408 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 





occasional patches of light am- 

 bach trees, with channels of 



1 1; 



dottimr 



vt 3 tr> -a 



+j o >U 



a: I a 



w alrr, pi i( ti- 

 the swamp-scape, and here and 

 there a sparse tree or two on 

 the horizon. ... In the 

 more southerly parts are found 

 many varieties of game. 

 ( )f the larger species, elephant, 

 giraffe, buffalo, and many sorts 

 of antelope are seen, whilst the 

 hippopotamus is excessively 

 numerous. (The writer counted 

 /2 in one lagoon at Shambe.) 

 From the reeds and mudbanks 

 arise clouds of wild-fowl — 

 crane, geese, storks, herons, bus- 

 tard, pelicans, spoonbill, ibis, 

 and duck of every description." 



In the rainy, stormy seasons 

 (and when the rivers have risen) 

 these floating islands frequently 

 change positions ; here and there 

 areas become detached from the 

 main body and travel about, 

 driven by the winds, often block- 

 ing the river's channel as an ice- 

 floe might do. 



Lately, spurred on by the 

 world's paper shortage, scien- 

 tists have been giving attention 

 to the vast papyrus accumula- 

 tions in the sudd, with the hope 

 of evolving some practicable 

 method of paper manufacture. 



THE ARAB IS THE CHIEF RACIAL 

 FACTOR IN NORTHERN SUDAN 



So mixed is the native popu- 

 lation of the Nile banks in the 

 Sudan that it has been aptly 

 named the "Negro Potpourri," 

 though some ethnologists con- 

 tend that these blacks are not 

 really negroes. 



Probably the Nubians, geo- 

 graphically and physically, are 

 the real link between Egypt and 

 negro-land. Though Moslems 

 for centuries, they have kept 

 their own dialects. 



The richness of the Nile Val- 

 ley has, century after century, 

 lured so many invaders into it 

 that to-day a veritable babel of 

 races and tongues is found here. 

 Apparently, the Moslem religion 



