RIVERS. 3 himself transplanted into the fairy gardens of the Arabian Nights' tales.

Kordofan has no flowing rivers ; during the rainy season, some few running streams are formed, but these dry up as quickly as they appear. There are several lakes, or large ponds, in the countr}% amongst which those at Arat, Birget,* Ketshmar, and Caccia, are the most considerable ; in the latter, many leeches are found ; but the other stagnant waters, which are generated during the rainy season, quickly evaporate, and only those above-named contain water throughout the year. In the vicinity of Haraza, in a north-easterly direction from the village, pure and fresh water for drinking is found on the summit of a mountain dm'ing the whole year.

There is an abundance of iron ore in the province, respecting which more explicit information may be gleaned from the work of Russegger, the Royal Imperial inspector of mines, who, in the year 1837, travelled through this country as far as Sheibon, to which book I must refer my readers, as geognostic research was not the purpose of my travels. The climate is very unhealthy, especially during the rriny season; no hut is then, indeed, to be met with in which there are not at least several sick ; in the diy season, again, all disease disappears ; at this time, however, not only man, but all living creatures, suffer from the extreme heat. The eye then rests with melancholy on the desolate and parched plains, * Birket, as found on the maps of Arrowsmith.

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