CLIMATE OF KOEDOFIN. 259 



reached the Nile through this fluvial channel. Throughout the course of the Abu- 

 Hableh the surplus waters form during the kharif season, that is to say from June 

 to October, temporary sheets of water which are usually marked on the maps as 

 El-Birket, or El-Rahad, that is, " Lakes," in a pre-eminent sense. But water rarely 

 remains in this reservoir till the end of the dry season ; however, on digging in the 

 sand to a depth of 8 or 10 feet, sufficient can be obtained to quench the thirst of 

 both man and beast. Most of the other pools, generally called fulahs, are flooded 

 ovi[j during the rainy season. In the inhabited region of Northern Kordofan, 

 estimated by Prout at 17,200 square miles, there are neither rivers nor ponds, but 

 only funnel-shaped wells sunk to a depth of 80 and even 160 feet, as far as the 

 mica schist bed, which forms a layer through which the rain water, filtering through 

 the light soil on the surface, cannot penetrate. The water in these wells is reached 

 by steps cut round the excïivation. The scientific exploration of this country has 

 proved the existence of eight hundred wells, but at least two hundred of these are 

 completely dry for half of the year, and the water of many is brackish or even salt. 

 According to Escayrac, Lauture, and Matteucci, the general dessication of the 

 country has been undoubtedly going on for many generations, and several wells 

 which formerly furnished water in abundance have had to be abandoned. The 

 annual rainfall, which is on the average 9 inches at El-Obe'id, somewhat more in 

 the mountains of the south, and less in those of the north, is not sufficient to fill all 

 the wells sunk in the hollows. Hence entire villages are abandoned during the 

 dry season. As soon as the dokhn, the only kind of millet which flourishes in this 

 dry climate, has been harvested, the cultivators migrate to the wells which contain 

 a little water throughout the year, and do not return to their fields till the com- 

 mencement of the kharif. In the villages and towns water is a commercial article, 

 and towards the end of the dry season it occasionally^ costs more than wine in wine- 

 growing countries ; in 1873 a measure of two or three gallons was sold for a 

 dollar. 



Climate of Kordofan, 



In spite of the altitude of Kordofan, the temperature of this country is one of 

 the hottest in the world. The season of intense heats commences in March, when 

 the thermometer frequently rises to 105° F. in the shade, and the air mixed with 

 the desert sand is almost suffocating. After the three months of the sef, or dry 

 season, dense clouds are collected in the southern horizon, announcing the approach 

 of the kharif. The beginning of June is ushered in by heavy showers, very violent 

 but of short duration, with intervals of fine weather. The rainy season usually 

 commences with atmospheric disturbances, whirlwinds rushing over the steppes ; 

 but soon the aerial currents regain their equilibrium, and the south-west wind, a 

 continuation of the south-east trade wind in the southern hemisphere, prevails over 

 this part of the north, following the direction of the sun. During this season the 

 temperature is maintained with a remarkable uniformity between 77° F. and 92° F., 

 the oscillations of the thermometer seldom exceeding 12° F. Such a climate would 

 be very agreeable, but for the vapours and miasmas with which the air is saturated, 



