118 18. D The Governor reports that the poor flood of 1918 led to farpine conditions in certain districts in the spring, which were to a certain extent mitigated by two new pumping stations started in the same way as those in Berber province. He thinks that pumping installations, such as those already created, will_ prove the best safeguard against famine, which is an ever-present danger in this rainless province. Another good sign for the future freedom of the province from the fear of distress is the great increase in the date crop. This increase has been 50,000 tons in the last three years, and there are now half a million trees growing in the province. Further, the natives have shown a greatly improved spirit in meeting the bad times of the last few years in which the Nile has been low. It has become evident that the presence of British inspectors has a great moral effect in stimulating the willingness to work, and that the villages which are most backward and improvident in this respect are those which are furthest removed from contact with the administration.

19. H The Governor reports with regret that the general condition of the people has not been satisfactory of late. There has been much sickness in the province, which has reacted very unfavourably on the cultivation of the district. This has lieen coupled with the failure of crops on account of the low Nile, and has resulted in inadequate forage, death of animals used for agriculture, and consequent failure of cultivation in certain places. This has been to a certain extent balanced by the date crop, but the people" are thriftless, and would rather spend the profit they make on their dates than use it to recoup their agricultural losses by replacing their lost cattle.

The province is arid, and the cultivable area is confined to a thin strip on each bank of the Nile; consequently, there is little room for agricultural development.

The conditions would be greatly improved by the establishment of better communications between Haifa town and the southern districts, possibly by motor transport.

The province produces to a large extent 'the servant class of the general community, earning fixed wages, and consequently is particularly affected by the rise in prices.

20. Kassala. The Governor reports well of the general conditions of the people in Kassala province. Those who have had agricultural produce to dispose of have been able to take advantage of the very high prices obtaining. On tlie other hand the rains in the south of the province have been almost a complete failure, and the tribes have suffered in consequence; while at the same time cattle plague and pleuro-pneumonia have taken a heavy toll of the herds. The Governor outlines certain measures which in his opinion would assist the trade on the lines of better veterinary control and improvement in the water supply.

The Governor deals at some length with the control of the River Gash, which runs past Kassala, irrigates a large and valuable millet-growing area above the town and five miles below', and then splits and forms a delta containing perhaps 300,000 cultivable feddans. Various experiments have been made with a view to controlling the Gash flood, but the full value of the land has not yet been obtained. As it is a cotton-producing area of value I trust it wall be possible in the next few years to make an irrigation scheme which will deal adequately with the problem.

An incident of no political significance, but illustrative of the sporadic outbursts of fanaticism to which parts of the country are liable, occurred in Kassala at the end of 1918. Without a w'ord of w'arning and in the dead of night, a band of some forty fanatics, led by a religious lunatic, suddenly rushed the guard and inlying picket furnished by the Egyptian unit on the fort and then proceeded to attack the lines of the Camel Company of the Eastern Arab Corps. No longer aided by thp element of surprise, the band suffered heavily in killed and wounded at the hands of the latter unit. The leader was amongst the killed, and the few that escaped were ultimately accounted for by the Camel Company and the police.

21. Khartoum.

The bulk of the administration of this province consists in the work of the three towns, Khartoum, IChartoum North and Omdurman, and this fact renders the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.