14 GORDON AND THE MAHDI.

destitute of vegetation,and consequently of animal life. Not a tree,not abush,not evena blade of grass relieves

the glare of the sunlight on the yellow sand, whilst the air seems as though it had passed overabrick kiln,and quivers visibly in the sun as though rising from aheated furnace. Within the limits of Egypt and the Soudan, these desolate atmoors coverupwards of three-quarters ofamillion of squaremiles. Only a few tradingcaravan tracks, with wellsat long intervals, cross them, and they wouldbe absolutelyimpassable to manbut for the camel, whose broad flat feet enable him to traverse deep sands in whichthe horse would sink up to his knees, whocan pick up a living on dry rushes and the twigs of the

thorny mimosa, and can travel five days at a stretch during* the fiercest heatof summer without drinking.

The Soudan is peopledby various races. The inhabi- tants of Nubia and of the Northern Soudan may be mainly divided into the descendants of the original

African population,and those of the Arabs who made their wayinto the country from Hedjaz,either through Egypt or across theBed Sea.

The type of the nativeNubians,or Barabra _. ■'heyare styled by the Egyptians, from the country of Berber,

theimmediate neighbourhood, andlike the dogs of Con- stantinople act as the scavengers of theplace. Taka, the province of which Kassala is the capital, is one of the richest in the Soudan. Massowah, likeSuakim, is built upon an island joined by a long causeway to another island whereon stand the residence of the Governor and

the barracks, and which is connected in turn with a thirdand smallerisland. A few Europeans engaged in trade are resident there, as well as some Banians from India, who make a living out of the pearl fisheries off

the coast.

Senaar, the capitalof the province of the same name, is situated on theBlue Nile,three hundred miles above Khartoum. Following the course of the White Nile southward from Khartoum towards the Equator, the principal places are El Duem, Fashoda, and Gondokoro, distant as the crow flies onehundred, five hundred, and eight hundred miles respectively from Khartoum. El Obeid, the capitalof Kordofan, andabout a hundred and fifty miles from the White Nile, is a city of fifteen thousand inhabitants,with extensive government build- ings anda few substantialwell-builthouses belonging to Greek and Egyptian merchants, andhaving a telegraph connectingit withKhartoumand Cairo.

Eastandwestof theNilevalley,betweenthefourteenth degree of latitude and theMediterranean, extends that strange and marvellousregion, the Desert— a land with- out springs orrivers, where wellsare fewand farbetween, and water at times all but priceless. Once away from the Nile, the only supply is derived from the wells, which in many instances lie five days' journey apart. Even as heathen mythologists figure a series of hells each

worse than the one above it, so there are desrees of barrenness in the desert. The tracts called"eljibel,"or "el barreyeh," are diversified by mountains,themselves bare of all vegetation,but having amongst them wadies,

or valleys, and even stretches of plain, comparatively rich in vegetationand teemingwith animal life. Herbage

affords pasturage notonly for sheep, goats, and camels, but for herds of gazelles and ante- lopes.Acres ofwild

flowers and sweet- scentedshrubsim- part brightness and fragrance to thescene. Clumps oftreesandbushes, for the most part of the acaciatribe, shelter an abun- dance ofgame,and yield the gum- arabicthat is one ofthechiefexports of the Soudan,the rest beingmainly hides, ivory, os-

A BAKABRA WARRIOR.

approaches thatof the Ethiopiansdepicted onthe monu- ments of ancient Egypt. They are middle-sized, well- built men, with rather long and oval faces, hook noses slightly rounded at the tip, thick lips, scanty beards, dark sparkling eyes, curly hair, and skin of the colour of dark bronze. Akin to them are the numerous Bedja tribes, who though classed as Bedouins from their no- madic habits,and confounded by some writerswith the Arabs, speak a uniqueAfrican language,and are thought to be the direct descendants of the Cushites or Ethiopians inhabitingthe landofMeroe. Themen aredistinguished by their classical proportions, and the women resemble

those of Abyssinia, but arc taller and darker. In the Southern Soudan the Nuba negroes are numerous, and the Dinkas and otherblack tribes occupy theEquatorial Provinces.

AEAB SHEPHERD OF THE SOL'DAX trich feathers, and the senna that covers hundreds of square milesinKordofanandSenaar, and derives its name from the latterprovince.

Verydifferent from the foregoingisthe "atmoor," the utterly barren desert,mainly consisting of hard gravel plains diversified by zones of deep sand, rocky ridges sometimes of considerable altitude, and rugged defiles. Save in occasional clefts and crannies it is absolutely With some rare exceptions the Arab tribes peopling