THE DESERTS 
23 
as an old friend—the constant companion of the salmon- 
fisher in Iceland, or in subarctic Norway; yet equally 
at home here in scorching tropic. No “creations” of 
costumier could conceivably fit in with each and every 
pre-requisite of an environment so widely varied. The 
white wagtail recognises that fact, and has selected a 
single modest dress which -serves equally for all parts and 
purposes. 
Beyond Atbara lies another 200 miles of flat and 
featureless desert; but during that afternoon we cross 
Blue Nile and steam into Khartoum—twenty-two hours’ 
run from the Red Sea. Such is the Eastern Gateway. 
There exists no other access to the Sudan, save, as it were, 
by a back-door ”■—-through British East, the Victoria 
Nyanza, Uganda, and the Nile sources. 
(11) The Interior Deserts 
The average traveller who, from saloon-window, has 
surveyed those hundreds of miles of desert which cut off 
Khartoum from the outer world, devoutly prays that 
never again may his sight be shocked by scenes of the 
like desolation. Deliberately to undertake an expedition 
beyond the fringe, he would regard as madness. Different 
impulses actuate the field-naturalist. These spring from 
no mere idle curiosity but from an instinct to ascertain 
something of what may lie in the unknown beyond, even 
though the external aspect be abhorren t. Our own modest 
expeditions—alike in the Red Sea hills and here on the 
eastern verge of Sahara—revealed unsuspected charms 
and leave nothing but pleasant memories. 
After all, there are deserts and deserts. Those of the 
north (Nubia), as already indicated, lie wholly beyond 
the area of rainfall, and for their unredeemed hideousness 
I offer no apology. Further south, however, the deserts 
that I here desire to picture do share in some degree 
the seasonal rainfalls that refresh the regions around 
