222 PRODUCTS.

well aware that the growth of cotton was very profitable, but they had no desire to work for the soldiers of the government, as they knew very well that they would leave them little or none of the cotton produced, and they should therefore be obliged to buy the cloth for their own consumption as they do at present ; hence they save themselves the labour. Indigo would thrive very well in various parts of Kordofan,—for it grows spontaneously in some districts,—and its cultivation would prove a source of great profit to the government.

Experiments have been already made, and have furnished indigo of a quality superior to that of Egypt ; but the government pays no attention to this subject, and the natives are far too ignorant to stumble upon an object of so much importance without a hint from some kind friend.

All the articles above mentioned are reared in gardens, the cultivation of which is entrusted to slaves. The irrigation is effected artificially by means of draw-wells. As soon as the rainy season is at an end, every native hastens to put his garden in order, which during the former period had been, as it were, lying fallow ; for if any one were to venture to sow or plant during the period of the rains, he must expect everything either to be washed out of the earth by the violent showers, or to rot before it arrived at maturity. Very few articles are, therefore, cultivated, and these merely where the position of the land is suitable. The absolute tillage, or treatment of the soil, requires