The Course Of The
Blue Nile Is Through Fertile Soil; Thus There Is A Trifling Loss By
Absorption, And During The Heavy Rains A Vast Amount Of Earthy Matter Of
A Red Colour Is Contributed By Its Waters To The General Fertilizing
Deposit Of The Nile In Lower Egypt.
The Atbara, although so important a river in the rainy season of
Abyssinia, is perfectly dry for several months
During the year, and at
the time I first saw it, June 13, 1861, it was a mere sheet of glaring
sand; in fact a portion of the desert through which it flowed. For
upwards of one hundred and fifty miles from its junction with the Nile,
it is perfectly dry from the beginning of March to June. At intervals of
a few miles there are pools or ponds of water left in the deep holes
below the general average of the river's bed. In these pools, some of
which may be a mile in length, are congregated all the inhabitants of
the river, who as the stream disappears are forced to close quarters in
these narrow asylums; thus, crocodiles, hippopotami, fish, and large
turtle are crowded in extraordinary numbers, until the commencement of
the rains in Abyssinia once more sets them at liberty by sending down a
fresh volume to the river. The rainy season commences in Abyssinia in
the middle of May, but the country being parched by the summer heat, the
first rains are absorbed by the soil, and the torrents do not fill until
the middle of June.
From June to the middle of September the storms are terrific; every
ravine becomes a raging torrent; trees are rooted up by the mountain
streams swollen above their banks, and the Atbara becomes a vast river,
bringing down with an overwhelming current the total drainage of four
large rivers - the Settite, Royan, Salaam, and Angrab - in addition to its
own original volume. Its waters are dense with soil washed from most
fertile lands far from its point of junction with the Nile; masses of
bamboo and driftwood, together with large trees, and frequently the dead
bodies of elephants and buffaloes, are hurled along its muddy waters in
wild confusion, bringing a rich harvest to the Arabs on its banks, who
are ever on the look-out for the river's treasures of fuel and timber.
The Blue Nile and the Atbara receiving the entire drainage of Abyssinia,
at the same time pour their floods into the main Nile in the middle of
June. At that season the White Nile is at a considerable level, although
not at its HIGHEST; and the sudden rush of water descending from
Abyssinia into the main channel, already at a fair level from the White
Nile, causes the annual inundation in Lower Egypt.
During the year that I passed in the northern portion of Abyssinia and
its frontiers, the rains continued with great violence for three months,
the last shower falling on the 16th September, from which date there was
neither dew nor rain until the following May. The great rivers expended,
and the mountain torrents dried up; the Atbara disappeared, and once
more became a sheet of glaring sand. The rivers Settite, Salaam, and
Angrab, although much reduced, are nevertheless perennial streams,
flowing into the Atbara from the lofty Abyssinian mountains; but the
parched, sandy bed of the latter river absorbs the entire supply, nor
does one drop of water reach the Nile from the Atbara during the dry
season. The wonderful absorption by the sand of that river is an
illustration of the impotence of the Blue Nile to contend unaided with
the Nubian deserts, which, were it not for the steady volume of the
White Nile, would drink every drop of water before the river could pass
the twenty-fifth degree of latitude.
The principal affluents of the Blue Nile are the Rahad and Dinder,
flowing, like all others, from Abyssinia. The Rahad is entirely dry
during the dry season, and the Dinder is reduced to a succession of deep
pools, divided by sandbanks, the bed of the river being exposed. These
pools are the resort of numerous hippopotami and the natural inhabitants
of the river.
Having completed the exploration of the various affluents to the Nile
from Abyssinia, passing through the Base country and the portion of
Abyssinia occupied by Mek Nimmur, I arrived at Khartoum, the capital of
the Soudan provinces, on the 11th June, 1862.
Khartoum is situated in lat. 15 degrees 29 minutes, on a point of land
forming the angle between the White and Blue Niles at their junction. A
more miserable, filthy, and unhealthy spot can hardly be imagined. Far
as the eye can reach, upon all sides, is a sandy desert. The town,
chiefly composed of huts of unburnt brick, extends over a flat hardly
above the level of the river at high water, and is occasionally flooded.
Although containing about 30,000 inhabitants, and densely crowded, there
are neither drains nor cesspools: the streets are redolent with
inconceivable nuisances; should animals die, they remain where they
fall, to create pestilence and disgust. There are, nevertheless, a few
respectable houses, occupied by the traders of the country, a small
proportion of whom are Italians, French, and Germans, the European
population numbering about thirty. Greeks, Syrians, Copts, Armenians,
Turks, Arabs, and Egyptians, form the motley inhabitants of Khartoum.
There are consuls for France, Austria, and America, and with much
pleasure I acknowledge many kind attentions, and assistance received
from the two former, M. Thibaut and Herr Hansall.
Khartoum is the seat of government, the Soudan provinces being under the
control of a Governor-general, with despotic power. In 1861, there were
about six thousand troops quartered in the town; a portion of these were
Egyptians; other regiments were composed of blacks from Kordofan, and
from the White and Blue Niles, with one regiment of Arnouts, and a
battery of artillery. These troops are the curse of the country:
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