The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Communications.

North of Khartoum the chief means of communication is by railway; south of that city by steamer.

There are two trunk railways, one connecting the Sudan with Egypt, the other affording access to the Red sea. The first line runs from the Nile at Wadi Halfa across the desert in a direct line to Abu Hamed, and thence along the right (east) bank of the Nile to Khartoum. At Khartoum the Blue Nile is bridged, and the railway is continued south through the Gezira to Sennar, where it branches west to cross the White Nile at Kosti and run on to El Obeid. The length of the line from Halfa to Khartoum is 575 m. ; from Khartoum to Obeid 35o miles. The railway from the Nile to the Red sea starts from the Halfa-Khartoum line at Atbara junction, and runs to Port Sudan and Suakin; a branch leaving at Haiya for Kassala and (shortly) Gedaref. The total distance to Port Sudan from Khartoum is 493 miles. Besides these main lines a railway, 138 m. long, runs from Abu Hamed, on the right bank of the Nile, to Kareima (opposite Merawi), in the Dongola mudiria below the Fourth Cataract. The railways are owned and worked by the State.

In connection with the Khartoum-Halfa railway, steamers ply on the Nile between Halfa and Shellal, where the railway from Alexandria ends. The distance by rail and steamer between Khartoum and Alexandria is about 1,490 miles. Steamers run on the Nile between Kerma and Kareima, and above Khartoum the Government maintains a regular service of steamers as far south as Gondokoro, in the Uganda Protectorate, and Rejaf, for the Belgian Congo. During the flood season there is also a steamship service on the Blue Nile as far as Roseires. Powerful dredgers and sudd-cutting machines are used to keep open communica tions in the Upper Nile and Bahr-el-Ghazal. The ancient caravan routes, Korosko–Abu Hamed and Berber–Suakin, have been superseded by the railways, but elsewhere wells and rest-houses are maintained along the principal routes between the towns and the Nile. On some of these roads a motor car service is in operation.

There is an extensive telegraphic system. Khartoum is con

nected by land lines with Egypt and Uganda, thus affording direct telegraphic connection between Alexandria and Mombassa (2,500 miles). From Khartoum other lines go to Kassala and the Red sea ports. In some places the telegraph wires are placed 16 ft. 6 in. above the ground, to protect them from damage by giraffes.

Agriculture and Other Industries.

North of Khartoum agricultural land is confined to a narrow strip on either side of the Nile and to the few oases in the Libyan desert. In the Gezira, and in the plains of Gedaref between the Blue Nile and the Atbara, there are wide areas of arable lands, as also in the neigh bourhood of Kassala, along the banks of the Gash; and these have recently been converted, by great irrigation works, into fertile cotton lands, with remarkable effects on the prosperity of the country. In Kordofan and Darfur cultivation is confined to the khors or valleys. The chief grain crop is durra, the staple food of the Sudanese. Two crops are obtained yearly in several districts. On lands near the rivers the durra is sown after the flood has gone down, and also at the beginning of the rainy season. Considerable quantities of wheat and barley are also grown. Other food-stuffs raised are lentils, beans, onions and melons. The date-palm is cultivated along the Nile valley below Khartoum, especially on the west bank in the Dongola mudiria and in the neighbouring oases. Dates are also a staple product in Darfur and Kordofan. Ground-nuts and sesame are grown in large quan tities for the oil they yield. The Sudan was the original home of Egyptian cotton, and the cotton now grown is equal to the produce of the Delta.

For watering the land by the river banks sakias (water-wheels) are used, oxen being employed to turn them. In 1910 a system of basin irrigation was begun in Dongola mudiria. In 1925 was completed a canal scheme for irrigating the Gezira, drawing its waters from the new Makwar reservoir on the Blue Nile, near Sennar. It commands an area of 300,00o acres. The Gash irriga tion in the Kassala district is steadily expanding.