300 UGANDA AND THE EGYPTIAN SOUDAN.

red sandstone, whicli rests on hypogen rocks. Over the sandstone the ground is firm and gravelly, and contains much oxide of iron. It makes bad soil, and as a result the country is very barren, stunted acacias and low thorn-bushes forming the entire vegetation. Where the hypogen rocks crop up, the soil which covers them is far richer ; it is composed of the detritus of these rocks, and as it contains a good deal of clay and a little potash, the soil resulting from their decomposition is better in quality, and upon it grass and larger trees will grow, while the dok'n {Fenicillaria glauca) is cultivated in these parts. . Near Obeid, igneous rocks, quartz, gneiss, and granite abound.

There are several large atmoors, or deserts, where the traveller may proceed for days without seeing a single sign of vegetation. All over the province the scenery, excepting during the harif, is dreary and desolate in the extreme. For a few weeks then the landscape is pretty, the plains being covered with grass, and the trees are bright with the fresh green ; but the beauty soon vanishes, and from October to June the country becomes a parched desert.

Over the whole extent of Kordofan there is very little cultivation of anything except dok'n, which is the staple food of the people. This cereal requires little care; the ground is roughly hoed, and the grain is sowed, each seed being placed separately in the ground, and no other attention is neces-