38 CHAPTER III.

COUNTRY ON THE LEFT BANKS OF THE WHITE NILE AND BAHR EL ARAB.

(a) KORDOFAN.

(b) Daefur.

(c) Dar Nuba, Shilluk, Dar Fertit, &c.

(a) KORDOFAN.

General Description. The region which extends between the Nile and the eastern frontiers of Darfnr consists entirely of vast plains, which rise gradually towards the south, and which form a tableland whose extreme altitude rises little over 2,000 feet above the level of the sea. The surface of this tableland is not interrupted by any chain of mountains. Towards the north are found a number of hills, rarely over 500 feet in height.

Further south are found isolated peaks, rising not over 800 feet above the surrounding plains. It is a country of steppes in which there exist no rivers, no streams of water however small ; there are only a few wells at long intervals, furnishing but a scanty supply of water, which has to be drawn from very great depths. In the north-eastern region one can barely see here and there the. " khors," or ravines of little depth, through which the rainwater finds its outlet during the season of hherif (rainy season). Most of these khors disappear in the sands which finally absorb the waters of the rains. There is good reason to believe that only a very small portion of this water reaches the Nile towards the south-east after the heavy raiiis. In the region surrounding Debbeh, towards the north-east, the ground is higher on the banks of the Nile than in the interior, and the little rainwater that falls is absorbed by the sandy soil. In appearance, Kordofan is a monotonous rolling steppe