THE NORTHERN GATEWAY OF SUDAN 403 
British troops have won through — some of them; 
others He there still. 
Once the nearer sand-ridge bore traces of tiny water 
courses. They seemed Inexplicable ; but a kindly railway 
official explained:—“That was the rain that fell here 
last August (seven months ago); before that, five years 
had elapsed without a shower.” So short an interval, 
however, is exceptional. The average period between 
rainfalls, we were assured, may be put anywhere between 
a dozen and a score of years. In this Nature seems incon¬ 
sistent ; either leave rain out of her scheme altogether, or 
send it where it may refresh! 
During the whole day’s vigil I saw but three wild 
creatures—three ravens, birds which need water daily but 
whose powerful pinions enable them to forage hundreds 
of miles beyond their base of supply. Vultures also 
patrol the waste, though I saw none. Twice or thrice, 
while passing isolated koppi.es, traces of foot-prints in 
two sizes crossed the line. Possibly hyenas occupy 
these crags and some of the smaller fox-tribe, such as 
jackal and fennec; though how they sustain life there 
at all is not apparent in a cursory survey. 
Besides the three ravens, we also saw two solitary 
camels, and once a camel-caravan in charge of two wild 
Bedouins-—that was all In 232 miles. 
It may emphasise the desolation of this vast void, if 
we compare the above with the “ Eastern Gateway of 
Sudan” (p. 20). In the latter—that.is, along the desert¬ 
railway from Red Sea to Nile at the Atbara—there exist 
at least some evidences of life, however insignificant. 
There are ibex in the naked hills and one sees, maybe 
at long intervals, bands of gazelles, a hare or two, and 
other creatures that bespeak the survival of some minute 
growth of plant-life, albeit none be visible. There are, 
moreover, birds such as coursers, sandgrouse, shrikes, 
none of which are independent of water. Few, indeed, 
are their numbers; the most careful outlook might not 
