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 lat-

ter, many leeches are found ; but the other stagnant

waters, which are generated during the rainy sea-

son, 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 Im-

perial inspector of mines, who, in the year 1837, tra-

velled 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 cli-

mate 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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