Haifa, Berber, Kuror, etc.

85 Native cotton cloth, called " damur," is worked throughout the Province, and forms the chief clothing of the men, who dress in shirt and drawers, with ferda (or toga) of this material.

Crime is small in proportion to number of population. Inhabitants most peaceably inclined, and all (men, women, and cliildren) work at their crops.

Villages are mostly composed of well-built houses straggling along the borders of cultivation. The houses are built of gains (mud and stones), with good court yards, whitewashed and clean. Very superior to those of fellahin in Egypt.

The " Nimetta " fly, a small midge, appears in countless myriads from November to April, both months inclusive, between Dalgo and Korti. The bite causes slight fever through irritation. At times they are absolutely unbearable, and cause temporary migrations of both white men and natives. Natives wear bunches of smouldering grass twisted round the head to keep off the fly.

White ants also are both numerous and most destructive between Dalgo and Korti.

Halfa (Wadi Haifa), comprising " The Camp " and " Haifa town " is the capital of the Province of Haifa,* which extends along the Nile from Faras Island (N. lat. 22° 10' approximately) to Abu Fatma. It is also the present headquarters and terminus of the main line (Sudan Government Railways) to Khartoum, as well as of the branch to Kerma. There are extensive railway workshops at the Camp. The latter includes barracks, prison, officers' mess, native quarter, and the old fortifications. Also post and telegraph office. Population about 400, of which one-quarter are white. No garrison at present. Haifa was for years (1885-96) the headquarters of the Frontier Field Force which defended the southern frontier of Egypt against the Dervish invasion.

The civil quarter of Haifa Ues \\ miles to the north of the Camp. Here there is an excellent hotel, also railway station, post and telegraph offices, some good stores, and native bazaar. The population, which is composed chiefly of Egyptians and Sudanese, with a large sprinkling of Greeks, is about 2,900.

Berber is a long straggling mud-built town containing about 5,000 inhabitants. It was captured by the Mahdists after a certain resistance on the 26th May, 1884, and was re-occupied by the Anglo-Egyptian forces under Lord Kitchener on 6th September, 1897. It is now the capital of the Berber Province, but this will be moved to El Damer in 1905 {vide Chapter IV). There are at present two railway stations, Berber Camp and Town. Post and telegraph office. There are no good stores in the town, and there is little trade here at present. The present town lies 2 miles to the north of old Berber, and is the headquarters of an Egyptian battalion.

The desert road to Suakin starts from here (242 miles). Behind the town an immense flat plain stretches to the horizon. This is fertile soil, and only awaits proper irrigation to be reproductive. Berber is 1,140 feet above the Mediterranean or 95 feet below the level of Khartoum.

Administrative. Housing.

Miscellaneous insects.

Chief towns.

Halfa.

Bbrbbb.

\ Section 2. — Country between Halfa, Berber, Suakin and the Intersection of the 22nd Parallel WITH THE Red Sea.

(«) Between the Railway and the Nile.

For purposes of description this area is conveniently divided into two portions by the Haifa- Abu Hamed Railway. General. The portion west of the railway comprises some of the most arid country in the Sudan. The general formation is that of a plain covered with sand or gravel, dotted here and there with steep and even precipitous hills of from 100 to 800 feet elevation above the plain, which falls gently and uniformly to within a few miles of the Nile. In places these detached hills are so numerous and so close together as to resemble connected ranges. As a rule the sand is coarse and heavy enough to afford excellent going for camels ; but strips of soft deep sand are occasionally met with, especially where the wind has banked it up against or between the hills.

The crest of this gently sloping spur projecting into the bend of the Nile, is some 2,000 feet above sea level, where the railway crosses it, that is some 1,550 feet above Haifa and 1,080 feet above Abu Hamed.

The country midway between the river and the railway has been little visited, and the only known place of any importance is J. Kuror, the highest hill west of the railway and some 4,070 feet above the sea. After heavy rains its " Makhzans," or rocky reservoirs, hold water for many months, and are occasionally visited by nomad Arabs.

Immediately south of Haifa the plain terminates in a belt of low hummocky hills, some 8 to 10 miles wide. After Sarras, the belt becomes wider and the hills bolder, till they culminate in J. Ago, east of Akasha, at the southern end of the Batn El Hagar.

Between Akasha and the latitude of Kosha the country becomes less confined, but contains several high and precipitous hills. South of Kosha it becomes more and more open, and the hills lower and more scattered until they appear to die away south of Kerma.

* The population of Haifa Province in 1904 was 30,800. N 2