Anglo Sudan 71 -Egyptlan] UPPER AND WHITE NILE farther on, continuing through the sudd region ( see below, p . 75 ) , an expanse of papyrus and swamp vegetation with some stretches of open water, to Lake No (496 miles from Rejaf and 612 miles from Khartum ), where it is joined by the Bahr el-Ghazal.

(ii) The White Nile, known to the natives as the Bahr el-Abiad , or white river, owing to the colour of its water at all seasons, flows from Lake No in an easterly direction, being joined after 65 miles by the Bahr el-Zeraf ( river of giraffes), a stream which, formed by an overflow of the Bahr el-Jebel near Shambe, offers little outlet for trade but contributes considerably to the volume of water in the White Nile. Thirty-one miles beyond the confluence of the Bahr el-Zeraf is that of the Sobat; five miles below which is the military post of Taufikia, and, seven miles lower still, Malakal ( right bank) , the administrative centre of the Upper Nile province . Forty -five miles below Malakal is Kodok ( left bank ), better known by its former name of Fashoda, and 161 miles beyond is Renk (rightbank ). At Jebelein, 60 miles farther on, a series of rocky reefs across the river makes navigation perhaps more difficult than at any other spot. A channel has been buoyed, but it is desirable that a passage should be dredged between the rocks. Below Kosti and just above Goz Abu Guma, which is 46 miles below Jebelein, 192 miles from Khartum , and 324 miles from the mouth of the Sobat, the Khartum - Sennar El Obeid railway crosses the river. Some 70 miles north of thisbridge is El Dueim , the old river portof Kordofan, whence it is 125 miles to Khartum . The Nile as it nears Khartum is over a mile wide , with an average depth of 64 ft.

The principal navigable tributaries of the White Nile are the Bahr el -Ghazal and the Sobat. The Bahr el-Ghazal is permanently navigable for a distance of 150 miles only, from Meshra el-Rek to Lake No. It has several important tributaries, the chief of which is the Jur, which joins it 25 miles below Meshra el -Rek . Others are the Jel, the Tonj, the Pongo, the Kuru ,