EORDOFAX. 299 that it was the custom of the people of Obeid to send their slaves to the outskirts of the town to bring back fuel, he had clothed his slaves and made them gather bundles of grass and sticks. In this manner he had smuggled them into the town unobserved. We were sorry for the Greek, for one of the women was really his wife, and he had two children by her, but our petition on her behalf was not granted by the Mudir.

We stayed for two days at Obeid, where I had the chance of collecting some information about Kordofan.

The province of Kordofan, regarded as a whole, may be said to be one vast plain, sloping from south to north; at the highest part, i.e. the southern extremity, it is some 2000 feet above the sea-level.

There are no mountain ranges, and there are indeed but few hills, and these are not more than 400 feet above the level of the surrounding country. No rivers or streams are to be found, but there are some small shallow khors, which contain a little water during the rains ; still it is very doubtful whether there is any drainage from this dreary area into the Xile. Here and there we came across a well, but water is very scarce, and has to be procured from a considerable depth, sometimes even thirty to forty feet.

The triassic formation obtains over the whole province ; the most important feature is the new