100 GaUabat.

inhabitants. The inhabitants are a very mixed race, the wild Takruri * tribe predominating. These are negroes originally from Darfur. They ride oxen, and use the trumbash (boomerang) and long barbed spears. Matamma. The town of Gallabat, or Matamma, is a considerable market town, composed principally of round houses thatched with conical grass roofs. It used to have a market on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and much exchange goes on here between the products from the Nile and those from Abyssinia.

The chief articles of barter are cotton, coffee, wax, mules, and slaves. The town was formerly a celebrated centre for the latter form of merchandise.

The Dervish garrison of Gallabat was reported in the spring of 1898 to be 4,500 men, under Ahmed Fedil.

The Upper Atbara is in the vicinity of Matamma. In August, 1862, it carried a large head of water. In April it is 60 yards broad and hardly knee-deep.

(/) Country between the Blue Nile and Gallabat.

Between the Blue Nile (from Karkoj to Famaka) and Gallabat the country is one vast alluvial plain, divided by the sinuous Rahad and Dinder rivers into three long strips. The two western strips are undulating ground, and the banks of the river are covered with thick mimosa bush. Away from the rivers the interior is much more sparsely wooded. Country very fertile, but little labour or cultivation.

The third (eastern) strip, comprising Gedaref and Gallabat, has been described. The Rahad and Dinder are practically dry from November to May. The flood comes down in June, and during July and August they are at their height. During August and September nuggers can ascend them assisted by the north wind.

Between Karkoj and the Dinder a small river, the Mebera, or Abdogul (?), flows into the latter. It is a pretty river, running with clear water when the others are muddy.

* A name formerly given to negro bands who had made the Mecca pilgrimage.