations, and during the dry season, temporary camps are 

 pitched in the dried-up bed of the Gash. Eighteen miles to the east is the town of 

 Sabderat, whose artisans are occupied with weaving cloth and leather work. This 

 place perpetuates the memory of the defterdar's atrocities, who massacred all the 

 inhabitants and made pyramids of the bodies, so as to poison the air and thus 

 prevent tjie repopulation of the coimtry. 



