84 Shilluk District.

(d) Shilluk District.

Description.

The Shilluk tribe of negroes inhabits the entire bank of the White Nile for 200 miles northwards of the month of the Bahr el Ghazal. Their territory, however, is not more than 10 miles wide. Formerly, they extended much further north than at present, and had settlements on all the islands of the Nile ; now they only exceptionally penetrate to lat. 12° 30' N.

The Baggara Arabs hem them in on the west, and are constantly extending their encroachments along the river bank, and have, moreover, with their flocks ventured far to the east of the stream into the land of the Dinka. During the dry season the Baggara hold all the left bank, but return to the steppes of the interior during the rains. Wherever they settle they drive out the Shilluks.

The Shilluks had an ancient dynasty of kings, and a form of government which was destroyed by Mehemet Ali. They are said to have numbered 2,000,000 before the Egyptians occupied their country.

Since 1884 the Shilluks have often been at war with the Dervishes ; in 1894 a protracted rising led to heavy reprisals on the part of the latter, who annihilated a large portion of the tribe and killed their Queen. Notwithstanding this, the Jehadieh comprise a number of Shilluks, many of whom fought on the Dervish side during the recent campaigns.

Population.

In the year 1871 their subjection to the Egyptian Government was completed. At this time a census was taken of the villages, by which their number was estimated at 3,000. Taking the number of huts in a village as varying from 45 to 200, and the inhabitants of each hut at four or five, the number of inhabitants in the country must have exceeded 1,000,000. No known part of Africa has a density of population so great. Everything here is favourable to support a teeming population— agriculture, fishing, pasturage, and the chase.

The soil is very fertile, for in addition to the rains,