FLOEA. 275 



Farther westwards, other wadies send down during the kharif a sufficient 

 volume to cause the floods to spread out into vast temporary lakes, in which the 

 dunes and argilaceous hills appear like islands. Here and there are even some 

 lakes in the steppe, such as Lake Taïmo, in which water is found at the height of 

 the dry season. Nevertheless Wilson and Felkin state that at Shekka, during the 

 dry months, the people use the juice of the water-melon instead of water for 

 household purposes, and that the cattle have scarcely any other liquid to drink. 

 The upper Bahr-el-Arab, which receives the surplus of all the wadies of southern 

 Dar-Fôr, is flooded throughout the year, and in the Bahr-el-Fertit, a northern 

 affluent of the Bahr-el-Arab, water is always to be obtained at a depth of a few 

 inches below the surface. The fish take refuge in the deep pools excavated by 

 the current at the base of the rocks, and the river is said to be navigable during 

 the kharif. The southern region, which is often flooded, is the least healthy, 

 whilst that of the north, being drier, and at the same time lying at a higher elevation, 

 is generally salubrious. 



Flora. 



The flora of Dar-For is identical with that of Kordofân, at least in the region 

 which is not watered by the affluents of the Bahr-el-Arab. The plants and wild 

 beasts, as well as the cultivated species of the domestic animals, differ in no 

 respect in the two regions. The same living forms and products are to be found 

 in the corresponding climatic zones ; however, the western region of Dar-Fôr, 

 where water is more abundant, and the layer of vegetable humus thicker, is by far 

 the richest in variety of species. 



In both countries, woods and groves are found only on the banks of the wadies, 

 the intermediary tracts presenting the appearance of a steppe or even a desert. 

 Acacias, tamarisks and sycamores are the commonest varieties of trees. The 

 baobab, which in Dar-Fôr is also used as a reservoir during the dry season, finds 

 its northern limit towards the middle of the country. In the mountains the 

 branching euphorbias recall the flora of the Abyssinian plateau ; here are also 

 found cedars, orange-trees, citrons and pomegranates, which reminded the Italian 

 Messedaglia of his country. Before the war, the fruit of the tamarisk, kneaded 

 into small cakes, was exported to Nubia and Egypt. One of the most valuable 

 trees is the higlik {balanites ^gi/ptiaca\ whose fruit, neglected in the zeriba 

 region, is used as an aliment by the Forians. The fruit, made into a paste with 

 pounded roots, is also used as soap, whilst the young leaves and shoots make an 

 excellent seasoning. The ashes yield a kind of pickle, also employed in their 

 diet, and its wood burns without giving out smoke. Thus the higlik is to the 

 Forians what the date is to the Egyptians. The palm is rarely seen, although the 

 western districts possess the wine palm {j-aphia vinifera). Dar-Fôr and Kordofân 

 are comprised between two zones of vegetation, to the north that of the date, and 

 to the south that of the deleb palm. 



