Inhabitants; Produce, 69 governedrby a Magdum, who had three or four Chotias to assist him ; and each village had its own Melik, or headman. These villages were united in groups, the names of which correspond to those of the Chotias.

There was no regular system of taxation ; but each Magdum carried it out as best he could.

In each province there was a kind of head collector, Abu el Gabdn, who had underlings in every village to gather the taxes.

In case of difficulty, they got assistance from the Abid es Sultan (Sultan's slaves), who were scattered through the land. These were in reality soldiers, who, to avoid expense, were quartered in the various villages.

In order to give some idea of the distance of Darfur from the civilised world, it may be mentioned that the expedition under Colonel Mason in 1874-75 took 147 days to reach El Fasher from Cairo. They had, however, a large caravan, and were delayed for some time atDongola. The return journey via Khartum was done in 96 days.

Produce.

The country may be divided into three sections with reference to the vegetation, i.e., the eastern zone of sand, the central mountains, and thewestern zone.

In the eastern zone, the cultivation of corn, in the shape Com.

of dokhn and a little dhura, is the chief industry. A small quantity of sesame, cucumbers, pumpkins, and water melons are also grown. In certain depressions of the ground, where the presence of clay gives a stronger soil, cotton is produced, but in no great quantity. The northern part of the country is almost uncultivated ; and in the west, agriculture is pretty much the same as described for the eastern portion, except that, owing to the greater quantity of water, more vegetables are grown. The central mountainous district is the richest, and accordingly the most thickly populated. Small terraces are formed all over the slopes of the hills, upon which gardens are laid out. Here wheat, dokhn, dhura, sesame, . pumpkins, and melons are grown. In the small watercourses in the valley, onions are planted during the dry season, and here also houey of very good quality is collected.