20 White Nile : Navigability— Fuel, Sudd, and Sandbanks.

Before the Nile Ex]iedition of 1884-85 steamers and boats were taken over the 2nd cataract. During the expedition both were taken over the 3rd cataract and intervening rapids, and boats (wlialers) successfully surmounted the 4th cataract. In 181)7 gunboats and other steamers were hauled over the latter place, and the rocks of the .th and 6th cataracts have never, when there was enough water, offered serious resistance to the passage of boats or steamers.

From Khartoum to Gondokoro, practically 1,1(X) miles, the only obstacles to navigation at any time of the year are : 1. The Abu Zeid Ford (occasionally only), and the Azalet or Dankul Rocks near Jebelein, vide p. 59. 2. Scarcity of fuel. 3. The sudd. 4. Sand-banks.

2. Fuel. — One of the great economic questions of the Sudan which would give rise to anxiety were not the Nile-Red Sea Railway already in course of construction is the future supply of fuel. Imported coal now costs £E.4 to £E6. per ton, and petroleum £6 to £E.ll-500 per ton at Khartoum. Though a bed of lignitic coal has been discovered at Dongola, no other coal, nor even lignite, has so far been located within our boundaries. Wood therefore, is and will for some time remain the chief source of fuel supply. The large demand which arose with the development of Khartoum has caused the destruction of forest belts along the White and Blue Niles to a considerable distance from Khartoum, and although the Forest Department has now control of the fellings, the enormous demand is making inroads into the forests from which subsequent fires preclude recovery.

Wood stations for steamers are established at different points along the banks, at distances usually sufficiently near to obviate steamers taking too heavy a load, but there is a long gap between Khor Attar wood station and Kanisa (about 'i80 miles), which necessitates steamers carrying a large amount of firewood to enable them to cross the sudd region. As there is a heavy tax on the forests afr these wood stations, the fellings are getting farther and farther away from the bank, and tramways are necessary to work the more remote portions of the forest.

3. The Sudd. — A full description of the formation of and methods of deaUng with the sudd are given in Appendix B. The Nile was blocked by the sudd from 1870-4, 1878-81, in 1884, and from 1895 to 1900. The Nile, before it flows into Lake No, appears to be a channel varying from 100 yards to a mile in width, but, from the masthead of a steamer, it would be seen that there is a sea of papyrus grass, bulrushes, and reeds on either aide of this water chamiel, and that the real banks of the river are 4, 8, or even 12 miles distant on either side. Under all this vegetation is water, which is slowly making its way down to fill up the void caused by the absorption of the water by plants and sun. The matted vegetation which floats on the top of the water is so thick that it is possible to walk on it ; and, were it not for this covering, the evaporation over such a vast area would greatly diminish the supply of water to Lower Egypt.

A considerable part of the Nuer tribe actually live on the floating mass of vegetation, fish and the stalks of a waterlily forming their only food. The surface of the water is covered by a dense tangled mass of papyrus, anibach, and other water plants, which in places grow to a height of from 15 to 30 feet.

At the rise and fall of the Nile, quantities of the grass get torn away and float down stream. If the season is unusually wet, the stream increases in bulk and rapidity, and innumerable large masses of the grass, hurried and packed by the wind, are sent floating down ; these jamb in the channels and form the sudd blocks.

The channel of the river is very tortuous ; at Lake No, for instance, where the Bahr El Ghazal flows into the Nile, there is a sharp turn to the east. If the water contributed simultaneously by the Bahr El Ghazal happens to be insignificant and incapable of sweeping away the floating masses, a block is the result at this point.

4. Sandbanks. — They are not as a rule any considerable obstacle, but are, of course, more troublesome at low than at high Nile, and shift about every year.

Steamers with no encumbrances, and with fuel ready cut for them to pick up, take about 12 days up stream from Khartoum to Gondokoro, and about 8 days down stream. (Record journey in 1903 : 11 days up and 7 down).

The navigation np to the mouth of the Sobat is at all times easy, the Abu Zeid Ford and occasional rocks and sandbanks forming the only difiicidties. The deepest channels he usually towards the east bank. From the Sobat to Gondokoro a perfect and recent knowledge of the route is required, in order not to deviate into any of the lateral branches which are frequently met with, and which, varying from year to year, are chiefly in evidence during and after the rainy season.

There are also many sandbanks on this stretch. Between Gondokoro and Rejaf the river is rather difficult when low on account of shifting sandbanks and islands. There are a few rocks, but not dangerous, except at one ])oint.

Between Rejaf and Bedden there is the same difficulty of shifting sandbanks and sunken rocks, which are, however, isolated and few in number, and might be blasted away. The current here is about IJ miles an hour. At Bedden there is a bad rapid necessitating a transhipment ; but from there boats can go to Kiri.

From Kiri to Lahore there are awkward rapids, but the river might be utilised to a great extent. The river con-