Sudan du edo Egyptian ] THE NILE ; OTHER RIVERS 11 is therefore dangerous, and in places impossible, and the greater partof the traffic goes by rail from Kalfa to Abu Hamed or Khartum .

( 6 ) Floods. — The floods, which are the most impor tant feature of the Nile system , depend upon the rains of the Abyssinian tableland. The effect of these rains is first felt on the Sobat at the end of April, and on the Blue Nile and Atbara about a month later. The Bahr el-Jebel and Bahr el-Ghazal begin to rise about the same time , and the total effecton the Nile system is felt at Halfa about mid-June . The rise here attains its maximum about September 5, when the mean height is 7.94 metres , after which the river sinks gradually , the lowest reading, 1:40 metres, being obtained about June 1 .

( c) Cataracts. - Between Khartum and Assuan ( Aswan ), a distance of 1,124 miles , there are 351 miles of broken water and rapids, commonly called the Cataracts . Full details with regard to these are given below (p . 75 ) .

Other Rivers .

Two other rivers are the Gash and Baraka, both rising in the Eritrean highlands. The Gash, entering the Sudan between the mountains of Anderaib and Abu Gamal, passes Kassala , where the bed is 150 yards wide, and then spreads out and loses itself in the alluvial plain north of the town, which is fertilized by its silt . So, too, the Baraka, entering the plain of Tokar from the south, spreads out to form a delta, the waters of which seldom reach the Red Sea , but deposit a fan of rich alluvial soil . Both these rivers flow only between the beginning of July and the end of Septem ber, on an average 80 days inthe year.

With the exception of comparatively small areas of open water, such as Lake No, in the sudd region, and Lake Abiad, in the Nuba Mountains province, there are no lakes in the Sudan .

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