280 NORTH-EAST APRICA. 



Kordofân and Wadaï, on tne regular caravan route. It is not tlie largest town in 

 the country, being merely a group of clay huts thatched with straw, with, accord- 

 ing to Ensor, a population in 1875 of merely 2,650 persons. 



The principal city, which was also the " residence " towards the end of the 

 last century, is Koheh, also lying on the caravan route some 30 miles to the north- 

 west. Of all the towns of Dar-For, it is the only place which boasts of a few 

 stone houses, a proof of the influence of a remote civilisation. These houses 

 belong to the merchants or the heads of the caravans, and are surrounded by huts 

 similar to those which are found in all other towns and villages of this country. 

 Towards the end of last century. Brown estimated its population at 6,000 persons. 



Omshanga, situated nearly midway between El-Fasher and El-Obeid, at the 

 junction of the Shekka route, is also a large town, provided with an abundance 

 of excellent water, which is contained in wells 130 feet deep. South-west of El- 

 Fasher, in an upland mountain valley, the town of Tor a, Torra, or Tor an, which 

 has given its name to the central province of For, is also said to be regarded as a 

 kind of capital, and here are all the royal tombs. 



Since the Egyptians have obtained possession of the country, new towns have 

 been founded, the most important of which is Fojeh or Foja, the arrival station of 

 the Egyptian caravans. The oasis of Om-Bedr, about 60 miles to the north, has 

 no settled villages, although it is the centre of the Homr populations. At times 

 over six thousand persons and fifty thousand camels assemble together on the 

 temporary camping-ground. 



Dara — Shekka — Tuesha. 



Darn, in the northern region of the province, till recently enjoyed some little 

 distinction as the residence of an Egyptian mudir or governor, and as the caravan 

 station between Dom-Suleiman and El-Obeid. A mere group of tokuls, it lies 

 near the left bank of the Wady-Amur, on which also stands the village of 

 Menovachi, about 60 miles farther north. Near here in 1874 was fought the 

 decisive battle which cost King Brahim his life, and converted Dar-For into an 

 Egyptian province. 



To the south-east the town of Shekka or Shakka, which still lies within the 

 limits of the ancient kingdom of For, was the chief town of the province of the 

 Bahr-el-Ghazal, under the khedival rule. It is peopled with Jellabis or " mer- 

 chants," as is also the case with a small group of villages, bearing the general 

 name of Kobesh, but which is usually termed Kalaka, like the surrounding country. 

 Midway between Shekka and El-Fasher, the principal caravan station is Tuenha, a 

 second group of villages whose name is but too well known throughout the 

 Mussulman world. It is a dejDÔt for slaves, who are here generally made eunuchs 

 before being forwarded to Egypt. The routes converging on Tuesha are covered 

 with the bleaching bones of these unfortunate people, whom no one thinks it worth 

 while to bury. 



In its western division, beyond the Marrah Mountains, Dar-For appears to 



